International nuclear waste repository for Australia?

A report from the South Australia Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission has said that the state should set up a multi-national nuclear waste facility – one that would accept waste from countries outside Australia.

The Commission, which was established to independently assess the state’s participation in mineral extraction and processing as well as waste disposal, says that the permanent geological disposal of international used fuel and intermediate level waste could provide significant and enduring economic benefits to the South Australian community.

Such a disposal facility could generate more than A$100bn income in excess of expenditure over its 120-year life, says the report. It recommends that, should the project be realised, it should be owned and controlled by the state government, with returns shared between current and future South Australians.

The World Nuclear Association (WNA) says that the report ‘has fundamentally changed the nature of the global nuclear waste discourse.’ Agneta Rising, Director General of the WNA said: ‘Far from it being the case that there is “no solution” to nuclear waste, we are seeing lots of progress – with some countries developing national repositories and now the potential addition of this viable alternative.’

A large multi-national waste storage facility would be a world first and should offer advantages in terms of siting and economics when compared to smaller national approaches, says WNA. It says the Australian state must now work on building robust public and political support if the plan is to proceed.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the nuclear world, the construction of the containment-building dome of unit 2 of the Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates has been completed. World Nuclear News reports that the dome – which weighs 9,000 tonnes – is the final structural component of the reactor containment building.

The Barakah plant comprises four units with the first due to start up in 2017. The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation says that plant’s overall construction is 60% complete and it should be fully operational in 2020. It says that the 5.6 GW plant will meet a quarter of the UAE’s demands for electricity.