The Kimba nuclear waste plan bites the dust. Here's what went wrong and how to do better next time
theconversation.com
Now that plans for a national radioactive waste management facility near Kimba in South Australia have been abandoned, what next? Let’s learn from our mistakes.
  • Treevan 🇦🇺@aussie.zoneEnglish
    5·
    1 year ago

    Thanks for this post.

    Do you think I should ask the author of autotldr to monitor this community?

    It just means my summaries are superfluous and will affect thr search engine in search-lemmy.com by not having them.

    Summary below:

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

    Given the history of the Menzies government allowing nuclear weapons to be tested here and the impacts that had on Indigenous people, it’s going to be very difficult to persuade Indigenous people to allow the permanent storage of radioactive waste on their land.

    The vast majority of the nuclear waste produced in this country is coming from Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, the research reactor at Lucas Heights in Sydney.

    In the fine print of the AUKUS agreement, the Australian government has agreed to manage the radioactive waste from nuclear submarines sourced from the UK and the US. That raises a much more difficult issue.

    Now that the Kimba plan is officially dumped, the real work can finally begin to find a more credible and respectful approach to identifying a long-term storage and disposal site for Australia’s nuclear waste that is consistent with international best practice.

  • Treevan 🇦🇺@aussie.zoneEnglish
    4·
    1 year ago

    https://www.acf.org.au/king-hit-for-nuclear-waste-dump

    The Australian Conservation Foundation has welcomed the Albanese government’s decision to fully withdraw the former Coalition government’s proposal to establish a radioactive waste facility on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula against the wishes of Traditional Owners.

    “Labor’s decision is consistent with the Federal Court ruling and with Labor values on listening to First Nations’ wishes for their Country.”

    “ACF looks forward to constructive dialogue with the Albanese government to help develop a new and responsible approach to radioactive waste management in Australia.”

    “Minister Madeleine King is right to say the previous government’s plan to double-handle the transport of this waste - first from Lucas Heights in Sydney to temporary storage at Kimba, then on to an as-yet undetermined permanent disposal site - raised concerns regarding international best practice and safety.”

    “Today, the government took that important step.”