The Australian federal resources minister, Martin Ferguson, says he expects a report into the best nuclear waste dump site in the Northern Territory will be ready for release by the end of this year.

There are four potential sites for a nuclear waste dump in the northern state, including Muckaty Station, 100 kilometres north of Tennant Creek.

The report carried out by the company Parsons Brinckerhoff has already been finished and submitted to the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism.

The federal government is still considering changes to a law passed by the previous government which forces this type of dump on the territory.