4KG: Potentially contaminated vehicle bypassed security at the Ranger uranium mine

Publish Date:
7th November 2013

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Now the latest in fact from the of course the traditional owners in the Northern Territory, the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation. They're alarmed by revelations that a potentially contaminated vehicle was able to bypass security and make an unauthorised exit from the Ranger Uranium Mine in the Northern Territory site last Sunday, 3 November. The corporation which represents the Mirrar traditional owners of the Ranger project area and much of the surrounding Kakadu National Park was only informed of the incident by Rio Tinto's Energy Resources of Australia, that's ERA, days after the event.          

Now the GAC's chief executive officer of the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation executive officer Justin O'Brien did mention this week that there is a very serious incident, this is a very serious incident and which raises critical questions about the security of the Ranger Uranium Mine and that they know that it is possible to illegally remove material from the site. Uranium is a highly dangerous material and its transport - and I should say is a highly dangerous material and its transport is subject to strict international regulations.

The breach calls into question Rio Tinto's capacity to safely manage this toxic substance and it's certainly a huge issue in the Northern Territory. This failure coming on the back of other related radiation incidents over recent years raises serious concerns as to the viability of Ranger's - R3D proposal and will certainly be factored into many of our thinking here at - and of course Australia.