Danielle Harris of Rangitāne o Manawatū is "extremely disappointed" the Government failed to engage with iwi over plans to build a radioactive waste facility on rural land near Palmerston North.
Danielle Harris of Rangitāne o Manawatū is "extremely disappointed" the Government failed to engage with iwi over plans to build a radioactive waste facility on rural land near Palmerston North.
A Manawatū iwi leader criticised the secret establishment of a radioactive waste facility near Palmerston North, citingsafety concerns and exclusion from decision-making.
Health Ministry documents obtained by the Herald revealed serious safety issues at the old Christchurch site, with failing concrete and a risk of radiation leaks.
Documents show officials avoided consulting iwi and the public, prioritising security and confidentiality.
A Manawatū iwi leader says the secret establishment of a radioactive waste storage facility on land near Palmerston North is “abhorrent”, as documents reveal a raft of serious safety issues at the old storage site.
Tanenuiarangi Manawatū Charitable Trust CEO Danielle Harris believes the exclusion of iwi and neighbouring landownersfrom decision-making regarding the construction of the new storage site breached the Crown’s obligations.
“That’s totally unacceptable. They [health officials] have no right to make such a decision in isolation. We had a democratic right to be involved in the process, and they took that away from us,” she told the Herald.
The facility near Bulls is the national storage site for all of New Zealand's radioactive waste and was planned and built in secrecy at the request of Government officials.
The facility stores low-level and intermediate-level waste, including depleted uranium from redundant radiation devices used to treat cancer patients.
Prior to the construction of the new facility in rural Manawatū, ministry officials faced a “high-risk” situation at the old storage site in central Christchurch where the safety of workers and the public were put at risk, according to documents obtained by the Herald under the Official Information Act (OIA).
The revelations have left Harris feeling uncertain about oversight at the new site, which is supposed to provide storage of the country’s radioactive waste for the next 50 years.
If concrete casing is broken, high levels of radiation would leak out
Concrete encasing old drums of radioactive waste at the Christchurch site was “failing and a significant proportion of the drums are emitting radiation that exceeds required levels”, a 2019 Health Ministry report warned.
The report said if the concrete is accidentally broken, “high levels of radiation would leak out” of the drums, some of which were more than 30 years old.
“This represents an unacceptable risk to public health and to anyone inspecting the [radioactive] sources regularly as they are legally required to do,” the report stated.
An old concrete shed that used to hold the country's radioactive waste on Montreal Street in central Christchurch. Photo / George Heard
Director-General of Health Audrey Sonerson acknowledged the report identified risks but told the Herald the issues were “appropriately managed”.
The situation also posed a “reputational risk” to Health Ministry officials, including the then Health Minister, David Clark, according to the report.
The ministry was “not meeting its legal, national and international obligations for radiation safety,” the document said.
The old site had also reached capacity and had no room for additional spent radioactive sources, meaning some items were being kept in “unsafe/insecure” facilities in the community.
The central Christchurch facility that formerly held the country's radioactive waste on Montreal Street before it was secretly moved to a new location near Palmerston North. Photo / George Heard
Sonerson denied the high levels of radiation coming from some of the drums put the public at risk but said it did pose a risk to staff.
“This potential risk was managed through adapted work practices and changes to the drum storage management,” she said.
Audrey Sonerson is the Director-General of Health.
The Christchurch storage facility was damaged in the 2011 earthquakes and despite a consultancy firm being engaged to explore options for a new facility in 2016, it does not appear urgent action was taken until 2019 when safety risks were identified, the ministry faced being embarrassed, and the facility’s building warrant of fitness was about to expire.
Harris, who represents iwi Rangitāne O Manawatu, said the failures in Christchurch didn’t fill her with confidence that the new storage site in her rohe was safe and secure.
She said it was “unfathomable” Palmerston North was chosen as the new location for the country’s radioactive waste emphasising that the city was built on a swamp and sits near several active fault lines.
Tanenuiarangi Manawatū Charitable Trust CEO Danielle Harris, who represents the interests of local iwi Rangitāne O Manawatū.
“We’ve got no idea how this facility [in Manawatū] is an improvement on the facility that was built in Christchurch. We have no guarantee that this facility will survive a major earthquake if there was one in Palmerston North, and how it would be protected if liquefaction happened,” she said.
She wanted an explanation from the Health Ministry telling the Herald officials need to “front up to us and explain what they’ve done”.
Sonerson told the Herald the new site has been built to international standards, and it was better than the old Christchurch facility.
“The main differences [with the Palmerston North site] are the improvements in security, off site monitoring and incorporating longer term planning practices,” she said.
‘Rusty drums’ and ‘running under the radar’
Official information shows serious safety issues plagued the old radioactive waste facility in Christchurch. Photo / George Heard
OIA documents obtained by the Herald show officials swiftly settled on Palmerston North for the new facility and deliberately avoided consulting iwi and the public with only “need-to-know” officials in a select group of government agencies given a heads up.
