{"id":"nuclear-waste-storage-prohibition-act-1999","name":"Nuclear Waste Storage (Prohibition) Act 1999","slug":"nuclear-waste-storage-prohibition-act-1999","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":105850,"registerId":"wa-nuclear-waste-storage-prohibition-act-1999-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Nuclear Waste Storage (Prohibition) Act 1999","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nNuclear Waste Storage and Transportation (Prohibition) Act 1999\n\nWestern Australia\n\nNuclear Waste Storage and Transportation (Prohibition) Act 1999\n\nContents\n\n1. Short title 1\n\n2. Commencement 1\n\n3. Interpretation 1\n\n4. Objects of Act 2\n\n5. Relation to other laws 2\n\n6. Act to bind Crown 3\n\n7. Prohibition against constructing or operating a nuclear waste storage facility 3\n\n7A. Prohibition against transporting nuclear waste 3\n\n8. Liability of officers for offence by body corporate 4\n\n8A. Injunctions 4\n\n9. No public expenditure on storage or disposal of nuclear waste 5\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 6\n\nOther notes 6\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nNuclear Waste Storage and Transportation (Prohibition) Act 1999\n\nAn Act to prohibit the storage, disposal or transportation in Western Australia of certain nuclear waste, to amend the *Nuclear Activities Regulation Act 1978* and the *Radiation Safety Act 1975* 1, and  for other purposes.\n\n[Long title amended: No. 2 of 2004 s. 4.]\n\n##### 1. Short title\n\nThis Act may be cited as the *Nuclear Waste Storage and Transportation (Prohibition) Act 1999.*\n\n[Section 1 amended: No. 2 of 2004 s. 5.]\n\n##### 2. Commencement\n\nThis Act comes into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.\n\n##### 3. Interpretation\n\n(1) In this Act unless otherwise provided —\n\n  nuclear plant means a nuclear reactor, a radioisotope enrichment plant involved in the enrichment of uranium or plutonium, a nuclear reprocessing plant or a nuclear weapons facility, whether or not it is in a place to which this Act applies;\n\n  nuclear waste means material —\n\n(a) that is or contains a radioactive substance; and\n\n(b) that —\n\n(i) is waste of a nuclear plant; or\n\n(ii) results from the testing, use or decommissioning of nuclear weapons,\n\nwhether or not that material has been conditioned or reprocessed;\n\n  nuclear waste storage facility means any installation for the storage or disposal of any nuclear waste;\n\n  person includes, without limiting the *Interpretation Act 1984*, the Crown in all its capacities;\n\n  public money and statutory authority money have the meanings given to them by section 3 of the *Financial Management Act 2006*;\n\n  radioactive substance has the meaning given to it by section 4 of the *Radiation Safety Act 1975.*\n\n(2) For the purposes of the definition of “nuclear waste”, waste of a nuclear plant does not include waste that results from the use of the products of a nuclear plant.\n\n(3) For the purposes of this Act, a person transports nuclear waste in the State whether or not the origin or destination of the waste is a place to which this Act applies.\n\n[Section 3 amended: No. 2 of 2004 s. 6; No. 77 of 2006 s. 17.]\n\n##### 4. Objects of Act\n\nThe objects of this Act are to protect the health, welfare and safety of the people of Western Australia and to protect the environment in which they dwell by prohibiting the establishment of a nuclear waste storage facility in this State, the use of any place in this State for the storage or disposal of nuclear waste and the transportation in this State of nuclear waste.\n\n[Section 4 amended: No. 2 of 2004 s. 7.]\n\n##### 5. Relation to other laws\n\n(1) Subject to subsection (2) this Act has effect notwithstanding any other written law.\n\n(2) An authorisation within the meaning of section 41A of the *Radiation Safety Act 1975* that has been granted or effected with the consent of both Houses of Parliament in accordance with that section has effect according to its terms.\n\n[Section 5 amended: No. 2 of 2004 s. 8.]\n\n##### 6. Act to bind Crown\n\nThis Act shall bind the Crown in right of the State of Western Australia and, so far as the legislative competence of the Parliament of Western Australia extends, in all its other capacities.\n\n##### 7. Prohibition against constructing or operating a nuclear waste storage facility\n\n(1) A person shall not construct or operate a nuclear waste storage facility in the State or use any place in the State for the storage or disposal of nuclear waste.