Dale M. Timmons is a US-based scientist specialising in high-temperature geochemistry. He was closely involved in a crucial phase of the Maralinga 'clean-up' - in-situ vitrification (ISV) of debris contaminated with plutonium. Having previously expressed his concerns with aspects of the federal government's handling of the project directly with government officials, to no avail, Mr. Timmons has spoken publicly.

On Radio 5DN on March 10, 2003, federal science minister Peter McGauran said: "Mr Timmons, I suspect, has launched a pre-emptive strike so as to maintain the reputation of his technology." A quick phone call to Mr. Timmons would have confirmed that:
* Mr. Timmons has no direct or indirect interest in ISV technology
* even while working on the Maralinga project, Mr. Timmons had no personal interest in ISV, he was simply employed as a consultant to the Geosafe company.

SCIENCE Minister Peter McGauran has privately apologised for his attack on a US geochemist critical of the $108 million clean-up of the Maralinga nuclear test site.

Mr McGauran said he regreted his comments in a letter sent last week to Dale M. Timmons ­ a geochemist sub-contracted to assist in the thermal treatment of radioactive waste at the Maralinga site in South Australia's far north.

"My comments were based on an assumption that you had a financial or other ongoing interest in the in-situ vitrification technology used in the course of the Maralinga Rehabilitation Project," Mr McGauran said in the letter.

"You have since advised me that this is not the case and I regret any misunderstanding which may have arisen from that assumption.

"I would like to make it clear that at no stage have I intended to call into question the quality of your work in relation to the Maralinga Rehabilitation Project."

Mr Timmons told The Australian he appreciated "Mr McGauran apologising", but felt the minister should issue his retraction in a public statement since the offending remarks were broadcast during an ABC radio interview.

He said he did not intend to pursue the matter legally.

Mr Timmons first called for a public apology in an email sent to Mr McGauran's office on March 13. The email was re-sent 10 days later after the minister's office said it had not received any correspondence from Mr Timmons.

A spokeswoman for Mr McGauran said the minister had replied to Mr Timmons's concerns by acknowledging the misunderstanding.

Earlier this month, Mr McGauran questioned Mr Timmons's motivation for defending the ISV technology during an ABC radio interview in which he agreed Mr Timmons was a loner in his comments. And in a press release issued on March 7, the minister said: "Mr Timmons is in no position to comment on the totality or outcome of the project." This followed Mr Timmons's criticism of a final draft report detailing the clean-up, claiming it contained "misinformation" and "incorrect advice" relating to the ISV technology used to treat plutonium-contaminated debris from the Vixen B trials.

In his letter to Mr Timmons, Mr McGauran again defended the MARTAC report as a "comprehensive, final technical" document prepared by an "eminent body of scientists", which "concluded that the clean-up was a success based on the relevant evidence".

The 403-page report will be independently scrutinised by the Rann Government, which will seek advice from yet-to-be selected environmental and health scientists amid fears the clean-up was inadequate.

A report tells of the "successful" clean-up of a British atomic test site in South Australia despite experts' claims that radioactive waste sits in unlined pits and plutonium levels have been underestimated by 300 per cent.

The Australian has obtained the draft of the final report, prepared over the past five years by the Maralinga Rehabilitation Technical Advisory Committee. It is now in the hands of Science Minister Peter McGauran and is due to be tabled in parliament this month.

But a US geochemist who conducted the treatment designs for the plutonium-contaminated waste at Maralinga, Dale M. Timmons, says the draft contains "incorrect" scientific data and "gross misinformation" about events that took place during the $106.7 million clean-up.

"I think there are a lot of holes in the report," Mr Timmons said. "There were many inconsistencies and errors."

The 331-page report details how tonnes of debris and soil contaminated with plutonium, uranium and beryllium ? from the Vixen B atomic trials between 1960 and 1963 ? were raised from 21 pits and reburied in two trenches about 16m deep after the committee decided to abandon a waste-treatment process called "in-situ vitrification".

The ISV procedure involved inserting four electrodes into the 21 pits to melt the contaminated debris and soil. This molten product cooled into a glass-like block designed to encase the plutonium for thousands of years.

But the treatment was halted after one pit exploded in March 1999. The committee says it "had serious concerns regarding occupational risk to the operators" and "exhumation and reburial ... offered a valid, low-cost effective alternative".

The waste already treated by ISV was exhumed, cooled with thousands of litres of water, broken up and reburied in the trenches with remaining untreated debris.

"This really concerns me," Mr Timmons said.

"The whole reason we went out there was to convert this waste into a stable form in the environment for hundreds of thousands to millions of years ? and now it's in small particles in an unlined pit, so the leach rate will increase, there's no doubt about it."

The report is expected to pave the way for the commonwealth land to be handed back to the traditional land owners, the Maralinga Tjarutja people.

Asked whether the land was fit for human habitation, Mr Timmons said: "I wouldn't want it."

His concerns have been echoed by nuclear engineer Alan Parkinson, who has advised the federal Government and the Maralinga people about the cleanup in the past 12 years.

