Antinuclear

Tanks for Nothing: New radioactive disaster haunts Rio Tinto

Australian Greens spokesperson on Nuclear issues, Senator Scott Ludlam. 10 December 2013.

In a bizarre and troubling development, Rio Tinto’s Rossing Uranium Mine in Namibia has suffered a disastrous acid spill identical in nature to that which closed the company’s Ranger mine in Kakadu on the weekend.

Breaking reports in local media indicate that within three days of the Kakadu collapse, Rio’s Namibian operation suffered a catastrophic failure which put workers and the surrounding environment at risk.

“In addition to the toxic catastrophic at Ranger uranium mine – the latest in over 200 spills, leaks and licence breaches within the Kakadu National Park precinct – Rio is also dealing with “structural failure” of a leach tank at their processing plant in Namibia,” said Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam today.

“Rössing opened in 1976, Ranger in 1981 – both of these mines are ageing and failing.

“Rio is now on the world’s radioactive radar – both in Namibia where worker and environmental safety standards are much lower than at Ranger.

“But it’s not only engineering structural failure in leach tanks. This industry is tanking economically and it’s time to shut it down and clean up these toxic blots on the landscape before they do more damage.

“Australia is blessed with perfect conditions for renewable energy generation, particularly solar, which is clean, safe and doesn’t risk contamination of workers and the environment. The future is renewable not radioactive,” Senator Ludlam concluded.

For further information on the spill in Namibia: http://www.namibtimes.net/forum/topics/rossing-shuts-operations-after-ca…

December 10, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Northern Territory, safety, uranium