Secret radioactive waste facility built near Palmerston North

• A secretive facility for storing New Zealand’s radioactive waste has been built near Palmerston North, sparking outrage from locals.
• The Health Ministry redesignated a section of Defence Force land for the facility, which became operational earlier this year.
• Neighbours, including Mary Wilson, were not informed, raising concerns about transparency and safety.
• The Health Ministry has told the Herald the facility was built in secret due to “national security considerations”, but a leading international expert believes the Government should have been more transparent.
• The Health Ministry says the facility stores low-level and intermediate-level waste, like redundant radiation devices for treating cancer patients.

A facility for storing all of New Zealand’s radioactive waste has been secretly built near Palmerston North, in a decision neighbouring farmers have called “horrifying” and “deceptive”.

The building, surrounded by a 2.5m-high fence, padlocked gates and CCTV, has been constructed next to New Zealand Defence Force communication dishes in rural Manawatū. The facility sits on Defence Force land – part of which was redesignated by the Health Ministry.

The Health Ministry said the facility stores low-level and intermediate-level waste, such as redundant radiation devices for treating cancer patients.

However, it was built without the public being notified – a move which is out of step with our Australian neighbours who have a temporary radioactive storage site at Lucas Heights in Sydney which has been toured by journalists.

The facility in rural Manawatū is the national storage site for all of New Zealand's radioactive waste and was planned and built in secrecy at the request of Government officials. Photo / Ben Dickens

New Zealand’s national storage facility neighbours prime Manawatū farmland, but residents were not informed of the building plans which were kept secret at the request of government officials.

Neighbour Mary Wilson, whose family formerly owned the land where the facility was built, said she was appalled by the lack of transparency.

“I was horrified and upset. I couldn’t believe that it (the facility) had gone up and nobody had asked us about it or discussed it,” she told the Herald.

The land was originally acquired by the Crown from the Wilson family for “defence purposes”. But in recent years, the Health Ministry got permission from the Manawatū District Council to redesignate a portion of the land for “storage purposes”. The construction of the ministry’s facility started at the end of 2022 and has been in use since February this year.

Wilson, whose family has farmed in the area since 1873, only found out about the purpose of the building after visiting the local council in July to register her dog.

She asked reception staff about the building and was provided with a one-page document which stated the facility was for storing “used medical equipment and other items”. She queried the meaning of “other items” and was then furnished with planning documents showing the facility was being used to store all of the country’s spent radioactive waste.

“That’s just a hideous thing to have on your back door, and it’s the lack of consultation or notice that’s the worst.”

Health officials visited Mary Wilson to assure her the site was safe after she found out the facility was for storing spent radioactive waste. Photo / Ben Dickens

When Wilson complained to the Defence Force and local council about the facility, Health Ministry officials turned up at her home armed with home-baked biscuits to assure her and neighbour Richard Waugh the facility was safe.

She claims officials asked her not to tell anyone about the site, insisting the project was a “national security” matter and they’d sought a non-notifiable consent for this reason.

Wilson did not accept the explanation telling the Herald that “people have a right to know”.

“We didn’t have the chance to object to it. I don’t believe they kept it secret for national security reasons. I think it’s so they could get it up there without us knowing.”

Farmer Richard Waugh lives 500m away from the radioactive storage site and wants it moved elsewhere. Photo / Ben Dickens

Richard Waugh, who leases grazing land adjacent to the facility for his cattle and lives 500m away, told the Herald it should have been built somewhere else.

“You just expect in this day and age when everyone is supposed to be pretty open and transparent, you don’t get away with just sweeping s*** under the carpet.”

‘National security considerations’

Director-General of Health Dr Diana Sarfati. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Health Ministry says the facility holds an “insignificant” amount of radioactive waste compared to countries that rely on nuclear power, and reiterated to the Herald that it was kept secret because of “national security considerations.”

New Zealand produces radioactive waste material from industries including health, industry, agriculture, research, and education, the ministry said.

Director-General of Health Dr Diana Sarfati gave the example of a teletherapy head – part of a radiation machine that used Cobalt-60 to treat cancer patients – as one radioactive item kept in the facility.

Sarfati noted New Zealand does not have any material classified as high-level waste – mainly generated through use of nuclear reactors – nor are there plans to import any. Only low-level and intermediate-level waste is stored at the facility.

She said the plans to build the facility involved “multiple agencies and international expert advice”, and the ministry requested a non-notifiable resource consent from the Manawatū District Council on national security grounds.

