The federal government says it purchased more than 200 acres of land near Kimba on the Eyre Peninsula to build a nuclear waste storage facility while overnight confirming the site’s approval, but opponents are threatening to request a judicial review of the decision .
Artist’s impression of the 211 hectare nuclear waste facility to be built in Napandee (Image: delivered).
Resource Secretary Keith Pitt said the Commonwealth had acquired 211 acres of agricultural land in Napandee, 15 miles west of Kimba, for a national radioactive waste disposal facility.
The site will consolidate low and intermediate level medical waste that is currently being disposed of in more than 100 locations across the country.
There is no start to construction on the project, now under the auspices of the Australian Radioactive Waste Agency, but the facility is expected to last for more than 100 years.
The confirmation came after the federal government officially announced in August its intention to build a waste disposal facility at the Napandee site.
Pitt said the additional 60 days of consultation after the formal statement reaffirmed that “this is still the right decision in the right place.”
“It definitely has the right geological conditions, we have support from the local community – or a majority from the local community – and we should never forget that this took 40 years and, as far as I know, about 16 ministers,” he told ABC Radio Eyre Peninsula this morning.
“We recently received advice from ANSTO (Australian Organization for Nuclear Science and Technology) that every single Australian will practice nuclear medicine during their lifetime.
“If we use this technology now, it will produce low-level radioactive waste that we have to process and store – that’s the best option on the table.”
However, the decision is likely to be challenged by the Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation, which holds an indigenous title in the areas surrounding the site.
At its last general meeting, the parliamentary group decided to initiate a judicial review of the matter before the Federal Court of Justice, should the federal government promote waste disposal.
A BDAC spokesperson confirmed that they would be in touch with their lawyers later today to “see how long the judicial review will take”.
“There have been significant and repeatedly serious issues with government behavior regarding the site selection process, and we remain confident that the Napandee facility location declaration in our country is likely to be overturned upon review by the court,” the said Speaker.
Pitt, when asked about the BDAC’s potential to legally challenge the project, said, “That is their business.”
“I’ve met with Barngarla people twice, and my predecessor [Queensland senator Matt Canavan] has done a lot of work on the portfolio too, and as I said, it took six years, ”he said.
“We have submitted suggestions from BDAC, including the Barngarla people, and of course we are considering what their problems and concerns are.”
Craig Wilkins, CEO of the Conservation Council, said the matter “still has a long way to go” and urged the state assembly to open an investigation into the facility.
Wilkins said the investigation was a requirement under the Nuclear Waste Storage Act (Prohibition) of 2000.
“Although expected, it is still deeply disappointing that Queensland National Secretary Keith Pitt is pushing ahead with the controversial dumping of Australia’s most dangerous radioactive waste in the farmland of the Eyre Peninsula in South Africa against the wishes of Barngarla – the traditional owners of the region “Said Wilkins.
“The federal government can only go on by expressly repealing the SA legislation, which was originally passed in the SA parliament during the liberal Olsen era. It is important that all sides of the South African Parliament stand up on behalf of our state by committing to a full investigation to ensure that South Australians have a say. “
Wilkins said even if the BDAC’s judicial review is dismissed, the facility is “at least a decade away and faces many adversaries and hurdles”.
“There’s a much better alternative: US $ 60 million was allocated in the last federal budget to expand the waste disposal facility in Lucas Heights, Sydney – the safest and most convenient location in Australia,” he said.
However, Kimba County Mayor Dean Johnson welcomed today’s decision, saying it was “a long time ago.”
“Definitely naming Napandee as the final siding for the national radioactive waste management facilities is a bit of a relief,” he said.
“Now is a real chance to consolidate and move that process forward, and I think … start planning for Kimba’s significant future growth.”
Johnson said the facility would help diversify Kimba’s primarily agricultural economy.
“This discussion has been going on for more than 40 years, and a small rural town like Kimba has raised a hand to carry out a nationally important infrastructure project for the country,” he said.
“We are basically guaranteeing the future of nuclear medicine from which every single Australian will benefit.”
Federal MP for Gray Rowan Ramsey, whose constituency includes Kimba, also welcomed the decision, saying he was “confident” of the suitability of the Napandee site.
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“I know that the majority of the local population is behind the project that will bring jobs and new economic opportunities to our region, and I look forward to the establishment of the facility,” he said.
“That’s not to say that there aren’t some people who have concerns, and I’ll work with them to resolve these issues if possible as we move into the detailed design, delivery, and operations stages.”
A 2019 poll of 824 Kimba residents found 61.6 percent support for the nuclear waste proposal.
A separate survey of the BDAC members, however, resulted in a unanimous no from 83 participants.
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