Greens to oppose bill to storage nuclear waste at SA farm

The Kimba farm, which was voluntarily nominated and chosen after a four-year search, would store medical nuclear waste for 100 years.

South Australian Senator and Greens nuclear spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young said her party would work to block the "offensive" legislation.

"The federal government wants to dump on South Australia and we won't leave it to the community of Kimba to hold the line on their own," Senator Hanson-Young said.

"It is wrong to say there is broad community support. Traditional Owners have rejected the proposal. Once again the Morrison government and [former Resource] Minister Canavan haven't listened.

"A government minister from Queensland thinks South Australia is the place to dump and it's deeply offensive to the people of SA.

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"Every South Australian should be concerned this government is more interested in building a radioactive waste dump than they are in investing in renewable energy and our growing potential for green industry."

Labor resource spokesperson Joel Fitzgibbon did not respond to questions about whether his party would support the bill.

The recently appointed Resource Minister Keith Pitt introduced the legislation to the House of Representatives last week - just two weeks after the Kimba site was announced - where the government will have the numbers to pass the bill.

With the Greens opposing the bill in the Senate and Labor not stating its position, the government will need the backing of either the Centre Alliance or One Nation to carry the bill.

A spokesperson for Mr Pitt said the new minister was "working with other parties to deliver the outcome".

"Minister Pitt wants bipartisan support on the National Radiation Waste Management Bill," the spokesperson said.

"This bill has been 40 years in the making and the establishment of a national radioactive waste facility is a national priority."

South Australian Energy and Mining Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan said the federal legislation would override SA's state legislation.

"The South Australian government believes a single purpose built facility will reduce the risks posed by leaving nuclear waste scattered across the country in hospitals and universities," Mr van Holst Pellekaan.

"Kimba meets all the technical requirements for a waste facility, has majority community support and a willing host landowner."

About 45 people will be employed at the site, which the government says will store low-level waste permanently and intermediate-level waste temporarily.