“While the ministry provides public information in respect of the national storage of spent radioactive material, it does not publicly disclose the location of the facility or the exact nature of its contents due to national security considerations,” she said.

The ministry also requested that people engaged in building, maintaining, and supporting the national facility do not disclose the nature or location of the national storage facility, she said.

Facility should not be ‘concealed from the public’

Ian Lowe is an emeritus professor in the school of environment and science at Griffith University in Queensland. He was a member of Australia's Radiation Health and Safety Advisory Council for 12 years. Photo / Supplied

Radiation safety expert Ian Lowe from Queensland’s Griffith University did not agree with the secrecy adopted by New Zealand authorities.

The emeritus professor, who was a member of Australia’s Radiation Health and Safety Advisory Council for 12 years, told the Herald low-level and intermediate-level waste is not as dangerous as high-level waste such as spent fuel from nuclear reactors.

He argued the Government should be transparent.

“Perhaps the Government doesn’t want to arouse unnecessary fears, but I think it is good practice to be open.”

He argued “sunlight is the best disinfectant”, emphasising that the greater risk is being secretive which makes the public think “something very nasty is being hidden from them”.

“I don’t think there’s good reason to not inform the public. I think there’s good reason to have proper security there if it has intermediate-level waste. I don’t think that sort of thing should be concealed from the public.”

‘It makes a mockery of the Air Force’

The radioactive waste facility is surrounded by a fence, CCTV cameras and the front gate is only accessible by a coded electronic keypad. It's been built next to NZDF communication dishes. Photo / Ben Dickens

The land where the storage facility was built was acquired by the Crown from the Wilson family for “defence purposes” in 1936 and for years the only defence assets on the site were three large satellite dishes and a now unmanned control centre.

However, in September 2021, the Health Ministry sought to redesignate a corner of the section for “storage purposes” which was approved by the Manawatū District Council.

It was not until March 24, 2022, that an engineering consultancy firm submitted plans on behalf of the ministry to the council revealing a facility would be built to house New Zealand’s spent radioactive material. Radioactive waste would be delivered to the site “once or twice” a month by courier vans or trucks, according to the plans.

The plans detailed the secure nature of the 300sq m building, which has concrete and steel-clad walls, and said it would comply with various international and domestic codes for the storage of radioactive waste.

Just over a month later, on April 29, 2022, a council planner gave it the green light saying in an outline planning document he was satisfied the potential for adverse effects were “no more than minor”.

Wilson said that in her opinion it was an “absolute failure” by council not to object to the plan. She also questions why her family was not informed of the variation of the land designation given the original purpose of the land when sold was for defence purposes.

The Herald has asked the Manawatū District Council if it could have objected, and what process was followed, but is yet to receive a response.

Mary Wilson, whose family has been farming in the area since 1873, says she's horrified and disappointed authorities secretly constructed a facility for storing radioactive waste near her home. Photo / Ben Dickens

When Health Ministry staff visited Wilson to try to allay her concerns, one of the officials followed up the in-person meeting with an email.

The email said there was “no health risk” to the public, noting the radioactive waste stored at the facility was “in solid form” and “fully double encapsulated” to minimise emissions or exposure. Staff working in the facility have radiation monitors but didn’t wear hazardous material suits given the low levels of radiation at the facility, the email said.

Wilson told the Herald while she didn’t think radioactive material would “leak out of the walls”, no one can predict events in the future.

It can take up to 40 years for low-level waste to decay to a safe radioactive level, while intermediate material can take hundreds if not thousands of years to be safe.

“Everything is safe until something goes wrong. I would like it to be gone, taken away.”

She was perplexed as to why officials had deemed it appropriate to build the facility next to Defence Force assets.

“Who would put radioactive waste right next to Defence Force communication dishes. It doesn’t make sense, and it makes a mockery of the Air Force.”

Richard Waugh feels the radioactive storage site has “been snuck through the back door”. Photo / Ben Dickens

Waugh, who’s farmed in the area for 25 years, felt if there were national security concerns at play, it should have been hidden and not built next to a busy road neighbouring three farms.

“Move it away, go and hide it somewhere. Get it away from everyone. There’s plenty of room at Waiōuru,” he said.

He said everything about the building has been “hush, hush,” and feels it’s “been snuck through the back door”.

Waugh said during the meeting with health officials they insisted the facility was safe and said they monitored groundwater for radiation through boreholes around the site.

But Waugh was left unconvinced.

“It might be safe today, but once we get 10, 20 or 30 years down the track, if something does go wrong, we’ve missed the boat.”

