When the Albanese Government announced the AUKUS pathway in March last year, we were clear that as a responsible nuclear steward, Australia would manage nuclear waste from our nuclear-powered submarines. This includes the low-level waste generated by day-to-day submarine operations and maintenance.

After an extensive process, Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Authority (ARPANSA) has now issued a licence for Defence to prepare for a purpose-built facility for the temporary management and storage of low-level waste at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia.

The safe and secure management of low-level waste is an important step for AUKUS, and will be integral to the establishment of (SRF-West) at HMAS Stirling from 2027.

Once built, this facility will help manage low-level radioactive material generated from the maintenance work and from the submarines during their routine operations.

This is similar to waste management that occurs in hospitals, science facilities and universities including;

• Waste items such as gloves, personal protective equipment and associated test equipment.

The facility will not handle, store or dispose of any nuclear material related to the nuclear-powered submarine nuclear fuel cycle, including spent nuclear fuel; nor any other high-level radioactive material.

This Controlled Industrial Facility will manage and temporarily store low-level radioactive material, before it is transported to locations on the Defence estate for longer-term storage.

The Government has said it will make an announcement about the process by which the Government will determine a facility to manage spent nuclear fuel later this year.

Australia has committed to dealing with the high level waste – i.e. used nuclear reactors – that come from our future nuclear-powered submarines.

But as the Deputy Prime Minister has noted on multiple occasions, our first nuclear-powered submarines won’t come into service until the early 2030s and will have a life of around 20 years. Therefore, the first high-level waste that will need disposing of will be in the early 2050s.

The government has made clear that this will occur on the existing or future Defence estate, and work to identify that site is underway.

• The government has been clear that Australia will not dispose of spent nuclear fuel or reactors from the UK, the US, or other countries.

Australia has significant experience in managing waste of this type and the facility at HMAS Stirling will be purpose built and subject to stringent requirements and conditions under the ARPANS Act.

A licence is only granted by ARPANSA if there is confidence that stringent requirements have been met and there is evidence that these requirements can continue to be met throughout the lifecycle of a facility.

In making this decision, the CEO of ARPANSA considered evidence, and took into account around 165 submissions made during the public consultation phase. This included a visit to HMAS Stirling.

The CEO of ARPANSA was satisfied that the facility is compliant with the ARPANS Act and Regulations, and also with applicable international best practice, for the safe management of radioactive waste

The CEO concluded that the facility can be constructed, operated and decommissioned in a way that provides assurance of the radiological safety of the workers, the public and the environment, including in worst case scenarios.

Pending further licence approvals, this purpose-built facility will be built on Defence land at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia.

It is intended that the facility will be close to existing submarine infrastructure.

ARPANSA is a regulatory agency, independent of Defence and the Australian Submarine Agency.

This decision was notified publicly by ARPANSA on 17 July 2024