Uranium mining, processing, transport

1
Uranium mining, processing, transport waste
disposal industries in the NT

• Reducing the Risk
• What are we in the NT doing?
• MAPW Alice Springs 2007

2
Mining are existing environmental policies
safeguards adequate?

• Existing NT uranium mines
• Ranger, Jabiluka discrepancies between
  regulations/monitoring outcomes
• NT environmental safeguards captive to the needs
  of industry?
• McArthur River Lead/Zinc Mine 2006/07
• NT has a poor record on mine rehab
• Rum Jungle uranium mine 1954/71
• Redbank copper mine 1993/96
• Mt. Todd gold mine 1994/97, 1999/00

3
Olympic Dam Uranium and Copper Mine at Roxby
Downs SA an instructive case

• Controversial since 1975
• Bypass of existing legislation
• Environmental impacts
• Water use from Gt Artesian Basin, Mound Springs
• Safety impacts
• Tailings maintenance Numerous incidents spills
• Miners exposed
• No monitoring at Roxby
• Cultural impacts

4
Transport of nuclear materials is it safe?

• Recent transport accidents
• Ghan derailment Dec 06
• Road train cyanide spill Feb 07
• Nuclear waste transport issues
• Packaging
• Training for handling
• Accidental contamination
• Preventing diversion

• LLW
• no special shielding
• move by road/rail/sea in 200 litre drums
• ILW
• shielding,
• if gt30 yr ½ life gt improved handling and
  disposal
• HLW
• both shielding and cooling

5
Counter-disaster planning in the NT Is it
adequate?

• NT Chemical, Biological and Radiological Disaster
  Response Plan is a controlled document
• Focused on terrorism, not accidents
• Dealing with hysteria?

6
Monitoring of populations potentially at risk
from nuclear industry development ?

• Populations exposed to nuclear bomb testing
• French Polynesia Maralinga and Fangatuafa
  atolls
• Australian Maralinga vets study
• NZ Operation Grapple vets study
• NT Study Aboriginal people living near Ranger
  uranium mine
• No follow-up research
• NT Cancer Registry? Not adequate/ focused

7
Whats needed?

• well, stopping any expansion of nuclear
  industries
• Procedures rigor, transparency and
  accountability is that enough?
• Mining, transport, processing.
• handling, education, packaging.
• Counter-disaster planning a public discourse?
• Health monitoring start now?