PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The resources sector has welcomed the South Australian Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission’s report, which looks into the state’s role in the nuclear fuel cycle.

The report, which was delivered to Premier Jay Weatherill this week, found that South Australia could safely increase its participation in nuclear activities. It included 12 recommendations and 145 findings in relation to the state’s further participation in elements of the nuclear fuel cycle.

Chief among the commission’s key recommendations was that the state government should undertake work to further investigate the feasibility of the storage and disposal of international used nuclear fuel and intermediate level waste in this state.

“The findings and recommendations in this report represent the beginning of a new series of conversations with the community that address their questions and concerns and, ultimately, enable decisions to be made by the people of South Australia,” said former Royal Commissioner Kevin Scarce.

“The commission’s recommendations address the opportunities that might arise from becoming more involved in the nuclear fuel cycle and identify the next steps that the South Australian government might take to pursue those benefits, should there be social consent to do so.”

A viability analysis undertaken on behalf of the commission determined, on conservative estimates, that a waste disposal facility could generate A$257-billion in total revenue, with costs of A$145-billion over the 120-year life of the project, including a A$32-billion reserve fund for facility closure and ongoing monitoring.

In terms of uranium mining, the report found that the current administrative and regulatory frameworks effectively managed existing and future risks arising from an expansion of uranium mining in South Australia, but added that an expanded exploration and mining industry would provide modest additional benefits to the state.

The report recommended that the South Australian government work to simplify approvals for the mining of radioactive ores, and that it commit to long-term investment in exploration programmes, while also ensuring that decommissioning and remediation costs were fully covered in advance of the mining project.

“The Royal Commission’s final report provides a substantial evidence base for South Australians to consider and marks the start of a very important conversation about the future of our state,” said Weatherill, adding that he would soon outline how South Australians could get involved in the next phase of the discussion.

“I encourage all South Australians to familiarise themselves with this report so that they can participate in this important decision about our state’s future,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) said that the significance of the Royal Commission could not be overstated, with executive director for uranium Daniel Zavattiero stating that its recommendation around uranium mining in South Australia was particularly welcome.

“With respect to uranium mining, the commission noted that ‘administrative and regulatory processes that manage current exploration and mining operations are sufficient to support a safe expansion of activity. However, the existing regulatory approvals processes for new uranium mines are unnecessarily duplicative at the state and federal levels.

“Critically, it has recommended that ‘the South Australian government pursue the simplification of state and federal mining approval requirements for radioactive ores to deliver a single assessment and approvals process’.”

Zavattiero has called on the federal government to amend the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act to remove uranium mining, milling decommissioning and rehabilitation from the definition of ‘nuclear action’ and to enable the implementation of a one-stop shop for environmental approvals.

“The commission confirmed that ‘uranium production has produced benefits to the South Australian economy, and will continue to do so’.  It acknowledged that projections involving Australia capturing a greater share of an expanding world market would require substantial investment to expand production capacity.

“This supports the industry view that the global market is competitive, and that, for Australia to capture more of the export revenue and jobs benefits of greater uranium production, a concerted focus on industry competitiveness is required,” said Zavattiero.