As part of the AUKUS agreement, HMAS Stirling will see the operation and maintenance of nuclear-powered submarines. The maintenance process does generate some low-level radioactive materials, which will be stored temporarily at a facility on Garden Island/Meeandip.
The radioactive waste storage facility on HMAS Stirling is a temporary facility aimed to store 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.
The proposed facility on HMAS Stirling will manage and temporarily store low-level radioactive material before it is transported to locations on the Defence estate for longer-term storage. The Commonwealth Government has said it will make an announcement about the process by which they will determine a facility to manage spent nuclear fuel later this year.
I am of the understanding that the Defence estate to be selected will not be HMAS Stirling or Garden Island. Pending further licence approvals, including environmental approvals, construction of the HMAS Stirling low-level radioactive waste storage facility is expected to be begin in 2025.
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, 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 Albanese Government has made clear that this will occur on the existing or future Defence estate, and work to identify that site is underway.
The Albanese Government is clear that Australia will not dispose of spent nuclear fuel or reactors from the UK, the US, or other countries.
To summarise, any low-level nuclear waste produced through the management, maintenance and operation of the submarines will be temporarily stored on HMAS Stirling before moving to another facility outside of the area. High-level waste will not be stored at Garden Island.
You can read more on this topic in the report by the Australian Submarine Agency (ASA) here: https://www.arpansa.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2024-05/ASA%20HMAS%20Stirling%20Controlled%20Industrial%20Facility%20ARPANSA%20licence%20submission%20overview%20-%20Final%206%20May.pdf
Image: A British nuclear-powered submarine docked at HMAS Stirling naval base in October 2021. (ABC News: Nicolas Perpitch)
