Australia uranium mine reports more leaks
Date: 08-May-02
Country: AUSTRALIA
Author: James Regan
General Atomics subsidiary Heathgate Resources Ltd said the latest incident occurred on Sunday at its Beverley mine in South Australia after a section of PVC pipe broke apart, releasing 14,900 litres of water containing 0.0018 percent uranium into the Australian outback.
Heathgate vice president Stephen Middleton said the spill had no impact on the environment or employee safety.
But he said the company recognised the incidents had damaged confidence among nearby residents that the mine could operate safely.
The latest spill was the second in less than a week, he said.
"We take our responsibilities in that area very seriously," Middleton told Reuters.
Uranium exposure has been linked to a variety of cancers and other life-threatening medical problems.
But Middleton said the level of uranium from Sunday's spill was in such low concentrations, it was virtually undetectable.
HIGHER STANDARDS
South Australia state officials had already ordered urgent changes to rules on reporting leaks after revelations that Heathgate had logged some two dozen spills since the mine was opened in 1998.
In one of the worst spills, 62,000 litres of radioactive uranium solution spewed from a ruptured pipe on January 12.
"If we are to safeguard our children's future, we must ensure that the highest possible standards of safety and environmental protection are in place at uranium mines," shadow assistant treasurer Kelvin Thomson said.
There are currently four uranium mines operating in Australia - three in South Australia - with around a half-dozen more on the drawing board.
South Australia Environment and Conservation minister Robert Hill said a review into reporting procedures for leaks will be conducted by an independent body. The findings are due to be released to the public by the end of August.
"We hope the review will recommend a set of reporting procedures which balances the government's and the public's right to know about spills at the uranium mines, with the needs of the industry to operate commercially and within a competitive environment," Hill said.
ENVIRONMENTALISTS WANT MINE SHUT
Heathgate maintains none of the spills posed health threats to its workers or to an Aboriginal settlement 60 km (37 miles) away.
But environmentalists said the manner in which Heathgate mines uranium heightens the risk of leaks and have called for the mine to be shut.
Middleton said there was no need to close down operations.
"If we felt that there was a need for environmental or other reasons to close the mine we would," he said.
Heathgate captures uranium contained in sand by injecting oxygen to create an "in situ" leaching solution that is dried, leaving talc-like uranium, or yellowcake.
Environmental groups say the technique is unsafe and unwelcome in other parts of the developed world because it requires large amounts of liquid, creating hazardous runoff.
"It's a novel technique which has its own significant groundwater contamination problems," Dave Sweeney of the Australian Conservation Foundation told Reuters.
The Beverley mine is not the only mine to report discharges of contaminated water into the soil.
Hundreds of thousands of litres of potentially harmful uranium solution have been spilled in the Australian outback in recent months.
The worst occurred on December 12 when 420,000 litres of mining slurry containing uranium escaped from a storage tank at the Olympic Dam mine, located 500 kms (310 miles) north of Adelaide.
The spill was one of seven such incidents reported last year by mine operator WMC Ltd .
Australia has no domestic use for uranium, as it has no nuclear industry of its own. The metal is mostly exported for use in nuclear power generation.