Monbulk’s Arnold Dix spent 17 days rescuing trapped workers in India. Now he's helping to bury nuclear waste

Arnold Dix, the Monbulk local who spent 17 days rescuing 41 workers from a collapsed Himalayan tunnel, is helping the International Atomic Energy Agency to dispose of the world's nuclear waste underground.

📸 Thrust into the limelight: In 2023, the engineer, barrister, tunnelling expert and Monbulk resident’s name spread globally as the Australian man called in to the Himalayas to help save 41 workers trapped in a tunnel that collapsed as they were working.

• The effort, which took 17 days, saw a team dig their way through the rock to rescue the men; Dix famously promised at the time they would be rescued by Christmas. 

☢️ Going nuclear: Now the chair of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association Special Interest Group on Geological Disposal Facilities, Dix spoke to the Eastern Melburnian about working on nuclear waste disposal – something he said should keep him busy for the rest of his life. 

• 🗣️ “Since doing the rescue, I’ve been to nuclear waste disposal facilities in the US, in China, in the Czech Republic and France,” he said. “We’ve got to put this [waste] away because otherwise it’s not fair on our children and children’s children, and that’s not fair for tens of thousands of years.”

🎞️ Silver screen stardom: A feature film inspired by the Silkyara Tunnel rescue and told through Dix’s eyes, Silkyara 41 has also recently been announced, with a renowned crew at the helm. 

• Aamir Khan Productions, Mind Blowing Films and Kabir Khan Films are producing, with Australian screenwriter Andrew Anastasios also part of bringing the story to life through screen.

Dix said it was “extraordinary” to be part of the project.

• 🗣️ “I’m hoping this film will show how decent people working together can do wonderful things – no matter what their background, their religion, the color of their skin or economic circumstances,” Dix said.

❤️ A local hero: Where he was relatively unknown for his work before, Dix became a celebrity in his hometown of Monbulk after the rescue.

• Other recent accomplishments include the release of his memoir, local musician Jason Vorherr writing a song about his work and a portrait by artist Murali Surya, which now hangs in the Victorian Bar’s Peter O’Callaghan QC Gallery in Melbourne.

⏭️ What’s next? Dix said his purpose in life has always been seeking justice for people living in disadvantaged situations.

However, in the midst of accomplishments and professional work across the globe, Dix said his home town is his “healing place”.

“It’s a really decent community that is really grounding and then lets me go off and do my super stuff,” he said.