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Media Release
RESPONSIBLE MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE IN AUSTRALIA
15 July 2005 MIN 1157/05
The Australian Government has finalised a list of possible locations for the siting of a future Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Facility.
These are Defence Department properties at Mount Everard, Harts Range and Fishers Ridge in the Northern Territory. A map showing the location of these properties is attached.
The process for selecting suitable sites followed the Prime Minister’s announcement on 14 July 2004 that the Government would not proceed with the establishment of a national low level radioactive waste repository at site 40a near Woomera in South Australia.
This decision followed the failure of the states and territories to cooperate with the Australian Government in finding a national solution for the safe and secure disposal of low level radioactive waste. The South Australian Government’s opposition to the national repository near Woomera ended a bipartisan approach to radioactive waste management that had existed for more than a decade under both Labor and Coalition Federal Governments.
The Prime Minister announced that the Government would examine sites on Commonwealth land, both onshore and offshore, for establishment of a suitable facility to manage low and intermediate level radioactive waste generated by Commonwealth agencies.
A comprehensive analysis of Commonwealth offshore and onshore land took into account issues such as compatibility with current land use, safety of people and the environment, security of radioactive waste and operational considerations such as adequacy of transport infrastructure. As a consequence of this analysis, no offshore sites were considered sufficiently appropriate to warrant further on-site investigation.
The waste to be managed in the Facility is low and intermediate level radioactive waste resulting from the medical, industrial and research use of radioactive materials by Commonwealth agencies. These include the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), operator of Australia’s research reactor, which is an important source of medical radioisotopes.
Each year over 400,000 Australian patients benefit from a medical radioisotope produced in ANSTO’s research reactor, including procedures used in the detection and treatment of cancer. All Australians, at least once throughout their life, will benefit from a medical procedure using medical radioisotopes.
Low level waste typically includes items such as laboratory gloves, clothing and glassware, luminous dials and contaminated soil. Intermediate level waste includes disused radiotherapy and industrial sources and approximately fifty cubic metres of waste incorporated in glass and cement that will return to Australia from overseas reprocessing of spent fuel from the HIFAR research reactor and the replacement OPAL reactor at Lucas Heights.
State and Territory Governments also hold low and intermediate level radioactive waste arising from use of radioactive materials within their jurisdictions. This waste is held at over 100 locations throughout Australia including government stores, hospitals, universities and factories.
In the Northern Territory this waste is currently stored at the Royal Darwin Hospital and at a Northern Territory Government facility in the Katherine region.
Field assessment at the three locations announced today will now commence to determine the most suitable site with which to proceed with environmental impact assessment and site licensing by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA). The facility will then undergo ARPANSA construction and operating licensing processes with a view to commencing operation in late 2011.
Establishment of the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Facility demonstrates the Australian Government’s responsible attitude to the management of its radioactive waste. As matter of priority, all State and Territory Governments must do the same in relation to their waste.
Further information is available from:
Toll-free number: 1800 682 704
Website: http://www.radioactivewaste.gov.au/
Email: radioactivewaste@dest.gov.au
Media Contacts:
Dr Nelson’s Office: Yaron Finkelstein 0414 927 663
Dept of Education, Science & Training: Virginia Cook 0412 971 323
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