Nuclear waste dump site is chosen – as locals worry about health impact

Nuclear waste dump site is chosen – as locals worry about health impact but welcome the resultant jobs


A nuclear waste dump is to be built on land near the town of Kimba in South Australia.

The federal government has acquired a 211 hectare site at Napandee, 24km west of Kimba on SA’s Eyre Peninsula – a town that marks the exact halfway point between Australia’s most easterly and westerly edges.

The site will be used to store nuclear medical waste currently spread across more than 100 facilities including universities and hospital basements.

‘We have reached a major milestone in our work to deliver this national facility, and a solution that has eluded consecutive governments for more than 40 years,’ Resources Minister Keith Pitt said on Monday.

Liberal MP Rowan Ramsey, whose federal seat of Grey includes the site, said there was community concern about the health impact of the facility, which is expected to create 45 jobs.

‘The majority of the local community are behind the project that will bring jobs and new economic opportunities for our region,’ he 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.’