The 211-hectare Napandee property has been acquired by the government and will be used to store low- and medium-level nuclear waste.
The property was already selected by the government, but it had to allow an additional 60 days of consultation before it could formally declare the site.
“This is still the right decision at the right site,” resources mMinister Keith Pitt said. “It’s certainly got all of the right geological requirements, we have majority support from the local community and we should never forget that this has taken 40 years and I understand some 16 ministers,” he said.
“Fundamentally, for the local community of Kimba it’s been over six years of consultation.”
The consultation culminated in a ballot which showed just over 60% of Kimba residents supported the project.
However, the Barngarla – Aboriginal people who are the traditional owners of much of Eyre Peninsula – opposed the project and said they were not included in the consultation. They said they would seek a supreme court judicial review of the site selection process along with some landholders.
Australia’s radioactive waste is currently spread over more than 100 locations around the country including in science facilities, universities and hospital basements.
For more than 40 years, Australian governments have been working to site a single, safe and purpose-built facility where the waste can be consolidated.
The majority of the waste produced today is associated with the production of nuclear medicine.