Sandra Kanck
Leader South Australian Democrats
Member of the Legislative Council
Thursday 26th
February 2004
EARTHQUAKE RISK TOO HIGH FOR
NUCLEAR
WASTE DUMP
The
unacceptable risk of an earthquake at the proposed national nuclear waste dump
will be amongst the reasons presented by the SA Democrats at the ARPANSA forum
today for the shelving of the Commonwealth’s plan.
“It is
irresponsible for the Commonwealth to attempt to locate a nuclear waste dump
near the same fault line that rocked Adelaide with a 5.4 quake on the 28th
of February 1954,” says Sandra Kanck, Leader of the SA Democrats.
The
Torrens Lineament fault runs from Kangaroo Island to Torrens Lake, right by the
proposed site, and is classified as a medium risk on the earthquake hazard map
of South Australia.
“It is
also in breach of the site selection criteria that the chosen site be located
away from any known or anticipated seismic, tectonic or volcanic activity which
could compromise the stability of the site.
“The
brief history of European settlement throughout South Australia only adds to the
concern that the dump will eventually be rocked by an earthquake.
“Beachport had an earthquake in 1897 that registered 6.5, Warooka, on Yorke Peninsula,
had one in 1902 in which two people died and Minnipa on Eyre Peninsula has a
quake measuring 5 on the richter scale in 1999.
“If
earthquakes such as these can occur in areas that are considered to be of low
risk, and, in the case of Warooka and Beachport, could be felt in Adelaide, the
proposed Woomera site cannot possibly satisfy the Federal Government’s own
guidelines.
“I’ll
also be urging the ARPANSA panel to heed the call of Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta
women to “sit on the ground in their country and hear first hand why these
people oppose the destruction of their land, their culture, their history and
their future.”
“Anything less is pulling ‘whitefella’ rank and shows a total lack of regard
for indigenous people.”
