Humps NOT Dumps, a group of eight women and eight camels, set off on 1,000 km trip through the South Australian desert. They began their journey in July this year to raise awareness of the dangerous impacts of the growing Nuclear Industry in this country.

In November 1998, the Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta, a council of Indigenous women elders representing the Kokatha, Arabunna, Antikarinya and Yankuntjatjara communities, travelled from Coober Pedy to Melbourne, for the Global Survival and Indigenous Rights Conference. They came to meet with elders from other parts of Australia and with environmentalists to warn about government plans to dump deadly radioactive waste into their country. It was soon after this that the Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta approached Friends of the Earth and asked if something could be done to help oppose these plans for a waste dump, the response was the Anti-Nuclear Camel Trek, Humps NOT Dumps.

The eight women, Wren, Mel, Janine, Sophia, Izzy, Julia, Katherine and Luna set off in July and began an intense one month training period with their camels just north of Williams Creek, S.A. The camels were originally wild camels so had to be broken in and trained, an enduring task. Once completed, the women and camels set off to visit many of South Australia's nuclear sites.

Their first visit was to the pumping stations Borfield A and Borfield B with in the Lake Eyre region. The pumping stations are owned and used by Western Mining Company to take water from the great Artesian Basin for the purposes of uranium ore processing. Western Mining is currently licensed to take up to 42 million litres of water per day, at no cost. This process is drying up the Artesian Basin, which is why the second pumping station, Borfield B was required.

The next visit was to Olympic Dam Mine and Roxby Downs. The Olympic Dam Mine is the worlds largest uranium mine as is also owned by the Australian company Western Mining. From here they ventured south to Woomera, the launch site for the testing of rockets used to propel nuclear warheads and to Nurrunga, the recently closed joint military defense facility for the USA.

The final stage of their journey saw the women head north and then east to Beverley Uranium mine, which is east of Leigh Creek, S.A. Beverley uranium mine is a recently approved uranium mine owned by Heathgate Resources, a subsidiary of General Atomics (General Atomics is the company responisble for the atomic bomb which was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan).

Beverley Uranium mine uses the acid in situ leaching (ISL) method of mining. This technique is banned in the U.S. and other countries due to significant ground contamination. Large quantities of sulphuric acid are pumped directly into the underground water aquifer to make the uranium soluble. The solution is returned to the surface, the uranium is removed for processing and the remains are pumped back into the water table. What is returned is often highly acidic and radioactive. As it is impossible to monitor the migration of water in the aquifer, the extent and degree of contamination from this practice is unknown. There is no guarantee that the aquifers are isolated and that water will not migrate out of the region or contaminate the Great Artesian Basin which is only 100m below the aquifer.

The eight camel crusaders have now finished their journey but still continue in the campaign to raise awareness of the growing nuclear industry. If the current uranium mining practises continue and the government continues as planned to open more sites for uranium mining, we will be forced to deal with the issue of disposing of the deadly waste.

The proposal for a national radioactive waste dump in South Australia is integral to the massive expansion of the nuclear industry. A company by the name of Pangea, has selected a 'suitable' region to host the radioactive dump known as Billa Kalina. Billa Kalina is a 67,000 square kilometer region in South Australia. The proposed disposal method is shallow burial. Waste will be stored in steel drums in trenches less than 20 metres deep. It will then be covered by rammed earth or concrete. The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and the Federal Government have opted for the 'out of sight-out of mind' option. This design WILL NOT prevent leakage of liquid or gas or plant, human or animal intrusion. ANSTO claims it will have an 'engineering integrity' of 300 years, despite much of the waste having lifetimes of up to 250,000 years.

This issue is an issue which concerns all of us, especially residents of South Australia. If the waste dump for our own nuclear waste goes ahead, the next step will be to take back the waste produced by other countries who we sell our uranium to, we will become the world's dumping ground for nuclear waste.

Help support the Humps NOT Dumps campaign and write to your local politian, voicing your concerns about the proposed nuclear waste dump and increasing number of uranium mines.