Nuclear industry in South Australia

The state is home to the world's largest known single deposit of uranium, which is worked by BHP at the Olympic Dam mine.

[2][3] Advocates for an expanded nuclear industry in South Australia have included former Prime Ministers from both Labor and Liberal parties.

In the 1970s, the discovery of a massive uranium-bearing IOCG orebody near Roxby Downs led to the eventual opening of the Olympic Dam mine in 1988.

As of May 2016, Beverley and Honeymoon mines are in care and maintenance mode[5] owing to weak uranium prices in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

In 2013, uranium oxide concentrate produced in South Australia was being exported to Britain, France, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Canada and the United States.

[7] In 2011, South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill expressed his support for exporting uranium to India, despite its status as a non-signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

[1] The Howard government made unsuccessful attempts to establish nuclear waste storage facilities in South Australia between 1998 and 2004.

[11] Recommendations by the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission in 2016 ultimately resulted in a site selection near Kimba on Eyre Peninsula.

[2][3] A seven-year-long consultation process preceded the official selection of a site at Napandee, near Kimba in South Australia for a future National Radioactive Waste Management Facility.

[1] Domestically produced radioactive waste, and repatriated, reprocessed spent nuclear fuel from Australia's research reactors at Lucas Heights is intended to be stored there, once constructed.

Ramsey publicly advocated for the establishment of nuclear waste storage facilities in South Australia, and has stated that he would be comfortable storing it on his own property.

The prospect of storing nuclear waste in the underground tunnels of the Olympic Dam mine has been speculated upon by opinion writers, politicians and the community.

The report was put before a Citizens Jury, which ultimately voted not to proceed with investigating the prospect of importing spent nuclear fuel for storage and disposal in South Australia.

In 2015, former Rolls-Royce nuclear engineer and submarine expert Steve Ludlam was appointed to the Defence SA Advisory Board.

It was tasked with investigating opportunities and risks associated with potential expansion of the state's role in the nuclear fuel cycle.

The establishment of nuclear power generation in South Australia was also deemed inappropriate given the state's high penetration of solar and wind power.The Government of South Australia allocated $3.6 million to the Department of the Premier and Cabinet for 2016–17 "to enable the government to engage with the community to develop an informed response to the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission Final Report.

Managed by the New Democracy Foundation, the Citizens' Jury process randomly invited 25,000 South Australians to participate by post.

They were provided with the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission's final report and heard from a panel whose members are listed below.

Decide" and included print, radio and television commercials, online discussions and community displays attended by DPC staff.

After hearing from a larger cohort of expert witnesses, the citizens' jury ultimately concluded, by a two-thirds majority vote, to not pursue to prospect of the importation of spent nuclear fuel to South Australia under any circumstances.

In March 2017, eleven members of the Turnbull government were listed as openly supporting the prospect of nuclear power in Australia.

[38] In June 2017, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott acknowledged fellow former Prime Minister Bob Hawke's support for expanding the nuclear industry and asserted that the "Australian Labor government under Premier Jay Weatherill would like to develop new industries to supplement the uranium mine at Roxby Downs.

There have been concerns that uranium drives the global nuclear weapons cycle, disturbs or degrades sacred sites, releases carcinogenic radon gas, and contaminates groundwater.

Nuclear power is considered by opponents as an unsafe, centralised, and secretive energy option, which creates security risks.