9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Deep beneath the West Australian outback

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
lies the germ of an idea.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
A dream about [br]making the world a safer place

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that's gone beyond just the dreaming.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(man) "We have a very specific goal,[br]dispose of nuclear wastes,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
pull out the nuclear weapons[br]and get them out of the way."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Jim Voss envisages a catacomb[br]500 metres beneath his feet

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that would keep safe forever

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
one of the most toxic poisons[br]known to humankind.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Voss) "Australia has the opportunity

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to use its democratic forces

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to say this is something[br]we should be doing for the world."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
For half a century,[br]the problem of nuclear waste disposal

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
has dogged the world,[br]and one company called Pangea,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
backed by big money and influence,[br]wants to bury it in Australia.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"You'll find a great deal [br]of enthusiasm in the United States,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and I suspect around the world."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"They have backing from incredible people[br]within government and industry."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(ad) <i>To make the world a safer place[br]for the people we love...</i>

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Tonight, Four Corners[br]goes inside the company called Pangea.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We examine a scheme[br]that's provoked accusations of secrecy

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and back-door influence peddling,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a scheme that forces Australia

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to confront its role[br]in the nuclear world.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
<i>Australia will make[br]our world a safer place</i>

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"We're not interested in nuclear power

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and we're not interested in being[br]the world's nuclear waste dump."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
♪ (music) ♪

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Voss) "We're just headed out[br]here into the desert."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(man) "What you're looking for, [br]of course

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is the most remote areas [br]you can find, right?"

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Voss) "Well, in part.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The geology is far more important [br]than the remoteness."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Pangea's Jim Voss [br]and scientist Charles McCombie

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
took Four Corners on the long trip [br]

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
from Perth, 340 kilometres[br]north east of Kalgoorlie,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to the edge of the Great Victoria Desert.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(McCombie) "The flatness, even more [br]than how it looks on the surface,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
if you look out at the horizon [br]it's all very flat.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
This is one of the flattest areas[br]in the world and that's a real key issue

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to the -- what we call a high isolation site."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(helicopter blades whirring)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Latitude 28 south, longitude 123 east.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(whirring continues)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Out in this area [br]the size of Western Europe

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
lies a patch of ground [br]20 kilometres square

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that they believe could house [br]a repository for up to 20 percent

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of the world's nuclear waste.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Out here you find pangea rock -- [br]very old, very stable --

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the geology from which [br]the company gets its name.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(McCombie) "And in the basin area[br]and where we're on the edge now,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
it's 300 to 800 million years [br]of quiet build-up of sediments.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So this is one of the most [br]stable geological areas

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that you'll find in the world."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But it's not just science. [br]Politics are just as crucial

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in dealing with radioactive waste [br]and nuclear disarmament

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and that's what makes Australia [br]more attractive than Argentina,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Namibia, and China, [br]where pangea rock is also found.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Voss) "Well, it's the political stability[br]that we're concerned about.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Australia's tradition [br]in democratic principles,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Australia's environmental activism [br]is vital to us. Australia's role

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in the international community [br]for disarmament for all sorts of weapons

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
nuclear, land mines, chemical weapons,[br]very important facets to us for Australia"

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Behind Pangea stand [br]three international organisations.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The huge British government-owned [br]nuclear conglomerate, BNFL

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
British Nuclear Fuels Limited, [br]which owns 80 percent

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a Canadian company [br]called Golder Associates

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
world experts in toxic waste management

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and Nagra, a Swiss organisation [br]responsible for finding

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a nuclear waste dump[br]for Switzerland's nuclear industry.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(advertisement) <i>The simple fact [br]is that more than 30 countries</i>

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
<i>use nuclear power.</i>

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Pangea originally planned [br]to launch its scheme on Australians

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
last month, with a 9 million dollar[br]war chest for advertising and promoting

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a scheme it knew would meet [br]an incredulous public

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and skeptical politicians.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Those plans fell apart in December[br]last year, when the British arm

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of Friends Of The Earth [br]got hold of the video

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Pangea prepared for the launch [br]and sent it to Australia.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Pangea promotional video) <i>Above all, [br]Pangea will provide the world</i>

