What will the facility look like?
The design of Australia's Radioactive
Waste Management Facility will be
tailored to the specific environmental
and geological characteristics of the
chosen location.
The final design will draw upon
elements of other well-established
international facilities in Spain, the
United Kingdom, France and South
Africa.
The facility also has the necessary
infrastructure for the treatment and
conditioning of wastes for disposal.
The disposal system uses natural and
engineered barriers that safely isolate
the materials for the time required to
convert them into harmless
substances.
United Kingdom
Spain
Source: LLW Repository Ltd
The Low Level Waste Repository is the
United Kingdom's national low level
radioactive waste disposal facility.
Source: Enresa
El Cabril is the facility used for the
disposal of low level radioactive waste
in Spain.
The facility has two platforms for the
disposal of low level radioactive waste
and another with a specific structure
for very low level waste.
Fact sheet
Established in 1959, the site has safely
disposed of the nation's low level
waste for over 50 years. Waste is
disposed of in engineered concrete
vaults and, where possible, treated,
containerised and grouted before
placement in the vault.
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France
South Africa
Operated by the South African Nuclear
Energy Corporation (NECSA),
Vaalputs has been the National
Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility for
low level radioactive waste since 1986.
This facility is a trench design in which
waste is held in containers buried a
few metres underground.
Source: French Nuclear Safety Authority
The Centre de Stockage de la Manche
(CSM) waste disposal facility was the
first repository to be built in France for
low level radioactive waste in 1969.
The French Atomic Energy
Commission was authorised to modify
its facilities at the La Hague Nuclear
Plant by adding a disposal facility for
solid radioactive waste. Following the
CSM’
u , a second waste
disposal facility in the Aube district was
commissioned in 1992. This facility
draws on more than 25 years of
experience successfully operating the
CSM.
Source: South African Nuclear Energy Corporation Ltd
Situated approximately 100km southeast of Springbok in the Northern Cape
Province, Vaalputs has low rainfall,
stable seismic conditions, low
population density and low agricultural,
mining and economic growth potential.
For more information visit
www.radioactivewaste.gov.au.
Fact sheet
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