Taiwan first country to consider storing nuclear waste at a facility in SA

TAIWAN has emerged as the first country to seriously consider helping establish a nuclear waste dump in SA, seeking a place to store 5000 metric tonnes of high-level nuclear waste.

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TAIWAN has emerged as the first country to seriously consider helping establish a nuclear waste dump in South Australia, seeking a place to store 5000 metric tonnes of high-level nuclear waste, as well as 60,000 barrels of low-level waste.

Investment and Trade Minister Martin Hamilton-Smith said he was delivered a “clear message” that the tiny island nation would be interested in investing in nuclear storage infrastructure and making ongoing payments to dump waste overseas.

Mr Hamilton-Smith said his Asian trade mission had revealed that countries would invest in a facility, with nuclear countries Japan and South Korea also indicating they were keeping a close eye on the South Australian nuclear debate.

“There’s clearly a demand and our neighbours may be in a position to put hundreds of millions, if not billions. into infrastructure, and then paying to dump waste on an ongoing basis,” he said.

There’s significant debate about Taiwan’s nuclear future post-2025 but Mr Hamilton-Smith said geographical reasons meant it had need for a nuclear facility “now”.

The independent MP urged his Cabinet colleagues and the Liberal Party he represented for 15 years not to bring the curtains down on “a significant economic opportunity”.

The Onkalo nuclear waste storage facility in Finland. Picture: Posiva Oy

The plea comes as Cabinet meets today to decide its position on the issue and an announcement is expected this week.

Government sources say the plan to establish a high-level nuclear dump is dead after its 60 per cent of Citizens Jury participants rejected it, and Opposition Leader Steven Marshall also spoke out against it last week, branding the move “all but dead and buried”.

After stressing the importance of the Citizens Jury, Premier Jay Weatherill said the Government would consider a range of public feedback and a Parliamentary Committee report before deciding its nuclear position.

Mr Hamilton-Smith says SA should mirror the “intelligent nuclear debate” in the United Kingdom, France and the US.

“I think the citizens’ jury has further informed the debate but I don’t think it should have the last word,” he said.

“We need to think very carefully before we say ‘no’. There’s a very big opportunity here.

“I’m critical of the extreme left and the extreme right for trying to close down this debate based on ideology and political opportunism. I can’t see how that helps the state to deal with opportunities and challenges in the future.”