Kimba nuclear deal faces new challenge from traditional owners

The government says the deal is sealed but plans for a nuclear dump at Kimba could soon face a challenge from the Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation.

Traditional landowners are preparing to launch legal action to stop a radioactive waste centre being built near Kimba.

Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation chairman Jason Bilney said the organisation’s legal counsel would this month lodge court documents seeking a judicial review of the federal government’s decision to name Napandee as the site of its radioactive was storage facility.

The government last month said it had acquired a 211ha site at Napandee farm for the nuclear waste storage centre, which will store low and intermediate level material.

An artist’s impression of the site near Kimba. .

The site was widely expected to be chosen, after a process that zeroed in on the farmland in February 2020 – but it has since been subject to legislative changes and protests.

Mr Bilney said Barngarla native title holders believed their views had not been seriously considered – and they were also concerned about potential environmental damage.

Resources Minister Keith Pitt has said the new facility would consolidate waste now stored at more than 100 sites and create 45 permanent jobs in the Kimba community.

Kimba’s nuclear deal is sealed: $325m waste facility confirmed

By Michael McGuire

The small Eyre Peninsula town of Kimba will be home to a $325m nuclear waste facility for Australia, with Resources Minister Keith Pitt confirming the federal government has acquired land to build the complex.

Mr Pitt said the decision to choose Kimba provided “a solution that has eluded consecutive governments for more than 40 years’’.

In August, Mr Pitt said the 211ha site at Napandee farm, 24km west of Kimba, was the preferred location for the dump, which will store low-level radioactive waste permanently and some intermediate waste for several decades.

Resources Minister Keith Pitt. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

The selection of Kimba has divided the local community. Opponents believe a nuclear waste dump would ruin the area’s clean, green image, although a ballot run by Kimba Council in 2019 found 62 per cent of residents supported the facility. The Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation has previously argued that it was not consulted about the site and has flagged it will ask for a Judicial Review of the decision.

The region’s federal MP, Liberal Rowan Ramsey, supported the proposal but said he would also consult with those who were against it.

“I know that the majority of the local community are behind the project that will bring jobs and new economic opportunities for our region and look forward to the facility proceeding,’’ Mr Ramsey said.

“This is not to say there are not some people with concerns and I will work with them to resolve those issues wherever possible, as we move into the detailed design, delivery and operational phases.’’

Mr Pitt said the nuclear waste facility would create 45 permanent jobs in the Kimba community in “fields as diverse as security, administration, environmental monitoring, scientific services, health and safety.”

He said Australia’s radioactive waste, which was mainly a by-product of nuclear medicine, was currently stored at more than 100 locations around the country, including in universities and hospitals.

“Nuclear medicine is used in the diagnosis of a variety of heart, lung and muscular-skeletal conditions as well as the treatment of specific cancers, and a by-product of its production is low-level radioactive waste,’’ he said.

“Along with the benefits comes a responsibility to manage the by-products. Without a facility like this, we can’t enjoy the benefits from vital nuclear medicines on an ongoing basis.

“This facility will underwrite Australia’s nuclear medicine supplies, and support good, permanent, full-time jobs and a brand new industry in Kimba for generations.’’

Originally published as Kimba nuclear deal faces new challenge from traditional owners