Criticism over site works for SA nuclear waste dump
The Albanese Government has come under fire after it confirmed preliminary works will begin at the site of a proposed national nuclear waste facility on the Eyre Peninsula, despite a Federal Court challenge to the project still being underway.
An image of the cancelled nuclear waste storage facility planed for Napandee near Kimba. Image: Tom Aldahn/InDaily
In correspondence seen by InDaily, federal Resources Minister Madeleine King said preliminary works would begin at Napandee near Kimba, but they were not construction works.
“Site characterisation activities will commence next week on the site, which are low-level, localised investigative studies to gather more detailed data on matters such as the site’s geology, hydrology, seismology and baseline radiological conditions,” she said.
“These activities are non-permanent and can be reversed or remediated. I am mindful that these activities have the potential to be misconstrued as the commencement of construction.
“The site characterisation activities are investigative only, and do not signify the commencement of construction of the proposed Facility or site preparation for construction.
“Australia’s radioactive waste already exists and continues to build up.
“It is part of our international obligations to manage this safely and securely, and a consolidated facility is international best practice.
“The National Radioactive Waste Management Facility will help fulfil Australia’s obligation to responsibly manage its own radioactive waste, the majority of which results from the production of nuclear medicine.”
But the Australian Conservation Foundation said the move effectively pre-empted a court bid to block the project.
“While these works are not the start of facility construction, they are a clear sign of intention and are inconsistent with repeated federal government assurances that it will not pre-empt the outcome of a current Federal Court challenge by Barngarla Native Title holders to the validity of the former government’s selection of the site,” it said.
In December, the local Bangarla people, represented as The Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation, applied for judicial review of the decision to suspend work on the planned nuclear dump, arguing they weren’t properly consulted before the site was selected.
“This week they will have boots on the ground – it’s a significant escalation and a conscious choice,” ACF spokesman Dave Sweeney said.
“Federal Labor inherited a divisive and deficient approach to radioactive waste management from the former government.
“The decision to commence site works is a poor one, but not an irreversible one. It should not be advanced by a federal Labor government.”
The choice of site for the nuclear waste facility has been a hotly contested issue in the region since the then Liberal Government acquired the 211-hectare agricultural site in Napandee in 2021.
The writing is on the wall….or at least a Port Augusta fence. The old Canavan/Pitt approach to #radioactive waste is deeply deficient.
Do better federal Labor pic.twitter.com/8nGfVqQ1WW— Dave Sweeney (@NukeDaveSweeney) October 16, 2022
In September, Premier Peter Malinauskas reaffirmed South Australian Labor’s position that the Barngarla people have the right to veto the project.
“I think that the traditional owners of the land on a project as controversial and as significant as this one, and as long-lasting as this one, are entitled to have a say and that is what has underpinned our position,” he said.
