Australian Greens call for permanent closure of accident-prone Ranger uranium mine
Greens call for end of Ranger uranium mine operations after slurry spill ABC News 8 Dec 13 The Greens are calling for a permanent end to operations at the Ranger uranium mine in the Northern Territory after a radioactive spill at the site yesterday morning.
A tank containing up to a million litres of uranium ore and acid split, damaging the crane that was trying to repair it and surrounding infrastructure at the mine near Kakadu National Park…..
West Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam says the mine should now be shut down for good.
“The company thinks that the way to save operations at Ranger is to go underground through the 3 Deeps projects,” he said.
“As far as the Greens are concerned the company should be as good as its word and close that facility when its lease runs out.
“I think this latest disaster doesn’t improve anyone’s confidence that the mine is capable of running for another 10 or 15 years.”
Senator Ludlam says there are a number of lessons to be learned from the incident, and has called for the Federal Government to reconsider giving more approval power over uranium mines to state and territory governments.
“I think some short-term lessons include the company disclosing how many other of these leach tanks there are, and whether they’re in the same condition as the one that burst,” he said.
“But in the longer term, this is a very strong sign for Environment Minister Greg Hunt that under no circumstances should he let regulation of the uranium sector go back to the states and territories.”….http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-08/greens-call-for-end-of-ranger-uranium-mine-operations/5142734
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