\n\n(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and punishable by a fine not exceeding $500 000.\n\n(3) Subsection (1) does not apply if the construction or operation, or the use of the place —\n\n(i) results from an emergency situation; and\n\n(ii) is for the purpose of preventing danger to human life or health, or irreversible damage to the environment, arising from that situation.\n\n(4) Proceedings for a contravention of subsection (1) are to be dealt with by a court constituted by a magistrate.\n\n[Section 7 amended: No. 2 of 2004 s. 9.]\n\n##### 7A. Prohibition against transporting nuclear waste\n\n(1) A person shall not transport nuclear waste in the State.\n\n(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence.\n\nPenalty: $500 000.\n\n(3) Subsection (1) does not apply if the transport is carried out in an emergency situation to prevent danger to human life or health or irreversible damage to the environment.\n\n(4) Proceedings for a contravention of subsection (1) are to be dealt with by a court constituted by a magistrate.\n\n[Section 7A inserted: No. 2 of 2004 s. 10.]\n\n##### 8. Liability of officers for offence by body corporate\n\n\t\t*The Criminal Code* section 39 (which provides for the criminal liability of officers of a body corporate) applies to an offence under section 7(2) or 7A(2) of this Act.\n\n[Section 8 inserted: No. 9 of 2023 s. 110.]\n\n##### 8A. Injunctions\n\n(1) The Minister may apply to a court for an injunction to prevent a person from doing anything that would involve —\n\n(a) the construction or operation of a nuclear waste storage facility in the State;\n\n(b) the use of any place in the State for the storage or disposal of nuclear waste;\n\n(c) the transport of nuclear waste in the State,\n\nor that would facilitate or provide assistance in relation to any of those matters.\n\n(2) It is not necessary for the Minister to prove that the act or failure sought to be prevented by the injunction has previously occurred or would, if the injunction were not granted, be likely to occur or continue.\n\n(3) An interim injunction may be granted before final determination of an application under subsection (1).\n\n(4) The court is not to require, as a condition of granting an interim injunction, that an undertaking be given as to damages or costs.\n\n(5) The taking of proceedings against any person for an offence under this Act is not affected by —\n\n(a) the making of an application under subsection (1) for an injunction;\n\n(b) the grant or refusal of an injunction upon an application under subsection (1); or\n\n(c) the rescission, variation, or expiry of an injunction granted upon an application under subsection (1).\n\n[Section 8A inserted: No. 2 of 2004 s. 12.]\n\n##### 9. No public expenditure on storage or disposal of nuclear waste\n\nNo public money or statutory authority money is to be expended or to be granted or advanced to any person —\n\n(a) for the purpose of; or\n\n(b) for the purpose of encouraging or financing any activity associated with,\n\nthe development, construction or operation of a nuclear waste storage facility in the State or the use of any place in the State for the storage or disposal of nuclear waste.\n\n[Section 9 amended: No. 77 of 2006 s. 17.]\n\n[10. Omitted under the Reprints Act 1984 s. 7(4)(e).]\n\n![]()\n\nNotes\n\nThis is a compilation of the *Nuclear Waste Storage and Transportation (Prohibition) Act 1999* and includes amendments made by other written laws. For provisions that have come into operation, and for information about any reprints, see the compilation table.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Short title** | **Number and year** | **Assent** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| *Nuclear Waste Storage (Prohibition) Act 1999* 2 | 54 of 1999 | 7 Dec 1999 | 7 Dec 1999 (see s. 2) |\n| *Nuclear Waste Storage (Prohibition) Amendment Act 2004* | 2 of 2004 | 1 Apr 2004 | 1 Apr 2004 (see s. 2) |\n| **Reprint 1: The *Nuclear Waste Storage and Transportation (Prohibition) Act 1999* as at 6 Jan 2006** (includes amendments listed above) | | | |\n| *Financial Legislation Amendment and Repeal Act 2006* s. 17 | 77 of 2006 | 21 Dec 2006 | 1 Feb 2007 (see s. 2 and *Gazette* 19 Jan 2007 p. 137) |\n| *Directors’ Liability Reform Act 2023* Pt. 3 Div. 43 | 9 of 2023 | 4 Apr 2023 | 5 Apr 2023 (see s. 2(j)) |\n\n\nOther notes\n\n1 The provisions in this Act amending these Acts have been omitted under the *Reprints Act 1984* s. 7(4)(e).