Nuclear waste from the Lucas Heights reactor was transported by truck through Wollongong under the cover of darkness yesterday morning amid the tightest security the Illawarra has seen.More than 400 police and RTA crews locked down Wollongong between 11.30pm on Sunday and 2am yesterday as a convoy of eight trucks surrounded by police vehicles, under the spotlight of a helicopter, made the 56km journey from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation to Port Kembla.Every bridge and vantage point along the F6, Mt Ousley Rd, Masters Rd, Springhill Rd and Tom Thumb Rd was guarded by officers as the nuclear shipment made its way to Port Kembla in a security convoy stretching for hundreds of metres.
Nuclear waste ship can be tracked on the webFederal police, ambulance, fire brigade and hazardous material teams also lined the route.This was ANSTO's ninth shipment of used fuel since 1963 but the first to depart via Port Kembla.The decision to use Port Kembla has been the subject of controversy among Illawarra residents.At a public meeting earlier this month, there was concern that so little information was being provided and that the rods were to pass only metres from residents' homes. Authorities have maintained that the secrecy made the trip more secure.Police, who would not comment publicly, have unofficially described the operation as having gone "perfectly to plan" - but it was not without incident.Despite the heavy security on land, the Mercury discovered a well-known international shipping website has published the live co-ordinates of the ship on its journey from the Illawarra coast.A Woolworths delivery truck was flagged down on Mt Ousley Rd after the driver inadvertently drove through a police checkpoint just after 1am, a police source said.But a spokesman for Woolworths last night said the "driver was ... diverted around the block and was just following instructions from police".Sources from the port also described an incident which caused workers to "hold their breath" as the first of eight containers was loaded on to the Danish vessel MV Lynx.The small ship rolled sharply towards the jetty under the weight of the container as it was raised by the ship's self loader."There were a few hearts in mouths, I'll tell you," the source said. "And then, as the truck carrying the container drove forward the container banged into its side and then either hit the ground or came extremely close to doing so."The source described the police security at the port like a "presidential motorcade".Four of the eight containers were identified to workers as "the hot ones".At the port, two helicopters buzzed overhead while several inflatable boats and buses filled with police, as well as water police, protected the 103 berth, where the items were loaded under a 100m exclusion zone enforced under federal law.The shipment is now aboard the MV Lynx on its way to Charleston in the United States.Stevedores on the wharves attended a safety meeting three days before the shipment arrived and wore badges that measured radioactivity while loading the cargo.Maritime Union of Australia southern branch secretary Garry Keane said federal police and ASIO operatives had done checks on workers. The union had been satisfied the load was safe."We are opposed to the idea of nuclear energy but didn't feel this issue needed to be taken to industrial action," he said.The NSW Greens estimated the whole security operation to have cost $240,000.NSW Police Minister Tony Kelly would not provide his own budget.Greens MLC Lee Rhiannon said transporting the shipment though a populated area had been "incredibly irresponsible" and "highly dangerous"."People along the route ... are quite right to be upset they weren't given details of any emergency or evacuation procedure," she said.Although he refused to comment yesterday, ANSTO chief of operations Ron Cameron has previously said the rods were transported under strict safety standards and were not a danger.