"This report is supposed to tell you about the contamination on the site as they left it, and I don't think it does," Mr Parkinson said.

Radioactive waste buried 2.7m below ground-level was clearly not a process of "deep" burial, as stated in the report.

"Codes for deep burial state that waste must be buried at least 30m underground," Mr Parkinson said.

"You can't rely on the report to make a decision on whether the site is clean."

Doubts have been raised about the adequacy of the $100 million clean-up of the Maralinga nuclear test site in South Australia's far north.

This is despite the Federal Government telling The Australian newspaper it has a new report declaring the operation a "success".

It apparently says tonnes of debris and contaminated soil were raised from pits and reburied 16 metres deep.
The report is yet to be tabled in Parliament.

American geochemist Dale Timmons who conducted treatment designs for he plutonium contaminated waste has major concerns about the report's conclusion.

"There was a great deal of information in the portions of the report that I reviewed that were simply inaccurate," he said.

"It would be difficult for me to draw conclusions on the success or failure of the clean-up based on a report that contains so many inaccurate statements and errors."

Federal Science Minister Peter McGauran today refuted claims that the definitive scientific report on the clean-up of the former British nuclear test site at Maralinga was unreliable.

"The Maralinga Rehabilitation Technical Advisory Committee (MARTAC), a body of eminent scientists appointed to provide independent scientific advice on the project, has taken over 4 years to complete their comprehensive report," Mr McGauran said.

"MARTAC have made every effort to lay all the facts on the table - they have concluded that the clean-up was a success based on all the evidence," Mr McGauran said.

Mr Dale Timmons, who has alleged that the draft contains "incorrect" scientific data, subcontracted to the company engaged to undertake in situ vitrification treatment of debris pits.

"Mr Timmons is in no position to comment on the totality or outcome of the project - the MARTAC committee and the regulator, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), have made their assessments and have concluded that the project has been a success," Mr McGauran said.

The $108 million Maralinga Rehabilitation Project, the largest clean-up of its type ever undertaken, commenced in 1995 and was completed at the major test sites in 2000. The project consisted of two major parts; the removal of surface soil from the more contaminated areas, and the treatment of contaminated debris pits.

"The Commonwealth’s independent regulator, ARPANSA, has confirmed that the clean-up met the standards agreed in 1991 prior to the start of the project by the Commonwealth, South Australia and Maralinga Tjarutja, the traditional owners; standards which are consistent with international guidelines" Mr McGauran said.

"The clean-up of Maralinga has exceeded the required standards set by the Federal and South Australian governments and Maralinga Tjarutja."

After an explosion occurred during the treatment of debris burial pits by in situ vitrification, MARTAC advised that the debris in the remaining pits should be excavated and reburied. ARPANSA approved this approach. Contaminated soil and debris are buried under a capping of at least 5 metres of clean soil.

"Claims that contamination in buried pits will leach are unfounded. The arid Maralinga environment will ensure that the material is isolated from the environment," Mr McGauran said.

"Furthermore, the site is being monitored under licence conditions issued by ARPANSA.

"I will be tabling the MARTAC report in Parliament during March ? the public can make their own assessment about the clean-up when the document is published," Mr McGauran said.

"South Australia and Maralinga Tjarutja will also make their own assessment. We are working constructively with both parties towards a handback of the site to the traditional owners," Mr McGauran said.

The traditional owners of South Australia's Maralinga lands have criticised the Federal Government's handling of the $100 million clean-up at the former British nuclear test site.

A report on the clean-up will be tabled in Federal Parliament this month, declaring the project a success.

But Maralinga Tjarutja Council administrator Archie Barton says this has not yet been communicated to him.

"I'm very disappointed with the Government making a comment without consulting the people," he said.

Federal Science Minister Peter McGauran says the traditional owners have been closely involved in the clean-up.

"The South Australian Government and Maralinga Tjarutja people worked with the Commonwealth to prepare the clean up," he said.

The South Australian Government has warned traditional owners not to participate in any land hand back without safety guarantees.

THE Howard Government has defended its $107 million clean-up of Maralinga, rejecting claims that plutonium buried on the former nuclear test site would leach into the environment.

Science Minister Peter McGauran yesterday rejected claims by radiation experts that a report by the Maralinga Rehabilitation Technical Advisory Committee contained "mis-information" and "incorrect" advice concerning the clean-up of contaminated debris from the "Vixen B" nuclear trials conducted from 1960 to 1963.

US geochemist Dale M. Timmons told The Australian in a report published yesterday that the burial of the debris in two unlined trenches had increased the risk of leaching by exhuming, watering down and breaking up debris already treated with in-situ vitrification ? a process that melts contaminated waste into a glass-like block to encase plutonium for thousands of years.

Mr McGauran said the clean-up was "consistent with international guidelines", and that MARTAC was "a body of eminent scientists appointed to provide independent scientific advice".

"Claims that contamination in buried pits will leach are unfounded," he said.

"MARTAC (has) made every effort to lay all the facts on the table ? they have concluded that the clean-up was a success based on all the evidence.

