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August, 2007

35th ARPS CONFERENCE Adelaide, 19 October 2010

Keeping Radiation Management at Beverley Uranium Mine at Best Practice;

Plans, Responses and OutcomesSankaran Kutty, Peter Woods, Elvin Dayal, Alice Jagger

About Beverley

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Approx. 550 km north of AdelaideBy company plane:~1 hr from Parafield~1/2 hr from Pt Augusta

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 U3 O8 ) per year since 2001

– Recently around 7% of Australian production3

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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Natural Uranium in the Frome Basin – Take 2

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•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?

How the Beverley ISR Mine Works

Mining Process:1. Groundwater pumped to

surface2. Small amount of acid and

oxidant added3. Water pumped back into

aquifer4. Uranium dissolved5. Water pumped to surface6. Uranium taken out of the

water7. Water recycled

-back to 2

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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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How the Beverley North Satellite Mine will Work

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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

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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

• 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 dose2001 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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Average Dose Received by Work Groups (2009)

0.00

0.25

0.50

0.75

1.00

Production Maintenance Geology & Drilling

Projects Other Contractors

Ave

rag

e E

ffec

tive

Do

se (m

Sv)

LLA RnD Gamma

Quarterly Dose Trends – Total Effective Dose

0

1

2

3

4

5

31-Dec-00 31-Dec-01 31-Dec-02 31-Dec-03 31-Dec-04 31-Dec-05 31-Dec-06 31-Dec-07 31-Dec-08 31-Dec-09

Tota

l Eff

ectiv

e D

ose

(mS

v)

Average Max

Pro-rata Designated Employee Dose Limit ( 20 mSv/year) (5mSv/qtr)

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Quarterly LLAA Trends – General Area Dust

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

31-Dec-00

31-Dec-01

31-Dec-02

31-Dec-03

31-Dec-04

31-Dec-05

31-Dec-06

31-Dec-07

31-Dec-08

31-Dec-09

LLA

A (B

qm-3

)

Plant Wellfield Office Areas

Investigation level

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Quarterly LLAA Trends – Drier and Packing Room

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

31-Dec-00

31-Dec-01

31-Dec-02

31-Dec-03

31-Dec-04

31-Dec-05

31-Dec-06

31-Dec-07

31-Dec-08

31-Dec-09

LL

AA

(Bq

m-3

)

Drier Packing Room Packing Warehouse

Investigation Level for Drier & Packing Room

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Quarterly LLAA Trends – Drier Operator

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

1-Dec-00 29-Nov-02 29-Nov-04 29-Nov-06 29-Nov-08

LL

AA

(Bq

m-3

)

Drier Operator

Current Investigation Level 1 Bqm-3

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Capital investment to improve enclosure

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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

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

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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Thank You - Questions?

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