Nuclear Citizens' Jury: an ethical case for importing nuclear wastes

But what if they are wrong?

Perhaps there IS an ethical argument for South Australia to import nuclear waste. I'm not referring to the uranium lobby's hope that by Australia importing waste it will make their industry look good, and thus help to save its current decline.

While all countries with nuclear reactors have problems in dealing with their radioactive wastes, for some countries the waste crisis is exceptionally serious. The best example of this is Japan. Japan now has over 17,000 tons of highly radioactive waste. As a highly populated land, Japan does not have many choices in areas suitable for burial of these wastes. It's a land vulnerable to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and with a population very aware of, and opposed to the risks of new nuclear facilities. The government is considering constructing a disposal facility under the seabed, but that is an idea fraught with problems. Their other solution - nuclear reprocessing, still leaves wastes for burial, and after decades of effort, is proving to be a failure.

At present Japan's Shinzo Abe government is set on reviving the nuclear industry. However, there is much popular opposition to this, and Japan might well later move to the opposite policy. Interestingly, following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown in 2013, Japan held a "deliberative poll" - a type of "citizens' jury', which resulted in this conclusion:

As a direct result of the deliberative polling process, Japan's national government has pledged to have zero percent dependency on nuclear energy after 2030.

Here is where an ethical argument comes in. If Japan took the decision to keep its nuclear reactors closed, to close down the two that are now operating, and abandon the nuclear goal, it would still have to solve the radioactive waste problem.

Japan would need help, in many ways, to achieve that goal. It would indeed be an ethical decision for a country such as Australia, to help. With more space, and a more stable geology, there could be a good case for Australia accepting Japan's nuclear waste, in this situation.

The present plan, for nuclear waste to be imported into South Australia, is based on the idea of helping South East Asian countries to set up their nuclear power projects, by conveniently solving their "back end" problem. It is above all, a plan to the benefit of the global nuclear industry, which is at present in quite a crisis.

If indeed, the waste importing idea were conditional on a Japanese plan to close down the industry, and help Japan overcome its very serious dilemma, this could be one big move towards halting the global nuclear industry juggernaut, with its undoubted connection to nuclear weapons. Japan could pay a reasonable amount to the waste host country, without being ripped off, without that country expecting to become mega wealthy. That would be one circumstance in which it would be an ethical choice for South Australia to import and dispose of nuclear waste.

"Pie in the sky!"  I hear your cry.

Yes, sadly so. Is there any chance that such an ethical decision would ever be made? I doubt it. The Nuclear Citizens' Jury is left with the question of whether or not to support the NFCRC's plan for a nuclear waste bonanza, or to risk possible State bankruptcy in the event of it all going wrong.