SYDNEY, Thursday 24 April 2025 — A brand new report from Greenpeace Australia Pacific has proven the Coalition’s nuclear plan might produce 14 billion Coke cans’ price of radioactive waste a 12 months, warning it’s a matter of when, not if, a nuclear waste accident might happen in Australia.
Launched within the lead-up to the thirty ninth anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe, the report, ‘Poisonous menace: The hazard of nuclear waste in Australia’ exhibits that the Coalition has grossly understated the quantity of harmful waste its nuclear plan will produce — 14 billion occasions greater than the ‘single coke can’ for a small modular reactor touted by Peter Dutton.
The report additionally outlines the unacceptable threat this waste poses to Australian communities, and warns Australia’s lengthy historical past of nuclear waste administration failures level to a really excessive chance of future nuclear catastrophe.
Joe Rafalowicz, Head of Local weather and Power at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, mentioned: “Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan is a harmful and costly catastrophe ready to occur. From Chernobyl to Fukushima, the devastation of nuclear disasters is a threat that Australia can not afford to, and doesn’t must, take.
“Australians don’t want the equal of 14 billion Coke cans of radioactive nuclear waste yearly. The Coalition has not provided a reputable plan for the way it will handle nuclear waste safely, nor the way it will fund this multibillion greenback effort.
“Australia’s unenviable observe document of mismanaging even low-level nuclear waste, in addition to a historical past of radioactive incidents within the US, UK and EU, reveals how advanced it’s to handle nuclear waste safely. Multiplying that problem many occasions over by constructing a fleet of nuclear reactors might have devastating penalties for communities and ecosystems.
“Worldwide examples present that accidents, pure disasters, and different waste administration failures happen with alarming regularity. A nuclear waste accident might result in mass casualties, long-term well being impacts, and the contamination of groundwater, farmland, and ecosystems for millennia. The clean-up invoice from an incident can be astronomical, costing billions of {dollars}.
“Australia doesn’t want nuclear vitality, which is only a smokescreen to extend using climate-wrecking coal and fuel for many years. We’re virtually midway to powering the nation with clear, inexpensive wind and photo voltaic, and ought to be supercharging efforts to get to 100% renewables backed by storage.
“The Coalition has not requested communities like Collie, Latrobe Valley and the Hunter Valley for his or her consent to construct nuclear reactors and waste dumps of their backyards, however the upcoming Federal Election is an opportunity for voters to have a say in Australia’s vitality future. Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan is just too harmful to proceed, and Australians ought to strongly reject the thought of nuclear vitality right here.”
—ENDS—
Be aware to editors: Pictures of a latest Greenpeace anti-nuclear protest on the Coalition’s election marketing campaign launch get together can be found right here.
For extra info or to rearrange an interview, please contact Vai Shah on 0452 290 082 / [email protected].
SYDNEY, Thursday 24 April 2025 — A brand new report from Greenpeace Australia Pacific has proven the Coalition’s nuclear plan might produce 14 billion Coke cans’ price of radioactive waste a 12 months, warning it’s a matter of when, not if, a nuclear waste accident might happen in Australia.
Launched within the lead-up to the thirty ninth anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe, the report, ‘Poisonous menace: The hazard of nuclear waste in Australia’ exhibits that the Coalition has grossly understated the quantity of harmful waste its nuclear plan will produce — 14 billion occasions greater than the ‘single coke can’ for a small modular reactor touted by Peter Dutton.
The report additionally outlines the unacceptable threat this waste poses to Australian communities, and warns Australia’s lengthy historical past of nuclear waste administration failures level to a really excessive chance of future nuclear catastrophe.
Joe Rafalowicz, Head of Local weather and Power at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, mentioned: “Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan is a harmful and costly catastrophe ready to occur. From Chernobyl to Fukushima, the devastation of nuclear disasters is a threat that Australia can not afford to, and doesn’t must, take.
“Australians don’t want the equal of 14 billion Coke cans of radioactive nuclear waste yearly. The Coalition has not provided a reputable plan for the way it will handle nuclear waste safely, nor the way it will fund this multibillion greenback effort.
“Australia’s unenviable observe document of mismanaging even low-level nuclear waste, in addition to a historical past of radioactive incidents within the US, UK and EU, reveals how advanced it’s to handle nuclear waste safely. Multiplying that problem many occasions over by constructing a fleet of nuclear reactors might have devastating penalties for communities and ecosystems.
“Worldwide examples present that accidents, pure disasters, and different waste administration failures happen with alarming regularity. A nuclear waste accident might result in mass casualties, long-term well being impacts, and the contamination of groundwater, farmland, and ecosystems for millennia. The clean-up invoice from an incident can be astronomical, costing billions of {dollars}.
“Australia doesn’t want nuclear vitality, which is only a smokescreen to extend using climate-wrecking coal and fuel for many years. We’re virtually midway to powering the nation with clear, inexpensive wind and photo voltaic, and ought to be supercharging efforts to get to 100% renewables backed by storage.
“The Coalition has not requested communities like Collie, Latrobe Valley and the Hunter Valley for his or her consent to construct nuclear reactors and waste dumps of their backyards, however the upcoming Federal Election is an opportunity for voters to have a say in Australia’s vitality future. Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan is just too harmful to proceed, and Australians ought to strongly reject the thought of nuclear vitality right here.”
—ENDS—
Be aware to editors: Pictures of a latest Greenpeace anti-nuclear protest on the Coalition’s election marketing campaign launch get together can be found right here.
For extra info or to rearrange an interview, please contact Vai Shah on 0452 290 082 / [email protected].
