Australia's Spent Nuclear Fuel/Nuclear Waste Obligations
Australia is Party to the UN Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (“The Convention”).
The Convention applies to many things, including spent fuel resulting from the operation of civilian and military (including submarine) nuclear reactors and to radioactive waste resulting from civilian and defence programs.
Australia’s obligations as a Party to The Convention are many, including “appropriate siting, design and construction of waste storage and disposal facilities”.
In the international nuclear industry the onus of storing spent nuclear fuel/nuclear waste falls to countries originating the fuel/waste. This becomes complex if the US or UK provides the AUKUS HEU placed in a UK or US built AUKUS nuclear submarine reactor that is then sold second hand or new to Australia. Who, then, is responsible?
Lack of Public Consultation For The Albanese Government's Nuclear Program
"Traditional owners win legal challenge to stop
nuclear waste facility in Kimba"
Traditional owners on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula have won a legal challenge to stop the federal government building a nuclear waste facility near Kimba.
Key points:
- The federal government selected Kimba as the site for future storage of nuclear waste
- That decision was opposed by the Barngarla traditional owners, who challenged it in court
- The Federal Court today ruled in their favour, setting aside the government's decision
The federal government had planned to store low and intermediate level radioactive waste at the proposed facility.
Barngarla traditional owners applied for a judicial review in the Federal Court, arguing the facility would interfere with a sacred site.
They also said they were not properly consulted about the plan before it was approved in 2021.
The court this morning ruled in favour of the native title group, setting aside a federal government declaration made in 2021, and leaving the future of the project in severe doubt.
Justice Natalie Charlesworth made the decision in favour of the Barngarla people on the grounds there was apprehended bias in the decision-making process in selecting the site due to "pre-judgement"
"An artist's impression of the proposed nuclear waste storage facility near Kimba." (Supplied via ABC)
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