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
<i>with a safe solution [br]to the disposal of nuclear materials.</i>

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(man) "Oh, it arrived in [br]an unmarked brown envelope

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
on my desk, and I had no idea [br]where it came from. I felt that this

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
should not be sprung on Australians [br]in a hole-in-the-wall secret underhand way

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but they should learn as soon as possible [br]what was being planned for them."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Pangea promotional video)[br]<i>Before any responsible country</i>

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
<i>would send their waste for disposal, [br]they must be certain</i>

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
<i>not only that the respository is safe, [br]but also that its safety must be seen</i>

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
<i>to be clearly and rigorously regulated.</i>

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Voss) "We were of course, disappointed. [br]It was our intention to roll Pangea out

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in a very public and planned manner,[br]to give everybody an opportunity to debate."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(woman) "My question is to [br]Senator Minchin, Minister for Resources -"

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The response to the video was immediate. [br]Opponents were appalled

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
at the idea of a nuclear dumping ground.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(woman) " ... Will he rule out completely [br]any involvement of his government

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in setting up an international nuclear [br]waste repository in Australia?"

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The Federal Government [br]moved to distance itself.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Senator Minchin) "And the Government[br]has absolutely no intention of accepting

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the radioactive waste of other countries.[br]The policy is clear - "

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
In the following months, [br]the Industry and Resources Minister's line

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
has hardened.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Senator Minchin) "There may be [br]other countries that

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in far less fortuitous [br]economic circumstances than Australia

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that do decide they want to accept [br]international nuclear waste.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Well that's their business, [br]and that may be one way

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in which those countries [br]with a waste problem deal with it.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But Australia won't be that nation [br]that accepts the waste."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But Pangea's plans for the outback [br]are a reminder of Australia's part

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in the nuclear world:[br]an exporter of uranium,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
part of the American nuclear umbrella [br]and a leading advocate of disarmament.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
What Pangea is doing [br]is putting together a growing network

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of international [br]and Australian businessmen,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
scientists and policy makers who believe [br]that Australia should also have a role

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to play in resolving one of the [br]nuclear age's most pressing problems:

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
what to do with the stockpiles [br]of nuclear waste

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that have been growing now [br]for half a century.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's a debate they say [br]that Australia has to have

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
one that can't be dodged forever,[br]and one upon which Australians themselves

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
will eventually have to take a stand.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(indistinct lecturing)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Amongst those who believe Australia [br]should play a role is the president

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of the Australian Academy of Science [br]who's personally backing Pangea

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and will sit on [br]its scientific review panel.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(professor) "I think it is important [br]that they engage the Australian public

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and engage the Australian public's [br]representatives, namely the politicians

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
so that the politicians get [br]as clear a view as it's possible to get

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of what the proposal's really about. [br]The existence of nuclear waste

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is a world problem and Australia [br]in this respect is part of the world

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and if we can help reduce that danger [br]by putting that particular problem to bed

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that is great."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Jenkins) "This industry thinking that [br]it can solve its problems by shifting them

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to some remote place, [br]and also onto future generations

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and that makes one quietly angry."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
♪ (ominous music) ♪

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The creeping poison of nuclear waste [br]began with the advent of the nuclear age

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
more than half a century ago, [br]but it took three decades

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
before governments [br]began to take it seriously.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
In 1943, the 2,000 citizens of Hanford [br]and neighbouring Bluff Cliffs

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in the northwest US state of Washington [br]got 30 days notice to move out

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
when the top-secret Manhattan Program [br]to build the first atomic bomb

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
got underway.[br]They never came back.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Fifty-six years later, what's left behind[br]is abandoned, no longer top secret

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but still deadly.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
1,400 square kilometres[br]of poisoned land, a wilderness

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of dumped nuclear waste [br]from the reactors

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that produced plutonium [br]for bombs and warheads

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
fodder for 30 years of cold war.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(construction machinery)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The detritus lies scattered and buried.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(more machinery)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
A clean-up's underway, [br]but it'll take 50 years

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
at a cost of five and a half [br]million dollars every single day.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
David Pentz first came to Hanford [br]in the '80s at the behest

