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Department of Mines and Petroleum begins uranium community consultation

Wednesday, 26 August 2009

The Department of Mines and Petroleum has begun consulting with local communities on the stringent regulations that will be applied to uranium mining.

DMP Director General Richard Sellers was one of several presenters at the Chamber of Minerals and Energy’s recent uranium briefing session in Kalgoorlie.

Mr Sellers told the attendees that Western Australia had a long history of regulating radioactive materials, which meant it was well placed to regulate a uranium industry.

“Western Australia has mined and transported radioactive materials for 40 years in the form of mineral sands and tantalum,” he said.

“The mining, processing and transportation of these materials have long been regulated by the Department of Mines and Petroleum, the Resources Safety Division and the Radiological Council.

“The Resources Safety Division also has an extensive database of the radiation monitoring of 383 resource workers.

“This experience has given the department a solid understanding of the issues involved with uranium mining and exploration.”

Despite this extensive experience, the department still took the step of assessing whether existing legislation and regulations could be applied to uranium mining.

It formed an interagency working group which concluded that when combined with international and commonwealth legislation, guidelines and policies, Western Australia’s current regulatory framework did provide for the development of uranium mining and associated activities.

The group’s findings have been endorsed by Mines and Petroleum Minister Norman Moore.

Mr Sellers also told the Kalgoorlie audience that the department would return to the region to conduct its own community briefing sessions on uranium.

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