Dive Brief:

• A proposed nuclear dump in Australia could likely handle 13% of waste generated by power, industry, medicine, and research, according to tentative findings of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission, a group instituted by South Australia.
• The Commission suggested a combined storage and disposal facility, with storage capacity for 138,000 tHM of used fuel and 390,000 square meters of intermediate-level waste. The report claimed the facility "would be highly profitable in a range of scenarios," bringing in a total of $257 billion in revenue for the Australian state over the course of its lifetime.
• The decision would require community consent. Meanwhile, South Australia has not taken a position. The Commission's final report is due in May, and the projected launch date for the proposed storage space is the late 2020s.

Dive Insight:

Australia has plenty of its own radioactive waste to contend with, but no long-term storage plans, as South Australia considers taking in more of it from around the globe. Already, the state’s Greens leader Mark Parnell is speaking up, opposed to South Australia becoming what he called "the world's nuclear waste dump."

"The Royal Commission's tentative findings on the nuclear waste dump are based on dubious economics, heroic assumptions, and a big dose of guesswork,” Parnell said.

Citizens likely will be as unhappy. Months ago a crowd of them banded near the shore by New South Wales protesting 25 tons of nuclear waste shipped there from France.

Of this latest nuclear waste business proposition, South Australia state Premier Jay Weatherill said, "I anticipate that for many South Australians, this will understandably be an emotion-charged debate. However it is important that everyone is afforded the opportunity to have their say."