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DARWIN - A Northern Territory site nominated for a national nuclear waste dump is near one of Australia's earthquake hot-spots.
Muckaty Station, nominated by the Northern Land Council for consideration by the federal government for the national facility, is about 120km north of Tennant Creek -- one of the most seismologically active areas in Australia, The Northern Territory News reports today.
The paper says figures confirmed by Geoscience Australia, the government seismological monitoring body, show there have been 239 earthquakes in the area in the past 10 years and 1298 earthquakes since 1988.
The majority of the quakes since 1988 were measured at less than 4.0 in magnitude, but 24 had a magnitude greater than 5.0.
The 1989 Newcastle earthquake measured 5.6.
Tennant Creek was also the scene of a powerful 6.3 quake in 1988 that split open the earth south of the town.
Territory Senator Nigel Scullion defended the process used to choose a nuclear waste site.
"There is an assessment process in place which takes all these issues into consideration and I have full confidence in this process," the paper quoted him as saying.
But anti-nuclear campaigners have condemned the nomination of Muckaty as a sham.
The Environment Centre NT's Emma King said the federal government should go back to the drawing board and start a process based on consultation and science.
"It's another example of the government going for political expediency rather than proper scientific evaluation in terms of siting a waste dump," she said.
Seismologists say the frequent quakes are due to a fault line running through the area.
Two small quakes have hit the Tennant Creek area in the past three weeks, both measured under 3.0 in magnitude.
A nuclear waste site in the Territory has been opposed by environmentalists, the NT government and some traditional owners.
- AAP