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of the American government.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
A specialist in waste disposal,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Pentz spent three years investigating [br]whether the contaminated site

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
might become the world's first permanent [br]dump for highly radioactive waste.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It didn't work,[br]because the geology

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
proved too complex, [br]and it's not yet worked

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
anywhere else in the world.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Pentz) "I think total costs, probably [br]we've spent in the world today,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is certainly in excess of $20 billion,[br]and we obviously don't have a repository

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
licenced repository,[br]anywhere in the world."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Pentz went home to Seattle, [br]but the idea of a disposal site

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
deep underground did not go away.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
He nagged at the problem [br]and it nagged at him.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Pentz was chairman of Golder Associates,[br]the industrial waste experts

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and under its umbrella in March 1997, [br]he set up Pangea Resources Limited.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Pentz) "We see ourselves as an ambassador[br]of a problem, a world problem,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and we think Australia should [br]at least talk about it and consider it

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in a rational sense [br]because of, that we at least,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and I think you will find [br]others in the world

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
believe that Australia [br]has an incredible opportunity

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to help the world, [br]and if you want to call that

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
as being good neighbourly, so be it.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
To me, good neighbourly [br]doesn't put enough dimension

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
on the challenge that the world faces.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
From modest offices [br]in the high-tech part of Seattle

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that is home to Microsoft, [br]Pentz is working to ensure

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the idea doesn't die.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(woman) "Mr. Pentz, I have Australia[br]and the UK on the line

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
- for the conference call."[br]- "Thank you very much."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Pentz) "I could say our tactics [br]are absolutely a disaster, unequivocally.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I would say however our tactics [br]were not of our own making, right?"

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(George) "So in retrospect, the secrecy [br]with which you've cloaked your proposal

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
has been a mistake?"

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"Yes I think that, and some people, [br]and I have questioned myself

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
whether that was right."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(George) "Because one of the great [br]criticisms of the whole nuclear industry

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and all the, in it's history,[br]has always been its secrecy, hasn't it?"

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"Absolutely, and that's tied [br]both sides of the nuclear industry.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Obviously on the weapons side [br]and even on the commercial side.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I couldn't agree with you more."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
- (man) "Hello, David."[br]- (Pentz) "Well hi, Jim! Welcome aboard!"

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Pentz still runs about 60 people[br]around the world, some half of them

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
contracted on a part-time basis. [br]Amongst them, Ralph Stoll

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a former US nuclear submarine commander.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Stoll) "It looks like, there's a reason[br]to go to Washington next week,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to follow up with some of these ideas."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
In Australia, Jim Voss is looking [br]for new ways to open doors for Pangea.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Voss on phone) "The Pangea papers were[br]right where we wanted them, that is

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
presenting where we stand [br]in our feasibility studies."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Pentz) "Yeah."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
There's no shortage of funds. [br]Pangea had a $40 million budget this year

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but much of it won't now get spent [br]because the political heat in Australia

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
has delayed plans for exploration [br]in Western Australia.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(George) "So if the government is saying,[br]no, it's against our policy

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
why pursue it?[br]Why not just go away?"

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Pentz) "Because the idea [br]of an international repository

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and the benefits [br]it will bring the world is real.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We think we have begun to see how we[br]could put the genie back into the bottle

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and, you know, ideas [br]of this size ... don't go away."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
♪ (music) ♪

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
From Seattle, Pentz and Stoll [br]are on the move across the continent.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"I have, I think received [br]a very good response

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
both in and outside of the government[br]to the concept that Pangea represents."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
♪ (solemn music) ♪

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"I wonder if these ...[br]kinds will work with Pangea."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
In the 18 months since [br]Ralph Stoll's first visit to Washington

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Pangea's briefed officials [br]in the US State Department, the Pentagon

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the Department of Energy, [br]and presidential advisers

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in two powerful arms of American security,[br]the National Security Council

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and the National Security Agency.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And to reach the administration's [br]highest political levels, Pangea's hired

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a big-hitter lobbyist, the man slated

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to run Vice President Al Gore's [br]presidential campaign next year.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And Pangea's struck a chord [br]that shifts its focus

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
from a commercial venture,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to play to America's [br]strategic preoccupation

