Reprocessed radioactive waste stemming from Australia's production of nuclear medicine and other products is set to arrive in Port Kembla this weekend.
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The waste - encased in molten glass, canisters and steel casks - left the United Kingdom on January 20 on a specialist nuclear vessel, bound for an Australian port.
The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) will not disclose the location of this port but the ship carrying the waste is due to dock at Port Kembla this Saturday, March 12.
ANSTO's last repatriation effort in 2015 saw the waste brought into Port Kembla, from where it was taken to the agency's interim waste storage facility in Lucas Heights.
Electronic road signs have been erected around Wollongong, alerting drivers to a police operation starting at 11.30pm on Saturday and ending at 4am on Sunday.
The NSW Police Force has confirmed it is conducting an operation on Saturday to help with the "transportation of cargo" to ANSTO's Lucas Heights facility.
ANSTO's group executive of nuclear operations and nuclear medicine, Pamela Naidoo-Ameglio, said significant expertise would be involved in the transportation of the waste.
"The transport and storage cask involved is so well shielded that you could stand near it for 25 hours in order to get the same radiation dose as a 9-hour flight to Singapore," Ms Naidoo-Ameglio said.
"It is a feat of engineering that is made from forged steel, and could withstand a drop of 9 metres, temperatures of 800 degrees Celsius or even a jet plane strike."
About 85 per cent of the nuclear waste produced at ANSTO stems from medicine production.
Australia does not have the ability to reprocess spent fuel rods from nuclear operations, so they are sent to facilities overseas where any uranium is stripped and recycled, and the remaining waste is processed.
"Australia does not shy away from our responsibility to safely deal with the by-products that enable the significant benefits from our nuclear program," Ms Naidoo-Ameglio said.
The waste will be stored at the Lucas Heights interim facility until a national radioactive waste management facility is built.
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