National radioactive waste facility

It has taken more than 40 years to find a location to site a National Radioactive Waste Management Facility for Australia to consolidate the radioactive waste that is currently spread over more than 100 locations.

H/Advisors APA has been working with the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (DISER) since 2016 to support the national search for a site for a centralised facility.

After decades of unsuccessful attempts, the Department created a process predicated on identifying a site volunteered by a landowner, which was suitable from a technical and perspective, and which was alongside a community that broadly supported the facility and the industry it would bring.

Using newsletters; 24 fact sheets; interviews with newspapers, television stations and radio programs; social media; videos; community meetings; and online forums; APA has worked closely with the Department to provide factual information to six communities across four years and four Australian states.

The approach broadly involved focussing language on the process and opportunity, identifying areas where communities or stakeholders could obtain additional information, addressing issues or factual inaccuracies as they arose, and working directly with an array of regional reporters, community members, landowners, experts, academics, and department staff.

The consultation process spanned multiple ballot, submission and court processes, and culminated in February 2020 when the community of Kimba in South Australia, was identified as the location for the facility.

Some 62% of the community voted for hosting the facility and the 45 jobs and other economic stimulus it would bring, as well as 59% of local businesses, and 100% of direct neighbours who share a boundary with the site.