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
with growing stockpiles [br]of nuclear warheads.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"The world has a serious problem [br]with nuclear waste.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
There are thousands and thousands [br]of tons of it, and thousands of tons more

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
coming on-line each year, so to speak, [br]as well as many thousands of tons

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that are derivative [br]from former nuclear weapons programs,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and these have to be stored [br]safely and securely for thousands of years

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and the world simply doesn't [br]have a solution to this

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and as long as this waste [br]is stored in an imperfect fashion

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
which it is now, virtually everywhere, [br]it represents something of a threat."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Until the end of last year, [br]Jan Lodal was responsible

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for running nuclear policy [br]for the Pentagon.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"I think that the American government [br]is likely to be very attracted

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to the possibility of such a site, [br]and it will also see the attractiveness

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of Australia's location."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
At Washington's Georgetown University, [br]Pangea has another influential ally

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in President Clinton's special adviser [br]for disarmament, who's concerned

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
about bombs or the raw material [br]falling into the hands

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of rogue states and terrorist groups.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"In the United States, [br]we are very concerned

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
about what is generally called [br]in the literature the loose nuke problem.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We are working with the Russians [br]in a very cooperative way,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but still there are hundreds of tons, [br]when it only takes a few kilograms

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to make a bomb, there are hundreds [br]of tons of this material

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
inadequately protected. [br]That's what we wanna take care of too.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
♪ (western music) ♪

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
♪ <i>On the trail you'll find me lopin',[br]while the spaces are wide open</i> ♪

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
♪ <i>in the land of the old AEC, yee-hoo</i> ♪

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
♪ <i>why, the cedar is attractive,[br]and the air is radioactive</i> ♪

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
♪ <i>oh, the Wild West is [br]where I want to be</i> ♪

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
♪ <i>'mid the sagebrush and the cactus[br]I'll watch the fellas practice</i> ♪

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
♪ <i>droppin' bombs through [br]the clean desert breeze, ah-ha</i> ♪

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(bomb explosion)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
If nuclear disarmament [br]was the peace dividend

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
from the end of the Cold War, [br]then the problem of dealing

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
with today's unwanted nuclear bombs [br]is the peace headache.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
In pursuit of superiority [br]over the Russians,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
America detonated 928 bombs [br]at the Nevada test site,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a hundred of them above ground.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The tests took 40 years to conduct, [br]but the combined time

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for all those explosions [br]amounts to a mere 60 seconds

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a minute of the most destructive power [br]created by humankind.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(explosions, wind, breaking glass, planes)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The Cold War legacy is [br]100,000 nuclear warheads around the world.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Disarmament talks call [br]for a reduction to 4,000 in 10 years.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Pangea reckons [br]it can help disarmament

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
by burying plutonium [br]from decommissioned warheads

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a claim questioned by critics [br]who say nothing in the plans

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
ensure it can never be retrieved.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"They cloak it as [br]a nuclear non proliferation

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and arms control proposal, [br]but when you look at the fine print

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
it really is, at this point in time[br]at least, a bail-out

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for the nuclear industry and [br]for the plutonium industry in particular."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"These need not be inconsistent at all.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So I think that [br]it is a commercial enterprise

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but the potential for [br]a very positive impact

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
on international security is very real."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"That's the rhetoric. [br]That's the broad brush

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but the fine strokes indicate [br]that this spent fuel

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
will be put underground [br]on a retrievable basis

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
so that countries [br]that want to get it out, can."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"The fact that there may be [br]retrievability doesn't bother me

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
provided, of course,[br]the retrievability is

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
something that were very easily [br]monitored and prevented

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
if the international community [br]wished to prevent it

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and if you had [br]a remote site in Australia,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I think you could assure that."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Fifty kilometres from [br]the Nevada test site

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
lies Yucca Mountain, [br]and a stark reminder that America

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
like the rest of the world, [br]has a growing problem

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
with commercial waste.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
10,000 tons is created globally each year.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"The alternative is the stuff [br]right now sitting in swimming pools

