Barndioota, South Australia, has preliminary been selected as the site of the nation’s first permanent storage site for low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste, MP Josh Frydenberg, minister for resources, energy, and Northern Australia, announced Friday.
The site was among six locations – two others in South Australia and individual spots in New South Wales, Queensland, and the Northern Territory – placed on a shortlist in November 2015. That was followed by consultations with communities in all six regions.
“While encouraging levels of support were identified across a number of these sites, Barndioota displayed a broad level of community support for moving to the project’s next phase,” Frydenberg stated in a press release.
Frydenberg emphasized that this further shortlisting is not the final word on site selection for the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility. Instead, “it presents an opportunity to continue consultation and concept development with the community to ensure information is provided and any outstanding questions are answered,” he stated.
The next step will include an assessment to ensure that indigenous heritage in the area is not damaged by the facility, Frydenberg said.
Other communities can still express interest in housing the facility, which will only be located in an area where there is strong community backing and that meets rigorous environmental and radiation protection regulatory mandates, the release says. Frydenberg said he expects to select the site within the next 12 months.
Australia holds roughly 4,250 cubic meters of low-level waste and 656 cubic meters of intermediate-level waste, left by production and use of nuclear medicine, research reactor operations, and other activities. Nearly all the material is now stored at the research reactor site at Lucas Heights, near Sydney, and a Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization research facility at Woomera, South Australia.
