Australia's Overflowing Nuclear Waste Dumps

Deep beneath the West Australian outback

lies the germ of an idea:

A dream about making the world

a safer place.

A dream that's gone beyond

just the dreaming.

We have a very specific goal:

Dispose of nuclear wastes,

pull out nuclear weapons

and get them out of the way.

Jim Voss envisages a catacomb

500 meters beneath his feet

that would keep safe forever

one of the most toxic poisons

known to humankind.

Australia has the opportunity to use its

democratic forces to say

this is something we should be doing

for the good of the world"

For half a century, the problem

of nuclear waste disposal

has dogged the world.

And one company called Pangea,

backed by big money and influence

wants to bury it in Australia.

"You'll find a great deal of enthusiasm

in the United States, and I suspect,

around the world."

"They have backing from credible people

in government and industry"

"To make the world a safer place

for people we love"

Tonight Four Corners goes inside

the company called Pagea.

We examine a scheme that's provoked

accusations of secrecy and

back-door influence-peddling.

A scheme that forces Australia

to confront its role in the nuclear war.

"Australia will make our world

a safer place."

"We're not interested in nuclear power,

and we're not interested in being

the world's nuclear waste dump."

"We're just headed out here

into the desert."

"What you're looking of course

though is the [inaudible]

you can find, right?"

Well, in part.

The geology is far more important

than the remoteness."

Pangea's Jim Voss

and scientist Charles McComby

took Four Corners on a long trip

from Perth, 340 km northeast of

Kalgoolie, to the reach of

the Great Victoria Desert.

"The land [inaudible]

If you look at the horizon

it's totally flat.

It's one of the flattest areas in the world

That's a real key issue for what we call

a high-isolation site."

Latitude 28 South

Longitude 123 East

Out in this area the size of Western Europe

lies a patch of ground

twenty kilometers square

that they believe could house

a repository for up to 20 percent

of the world's nuclear waste.

Out here you find Pangea rock

Very old, very stable.

The geology from which the company gets its name

"Within the basin area, of which we're

on the edge now,

there's 300 to 800 million years

of quiet buildup of sediments.

So this is one of the most stable

geological areas

that you can find in the world.

But it's not just science.

Politics is just as crucial

in dealing with radioactive waste

and nuclear disarmament.

And that's what makes Australia

more attractive than

Argentina, Namibia, and China

where Pangea rock is also found

Well, it's political stability

that we're concerned about.

Australia's tradition and

democratic principles,

Australia's environmental activism

is vital to it.

Australia's role

in the international community

and disarmament for all sorts

of weapons: nuclear, landmines,

chemical weapons.

Very important facets for us to Australia.

Behind Pangea stand three international

organizations:

The huge British-government owned nuclear

conglomerate BNFL

(British Nuclear Fuels Ltd.), which owns

which owns 80 percent,

A Canadian company called

Golder Associates,

world experts in toxic waste management.

and Nagra, a Swiss organization

responsible for finding

a nuclear waste dump for

Switzerland's nuclear industry

The simple fact is that

more than thirty countries

use nuclear power.

Pangea originally planned to

launch its scheme on Australians

last month

with a $9 million warchest

for advertising of promoting a scheme

knew would meet an incredulous public.

and skeptical politicians.

Those plans fell apart

in December last year.

when the British arm of Friends of the Earth

got ahold of the video Pangea

prepared for the launch

and sent it to Australia.

"Above all, Pangea will provide the world

with the safe solution to the disposal

of nuclear materials."

"It arrived in an unmarked borwn envelope

on my desk, and I had no idea

where it came from. I felt that

this should not be

sprung on Australians

in a kind of hole-in-the-wall

secret underhand way.

But they should learn as soon as possible.

what was being planned for them.

Before any responsible country

would send their waste for disposal

they must be certain

not only that the repositoryi is safe,

but also that its safety must be seen

to be clearly and rigorously regulated.

"We were of course disappointed.

It was our intention to roll Pangea out

in a very public and planned manner

to give everybody an opportunity

to debate.

[Meg Lees] "My question is to Senator Minchin.

is to Senator Minchin

the Minister for Resources,

[Narrator]The response to the video

was immediate.

Opponents were appalled at the idea

of a nuclear dumping ground.

[Lees] Will he rule out any involvement

of his government in the setting up

of an international nuclear waste dump

in Australia?"

[Narrator] The Federal government moved

to distance itself.

[Minchin] And the government

has absolutely no intention of accepting

radioactive waste into our country.

[Narrator] In the following months,

the industry and resources minister's

line has hardened.

There my be other countries that

in far less fortuitous economic

circumstances than Australia

that do decide they want to accept

international nuclear waste

Well, that's their business.

And that may be one way

in which those countries

with a waste problem deal with it.

Now, Australia won't be that nation

that accepts the waste

[Narrator] But Pangea's plans

for the Outback are a reminder

of Australia's part in the nuclear world.

An exporter of uranium,

part of the American nuclear umbrella,

and a leading advocate

of disarmament.

What Pangea is doing is

putting together a growing network

of international and Australian

businessmen, scientists, and policymakers

who belive that Australia should

also have a role to play in resolving one

of the nuclear age's most pressing problems

What to do with the stockpile

of nuclear waste that have been growing

now for half a century.