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and the basement of power plants [br]in metropolitan areas.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
What's that going to do [br]to our future generations?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We can't make this stuff go away."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Like Pangea, Jim Niggemeyer believes [br]the answer lies beneath his feet.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Niggemeyer) So for me, [br]this I think is safe for

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
hundreds of thousands of years. [br]I don't see any other alternative

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that gets us beyond tens of years.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(George) Fifteen kilometres of tunnel[br]lie inside Yucca Mountain.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It represents America's [br]and the world's best bet yet

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for a nuclear waste dump. [br]But it's not a good bet at all.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Niggemeyer) And you'll notice[br]as we go down

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
you'll see uh, ties of fairly heavy steel[br]around the tunnel.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
That's to hold up the rock and[br]give us general support.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(George) The Yucca Mountain project's [br]cost the US $10 billion so far

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and it will be at least two years [br]before the US government

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
decides whether it's safe to go ahead.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The people of Nevada have already [br]decided: they don't want it.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But they know they're up against [br]powerful nuclear interests.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Reid) They do it in a number of ways. [br]One is through fear and the distribution

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of bad information, false information.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
What they do is say [br]we need to get it outta here,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and then everybody here'll be safe.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And so that's the game they've played,[br]and they've done a good job.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They have done a good job with [br]their government relations work

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
here in Washington, they've got [br]the best lobbyists money can buy. (laughs)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(George) If the nuclear industry [br]does get its way,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
this is what an underground [br]nuclear repository would look like.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Kilometres of tunnels containing[br]steel and concrete canisters,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
radiating heat for hundreds of years; [br]their contents deadly

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for tens of thousands of years.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And if the Americans have problems [br]finding a place for their nuclear waste,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
imagine the problems across the Atlantic.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Europe's denser population and smaller [br]land mass have left the problem of

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
getting rid of waste from [br]nuclear power stations

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
mired in political, social,[br]and scientific rouse.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Nowhere more so than Britain, [br]where a decade-long search

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for an underground waste dump has [br]collapsed in utter failure

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
after costing half a billion dollars.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Blowers) Well in one sense, there is [br]some urgency, 'cause I think

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
it would be true to say that to do nothing[br]is not an option at the present time

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
because wastes are accumulating[br]in every country.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(George) A member of the [br]British government's

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
radioactive waste management committee, [br]Professor Andy Blowers

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
brings a critical eye to bear [br]on the nation's nuclear industry.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Blowers) On the other hand, the kind of [br]urgency that the industry puts forward,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I think, is an urgency that is backing [br]their own particular interests.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They do need a solution to this [br]intractable problem of nuclear waste.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
If they get the solution which appears to[br]be acceptable, then that,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to a high degree, [br]will underpin the future of

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the nuclear industry as they perceive it.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Voss) We're not motivated by providing [br]the opportunity for

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
new nuclear plants in the future.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We're motivated by providing a solution [br]to the problems that are there today.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(George) And yet if you do provide a solution[br]to the problems that are there today,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the problem of nuclear waste...

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Voss) Yes...[br](George) You end up do you not,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
justifying the continued existence [br]of the nuclear industry?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Voss) Under some circumstances one could [br]interpret that. Remember that our...

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(George) One suspects the nuclear industry[br]will interpret it exactly that way.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Voss) They can interpret it as they like.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(George) Behind the nuclear industry's [br]sense of urgency lies an enterprise

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
situated in Britain's beautiful [br]Lake district in Cambria.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's called Sellafield.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's owned by BNFL, British Nuclear Fuels, [br]one of the world's most powerful

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
commercial nuclear conglomerates, [br]and it has only one shareholder :

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the British government, and it's [br]BNFL that's behind the Pangea.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Bonser) BNFL have looked at a number of [br]different ideas and thoughts about

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
how to deal with nuclear waste, and this[br]Pangea concept in my view

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is the strongest I've seen.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's technically extremely [br]well founded and

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
has a very good and explainable[br]safety case.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I think those things are[br]extremely important.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Of course the real unknown is whether [br]that will be accepted and welcomed

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
once it's been explained [br]and properly debated.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(George) BNFL's got a problem.[br]After America, Britain has

