Muckaty nuclear waste plan dumped! After an eight year struggle, and culminating in a legal challenge in the Federal Court, Muckaty Traditional Owners forced the Federal Government and Northern Land Council to drop their ill-conceived plans for a nuclear waste dump at Muckaty, north of Tennant Creek. But the federal and NT Governments are still encouraging Aboriginal people to nominate their ancestral lands to store the waste. Since it was first announced in 2005 Federal Government plans to build a national radioactive waste dump at Muckaty, 120kms north of Tennant Creek, have been met with staunch resistance from Traditional Owners, transport and emergency services workers, public health, environment and civil society groups right across the Territory and the country.
In May 2014 the Environment Centre NT and Beyond Nuclear Initiative launched a television and social media campaign to raise awareness of the risks that the Muckaty waste dump plan poses to the health of Northern Territory communities, workers, our waterways and the environment. You can check it out here: http://youtu.be/EDcliZ_EHLY. These groups, and many more, called on the Federal Government to dump the Muckaty dump plan and instead initiate an expert and independent national commission to responsibly manage Australia’s radioactive waste problem.