Dangers of transporting uranium from Olympic Dam through Australia’s Northern Territory

NT ENVIRONMENT GROUPS RED LIGHT OLYMPIC DAM TRANSPORT OPTION , Lauren Mellor 18 July 12 Members of the Arid Lands Environment Centre and the Environment Centre NT have joined a week long protest outside Olympic Dam uranium mine to highlight the risks of transporting uranium on NT rail and port networks.

More than 500 protestors have camped at the gates of Olympic Dam to protest BHP Biliton’s plans for expansion, a move that would make it the largest open cut uranium mine in the world. The expansion was granted approval last year by the Federal and SA State Governments, but relies on access to NT rail networks and access to the Port of Darwin.

Lauren Mellor from the Arid Lands Environment Centre said “Under the proposed expansion BHP Biliton plans to send another two trains a day, containing an unprecedented 1.6 million tonnes of toxic copper concentrate and 17,000 tonnes of yellowcake, on the Adelaide to Darwin rail line for the next 80 years. Every train puts the environment and communities along the transport route at risk of radiation and contamination. Northern Territory residents have a lot to lose if this project goes ahead. In Alice Springs, these dangerous and unnecessary shipments will cut our town in half for 16 minutes every day.”

Cat Beaton, Nuclear Free NT Campaigner at the Environment Centre NT said “The Adelaide to Darwin railway is notorious for train derailments, with three occurring in the last 19 months alone. In December last year a train carrying 1200 tonnes of copper concentrate was given permission to cross the Edith River during flooding and derailed, spilling its toxic contents into pristine waterways.”

“The Northern Territory is already under threat of hosting Australia’s first national radioactive waste dump if Federal Government plans to build the facility at Muckaty, 120kms north of Tennant Creek, are advanced. The increased pressures of a growing uranium mine at Olympic Dam on our transport networks is a radioactive disaster waiting to happen.”

“We are calling on Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke to urgently reconsider his approval for the Olympic Dam expansion project in light of these concerns and the project’s reliance on NT rail and port networks” concluded Ms Mellor.

“We will fight this expansion project every step of the way – in solidarity with the Arabunna and Kokatha people and the South Australian community who continue to fight this dangerous and dirty project, and with all those working to build a nuclear free future for Australia” concluded Ms Beaton. For more information contact: Cat Beaton (Olympic Dam) Environment Centre of the NT 0434 257 359 Lauren Mellor (Alice Springs) Arid Lands Environment Centre 0413 534 125