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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-09-10 Daily Xml
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NUCLEAR WASTE STORAGE FACILITY

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (15:04): I have a supplementary question. Does the Premier support the construction of a uranium mine at Arkaroola?

The PRESIDENT: Order! The honourable member must wait until the President gives him the call.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I saw that your red light was on, and I assumed that you had called me.

The PRESIDENT: Well, the Hon. Mr Parnell was standing as well. I call the Hon. Mr Parnell.

The Hon. M. PARNELL (15:05): Thank you, Mr President. I have a supplementary question. How does the EPA know what is in this allegedly general waste if it has not yet been removed from its illegal disposal in Arkaroola?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (15:04): I understand the EPA is on site. Officers from the Department of Primary Industries and Resources SA, the Division of Mines and Energy and the EPA will be on site when this material is removed. I presume that they have looked at a sample of it. After all, it is just bags of soil that was taken out of it. One would not expect it to be radioactive, but I am informed that the officers will be checking all that material before it goes to a repository. If there is any radioactivity, it would be contained in the soil and it would probably be rather less than what we have in this building, given the thick granite from which it is built. One of these days I will bring in a Geiger counter and look at some samples. Members might find it interesting to see that some dinner plates contain thorium. Members would be rather interested to know that some materials one can buy have various levels of radioactivity contained within them.

These are simply core samples. It is highly unlikely that the waste, the rubbish, the used milk cartons and the plastic bags would be contaminated, but my understanding is that the EPA is on site and will closely examine every piece of litter that is removed. It is not a large amount. It is the equivalent of about four wheelbarrows of material, so it should be fairly easy to check it all.

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