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the largest stockpile of high-level [br]radioactive waste in the world.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It sits quietly in canisters [br]beneath the water,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
cooling down for years[br]before it can be touched.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
What's more, it's not just British waste. [br]A big part of BNFL's business is

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
reprocessing nuclear fuel rods from power [br]stations in other parts of the world.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But reprocessing produces [br]radioactive waste, too,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and BNFL's customers around the world don't[br]know what to do with their waste either.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Bonser) Some of those customers will [br]look for an international repository

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
rather than a national repository[br]and so we feel that

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
where there's a unique and potentially [br]very valuable solution to

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
what is a worldwide problem

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that as a global nuclear company we would[br]wish to be involved in that.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(George) So in no case would [br]British nuclear waste

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
end up in a repository in Australia?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Bonser) Well of course in the [br]very long term, that's a

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
matter for government policy [br]rather than a commercial company,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and we will always work within [br]the UK government policy.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(George) On the River Esk, a few[br]kilometres south of Sellafield,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Martin Forwood checks radiation levels.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The plant's reputation for radioactive [br]leaks followed by cover-ups

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and allegations of leukemia clusters and[br]pollution of the Irish Sea

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
have spawned deep mistrust [br]amongst environmentalists

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and local opposition groups.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Forwood) They haven't changed at all. [br]They're still

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the murky deceitful company [br]they always were.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Bonser) We need to build confidence,[br]we need to build trust.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We'll accept we've made mistakes [br]and try to put them right.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We operate in a number of different [br]countries on a number of different sites

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and we try to adopt that [br]open approach towards

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
what we do wherever we operate,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and we would do [br]just the same in Australia.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(George) Martin Forwood, like most [br]British environmentalists,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
believes BNFL should abandon plans[br]for underground dumps and

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
be forced to keep its waste on site [br]until safer ways are found to deal with it.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Forwood) The industry's option which is[br]to push it underground,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
very much out-of-site, out-of-mind, [br]has so many flaws in it that

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
it would be crassly wrong, I believe, [br]on behalf of future generations

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to allow that to go ahead. [br]The second point--

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I think I've already mentioned that it [br]would not be right, it would be immoral,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in our view, to land a country--[br]let's say Australia,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
with everybody else's waste problems. [br]That would be wrong.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(George) To London, where BNFL's woes [br]have not endeared it to

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
its owner, the British government.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The latest investigation into [br]radioactive waste--

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a select committee of the House of Lords--

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
concluded last month that underground[br]repositories are still the best bet.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Tombs) But since it will take 24 years [br]even to open a deep geological disposal,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
you need to start now, because [br]procrastination is the thief of time,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and that 24 years can stretch into[br]50, 60, sometime, never,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and it's a problem of such magnitude[br]that it has to be tackled.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(George) Lord Tombs believes Britain will[br]have to dispose of its own waste at home,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but says BNFL has every right to [br]explore the Pangea idea

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for other countries' wastes.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Tombs) Well it could well be because there [br]are nuclear reactors in the far east

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for which may provide a[br]market for Australia.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I'm not qualified to comment on that.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
All I'm saying is I don't think [br]the UK's a very good prospect

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for the reasons I've outlined.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(George) Do you think perhaps those[br]a little politically insensitive

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
-- the government owned body in Britain...

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Tombs) ...Not at all...

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(George) ...Should be[br]investigating in Australia?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Tombs) No I would put it in a way which [br]may, you may not appreciate.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I would say that they have enormous[br]expertise which Australia doesn't,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and by helping Australia to develop [br]possibilities that they're actually

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
helping Australia, which [br]I'm all in favour of.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(George) Whether BNFL is doing [br]Australia a favour with

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
its Pangea proposal is a moot point.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Pangea's backers say a mining state [br]like Western Australia already has

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the expertise to build a port,[br]a railway line into the desert,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and the catacomb to handle the waste.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Investments that would give the state [br]an economic shot in the arm--

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a $6 billion jolt in start-up [br]costs alone--

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
$200 billion to Australia over 40 years.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Pangea chose one of the Liberal Party's[br]favoured economic modellers

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to assess its figures.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Voss) Access Economics has estimated that [br]this leads to about a

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
1% increase in the gross domestic product[br]and that brings another 50,000

