The construction of the interim waste store is well underway at ANSTO’s Lucas Heights Campus, with ARPANSA having already issued a license to site and construct it in November last year. The license to operate the interim waste store is the third step in ARPANSA’s standard licencing process.
Once constructed and licensed, the interim waste store will be the temporary storage area for Australian Intermediate Level Waste which was generated at ANSTO from 50 years of medicine production, sent to France for reprocessing, and is contractually obliged to be returned by the end of 2015.
The waste will be safely managed at ANSTO until a National Radioactive Waste Management Facility is established, at which point it will transferred from ANSTO to that new facility, and the building at Lucas Heights will be repurposed for work associated with medicine production (subject to regulatory approval).
“Australia benefited from decades of nuclear medicine production made possible by this material, and along with those benefits comes the responsibility to safely manage the by-products,” said a spokesperson.
“ANSTO has decades of expertise in safely managing infrastructure in The Shire. We thank the people who have taken the opportunity to input into this process so far, and welcome any further feedback through ARPANSA’s next consultation process.”
Timeline of key events
- In the 1990s and 2000s, fuel generated at ANSTO from 50 years of medicine production - enabling the effective diagnosis of heart disease, cancer and skeletal injuries of a whole generation of Australians - was exported to France for treatment so it is suitable for permanent storage.
- In May 2012, ANSTO announced it will temporarily hold the material until Australia’s National Radioactive Waste Management Facility is constructed: The Australian
- Following an expert review and a statutory public consultation process in May 2013, the independent nuclear regulator advised ANSTO in November 2013 that it had approval to both site and construct the interim waste store.
- With construction now well underway, ANSTO has lodged an application to operate the interim waste store, which is the third license required. As per that established process, a public consultation process will be held in relation to that third license requirement.
For more information
- On plans for a National Radioactive Waste Management Facility: www.industry.gov.au
- For more information on waste management: www.managingnuclearwaste.gov.au