Traditional owners and environmental groups have vowed to continue fighting the minority federal Labor government’s plan to store Australia’s radioactive waste at Muckaty Station in the Northern Territory.

The Senate has passed legislation that paves the way for medical, research and industrial waste to be stored at the site near Tennant Creek for hundreds of years.

Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said the bill ensured Australia meet its international obligations to properly manage its nuclear waste in a purpose-built dump.

“This waste is currently held at over 100 temporary sites at Australian universities, hospitals, offices and laboratories,” Mr Ferguson said in a statement.

One of the main sites is Lucas Heights in the New South Wales state capital, Sydney.

The Australian Greens Party says that is where the waste should stay until an independent commission can determine where to store it in the long term.

“If this stuff is safe in Sydney, perhaps it should stay in Sydney,” Australian Greens nuclear spokesman Senator Scott Ludlam said.

“Where’s the case for this stuff to go remote?”

Senator Ludlam said the government’s approach to date had been “predatory”.

Labor was hedging its bets by nailing Muckaty as the only site in contention but also allowing other communities to volunteer their land if that nomination fell over, he said.

“That is based on the flawed premise that if you take some of the most economically disadvantaged communities in the country, you tell them this material is perfectly safe, and you offer them a cheque for $12 million maybe somebody will put their hand up.

“It’s an unbelievable way of dealing with the nation’s inventory of toxic waste.”

The Northern Land Council nominated Muckaty Station in 2007, but since then several traditional owners have argued they were not properly consulted and did not give their consent.

That dispute is before the Federal Court.

Traditional owner Lorna Fejo says she remains opposed to the dump despite the passage of the National Radioactive Waste Management Bill 2010.

“It’s our land and we are going to continue fighting for it,” she said in a statement.

“It’s my heritage and no one has the right to take that away from us.”

MR Ferguson said the government would not proceed with the dump “until this matter is resolved by the court”.

That is not good enough for the Australian Conservation Foundation’s Dave Sweeney, who said; “While the judge and jury are literally out, the government should not be in.

“This is an absolute fast-tracking of an extremely bad plan. It’s inappropriate and improper.”

The Greens did have one minor victory during the Senate vote, where they hold the balance of power, when they secured support for a change to the legislation that bans the storage of international waste at Muckaty.

The conservative Liberal-National coalition opposition also successfully moved an amendment that requires states and territories to pay a so-called capital contribution fee if they wish to store waste at the dump.

However, Senator Ludlam believes that will never happen because the legal challenge, combined with a community campaign, will result in Muckaty falling over.

“This is the beginning of the campaign to stop Muckaty, not the end,” he said.

The National Radioactive Waste Management Bill 2010 now goes back to the lower house for final approval before being signed into law.