Nuclear waste dump a good deal, says owner


A traditional owner of Muckaty Station in the Northern Territory says she is happy to have a nuclear waste dump on her land.
Amy Lauder is one of 70 Ngapa traditional owners who have agreed to nominate the station, 120 kilometres north of Tennant Creek, as a site for Australia's nuclear waste.
The decision means scientific testing can now take place on a 1.5 square kilometre section of land.
If it is approved by the Federal Government, traditional owners will receive a one-off package of $12 million.
Amy Lauder says the money will help her people for generations and it was an informed decision.
"We fully understood and all that, we knew through all that, I felt confident of making a decision along with my family," she said.
"Before we made the decision, we fully understood everything that's been said and they talked to us about what's right and what's wrong."
But Northern Territory Chief Minister Clare Martin says the process for finding a national nuclear waste dump site has been a joke.
Ms Martin says the Territory only made it onto the Commonwealth radar by default, not through a scientific selection process.
"They were frustrated by what happened in South Australia over the Woomera area," she said.
"They simply turned around and identified three sites in the Northern Territory, and we have rejected that very strongly."
Greens Senator Christine Milne says the deal exploits Indigenous people.
"The $12 million deal to pay off the Northern Land Council is a joke," she said.
"This nuclear waste has a half-life of 25,000 years and will be dangerous for more than a quarter of a million years.
"This is the first step to making Australia a global nuclear waste dump.
"It's Howard's vision for the country."
Road access to the site will be along an existing mining road from the Stuart Highway. The agreement does not include access to the railway.
A second potential site on Muckaty Station will not proceed due to concerns about sacred sites.
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