Nuclear waste dump plans scrapped for South Australia

Plans for a nuclear waste dump in regional South Australia have been scrapped by the federal government following a court decision blocking its construction.

The waste facility was earmarked to be built on land at Napandee near the town of Kimba in the Eyre Peninsula by the previous coalition government in 2021.

The decision was challenged in the Federal Court by traditional owners, the Barngarla people, who said the decision was made without them being consulted.

The court ruled in July the facility could not be built.

Resources Minister Madeleine King told federal parliament the government would look for a new location for the nuclear waste storage.

“I’m deeply sorry for the uncertainty the process has created for the Kimba community, for my own department, for the Australian Radioactive Waste Agency workers and for the workers involved in the project,” she said.

“I also acknowledge the profound distress this process has caused the Barngarla people.”

Ms King said any work near Kimba had stopped after the court’s decision.

She said the government would not appeal against the court decision.

“We have to get this right. This is long lasting, multi-generational government policy for the disposal of waste that can take thousands of years to decay,” she said.

“We must consult widely and bring stakeholders including First Nations people along with us. We remain bipartisan in our approach.”

But the coalition accused the government of breaking bipartisanship on the issue.

Liberal senator Simon Birmingham said the government’s decision had taken talks on the nuclear waste storage facility back to square one.

“This gutless decision reeks of putting short-term politics ahead of Australia’s long term interest,” he said on social media.

“Given the politics of this issue there will never be a site universally accepted by everyone but at least a strong majority of the Kimba community were willing to host it.”

Senator Birmingham said the decision created uncertainty for when more nuclear waste was needed to be stored.

Nationals leader David Littleproud said it was disappointing that years of work on finding a suitable site had been abandoned.

“This is a legacy failure for Australia’s radioactive waste management, nuclear medicine industry and the pursuit of research and development,” he told parliament.

“After the work of successive governments and resources ministers, this government has nothing to show. It has become clear that they have no plan to manage Australia’s radioactive waste and no plan to support our nuclear medicine industry.”