Australia launches waste site search

Monday, 2 March 2015

Australian landholders have until 5 May to put forward potential sites for a national radioactive waste management facility under a voluntary site nomination process launched by the Australian government.

The call for nominations, released today by minister for industry and science Ian Macfarlane, invites nominations from landholders in all states and territories for a facility to store intermediate level waste and dispose of low-level waste from Australian medical, research and industrial processes.

While Australia does not use nuclear energy it does have a long history of nuclear research, including the operation of the OPAL research reactor which produces radioisotopes for use in medicine, research and industry. The country currently has 4248 cubic metres of low-level waste and 656 cubic metres of intermediate-level waste in temporary storage at numerous sites at universities, hospitals and laboratories. Legislation enacted in 2012 aims to establish a single-site facility for managing that waste based on a "volunteerism" approach.

Plans for a national radioactive waste management facility at Muckaty Station in the Northern Territory were shelved in June 2014 when the Northern Land Council, which represents Aboriginal peoples in the area, withdrew its nomination of the site.

Voluntary site nomination is the first of four phases in the project to develop a national waste management facility. An indicative timeline from the Australian department of industry and science foresees the project moving through the subsequent phases - site identification, facility design and site licensing, and construction and operation - over the period to the early 2020s, but points out that this is dependent on licences and approvals.

Eligible land in any Australian state or territory may be nominated. Nominations will be assessed by an independent advisory panel which will also advise the Australian government on the suitability of potential sites. Sites will be assessed against criteria and objectives including community well-being; stable environment; environmental protection; health, safety and security; and economic viability. The government has promised extensive public consultation at every stage of the project.

Once the nomination and the preferred site identification are complete, negotiations will begin between the government and the owner of the preferred site. The government has also promised to engage with the community local to the selected site and will discuss a package of benefits "in recognition of the potential construction and operational requirements of the facility."

Nominations will close on 5 May 2015, with the aim of selecting a preferred site by mid-2016.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News