\n\n2 Now known as the *Nuclear Waste Storage and Transportation (Prohibition) Act 1999*; short title changed (see note under s. 1).\n\nDefined terms\n\n*[This is a list of terms defined and the provisions where they are defined. The list is not part of the law.]*\n\n**Defined term Provision(s)**\n\nnuclear plant 3(1)\n\nnuclear waste 3(1)\n\nnuclear waste storage facility 3(1)\n\nperson 3(1)\n\npublic money 3(1)\n\nradioactive substance 3(1)\n\nstatutory authority money 3(1)\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":5,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"Yes. The Act's original focus on prohibiting nuclear-waste storage in Western Australia was expanded in later amendments to cover transport (s7A inserted 2004), to provide the Minister with express injunctive powers to prevent construction, use or transport (s8A inserted 2004), to bar public expenditure or grants for related activities (s9 as amended), and to apply Criminal Code officer‑liability rules to corporate officers (s8 inserted 2023). Those additions broaden the statute from a single-subject ban on storage sites to a more comprehensive regime that also restricts transit, financing, ministerial enforcement options, and personal liability for corporate officers."},"complexity_factors":["7 defined terms in the interpretation section (nuclear plant; nuclear waste; nuclear waste storage facility; person; public money; statutory authority money; radioactive substance) (s3)","Cross-references to other statutes: Radiation Safety Act 1975 (including s41A exception), Financial Management Act 2006 definitions, Criminal Code s39 officer-liability (s5, s3, s8)","Separate but overlapping prohibitions: construction/operation/use (s7) and transport (s7A) with parallel penalties and exceptions","Emergency exceptions in both storage and transport provisions creating conditional carve-outs (s7(3), s7A(3))","Injunction regime with atypical procedural rules (Minister can seek injunctions; need not prove prior occurrence; interim injunctions without undertaking as to damages) (s8A)","Public expenditure prohibition that extends beyond direct spending to grants/advances and encouragement/financing of activities (s9)","Magistrate-court jurisdiction for criminal proceedings (s7(4), s7A(4)) which narrows judicial forum but leaves civil remedies in higher courts via injunctions (s8A)","Amendments over time that added transportation, injunctions and officer-liability, increasing cross-linking between provisions (compilation notes)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does (mechanics)\n\n- Prohibits the storage or disposal of nuclear waste anywhere in Western Australia (s7).  A person must not construct or operate a nuclear waste storage facility or use any place in the State for storage or disposal of nuclear waste.  Breach: offence, fine up to $500,000; matters to be dealt with in a magistrate's court (s7(2),(4)).\n\n- Prohibits the transport of nuclear waste within Western Australia (s7A).  Breach: offence, penalty up to $500,000; magistrate's court jurisdiction (s7A(1)-(4)).  The law treats transport that occurs in the State as covered even if the material's origin or destination is outside the State (s3(3)).\n\n- Allows a Minister to seek court injunctions to stop construction, use, operation or transport of nuclear waste or anything that facilitates those activities; the court can grant interim injunctions and is not to require an undertaking as to damages for interim injunctions (s8A(1)-(4)).  The existence or outcome of injunction proceedings does not prevent criminal proceedings (s8A(5)).\n\n- Makes officers of corporations potentially criminally liable for offences under the storage and transport provisions by applying the Criminal Code officer-liability rule (s8, applying Criminal Code s39).\n\n- Prohibits the use of public money or statutory authority money to finance, encourage or grant funds for development, construction or operation of a nuclear waste storage facility, or for using any place in the State for storage/disposal (s9).\n\n- Defines key terms (for example, \"nuclear waste\", \"nuclear waste storage facility\") and preserves an emergency exception: storage/operation or transport is allowed if it results from an emergency situation and is to prevent danger to human life/health or irreversible environmental damage (s3; s7(3); s7A(3)).  