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Keeping Radiation at Beverley Uranium Mine at Best Practice
1. 1
August, 2007
35th ARPS CONFERENCE
Adelaide, 19 October 2010
Keeping Radiation Management at
Beverley Uranium Mine at Best Practice;
Plans, Responses and Outcomes
Sankaran Kutty, Peter Woods, Elvin Dayal, Alice Jagger
3. Brief History of Beverley Mine
• 1969 Discovered
• 1982 First draft EIS
• Process not completed due to ‘3-mine policy’
• 1998 New Draft EIS and Supplement
• 1999 Environmental approval was granted in March, other
Federal and State approvals were obtained as required
– First Radiation Management Plan and Radioactive Waste
Management Plan (RMP and RWMP)
• Late 2000 first production
– Between 546 and 1,084 tonnes (as U3O8) per year since 2001
– Recently around 7% of Australian production
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4. Natural Uranium in the Frome Basin
Aerial gamma
survey
•Used as an
exploration tool
•Measures mainly
surface radiation
•Shows that the
Flinders Ranges
are very rich in
uranium
•Radiation levels
are lower than
many “hot spots”
in the world
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5. Natural Uranium in the Frome Basin – Take 2
5
•Same data, but use
of ‘hot’ colours could
be incorrectly
interpreted as
showing dangerous
levels are present
•Fine for experts, not
so good for the
general public?
6. How the Beverley ISR Mine Works
Mining Process:
1. Groundwater pumped to
surface
2. Small amount of acid and
oxidant added
3. Water pumped back into
aquifer
4. Uranium dissolved
5. Water pumped to surface
6. Uranium taken out of the
water
7. Water recycled
-back to 2
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7. Extensions and Plans for Future Mining at and
near Beverley
• 2006-08 Mine Lease Extension
– Risk Assessment approach
– Updated Mining and Rehabilitation Plan (MARP)
– Updated RMP and RWMP to new guidelines
• 2009-10 Beverley North Project
– Field Leach Trial at the Pepegoona deposit (approved)
– Routine mining (under assessment)
– Covered by its own MARP and further updates to the Beverley
RMP and RWMP
• 2008 - ? Four Mile Project
– Commonwealth approval granted
– Delayed by circumstances beyond Heathgate’s control
– Draft separate RMP and RWMP prepared
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9. 9
Work Areas
• The main operational
components of the mine site are
– Wellfields from where the
uranium is extracted
– Process Plant where the
recovered uranium is processed
and packed
10. 10
Employee Work Groups (for Dose Calculations)
• Production
– Plant and wellfield operators, maintenance staff,
laboratory staff and associated supervisors
• Geology and Drilling
– Drillers, geologists & their support staff
• Projects
– Construction personnel
• Contractors
– e.g. cleaners, electrical
• Others
– Environment, Safety & Health (ESH) & other office
based staff
11. • Worker limit is 20 milliSieverts (mSv) per year averaged over 5 years and not
to exceed 50 mSv in any one year; public limit is 1 mSv/yr
• Some areas in the world are naturally over 20 mSv/yr
• Long-term studies only pick up health detriment at levels well above these
Radiation Protection Outcomes - Overview
Year Ave. worker dose Max. worker dose
2001 0.63 4.37
2002 0.74 3.35
2003 0.68 3.33
2004 0.89 4.53
2005 0.48 3.59
2006 0.45 7.59
2007 0.28 3.46
2008 0.27 2.66
2009 0.22 2.98
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12. 12
Average Dose Received by Work Groups (2009)
0.00
0.25
0.50
0.75
1.00
Production Maintenance Geology&
Drilling
Projects Other Contractors
AverageEffectiveDose(mSv)
LLA RnD Gamma
17. 17
Reporting Doses to Regulators
• Reported to EPA-RPD in Quarterly ISR
Meetings
– Dose statistics
– Average and maximum doses from different
pathways received by work groups
– Individual employee doses are not reported
– Any incidents or unusual activities/trends
• Australian National Radiation Dose Register
– Data being provided as of 2010, still need to
create an efficient transfer mechanism
18. Dealing with Incidents (“Reportable” or Otherwise)
• PFN tool generator chamber breakage – March 2009
– Checked for possible tritium release
– EPA assisted with beta analysis
– Negligible dose
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• Logging neutron source 111
GBq Am-Be – May 2008
– Several days lost in
exploration hole
– Eventually recovered
– Minor superficial damage
to casing, not capsule, no
leakage (negligible dose)
– On-sold in 2010
19. EPA Annual Report 2009 - Excerpt regarding Beverley
he annual reports of [Beverley] for 2008 indicated the average
annual dose for workers at the Beverley mine was
approximately 1.4% of the 20-mSv annual occupational dose
limit. The maximum dose received by a worker was
approximately 13% of the annual limit.
nvironmental monitoring confirms doses to members of the
public, as a result of the mining operations, are
indistinguishable from background radiation levels.
o incidents were reported during 2008–09.
ttp://www.epa.sa.gov.au/about_epa/annual_report
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