The Christchurch storage unit was in the central city and documents show key criteria for the new facility was that it was away from residential areas, that it “blend in” and be on land owned by another “like-minded agency”.
A briefing to then Defence Minister Ron Mark in June 2020 showed Health Ministry officials swiftly settled on using New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) land near Palmerston North to build a new facility describing the chosen plot of rural land as the “ideal location”.
But first, officials had to work out what to do with the rusty and potentially unstable drums of radioactive waste and devise a plan to get them to Palmerston North without anyone noticing – a process that would take the best part of two years.
Planning documents said it would cost $420,000 for dozens of drums to be encapsulated inside new pre-cast concrete tubes to ensure they were safe, and ready to be moved.
An architectural sketch of the old Christchurch radioactive waste storage facility, part of which was used to hold depleted uranium.
Sonerson said this was necessary to protect the public.
“Encapsulation of sources prior to transport which was a key part in effectively managing the risk to the public while the sources were being transported,” she said.
Initially, it was suggested the drums could be flown or taken north by sea, but these options were quickly discounted because of the weight of the drums, the Airforce Hercules being “old and unreliable” and the lack of Navy ships being available.
No proactive communications on the plan were to be released – only reactive messages were prepared in the event a journalist was tipped off.
“Hopeful of running under the radar,” one official noted in a January 2023 steering group report.
It was eventually agreed that the waste relocation, the “largest volume ever moved” would travel by road as part of a top-secret operation using Defence Force trucks and unmarked police cars.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s office and former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster were told in a briefing document on March 8 last year that planning for the secret convoy had been guided by threat assessments with “tight controls” on the sharing of information.
“The relocation poses significant security and public perception risks,” the document said.
‘There will be no engagement with Māori’
Government officials did not consult to public or iwi prior to building a new radioactive waste storage facility, and transported drums of waste there from Christchurch. Photo / Ben Dickens
Keeping all aspects of the planned relocation of waste and the new build in Palmerston North secret was a priority for Government staff from the outset.
Notes from a steering group meeting in July 2022 said there had been no engagement with iwi “due to the confidential nature of the project”.
That was despite officials warning that not bringing iwi into the tent could delay construction.
A month later, updated meeting notes show officials took advice from Director-General of Māori Health John Whaanga who shut the door on any suggestion of notifying relevant parties.
“There will be no engagement with Māori, and no public/iwi consultation,” a ministry official who took advice from Whaanga noted.
A 2023 Health Ministry planning report for the new site made several recommendations about engagement, noting the Resource Management Act (RMA) 1991 gives greater provision for Māori to have input on such issues, and it was recommended a risk assessment for not consulting iwi be carried out.
Despite the advice, project leaders dismissed both suggestions.
“The steering group discussed whether to consult with local iwi on the new store build. It was determined that due to security sensitivities, consultation was not appropriate,” the report said.
Even a planned site blessing was binned.
Harris said it was “extremely disappointing” ministry officials ploughed ahead despite advice to the contrary.
“I think that’s yet another example of officials giving sound advice and it being ignored,” she said.
Harris believes officials failed to meet their obligations.
“Government officials know they have a Treaty relationship with iwi across the country, and by not engaging with us, it’s a breach of the Te Tiriti in a contemporary context,” she said.
Sonerson told the Herald she was satisfied the ministry fulfilled its legal obligations when building the new Manawatū facility.
“In this instance the ministry gave precedence to national security during the lead-up to and during the shift itself”, she said.
Tonkin and Taylor were engaged to help navigate the path to construction, and emails show the health ministry’s property expert asked for advice on how ministers could “overrule” Manawatū District Council (MDC) staff if they decided to publicly notify the plans.
“Can you please let me know what mechanism there is under the RMA [Resource Management Act] for ministers to overrule a local authority’s decision to notify,” the staff member asked Tonkin and Taylor’s technical director.
The Health Ministry’s OIA response to the Herald said it sought a non-notifiable resource consent from the Manawatū District Council (MDC) on national security grounds.
However, resource consent didn’t end up being required after the NZDF simply redesignated a portion of its land for “storage purposes” in a legal process called a Notice of Requirement (NOR).
The claim the ministry asked local council officials to keep the plans secret is also in dispute.
In a separate OIA response to the Herald, the MDC said none of its staff were ever asked not to notify the waste facility plans because of national security concerns.
The MDC openly disclosed the address of the Manawatū facility in official correspondence with the Herald.
Harris doesn’t accept the national security argument.
“We’re a country that’s supposed to be open and transparent in everything we do. I understand that some things have to be kept secret for national security, but I don’t believe that building a radioactive facility is in the interest of national security to be kept secret,” she said.
Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at theHerald. He won News Journalist of the Year at the 2025 Voyager Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year at the NZ Television Awards. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald‘s video team in July 2024.
