Nominations open for Australian waste site

The Australian government has said that it is still open to nominations from traditional land owners in Northern Territory for a site for a national radioactive waste management facility. Two months ago it confirmed that Muckaty Station was no longer being considered.

Australian industry minister Ian Macfarlane today met with Northern Territory traditional land owners, members of the Muckaty Aboriginal Land Trust and community members in Tennant Creek to discuss "a broad range of issues including options for a radioactive waste management facility."

Macfarlane said, "Following the request that the original volunteered site at Muckaty Station no longer be considered, I invited Land Councils to consider making an alternative site nomination by 30 September, ahead of a national tender process for a volunteered site if required."

In June, the Northern Land Council (NLC) withdrew its nomination of the Muckaty Station after some traditional owners protested against its nomination.

The NLC is an elected statutory authority representing Aboriginal peoples in the 'top end' of the state of Northern Territory and it nominated the 225 hectare site for consideration in 2007. Australian legislation, updated in 2012, requires that potential sites for radioactive waste management facilities must be voluntarily nominated, and that people or groups with relevant rights and interests must agree on the nomination.

Macfarlane said, "The government is committed to ensuring Australia has an appropriate facility for the management of radioactive waste created within Australia, largely as a result of nuclear medicine production."

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News