Nuclear & Uranium

The Greens believe:

1. The burden of Australia’s nuclear supply chain and proposed waste storage is disproportionately borne by First Nations peoples. It significantly and negatively impacts on their culture, connection to country, well-being, and their right to manage land, natural resources, and water.

2. First nations communities have the right to free, prior & informed consent and the right to say no to nuclear projects that are proposed on traditional lands

3. The world should be free of nuclear weapons and the nuclear fuel chain.

4. There is a strong link between the mining and export of uranium and nuclear weapons proliferation.

5. Nuclear weapons, nuclear accidents or attacks on reactors all pose unacceptable risks of catastrophic consequences for humans and the environment. There is no effective way to address nuclear disaster, therefore nuclear weapons should be eliminated and nuclear energy production should be phased out.

6. Future generations must not be burdened with dangerous levels of radioactive waste.

7. Nuclear power is not a safe, clean, timely, economically viable or practical solution to the problem of greenhouse gas emissions.

8. Australia's reliance on the United States nuclear weapons 'umbrella', which lends our bases, ports and infrastructure to the US nuclear war fighting apparatus, poses a significant threat to peace and disarmament.

9. South Australia is responsible for the safe management of South Australia’s own domestic low-level waste from nuclear medicine procedures.

The Greens will:

1. Strive for a world free of nuclear power and nuclear weapons.

2. Provide compensation for the victims of British nuclear weapons testing in South Australia, and the rehabilitation of nuclear test sites.

3. Support first nations communities to have the right of veto over proposed nuclear projects on their traditional lands.

4. Close South Australia's ports and waters to nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed vessels.

5. Oppose all military communication facilities involved in nuclear weapons activities.

6. Oppose any promotion of the nuclear weapons industries in Australia or globally.

7. Legislate to prohibit government funding of mining, research, development and commercialisation of technologies directly related to the enrichment or weaponisation of nuclear material.

8. Remove from South Australian territory any facilities which enable threat, deployment or use of nuclear weapons.

9. Support the creation of nuclear weapon free zones, municipalities and ports.

10. Oppose any nuclear-powered weaponised technology, including any proposals for nuclear-powered submarines built in South Australia.

11. Conduct a comprehensive audit of all nuclear waste material currently stored in South Australia.

12. Conduct an audit on medical nuclear waste in South Australia.

13. Ensure responsible and evidence-based storage of South Australia’s own low-level waste.

14. Maintain the prohibition on the importation of nuclear waste into South Australia including the reprocessing of international nuclear waste and fuel rods.

15. Maintain the legal prohibition on the construction of any nuclear waste storage facilities in South Australia.

16. Support local communities opposed to storing Australia’s existing nuclear waste from the Lucas Heights Reactor in NSW, in their communities.

17. Support the safe, long-term containment of Australia’s existing nuclear waste and the phasing out of the generation of new nuclear waste.

18. Support greater funding and research for the development of non-reactor technologies, such as cyclotrons or particle accelerators, for the production of radioisotopes for medical and scientific purposes, with the aim of closing the OPAL nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights as soon as possible.

19. Support extended interim storage at the Lucas Heights waste production facility while an independent inquiry into safe long-term storage and disposal solutions is conducted.

20. Amend current regulatory frameworks and provide resources to enforce regulations to ensure illegal dumping of radioactive waste cannot occur.

21. Prohibit nuclear power plants and support the promotion of safe, ecologically sustainable energy options.

22. Legislate to prohibit mining, processing, importation, exportation, transport or disposal of any element of uranium product or waste on South Australian soil, except where that product originated in, and has never left, South Australia.

23. Oppose any new uranium mines in SA and ensure that existing multi-ore mines, such as Olympic Dam, leave the uranium behind when processing minerals.

24. Ensure the thorough rehabilitation of sites negatively impacted by uranium mining and that the mining companies are financially responsible for the full cost of rehabilitation and subject to enforcement of standards to safely contain and monitor radioactive tailings wastes for at least 10,000 years.

25. Ensure that contaminated sites containing radioactive materials across South Australia including former uranium mines milling sites, testing and exploration sites, research and production facilities and storage sites across the country are rehabilitated.

26. Prohibit the exploration, mining and exportation of uranium and thorium in South Australia and cancel existing mining tenements or State Agreements held for the express purposes of uranium mining. Uranium that is currently mined at Olympic Dam will be prohibited from leaving the mine site.

27. Protect South Australian public road-users from accidental uncontrolled release of radioactive material by legislating a ban on the transport of non-South Australian radioactive materials through South Australia, while working to phase out nuclear-related activities in South Australia.

28. Develop long-term transition plans for workers in uranium mining, processing and transport during the phase out of the uranium export industry.

29. Prohibit food irradiation and the importation of irradiated foods.

30. Strengthen safety standards for existing uranium mining, processing and transport operations to ensure the safety of workers and decrease the risk of uncontrolled release of radioactive material.

31. Establish a State register of all workers in the nuclear and uranium mining industries and support research into the short and long term effects of these workers' exposure to all levels of radiation and / or make public the National Dose Register data.

(Nuclear and Uranium Policy as amended by The Greens SA Policy and Campaigns Council September 2020)