Frequent spills plague Australian uranium mines
Date: 28-Jan-02
Country: AUSTRALIA
Author: James Regan
Mining house WMC Ltd confirmed on Friday it had told South Australia state government officials that more than 420,000 litres of mining slurry containing uranium accidentally spilled from a tank at its Olympic Dam mine on December 12.
The spill - which would fill almost a third of an Olympic size swimming pool - was one of seven such incidents last year at the mine, 500 km (310 miles) north of Adelaide.
Uranium exposure has been linked to a variety of cancers and other life-threatening medical problems.
But a WMC spokesman said the low uranium content of the solution, 0.1 percent, rendered the spill harmless.
"It was mainly a copper stream, and was contained," the spokesman told Reuters. "And besides, the spilled material was returned to the mine's process circuit."
Environmental groups assert that any spill is dangerous and that mining companies are benefiting from weak regulations on how to handle accidents.
"It may be within legal constraints but like any exposure, it is is an unnecessary health hazard," said David Noonan of the Australian Conservation Foundation.
"How is it possible to lose track of 420,000 litres of uranium slurry, equivalent to eight tonnes of uranium?"
ELECTION LOOMING
The South Australian state government - which is heading into a tight election on February 9 - agrees spills are occurring with alarming frequency.
State officials recently ordered urgent changes to rules on reporting leaks after revelations that another mine, owned by U.S. firm General Atomics, recorded 24 spills over two years.
The General Atomics spills came to light after 62,000 litres of radioactive uranium solution spewed from a ruptured pipe at the Beverley mine in remote South Australia on January 12.
Officials from the Beverley mine maintain the spills posed no dangers to employees or an Aboriginal settlement 60 km (37 miles) away, but agreed to store any contaminated soil in sealed drums until it can be disposed of safely.
Critics of the way miners notify the public of accidents said they fear that after the state election, the fresh push to raise reporting standards may fade away.
WMC's Yeels doubts news of the latest spills would have even been brought to the attention of local media in a non-election year.
"We'd like to be able to say that these spills will never occur, but that is not the case," Yeels said.
Uranium mining has long been a political hot potato in Australia. In 1996, the newly-elected conservative government repealed the "three-mines only" policy of its Labor predecessor, put in place to appease environment groups.
There are currently three mines operating in Australia, with around a half dozen more proposed.
A mountain of uranium accumulated during the Cold War has taken years to whittle down, reducing the need for fresh supply.
But with stockpiles held by operators of the world's 440 commercial nuclear reactors falling, demand for yellowcake was set to rise, commodities analysts said.
Australia has no nuclear industry of its own, exporting its uranium to North America, Asia and Europe.