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
jobs just from economic development,[br]economic stimulation.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Minchin) I mean you might as well [br]suggest that Australia take

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the world's prison population--

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
you know we've got plenty of space, why [br]not build a great big prison

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in Alice Springs and take [br]all the world's prisoners?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Well you know that's, that's ridiculous. [br]So is this proposal.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Lawrence) The amount of money being[br]talked about is mind boggling,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and it might be in the future, [br]particularly if there are further economic

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
problems flying out of what's [br]happened in Asia that some

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Australian government somewhere might say[br]"Well let's have a look at this."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(George) Jobs and profits are one thing

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
-- the politics of the nuclear debate [br]another thing entirely.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The Government's already faced with[br]the passions aroused by the go-aheads

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for the Jabiluka and Beverley [br]uranium mines,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
by its own search for a dump [br]for Australia's low-level and intermediate

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
nuclear waste, and by plans for a new

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
nuclear research reactor at Sydney's [br]Lucas Heights.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
To add Pangea to the menu would [br]seem cause political indigestion.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Senator Nick Minchin, Minister for Industry &amp; Resources:[br]Q: Is your policy determined on the science of the matter,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the environmental issues of the [br]matter, or the simple politics of it?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
A: Well it's a combination. I mean the

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
position of the Australian [br]community is critical

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and as I say, I don't think there's

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
any basis on which the community [br]is prepared to accept this.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Peter George:[br]But Pangea's been at work on this area too.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
While proposals to replace the old Lucas Heights reactor

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
are causing controversy, Pangea believes

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Australian antagonism to nuclear issues is not

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
as deep rooted as it seems.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Peter George:[br]Over 18 months, Pangea's spent a quarter

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of a million dollars on polling by the

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Liberal Party's own pollster Mark Textor

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
whose report warns Pangea that most [br]Australians are ill-informed and afraid of

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nuclear issues. But crucially, the report

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goes on to say: "as long as people's [br]safety concerns can be satisfied,

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and we cannot over-emphasise the [br]importance of the magnitude

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...of this task,"

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People could see the benefits of a nuclear waste dump.

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Jim Voss, General Manager, Pangea:[br]There's about 35 per cent of the

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populous believes that Pangea may [br]well be in the national interest.

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A very solid 25-28 per cent [br]are absolutely convinced

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that it wouldn't be in the nation's [br]best interest.

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The group in the middle are asking the [br]fundamental question of why?

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Why dispose of this material?

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Why now? Why Australia?

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Senator Nick Minchin, Minister for Industry &amp; Resources:[br]I've, as you know, been involved in

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the professional side of the [br]Liberal Party for 14 years.

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I did a lot of polling myself.

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I'd have to say I know all the [br]tricks of the trade

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and I know you can get any result you like

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depending on the way you ask the question

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Footage - Pangea advertisement:[br]"There's no safer place in

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the world to make the world a safer place"

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Peter George:[br]For now, Pangea's advertising

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campaign is on hold; plans to start

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field studies this year are postponed,

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but with so much money behind it, Pangea

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and those who support it believe time [br]can be used to advantage.

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Footage -- Pangea advertisement:[br]"...And a kilometre under a remote dessert in Australia is a gigantic non-porous rock that hasn't moved for millions of years, and won't for millions more."

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Prof. Brian Anderson, Australian National University:[br]I certainly believe there's a chance for the proposal to get off the ground. I'm not sure of the time scale, but this is a problem that's going to be with us for a very very long time and you know -- governments change and, and politicians, Ministers change and our relationships with other countries change so to imagine that we could continue to maintain an attitude that we're not even going to look at the proposal -- I don't think that's sustainable.

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Dr. Carmen Lawrence, MP for Fremantle, Labor:[br]If any illustration was needed of the fact that you can't dispose safely of waste -- it's the Pangea proposal. I've actually learned of this proposal in some detail. I made it my business to find out about it. They are serious, they are well-funded,...they're people who've worked around the mining industry for a very long time and I think it would be foolish of anybody -- government or people such as me opposed to what they're proposing to underestimate their their long term commitment to this proposal.

