Forums > Events, Performances and Gatherings > Narangba Irradiation Eviction Party, Feb 8-10

Posted: 5th Feb 2003
The nuclear industry invites itself to dinner

BY ANNA BARNES
& BETTINA QUATACKER
BRISBANE ? Steritech, the company that has proposed the construction of a nuclear irradiation plant for Narangba in Brisbane, has applied to the Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) to allow the nuclear irradiation of foods such as herbs, spices, oil seeds, nuts and teas in Australia and New Zealand.
ANZFA is now reviewing public submissions on the amendment to the Irradiation of Food Code (standard A-17) sought by Steritech. Final approval rests with the Australia New Zealand Foods Council, a body made up of all Australian and New Zealand health ministers. It will most likely make a final decision at its mid-year meeting. There will a second opportunity for public input between mid-March and mid-April.
The approval of Steritech's application would result in the expansion of the nuclear industry into the food industry. Application by Steritech for the nuclear irradiation of fruit, vegetables and meat products would soon follow. This is what has happened in the United States, where food is irradiated at nuclear facilities using radioactive isotopes cobalt 60 or caesium 137.
If Steritech's application is successful, food would be irradiated at its plants in Wetherill Park, Sydney, and at the proposed plant in Brisbane. If ANZFA allows food to be irradiated, the permitted sources of radiation would include the radionuclide cobalt 60, x-rays or electrons generated from machine sources. Cobalt 60, manufactured in a nuclear reactor in Canada, would be used in Australia. Caesium 137, a waste component of nuclear power reactors and nuclear weapons production, is so far prohibited as an irradiation source in Australia.
Federal minister for the environment Robert Hill confirmed on January 5 that the nuclear irradiation facility will require further assessment under the Federal Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 referral process. Depending on the type of assessment there may be opportunities for public input.
The Caboolture Shire Council in Brisbane did not request an environmental impact assessment from Steritech before granting approval for the new plant's construction. Approval for food irradiation would also result in an increase of nuclear materials being transported, without public consultation, on public roads and through local council areas that have been declared nuclear-free zones.
Queensland's minister for health Wendy Edmond has indicated that she is likely to approve a licence for Steritech to use, transport and store radioactive cobalt 60 as long as Steritech satisfies regulations under the State Radiation Safety Act. There is no avenue for public input and there are no other grounds for refusal of the licence. Only political pressure on the state minister can prevent it.
Steritech promotes food irradiation as a method to extend the shelf-life of food, to kill microbes and pests, and to prevent the germination of food or weed seeds that may be present in the food.
Health concerns
Irradiation involves food being placed on a conveyor belt and passed through a shielded chamber where it is exposed to gamma radiation for a calculated period of time. The irradiated food is stored to reduce any toxicity induced by irradiation and then transported for further processing by food manufacturers.
Irradiation breaks the chemical bonds in food. These chemical bonds recombine into new chemical compounds called radiolytic products and are known to be carcinogenic. The chemical changes produced by irradiation also result in the release of free radicals which can weaken the human immune system by depleting natural levels of anti-oxidants and can therefore promote cancer.
The long-term effects of irradiated food on human health is uncertain. Few tests have been performed on human beings. One scientific study, performed by the National Institute of Nutrition in India to examine the effects of irradiated food on malnourished people, was published in the American Journal of Nutrition in 1975. The nuclear industry promotes food irradiation as a means to alleviate world hunger.
Fifteen children suffering from protein-calorie malnutrition were divided into three groups of five. The children who received freshly irradiated wheat developed abnormal cells. These cells gradually disappeared when the diet of irradiated wheat was withdrawn. The number of abnormal cells in the children on a diet of stored irradiated wheat was much less, and children on a diet of unirradiated wheat showed no evidence of abnormal cells.
Steritech brochures promote the use of nuclear irradiation on animal feed. There have been a wide range of scientific studies on the effect of irradiated food on a variety of laboratory animals. Effects have included lowered immune resistance, abnormal lymph cells, decreased fertility, damage to kidneys, depressed growth rates and vitamin deficiencies (see the food irradiation fact sheet, ?`Is Daily Use of Irradiated Food Safe??, issued by Friends of the Earth).
According to Hansard, the construction of the Brisbane nuclear irradiation plant has never been discussed in the Queensland parliament in the past 10 years, except for one passing remark in 1995.
Opponents of food irradiation are urged to contact Queensland health minister Wendy Edmond to say no to food irradiation and no to the granting of a licence for Steritech to use, transport and store radioactive Cobalt 60. The minister's phone number is (07) 3234 1191.
For more information about food irradiation, visit the following web sites: ; ; ; ; and .
The Stop Food Irradiation Alliance has been formed to campaign against the nuclear facility in Brisbane. Phone (07) 3846 5793 or (07) 3876 2267, email , or write to PO Box 5702, West End, Qld, 4101.
[Abridged from Good News, a monthly newsletter produced by Everyone For a Nuclear Free Future, Brisbane. If you would like to subscribe ($20 per year), email ENuFF at or phone (07) 3358 3813.]