End of the (Fuel) Cycle: What can South Australia learn from the world? - 17047

This project consists of a study of five countries' nuclear waste policy histories, a review of the presence and role of bureaucracy, how these factors have influenced their citizens' attitudes towards nuclear waste and progress made towards the planning, siting and construction of nuclear waste repositories. A survey was sent to a selected stratified sub-group of the community questioning their attitude towards the location of a potential nuclear waste repository in South Australia and what the most influential factor responsible for their opinion was. France is currently in the process of converting its underground nuclear waste research facility in Bure into the country's first high-level nuclear waste repository. Sweden is also constructing an underground high level nuclear waste repository, after decades of planning, community engagement and candidate site selection processes. The Nuclear Energy Agency estimates that Switzerland will construct a low and intermediate level nuclear waste repository by 2035 and a high level nuclear waste repository by 2045. Finland will be the first country in the world to successfully construct and operate a high-level nuclear waste repository and it is expected to be operational in 2023. The project summarises the most influential factors affecting the success of five case-study countries in managing their nuclear and radioactive waste and apply them to an Australian context. It also highlights the outcome of the surveys and connects the result to those previously conducted in the five case-study countries. (authors)