P A R L I A M E N T  O F  A U S T R A L I A

H O U S E  O F  R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

PARLIAMENT HOUSE

CANBERRA. A.C.T. 2600

TEL (062) 72 1211

/z5

CINEMA CENTRE BUILDING

CNR DENHAM ST & ALMA LANE

P.O. BOX 193

ROCKHAMPTON, OLD 4700

TEL (079) 27 6455, A/H 2 4408

2 October,  197,3

Statement by Dr Doug Everingham, Shadow Minister for Northern  Australia Â·

After seeing the tightly guarded Lucas Heights Atomic Research

Centre near Sydney oh Friday I believe we have a competent and

careful team of scientists running a safe and useful unit,  but this

does not warrant supporting a nuclear power industry.

POWER RISKS

The risks of killing people are present in all energy production.

Coal miners,  users of level crossings where coal trains pass,

builders and others are killed in producing electricity from coal.

Unknown thousands are dying faster because' of tons of uranium

being belched into the air from coal-burning power houses.

Wind power,  often requiring hazardous climbing in windy i Ã¢ÂÂ   .  Ã¢ÂÂ   i

conditions,  is almost as risky per unit of power produced. j

Solar heaters have caused deaths of people climbing on roofs Ã¢ÂÂ  '  I

Â·  |

to clear snow from their heat collectors. j

So far no deaths from radioactivity leakage have been admitted '

as due to nuclear reactors. The usual construction risks apply

in these establishments^ and some jobs there are available only

for a few years per worker due to the high radiation exposure

involved.

The long term risks are less certain. No waste disposal problems  occurred have yet at the Federal Government's Lucas Heights centre as it

produces only a hundredth of the waste of an ordinary power reactor.

Cont...

From DOUG EVERINGHAM. M.H.R., M.B., B.S. FEDERAL MEMBER FOR CAPRICORNIA

OPPOSITION SPOKESMAN ON ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS & NORTHERN AUSTRALIA

Pa. ÃÂ»

RESEARCH

The heat it produces is not used. Its sole applications are

for research and production of radioactive isotopes.

These are atoms, the smallest units of matter,  "labelled" by

bombarding their nuclei (cores) with neutrons (electrically non-

charged particles) from the disintegrating nuclei of uranium

which,  like radium,  is radioactive.

Radioactivity is a tendency of atomic nuclei to break down,

turning the atoms into lighter isotopes —  atoms of the same

element— or more often into two separate (smaller) atoms of

different elements. - .  , Ã¢ÂÂ   j . -  Ã¢ÂÂ   Ã¢ÂÂ   . * < Â·  Ã¢ÂÂ

An element is one of those one hundred or so pure substances

which are chemically simple.- that is, composed of atoms which

all behave in the same way chemically.

Isotopes of various elements are produced in some quantity in

this artificial way by crowding together radioactive atoms like

uranium to bombard each other and so speed up their breakdown,  so

that they then bombard other atoms.

At Lucas Heights this brings the reactor cooling water up to

heat. In atom bombs enormous pressures force the atoms tightly

together to produce explosive temperatures like those of the sun's

surface.

The artificial isotopes keep the chemical properties of their

parent atoms. That is, they combine chemically to form the same

chemical substances in living or dead matter. But they usually

break down quickly to their original size, losing the extra

neutrons and giving off tell-tale wavelengths of gamma rays

(penetrating waves like radio and light rays but much shorter,

including X-rays.)

By choosing the right chemical, these tell-tale "labelled"

about 50Â°C whereas in power generating reactors the core  / reaches white

wate

atoms can be traced by Geigercounter type detectors. This

gives them an enormous range of uses, including tracing pests,

disease processes and gas leakages, unravelling the normal

path of unlabelled atoms of the same element,.and tracing artesian^

Trace elements can be detected in billionths by bombarding

soil etc. and then tracing the "color" or wavelength of the gamma

radiation set up. This helps in crime detection. A recent

conviction was obtained by matching soil on marihuana plants wi

samples of soil from the suspected source and pinpointing it within

yards. Ã¢ÂÂ

No fees were charged for these tests. Where services are

charged for the proceeds go to Government revenue. This is

frustrating to dedicated staff. They could multiply the services

perhaps five times if they were not so squeezed for plant and

staff. Such facilities could repay the taxpayer many times ove

Even when plant purchases are approved, the money must be spent

in the Budget year or forfeited. Yet some advanced gear can't be

delivered for 18 months. Bureaucracy is strangling initiative and

Australia's image and self-sufficiency.

POLITICS

uWhy do you oppose uranium mining'! people ask me, Â°when at best a sixth of the world's power will ever be needed from power houses,

most uranium will be used up in about 20 years and Australia hal

only a fifth of the world's supply? 'it's coming whether you l}ke

it or not," they say.

My answer is

1) There is a more permanent, cheaper, cleaner, equally safe

alternative: The solar power project at the National University,

2) Some nation sometime must set an example of putting people

before profit and peace before unbridled economic growth which

will use up one limited natural substance after another - some of

them are already getting much dearer to extract.

3) Nuclear proliferation multiplies the chances of atomic war.

; . -  - -  Â» v ,

4) Nuclear power systems put large transnational monopoliesÂ»>%n,

charge of huge centralized plants which are paid for by governments

and dismantled at unpredictable final cost.

5 } These tightly controlled centres will require strict

increasing military security,  restrict civilian freedom of

movement,  attract saboteurs and war missiles toÂ· paralyse the

large areas supplied by each unit,  and encourage secrecy and

suppression of the public's right to know by bureaucrats who are

already too secretive so as to protect their empire^ from

criticism. -

DOUG EVERINGHAM,  MHR c')

