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At 1.30am today, under heavy police escort, trucks carried hazardous radioactive waste from Lucas Heights, through suburban streets, to Port Botany. From there it was shipped to Cherbourg, France for reprocessing and temporary storage.
Following community opposition at the reactor in southern Sydney, Greenpeace and volunteers documented the transportion of hazardous material through General Holmes Drive tunnel under Sydney airport - a stretch of road which is banned to hazardous goods.
Greenpeace then set up a 24-hour surveillance team in Port Botany to monitor the shipment which is believed to be the highest level of nuclear waste in Australia, consisting of some 344 spent fuel rods from the Lucas Heights reactor.
Greenpeace nuclear campaigner James Courtney said, "In the longstanding tradition of Greenpeace we bore witness to this immoral activity and documented the transportation of this dangerous high-level nuclear waste.
"This could be the last time that the public get to learn about the dangerous nuclear transports being run through Sydney's streets and across the Pacific Ocean by the Federal Government. Next week the federal parliament will debate a Commonwealth Nuclear Secrets bill which, if passed, would make independent monitoring of future shipments illegal.
"Greenpeace is calling for the sections of the Bill that abolish the public's right to know about the hazards of nuclear waste transports to be rejected.
"By keeping their route secret, the Government thinks they can get away with side stepping these fundamental safety regulations. Greenpeace will continue to monitor nuclear transports to ensure that the Federal and NSW Governments are held responsible for putting the community at unneccesary risk with inadequate and dangerous management,” he said.
Following community opposition at the reactor in southern Sydney, Greenpeace and volunteers documented the transportion of hazardous material through General Holmes Drive tunnel under Sydney airport - a stretch of road which is banned to hazardous goods.
Greenpeace then set up a 24-hour surveillance team in Port Botany to monitor the shipment which is believed to be the highest level of nuclear waste in Australia, consisting of some 344 spent fuel rods from the Lucas Heights reactor.
Greenpeace nuclear campaigner James Courtney said, "In the longstanding tradition of Greenpeace we bore witness to this immoral activity and documented the transportation of this dangerous high-level nuclear waste.
"This could be the last time that the public get to learn about the dangerous nuclear transports being run through Sydney's streets and across the Pacific Ocean by the Federal Government. Next week the federal parliament will debate a Commonwealth Nuclear Secrets bill which, if passed, would make independent monitoring of future shipments illegal.
"Greenpeace is calling for the sections of the Bill that abolish the public's right to know about the hazards of nuclear waste transports to be rejected.
"By keeping their route secret, the Government thinks they can get away with side stepping these fundamental safety regulations. Greenpeace will continue to monitor nuclear transports to ensure that the Federal and NSW Governments are held responsible for putting the community at unneccesary risk with inadequate and dangerous management,” he said.
