Concentrations of nuclear waste in South Australia exist in the tailings ponds at the
Olympic Dam mine, at the site of the former Port Pirie uranium treatment works and in the tailings block at the former
Radium Hill mine. The
CSIRO operates a nuclear waste storage facility at
Woomera in the state's far north. Studies and debates about where to store Australia's radioactive waste have been ongoing since the 1980s. This proposition was revived during the LNP coalition
Abbott,
Turnbull, and
Morrison governments from 2013 to 2022. Various sites on Aboriginal lands proposed between 1998 and 2016 have been contested by Indigenous people and denounced as forms of
environmental racism. Recommendations by the
Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission in 2016 ultimately resulted in a site selection near
Kimba on Eyre Peninsula.
National Radioactive Waste Management Facility The Kimba site has been contested by
Barngarla people who claim the site as their traditional land and were not consulted or included in the vote approving the facility. though Indigenous people were left out of the process. The property was owned by
Grant Chapman, and the
traditional owners are the
Adnyamathanha. Two other candidate sites were named near
Kimba on
Eyre Peninsula. The Kimba sites are located in the federal electorate of Grey, for which
Rowan Ramsey is the sitting member. Ramsey publicly advocated for the establishment of nuclear waste storage facilities in South Australia, and has stated that he would be comfortable storing it on his own property. Ramsay did not nominate his own property for the project after receiving advice that it would constitute a
conflict of interest. Opinion on the benefits and risks associated with establishing a facility has divided the township of Kimba. Opponents of the establishment of a new national facility for domestically produced nuclear waste believe that such waste should be stored long-term at Lucas Heights, where much of the waste was and continues to be generated. Spokespeople for the opposition include
Jim Green of
Friends of the Earth and
David Sweeney of the
Australian Conservation Foundation.
Prospective deep geological storage Spent nuclear fuel is considered to be high-level nuclear waste, and requires isolation from the environment, ideally in a facility deep underground. The prospect of storing nuclear waste in the underground tunnels of the Olympic Dam mine has been speculated upon by opinion writers, politicians and the community. Support for the development of new nuclear waste storage facilities in South Australia was expressed by the
Committee for Adelaide on 6 May 2016. The Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission's final report, which was delivered to the Governor of South Australia on 6 May 2016 recommended the consideration of the establishment of a repository for imported spent nuclear fuel in South Australia. That would require deep, underground storage to isolate the waste from the environment. The report was released in full on 9 May 2016. The report was put before a Citizens Jury, which ultimately voted not to proceed with investigating the prospect of importing spent nuclear fuel for storage and disposal in South Australia. In December 2016, a group of prominent citizens signed an open letter expressing an opposing view. It stated:"We, the undersigned, call on South Australia’s elected representatives of all parties to continue to explore this opportunity. We request further investigations into issues that a) are essential for better understanding project feasibility and b) could be investigated at relatively low cost. We call for partnership between the State Government and relevant Federal Government agencies to formally meet with prospective client nations in order to gain greater certainty and ensure we are fully informed as to the nature of this opportunity."Signatories were:
Fraser Ainsworth,
Rob Chapman,
Tim Cooper,
Di Davidson,
Colin Dunsford, Geoff Day,
Robert Gerard,
Ian Gould, Kathy Gramp,
Jim Hazel,
Mike Heard,
David Klingberg AO, Theo Maras,
Karlene Maywald,
Jim McDowell, Mike Miller,
Tanya Monro, Creagh O'Connor,
Leanna Read, Karen Reynolds, Richard Ryan, Antony Simpson, Michael Terlet, Meera Verma, Graham Walters, and Stephen Young. A similar letter was published in March 2017 on
Ben Heard's website,
Bright New World. Many of the former signatories signed again, and the following new names were added: Rick Allert AO,
Amanda Blair,
Corey Bradshaw, Mark Butcher, Matt Clemow, Greg Clothier, Brian Cunningham, Colin Goodall, John Heard AM, Mark Malcolm, Hon.
Ian McLachlan AO, Carolyn Mitchell, Craig Mudge AO,
Goran Roos,
Raymond Spencer, Lissa Van Camp, Jodie Van Deventer, Hon.
Trish White,
Paul Willis and
Stephen Yarwood. In March 2017, it was estimated that $30 million would need to be spent to manage nuclear waste stored at Woomera. Barrels containing the wastes were found to be rusting and deteriorating. == Nuclear submarines ==