The government's position is based on the clear principle that countries deriving benefits from nuclear power should expect to make their own arrangement to dispose of nuclear waste. Kurzeme is undeterred by the Australian government's opposition. The Federal Minister for Resources, Nick Minchin, rejects the proposed high level waste dump but argues new legislation to ban the importation of international nuclear waste is unnecessary. Under the current customs regulations nuclear waste is a prohibited import. Anti-nuclear campaigners argue that it is far easier to change regulations than legislation.
Public resistance extends to Australia's own low-level nuclear waste.
The opinion poll released by Greenpeace reveals that 86 percent of people living in South Australia, Minchin's home state, oppose the proposal for a low-level nuclear waste dump for Australian generated waste that has been endorsed by the Australian government. The proposal to establish an international nuclear waste dump in Australia came to light when a promotional video from British Nuclear Fuels was leaked to Friends of the Earth in London in December 1998 and was subsequently released in Australia. The goals of Pangea, however, are sufficiently justified alone by the need to deal with waste from existing commercial reactors and from the dismantling of nuclear weapons programs. The key issues concern safety, environmental impact, security and ethics. All Rights Reserved.