Aust. unsure of how to dump used fuel rods

Press, 16 August 1984, Page 12

Aust. unsure of how to dump used fuel rods

NZPA-AAP Canberra The Australian Federal Government is undecided about how to dispose of 1000 radioactive nuclear fuel rods from the Australian Atomic Energy Commission’s Lucas Heights establishment in Sydney.

The office of Senator Peter Walsh, Minister of Resources and Energy, said that the Minister was considering a commission recommendation that the spent fuel rods should be snipped to the United States for safety reasons. The commission had told the Government last year that the rods, supplied by American producers, should be sent back to the United States for reprocessing. But Senator Walsh had decided to defer any decision until after the Slatyer report on uranium policy had been completed.

The Minister’s office said the commission’s proposal had then been resubmitted to Senator Walsh, but he had still not made a decision.

Discussions were continuing with American officials on whether the United States would accept the spent rods. The Minister also was examining how the rods could be moved.

The spent fuel rods from the HIFAR reactor at Lucas Heights have been accumulating about 50 a year for the 25 years of the reactor’s use.

Lucas Heights’ deputy director, Dr Bob Smith, said the spent rods were stored in stainless-steel tubes under dry nitrogen.

Dr Smith said these cooling ponds were safe for the present, but not regarded as safe disposal in the long term.