Hon Robin Chapple questions the Minister for Health regarding the justification of a statement about radioactive waste half-lives at the Sandy Ridge Project, given discrepancies with Tellus Holdings' waste management plan.

AnsweredQoN 406Legislative Council
Asked
7 May 2019
Portfolio
Health

QuestionView source ↗

TELLUS HOLDINGS —
SANDY RIDGE PROJECT
406. Hon ROBIN CHAPPLE to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Minister for Health:
I refer to question without notice
122, which I asked of the parliamentary secretary representing the Minister for
Health on 21 February 2019.
Given the minister's answer
that ''Most of the radioactive isotopes that will be considered for
approval at the site will have half-lives that will ensure that the material is
not radioactive after 300 years'', how can this statement be justified,
given that the half-lives of some of the elements listed in tables 5.1 and 5.2
of Tellus Holdings Ltd's radiation waste management plan are in the
order of billions of years?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
I am advised that tables 5.1 and 5.2
reference a broad list of isotopes used in medicine and industry. Not all
isotopes listed will be deemed to be
suitable—should approval be granted—for burial at a near-surface
low-level radioactive waste facility. The half-life of an isotope is one
of the most important considerations in assessing the suitability of the waste
for disposal at the Sandy Ridge facility.

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