The Kimba nuclear waste plan bites the dust. Here's what went wrong and how to do better next time

The federal government has scrapped plans to build the nation’s first radioactive waste storage facility on farmland near Kimba in South Australia.

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Provider: 
The ConversationThe Conversation
URL: 
https://theconversation.com/the-kimba-nuclear-waste-plan-bites-the-dust-heres-what-went-wrong-and-how-to-do-better-next-time-211344https://theconversation.com/the-kimba-nuclear-waste-plan-bites-the-dust-heres-what-went-wrong-and-how-to-do-better-next-time-211344
Retrieved on: 
Friday, August 11, 2023
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Tags: 
People, House, Australian Conservation Foundation, United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action and Federal Rights, Communication, Radiation, Classification, Waste, Waste management, Radioactive waste, Uranium, Barngarla people, Federal court, AUKUS, Conservation Foundation, Federal, History, Government, Menzies, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Conventional weapon, ACF, United Kingdom, Federation, Conservation, Conservation Council of South Australia, Uranium mining, Hazardous waste, Hunting, Rare-earth element, Silviculture, NSW
Geotags: 
NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA, LUCAS HEIGHTS, KIMBA, UNITED STATES, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, FINLAND, SA, VIRGINIA, UK
Summary
Key Points: 
  • The federal government has scrapped plans to build the nation’s first radioactive waste storage facility on farmland near Kimba in South Australia.
  • That’s because the “decide and defend” model, where a government decides to put radioactive waste somewhere and then attempts to defend it against the community, hasn’t worked anywhere.
  • Those countries still don’t have any process for long-term management of radioactive waste.
  • The only way to manage our radioactive waste is to engage the community from the start.

Stacking the deck

    • The traditional owners had not been consulted – in fact they were specifically excluded from the consultation process.
    • On Thursday morning, Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King told the House of Representatives she would not challenge the Federal Court decision.
    • King noted the amount of radioactive waste will keep growing, and said her department has begun work on alternative proposals.

Consulting traditional owners is crucial

    • If buried under a few metres of earth, the radiation reaching the surface is not much above normal background levels.
    • Anywhere we want to store radioactive waste in Australia is the traditional land of a group of Indigenous people.
    • Read more:
      There's a long and devastating history behind the proposal for a nuclear waste dump in South Australia

What should happen next?

    • The idea of shifting intermediate-level waste from Lucas Heights to another temporary store 1,700km away is particularly silly.
    • There’s no obvious reason it would have been better in a temporary store at Kimba than in the current temporary store of Lucas Heights.
    • Read more:
      Australia hasn't figured out low-level nuclear waste storage yet – let alone high-level waste from submarines

Looking ahead

    • But they also held out an olive branch to the federal government, recognising the waste problem hasn’t gone away.
    • ACF looks forward to constructive dialogue with the Albanese government to help develop a new and responsible approach to radioactive waste management in Australia.
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