Joel Catchlove, Adelaide
In May, South African-Canadian mining company SXR Uranium One applied for a licence to commercially mine uranium at Honeymoon, 75 kilometres north-west of Broken Hill. The company wants to mine 400 tonnes of uranium a year for six to eight years.
Despite being relatively small scale, SXR Uranium One plans to use the controversial in-situ leach mining method, which involves dumping liquid radioactive waste into groundwater, with no responsibility to rehabilitate the polluted aquifer.
The operation is especially risky as the aquifer to be mined lies below two other aquifers. The uppermost one has been mixed with surface water and been used as drinking water for livestock.
The mine's record of spills and leaks demonstrates the high risk of contamination of other aquifers with sulphuric acid, heavy metals and radioactive particles. Among the most significant leaks was the spill of 9600 litres of "process fluid" containing significant levels of uranium and radon gas. Another accident involved the leaking of sulphuric acid into an upper aquifer, despite claims in the mine's
environmental impact statement that there was "no likelihood water from lower aquifers migrating upwards".
None of these spills were revealed to the public until after the project had been granted a number of state and federal approvals. The mine's then project manager described how the acid had apparently passed through a clay layer previously considered impervious, stating that "we expect that [spills and leaks] will happen from time to time".
The mining company has acknowledged that there is "no guarantee against similar leaks in the future".
The aquifer is not sealed, but travels to a discharge point near Lake Frome. This means that all radioactive mine waste and heavy metals will be carried through the groundwater.
Granting approval to the Honeymoon mine contravenes the recommendations of a 2003 Senate committee report, which expressed its "grave reservations" about the operation and recommended that "the project should not proceed".
South Australian Premier Mike Rann claims that the mine already has all the approvals it needs. However, the 2003 Senate committee report on Australia's uranium mines emphasised, with the confirmation of SXR, that without the Commercial Uranium Mining and Milling License under the Radiation Protection and Control Act 1982, the approval
process for the mine is incomplete.
If the South Australian government grants approval to commercially mine uranium at Honeymoon, it will be a breach of Labor Party commitments to "oppose the establishment of any new uranium mine in SA" and of election commitments by Rann in 2002 and 2006.
In his 1982 book Play it Safe, Rann said uranium should not be mined and exported until waste management solutions have been "practically demonstrated" not just "promised
hopefully". Evidently Rann considers dumping liquid radioactive waste in groundwater to be a practical demonstration of radioactive waste management.
With its small scale and short mine life, Honeymoon illustrates the concerns raised by the 2003 Senate committee report, which stated that the "shortcomings in the operations of all [Australia's uranium mines] suggests that short-term considerations have been given greater weight than the potential for permanent damage to the environment".
The state government's four-week public consultation on the Honeymoon licence application closes on June 30. This final stage of approvals for the mine is designed to assess whether the proposal adequately protects workers, the public and the environment from radiological hazards under the Radiation Protection and Control Act.
It's important to demonstrate public opposition to the Honeymoon uranium mine. For information on making submissions, visit the website of Friends of the Earth Adelaide at <http://www.geocities.com/olympicdam/honeymoon.html>.
[Joel Catchlove is an anti-nuclear campaigner with Friends of the Earth.]
From Green Left Weekly, June 28, 2006.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.