"Mr Timmons is in no position to comment on the totality or outcome of the project."

But Mr Timmons said yesterday he was happy to compare his experience with the experts sitting on the MARTAC board.

"I have 15 years' experience with vitrification of hazardous and radioactive waste. I believe that is more than the cumulative vitrification experience of the entire MARTAC group," he said.

Mr Timmons, who conducted the chemical vitrification design for the plutonium-contaminated Vixen B waste, reiterated: "The report I reviewed contains errors and misrepresentations."

The discovery of unexpected migrating plutonium beneath two US nuclear sites meant "nobody, including MARTAC, can provide 100 per cent assurances that the same thing will not happen at Maralinga".

Mr McGauran said he would table the MARTAC report in parliament this month, and was working with the South Australian Government and the Maralinga Tjarutja people towards handing back the site.

State Environment Minister John Hill said neither the Rann Government nor the Maralinga Tjarutja would accept the land without promises of commonwealth responsibility for future liability.

RADIOACTIVE waste buried during the clean-up of the Maralinga nuclear test site in South Australia must be dug up and remelted into plutonium-trapping rock, experts say, adding $30 million to the clean-up costs.

"The best thing they can do is exhume this debris and melt it by in-situ vitrification," nuclear engineer Alan Parkinson said.

The waste was not safe in its present condition, buried 2.7m deep in two unlined trenches, he said.

"Plutonium is dangerous in any form," he said. "If you inhale 1mg of plutonium it will kill you."

Mr Parkinson was a senior federal government representative from 1993-98 on the clean-up at Maralinga, where the British government ran nuclear trials in the 1950s and 60s.

A long-awaited report on the outcome of the Maralinga clean-up project prepared by the Maralinga Rehabilitation Technical Advisory Committee is due to be tabled in federal parliament this month.

Mr Parkinson has criticised the draft of the final report, and in particular MARTAC's treatment of debris contaminated from the Vixen B trials between 1960 and 1963.

The waste, which included hundreds of tonnes of plutonium-contaminated steel, was exhumed from 21 pits and reburied in two trenches after MARTAC decided to abandon ISV waste treatment.

The ISV process involved melting the contaminated pit debris and soil into a glass-like block to encase plutonium for thousands of years.

MARTAC abandoned ISV after a pit exploded in 1999. The pit debris already treated by ISV was exhumed, cooled with water, broken up and reburied in the trenches with untreated debris.

"They now have the plutonium encased in nothing," Mr Parkinson said. "It is totally illogical."

A draft of the final MARTAC report obtained by The Australian estimates 650g of plutonium remains in the debris trenches and will not pose an exposure risk to humans if left undisturbed.

US geochemist Dale M. Timmons, who conducted the chemical design for the ISV treatment of the Vixen B debris, said that while the waste was safer now than in its original form, the best way to prevent plutonium leaching was to exhume the waste and retreat it with ISV.

"It results in the most chemically durable product that will certainly outlast the decay of the radioactive materials immobilised," he said.

Australian Democrats senator Lyn Allison said the waste "has to be dug up and sorted so that we can identify where the most heavily contaminated waste is".

YOUR excellent articles by Rebecca DiGirolamo about the Maralinga clean-up (7, 8-9/3), prompted the Science Minister, Peter McGauran, to dash off another of his media releases.

He tells us that his advisory committee, MARTAC, has laid all the facts on the table.

What he does not tell us is that two members of that committee were not allowed to do, in their own country (the US), what has been done at Maralinga. That is, the shallow burial of debris heavily contaminated with long-lived plutonium in totally unsuitable geology.

He also fails to note that his advisory committee demonstrates its lack of understanding of the vitrification technology and basic heat transfer as early as the executive summary of their draft final report.

The Minister would be better advised to take note of the criticisms of the project, rather than continually accepting advice from his department.

Alan Parkinson
Weetangera, ACT

A US scientist criticised by Science Minister Peter McGauran after attacking parts of the federal Government’s nuclear clean-up at Maralinga is insisting on an immediate public apology.

Dale M. Timmons, a geochemist hired to assist in the thermal treatment of radioactive waste at the site in South Australia’s far north, has demanded Mr McGauran publicly retract statements made earlier this month.

He wants an apology in the form of a media release. He made the request last Friday in an email sent to Mr McGauran and Department of Education, Science and Training adviser Caroline Perkins.

Mr Timmons said the statements were “at the very least offensive and can easily be considered potentially slanderous allegations against my reputation and the quality of my scientific contribution to the Maralinga clean-up.”

He is yet to receive a reply.

A spokeswoman for Mr McGauran said yesterday the minister had not yet received any correspondence from Mr Timmons.

Mr McGauran questioned Mr Timmon’s credibility on ABC radio this month where he said Mr Timmons was a loner in his opinions. In a press release issued on March 7, Mr McGauran said: “Mr Timmons is in no position to comment on the totality or outcome of the project.”

He will next week table in federal parliament a long-awaited report on the outcome of the clean-up prepared by the Maralinga Rehabilitation Technical Advisory Committee.