Newcastle stockpile blast could have force of Hiroshima bomb, says explosives expert

Tony Richards is an expert in ammonium nitrate as an explosive.

He says that having thousands of tonnes of potentially explosive ammonium nitrate stockpiled on Newcastle's doorstep "frightens the daylights" out of him.

For more than two decades Mr Richards managed and designed blasting operations for large mining companies such as BHP, Goldsworthy Mining, Thiess Bros and MIM Holdings. He has also managed the explosives plant at BHP's Olympic Dam mine in South Australia for Orica.

At times, he says, he held the record for managing the biggest open-cut and underground mining blasts in Australia.

Mr Richards has outlined his concerns about Newcastle's ammonium nitrate stockpiles in a recent submission objecting to Incitec's proposed Kooragang Island ammonium nitrate manufacturing plant.

He says he's concerned not so much with the manufacturing, but with the storage of huge quantities (10,000 to 12,000 tonnes) of ammonium nitrate so close to urban areas and other industries.

Orica already stores a similar amount next to the proposed Incitec plant.

Mr Richards' submission on the Incitec proposal says that "a worst case scenario of a 12,000 tonne blast at the front door of Newcastle is the destruction of the city and suburbs with countless deaths and injuries".

He cites the 1947 Texas City Disaster - still considered the United States' worst industrial accident - in which 2,300 tonnes of ammonium nitrate detonated, causing an explosive chain reaction that killed more than 500 people and injured thousands more, and destroyed Texas port and its Monsanto and Union Carbide industrial complex.

The blast knocked people to the ground 16 kilometers away, shattered windows 60 kilometers away, and was felt 160 kilometers away. A two tonne anchor thrown by the blast was later found in a 3 meter crater 2.6 kilometers away.

50,000 people live within five kilometers of the Incitec and Orica sites on Kooragang Island.

Mr Richards' submission refers to many other accidents involving ammonium nitrate, not one of them involving any deliberately mixed explosive.

"No matter what people say about how safe it is, I can tell you - as someone with my experience - that it frightens the daylights out of me to have that sort of tonnage sitting on the front door of Newcastle," he told me.

"If the stockpile goes up, the force could be similar to the Hiroshima atomic blast."

If an accident allowed time for evacuation, people would have to be moved west of Charlestown, Mr Richards said.

He lists lightning strikes, an earthquake, or an act of terrorism as potential triggers.

Mr Richards has conveyed his concerns to representatives of the major political parties, including Newcastle' s local state and federal members, Tim Owen and Sharon Grierson, and at recent public forums in Stockton and Islington.

"I'm talking to anyone who will listen," he said.

"People think it's too difficult.

"It's my hope to make enough people aware that someone is elected who is prepared to say, 'no, I'm not going to renew these licences'".

The ammonium nitrate stockpiles should be located west of Broken Hill, he said.