Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has been confronted by a woman questioning his stance on nuclear waste management, as the debate over nuclear energy in Australia heats up again.

Low and intermediate level waste from nuclear medicine and research is being held at more than 100 facilities around the country, and the Federal Government is set to release a shortlist of potential sites for a national radioactive waste dump by the end of the year.

During a trip to Tasmania, Mr Turnbull was asked why there were plans to have "spent uranium buried in our backyard".

His questioner said Australia should not develop nuclear power, and should put more money into wind and solar energy instead.

"There is a huge amount of nuclear waste in Australia already, including from hospitals and from the Lucas Heights reactor, and we've got to find safer places to store it," Mr Turnbull replied.

"Nuclear power is a big part of the world's energy solution. I think it's unlikely it will happen here."

The Government is under pressure to come up with a national nuclear waste dump, with 25 tonnes of uranium on its way back from France after being processed.

Spent fuel was sent to France in four shipments in the 1990s and early 2000s.

When the shipment of waste from France arrives it will be temporarily kept at the nuclear facility in Lucas Heights in southern Sydney.

Meanwhile, high profile nuclear energy advocate Ziggy Switkowski has lamented the time Australia is taking to establish a national radioactive waste dump, saying it "reflects poorly" on the nation.

Dr Switkowski is a former head of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and chaired the 2006 inquiry endorsing a domestic nuclear power industry.

He said he could not understand why political leaders had struggled to decide on a location for a national facility.

"It is simple, it doesn't require any great engineering design, it doesn't require much space, it requires hardly any security," Dr Switkowski told ABC's Capital Hill program.

"And yet we don't have it in this country and frankly it reflects poorly upon us."