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Peter George:[br]Faced with closed doors at a federal level, Pangea's strategy has focused on Perth, where it thinks political opposition may be softer and divisions may exist.

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While no member of the West Australian government would speak to Four Corners, Premier Richard Court recently ruled out the Pangea proposal -- though in 1994 he did support a national dump for low and medium-level waste in the state's gold fields.

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Though the Resources Minister also rejects Pangea -- the company thinks the state is nevertheless sending mixed signals.

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Colin Barnett, WA Resources Development Minister(26 March 1999):[br]I can see a scenario developing in future where countries that sell uranium will share some of the obligations for disposing of the waste but that in the first instance is an issue for the Australian government, and I think Australia as a signatory to the non-proliferation treaty needs to be part of the international debate about uranium.

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Jim Voss, General Manager, Pangea:[br]Q: Are there doors open? Is there interest?[br]A: I don't think overtly there is or there is any evidence there is not. There's a long educational process that would have to be done before we'd be, we'd know whether there really are doors open.

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Senator Nick Minchin, Minister for Industry &amp; Resources:[br]The only way this could advance, in fact is if a state government decided that it would like to entertain this proposition and grant the relevant state approvals for such a project to proceed. But it's not going to go anywhere without the Commonwealth authorising the importation of the materials.

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Jim Voss, General Manager, Pangea:[br]Q: Senator Minchin has said to us,[br]A: Mmm....[br]Q: ...To Four Corners -- we will not become a dumping ground for the world's nuclear waste.[br]A: Mmm-hmm.[br]Q: Premier Court has said We don't want to be the dump for other countries' waste.[br]A: Mmm-hmm.[br]Q: Now those seem pretty clear policies don't they?[br]A: Yes.[br]Q: Do you see any door open at all under those circumstances?[br]A: Taken at face value, those words would say absolutely there's no door open.[br]Q: So why not pack up and go away under those circumstances?[br]A: It's as I said to you a moment ago, the, if you, you have to turn this on it's ear. If they've said yes today, would it be any more meaningful to us in the long term? If our board and our investors would like us to move forward and to try to turn a no into a yes on a bipartisan basis, then that's what we'll do.

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Peter George:[br]Ten days ago, Pangea representatives from Britain and the United States flew in to Melbourne for a two-day strategy meeting, while last week in Perth -- Pangea hosted a dozen Australian and international scientists for a first private meeting of its scientific review board.

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Jim Voss, General Manager, Pangea:[br]Q: So how much more money, how much more time are you prepared to put into this before you actually have to make a decision?[br]A: Well first up that's not my decision, that's, that's the decision of the board of directors.[br]Q: Mmm, but you speak for Pangea -- you must know what the view is?[br]A: In the broader sense the sometime during this calendar year there will be a decision as to what course of action to take next -- which country, which course, which strategy.

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Peter George:[br]Pangea's strategy has brought about its own undoing, opening it to the same accusations of secrecy that has dogged the nuclear industry from birth.

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But succeed or fail, it's an uncomfortable reminder that Australia is, after all, a part of the nuclear world and its problems.

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David Pentz, Chairman, Pangea:[br]At the present moment Australia provides a significant quantity of uranium to the world. If in fact there is a repository it's kind of like womb to tomb. So to say that Australia is not a nuclear power state is correct right, but it is in the nuclear fuel cycle.

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Senator Nick Minchin, Minister for Industry and Resources:[br]It does not then follow that Australia is required to receive back all that waste material, and I really do think countries have to take a very responsible approach when they enter into the business of generating their electricity by nuclear power.

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Dr. Carmen Lawrence, MP for Fremantle, Labor:[br]Australia is putting itself I think, in a difficult position by continuing to expand the nuclear industry by as the current government is doing expanding the mining of uranium in this country. We are in a sense placing ourselves in some position of obligation to the disposal of those wastes.

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Peter George:[br]If it fails in Australia, Pangea says it'll turn its focus to Argentina.

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But it's the unique combination of geology, political stability and international credentials that first brought Pangea to Australia -- credentials which have put Australia in the nuclear limelight and will continue to do so as concern about nuclear waste and nuclear disarmament grows into the next century.