The Act binds the Crown (s6) and operates notwithstanding other laws except for narrowly described parliamentary authorisations under the Radiation Safety Act (s5).\n\n\nWho this affects\n\n- Private persons and companies: any natural person or corporation that proposes to build, operate, use, transport, facilitate or finance nuclear-waste storage or transport in WA.  Contravention risks criminal penalties and, for corporate officers, potential personal criminal liability (s7, s7A, s8).\n\n- Public sector bodies and statutory authorities: they are expressly barred from spending or granting public money on activities associated with nuclear-waste storage within the State (s9).\n\n- The Minister and State enforcement agencies: the Minister may apply for injunctions to prevent prohibited activity; courts enforce criminal penalties and injunctions (s8A).\n\n- Businesses involved in logistics, ports, mining, medicine or research that use radioactive materials: transport of nuclear waste through WA is prohibited even if those materials are merely transiting the State (s3(3), s7A).\n\n\nWhy it matters (stated purpose and practical implications)\n\n- The Act states its object is to protect health, safety and the environment by prohibiting establishment, use and transport of nuclear-waste storage and disposal in WA (s4).  That is the statute's explicit purpose.\n\nTest of the statutory purpose against trade-offs, incentives and costs\n\n- Who pays: private individuals and companies face fines up to $500,000 and potential prosecutions; corporate officers can face criminal liability (s7(2), s7A(2), s8).  Public agencies lose the option to fund or finance storage projects within the State (s9).  These are concentrated costs for any business or investor looking to develop storage or transport services; the costs are diffuse across taxpayers who may be affected by any national or regional containment choices.\n\n- Decision-makers and discretion: the Minister decides whether to seek injunctions (s8A(1)); courts exercise discretion to grant injunctions and impose penalties.  The Act overrides other written laws (s5(1)) except for very limited Parliamentary authorisations under the Radiation Safety Act (s5(2)), which restricts legal routes for approval.\n\n- Behavioural effects and substitution: by banning storage and transport within WA (including transit, s3(3)), the Act forces activities to be located outside WA or to be foregone.  That shifts private contracting, investment and logistics decisions offshore or to other States, changing costs and routes for industries that handle radioactive material.\n\n- Compliance burden and enforcement: criminal penalties, injunctions and officer-liability rules create deterrence and compliance demands.  The injunction provisions (s8A) give the Minister an efficient preventive tool (interim injunctions without an undertaking as to damages), lowering the evidentiary threshold to halt activity temporarily (s8A(2)-(4)); that reduces the lag between suspected breach and state action but raises the risk of early restraints on activity before full determination.\n\n- Implementation risk and opportunity cost: the ban removes the option of developing any local nuclear-waste storage capacity, which can impose long-term logistical and cost consequences on industries that generate such waste (for example, mining, medical radiology and research).  It also forecloses potential revenue or employment associated with storage projects; conversely, it reduces any potential state liability or long-term environmental-management costs associated with hosting such facilities.\n\n- Legal complexity and interaction with other regimes: the Act cross‑references the Radiation Safety Act and the Financial Management Act for definitions and limited exceptions (s3, s5, s9), and applies Criminal Code officer-liability rules (s8).  The emergency exception (s7(3), s7A(3)) narrows but does not remove the blanket prohibitions.\n\n\nKey operational points to note\n\n- Emergency situations are a specific statutory exception for both storage/operation and transport (s7(3), s7A(3)).\n- Transport is captured even if the material is merely transiting the State (s3(3)).\n- The Act binds the Crown (s6), so State agencies cannot rely on Crown immunity.\n- Ministerial injunctions can be sought without proving prior occurrence and can be interim without an undertaking as to damages (s8A(2)-(4)).