The facility is ‘misleading’ and ‘deceptive’

The Health Ministry's radioactive waste storage facility has signs which say "defence area" on the surrounding perimeter fence. Photo / Ben Dickens

Council plans say the Health Ministry confirmed the facility meets the International Atomic Energy Agency guidelines, the Radiation Safety Act 2016, the New Zealand code of practice for sealed radioactive waste and rules about security for such waste.

The rules for sealed radioactive material clearly state signs must be “prominently displayed” to warn the public of controlled areas and the presence of radioactive material.

The Herald saw three signs around the property, but they only warned of a “radiation hazard” from the Defence Force communications dishes.

A radiation hazard sign on a fence next to New Zealand Defence Force communication dishes. Photo / Ben Dickens

Nothing on the storage facility says it contains radioactive waste, nor does it suggest the building has anything to do with the Health Ministry.

The only visible signs on the facility’s perimeter fence state it’s a “defence area”.

Mary Wilson’s son, Geordie Wilson, who’s just returned home after working in Canada for the past two years, felt locals had been “deceived intentionally” and the signs on the facility’s fence were misleading.

Mary Wilson's son, Geordie Wilson, believes the facility is deliberately misleading and deceptive. Photo / Ben Dickens

“It’s signed as a defence area, which is what it’s always been as a communications outpost, but that’s not what it [the facility] is. That feels intentional,” he said.

He said it appeared the building was a defence force facility when in reality it was storing spent radioactive waste.

“Mum has felt so deceived by this whole thing. Normally, if something like this was to be installed, there would be discussion around it which has just not happened at all. It’s been intentionally avoided.”

Expert critical of lack of signage

The Health Ministry says the facility has signs inside the building warning visitors of the presence of radioactive material. Photo / Ben Dickens

Sarfati told the Herald the facility “aligns” with current codes for storing radioactive waste, despite the absence of explicit warnings on the building’s exterior.

“Signage is used inside the building to alert visitors to the presence of radioactive material. Radioactivity signage is not used outside the building. This aligns with New Zealand’s current codes of practice and national security considerations,” she said.

She said the high degree of security reduced potential for unauthorised access or theft, the facility gets inspected by the International Atomic Energy Agency and is monitored on a weekly basis by local scientists who operate it.

Lowe argued the site should have exterior signs including the distinctive internationally recognised black and yellow radiation symbol, so the public know what’s inside.

“It would be good practice that there be signage both on the building and on the fence that indicates that there are radioactive materials. You can imagine kids innocently thinking this looks like an interesting building, let’s look inside. If you only find out there’s radioactive material once inside you could have then been exposed.”

Lowe told the Herald there isn’t secrecy regarding Australia’s radioactive waste.

Australia has a large temporary storage facility at Lucas Heights in Sydney, where thousands of sealed metal drums containing low-level waste are stored on shelves.

The facility, part of Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, also houses the country’s only nuclear reactor which creates radioactive isotopes for use in hospitals and research. Intermediate-level waste is generated from the reactor and is also stored securely at the facility.

Efforts to find a permanent national storage site for radioactive waste in Australia have been divisive, with plans for a national dump near Kimba in South Australia scrapped last year after indigenous landowners challenged the move in court.

Site previously visited by Prince Charles

Prince Charles made a special flying visit to the site in 1994 when it was an organic farm. Photo / Ben Dickens

The Manawatū land where the radioactive waste facility now sits was once home to a prized organic farm, which Prince Charles made a special point of visiting in 1994.

A longtime proponent of organic farming, the now King toured the farm with Wilson’s relatives who farmed the area at the time.

“At that stage James and Barbie Wilson were farming it, and they were totally organic. He [Prince Charles] drove up to the farm because he wanted to see an organic farm in New Zealand,” Mary Wilson said.

She doubted King Charles would approve of the way the land was secretly repurposed.

“I don’t think he’d be very impressed, would he? He wouldn’t come,” she said.

Geordie Wilson felt the storage site tarnished the land that his family had farmed for generations.

“I don’t know whether or not it’s inherently safe, but by nature of what it is, it’s a blemish on what’s such a beautiful piece of land.”

His mother spent years improving the land.

“We have over a hundred hectares of trees on the farm that has been retired, which included fencing off streams. I love it and think it’s very special,” she said.

She feels her efforts have been met with a “slap in the face” and said the storage site sullied one of New Zealand’s farming heartlands.

Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won the best coverage of a major news event at the 2024 Voyager NZ Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald’s video team in July 2024.