In service: Secretary for the Environment, Transport & Works Dr Sarah Liao opens the low-level radioactive waste storage facility.

Hong Kong's first low-level radioactive waste facility has opened on Siu A Chau, providing long-term, safe and sustainable storage.

Officiating at the opening ceremony today, Secretary for the Environment, Transport & Works Dr Sarah Liao said the facility, at a capital cost of $78 million, meets stringent international standards for the safe storage of low-level radioactive waste. It has enough capacity for the next 100 years.

Developed under a "design, build and operate" contract, the facility comprises a main storage vault, an automatic control room, a laboratory and waste reception and processing areas. All the operational data is continuously monitored and controlled by real-time, around-the-clock surveillance systems from a remote control centre.

Low-level radioactive waste generated in Hong Kong mainly consists of smoke detector parts, luminous watch dials and hands, lightning protection conductor heads and weakened sources from hospitals and education institutions. Annual generation of such waste in Hong Kong is low.

The waste was previously stored in disused tunnels on Queen's Road East, Wan Chai, and has been transferred to the new facility.