\n\n(References in parentheses are to the section numbers in the Act.)"},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as the full legislative text was unavailable. No comparison between original intent and final form is possible from the data provided."},"complexity_factors":["Insufficient source material — the legislation text was not retrievable, preventing meaningful complexity analysis","Title suggests a relatively narrow and specific prohibition, which typically indicates lower legislative complexity","State vs Commonwealth constitutional tension around nuclear matters may add some complexity if the full text were available"],"plain_english_summary":"The Nuclear Waste Storage (Prohibition) Act 1999 (WA) appears to bar the storage of nuclear waste in Western Australia. It targets anyone or any body—private companies, state or Commonwealth agencies—seeking to site or manage nuclear material in WA.\n\nThis matters because it functions as a state-level legal barrier to federal proposals to locate nuclear waste facilities on WA land, protecting local communities and land use decisions."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The original 1999 Act (as indicated by its original short title 'Nuclear Waste Storage (Prohibition) Act 1999') only prohibited storage and disposal. The 2004 amendment significantly expanded scope by adding section 7A, which prohibited the transportation of nuclear waste — changing the short title to include 'Transportation'. This transformed the Act from a facility-focused prohibition to a comprehensive ban on nuclear waste activities including transit through WA."},"complexity_factors":["Short statute with only 9 operative sections (plus interpretation)","Only 7 defined terms in section 3(1)","Simple prohibitory structure: broad ban + single emergency exception per offence section","Minimal cross-referencing — only references to Radiation Safety Act 1975, Financial Management Act 2006, Criminal Code, and Interpretation Act 1984 for definitions","No nested exceptions or complex conditional logic","Straightforward penalty structure (flat $500,000 fine)","Amendments have been incremental (adding transport prohibition in 2004, officers' liability in 2023) without complicating the core scheme"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis is a Western Australian law that puts a blanket ban on anything to do with nuclear waste in the state. Specifically, it makes it illegal to:\n\n*   **Build or run** a nuclear waste storage facility\n*   **Store or dispose of** nuclear waste anywhere in WA\n*   **Transport** nuclear waste through WA\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n*   **Everyone** — including the government itself (the Crown). The law explicitly binds the State of Western Australia.\n*   **Companies and their bosses** — if a company breaks this law, its officers (directors, managers) can be held personally liable.\n*   **Government agencies** — they are banned from spending public money on nuclear waste facilities or related activities.\n\n**The only exceptions:**\n\nThe prohibitions don't apply in genuine **emergencies** where nuclear waste handling is needed to save lives or prevent irreversible environmental damage.\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nThis law reflects a policy decision by Western Australia to remain \"nuclear waste-free.\" It prevents the state from becoming a dumping ground for nuclear waste from other jurisdictions or industries. It also blocks state funding for such projects, effectively creating a comprehensive prohibition at multiple levels — construction, operation, transport, and finance.\n\n**Enforcement tools:**\n\n*   **Heavy fines** — up to $500,000 for violations\n*   **Injunctions** — the Minister can go to court to stop prohibited activities before they happen (even without proving they're likely to happen)\n*   **Criminal liability** for company officers"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/nuclear-waste-storage-prohibition-act-1999","history":"/api/acts/nuclear-waste-storage-prohibition-act-1999/history","analysis":"/api/acts/nuclear-waste-storage-prohibition-act-1999/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/nuclear-waste-storage-prohibition-act-1999/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/nuclear-waste-storage-prohibition-act-1999/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/nuclear-waste-storage-prohibition-act-1999/documents"}}