Next radioactive AUKUS hurdle approaching as green light sought for Perth nuclear facility
Public comments have opened on the next regulatory hurdle facing AUKUS as the Australian Submarine Agency seeks the green light to begin building a low-level radioactive waste and maintenance facility at HMAS Stirling off Perth's coast.
The 'controlled industrial facility' is crucial to the next stage of the AUKUS agreement as US and UK nuclear submarines begin their rotational presence at HMAS Stirling from 2027 and Australia's purchased Virginia class nuclear subs begin arriving in the 2030s.
According to ASA documents, the building will be an industrial workshop for servicing and repairing submarine nuclear propulsion components and tools and will 'receive, manage, treat, decontaminate and temporarily store solid and liquid, low-level radioactive material.'
ASA needs the approval of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency to begin construction of the facility.
It gained approval from the agency to begin site works in July with the agency deeming the risks from the low-level waste to be stored as the facility as negligible.
'ARPANSA found that, in this worst-case scenario, any radiological doses off-site were negligible and predicted doses on site at HMAS Stirling were significantly less than statutory dose limits'
The radioactive waste component of nuclear submarine presence in WA is one of the leading causes of opposition to the AUKUS agreement.
Nuclear Free WA Co-convener Mia Pepper Kerry-Anne Garlick said the community was concerned about the safety and security of the radioactive waste and how it would be transported on and off the island.
'There has been strong and consistent community opposition,' she said.
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