Australian opposition energy spokesman Nick Minchin said on Tuesday the coalition would support the federal government's plan to set up a national radioactive waste dump in the Northern Territory.

"It is much more sensible for waste, resulting from medical and research procedures, to be stored in a secure, specifically designated facility rather than in an ad hoc fashion in various locations across the country, as is currently the case," he said.

The federal government is considering Muckaty Station, 120 kilometers north of Tennant Creek, in the Northern Territory, as the site for the facility.

The former coalition government also considered the site, after it was volunteered by its traditional owners.

Meanwhile, federal parliament's public works committee is holding an inquiry into proposed extensions to the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO) facility at Lucas Heights, in Sydney's south.

The 62.5-million-Australian-dollar (56.8 million U.S. dollars) project would include a new building for the Center for Accelerator Science, to enhance Australia's capacity for research into climate and environmental science, nuclear safeguards and forensics.