Environmental Activities in Uranium Mining and Milling

177 Pages·01.284 MB·English

by  OECD

Nuclear Development
E
nvironmental Activities
in Uranium Mining and Milling
A Joint NEA/IAEAReport

N U C L E A R • E N E R G Y • A G E N C Y
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ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVITIES
IN URANIUM MINING
AND MILLING
A JOINT REPORT BY THE
OECD NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY
AND THE
INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY
NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION
AND DEVELOPMENT
Pursuant to Article 1 of the Convention signed in Paris on 14th December 1960, and which came into force
on 30th September 1961, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shall promote
policies designed:
– to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and a rising standard of living in
Member countries, while maintaining financial stability, and thus to contribute to the development of the
world economy;
– to contribute to sound economic expansion in Member as well as non-member countries in the process of
economic development; and
– to contribute to the expansion of world trade on a multilateral, non-discriminatory basis in accordance
with international obligations.
The original Member countries of the OECD are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany,
Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The following countries became Members subsequently
through accession at the dates indicated hereafter: Japan (28th April 1964), Finland (28th January 1969),
Australia (7th June 1971), New Zealand (29th May 1973), Mexico (18th May 1994), the Czech Republic
(21st December 1995), Hungary (7th May 1996), Poland (22nd November 1996) and Korea (12th Decem-
ber 1996). The Commission of the European Communities takes part in the work of the OECD (Article 13 of the
OECD Convention).
NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY
The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) was established on 1st February 1958 under the name of the
OEEC European Nuclear Energy Agency. It received its present designation on 20th April 1972, when Japan
became its first non-European full Member. NEA membership today consists of all OECD Member countries,
except New Zealand and Poland. The Commission of the European Communities takes part in the work of the
Agency.
The primary objective of the NEA is to promote co-operation among the governments of its participating
countries in furthering the development of nuclear power as a safe, environmentally acceptable and economic
energy source.
This is achieved by:
– encouraging harmonization of national regulatory policies and practices, with particular reference to the
safety of nuclear installations, protection of man against ionising radiation and preservation of the
environment, radioactive waste management, and nuclear third party liability and insurance;
– assessing the contribution of nuclear power to the overall energy supply by keeping under review the
technical and economic aspects of nuclear power growth and forecasting demand and supply for the
different phases of the nuclear fuel cycle;
– developing exchanges of scientific and technical information particularly through participation in
common services;
– setting up international research and development programmes and joint undertakings.
In these and related tasks, the NEA works in close collaboration with the International Atomic Energy
Agency in Vienna, with which it has concluded a Co-operation Agreement, as well as with other international
organisations in the nuclear field.
Publie´ en franc¸ais sous le titre :
ASPECTS ENVIRONNEMENTAUX DE LA PRODUCTION D’URANIUM
(cid:211) OECD 1999
Permission to reproduce a portion of this work for non-commercial purposes or classroom use should be obtained through the
Centre franc¸ais d’exploitation du droit de copie (CFC), 20, rue des Grands-Augustins, 75006 Paris, France,
Tel. [phone], Fax [phone], for every country except the United States. In the United States permission
should be obtained through the Copyright Clearance Center, Customer Service, [phone], 222 Rosewood Drive,
Danvers, MA 01923 USA, or CCC Online: http://www.copyright.com/. All other applications for permission to reproduce or
translate all or part of this book should be made to OECD Publications, 2, rue Andre´-Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France.
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT
Pursuant to Article 1 of the Convention signed in Paris on 14th December 1960, and which came into force on
30th September 1961, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shall promote policies
designed:
• to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and a rising standard of living in Member
countries, while maintaining financial stability, and thus to contribute to the development of the world economy;
• to contribute to sound economic expansion in Member as well as non-member countries in the process of
economic development; and
• to contribute to the expansion of world trade on a multilateral, non-discriminatory basis in accordance with
international obligations.
The original Member countries of the OECD are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece,
Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United
Kingdom and the United States. The following countries became Members subsequently through accession at the dates
indicated hereafter; Japan (28th April 1964), Finland (28th January 1969), Australia (7th June 1971), New Zealand (29th
May 1973), Mexico (18th May 1994), the Czech Republic (21st December 1995), Hungary (7th May 1996), Poland (22nd
November 1996) and the Republic of Korea (12th December 1996). The Commission of the European Communities takes
part in the work of the OECD (Article 13 of the OECD Convention).
NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY
The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) was established on 1st February 1958 under the name of OEEC
European Nuclear Energy Agency. It received its present designation on 20th April 1972, when Japan became its first
non-European full Member. NEA membership today consist of all OECD Member countries, except New Zealand and
Poland. The Commission of the European Communities takes part in the work of the Agency.
The primary objective of the NEA is to promote co-operation among the governments of its participating
countries in furthering the development of nuclear power as a safe, environmentally acceptable and economic energy source.
This is achieved by:
• encouraging harmonization of national regulatory policies and practices, with particular reference to the safety of
nuclear installations, protection of man against ionising radiation and preservation of the environment,
radioactive waste management, and nuclear third party liability and insurance;
• assessing the contribution of nuclear power to the overall energy supply by keeping under review the technical
and economic aspects of nuclear power growth and forecasting demand and supply for the different phases of the
nuclear fuel cycle;
• developing exchanges of scientific and technical information particularly through participation in common
services;
• setting up international research and development programmes and joint undertakings.
In these and related tasks, the NEA works in close collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency in
Vienna, with which it has concluded a Co-operation Agreement, as well as with other international organisations in the
nuclear field.
© OECD 1999
Permission to reproduce a portion of this work for non-commercial purposes or classroom use should be obtained
through the Centre français d’exploitation du droit de copie (CCF), 20, rue des Grands-Augustins, 75006 Paris, France, Tel.
(33-1) 44 07 47 70, Fax [phone], for every country except the United States. In the United States permission
should be obtained through the Copyright Clearance Center, Customer Service, [phone], 222 Rosewood Drive,
Danvers, MA 01923, USA, or CCC Online: http://www.copyright.com/. All other applications for permission to reproduce or
translate all or part of this book should be made to OECD Publications, 2, rue André-Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France.
PREFACE
Since the mid-1960s, with the co-operation of their members, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency
(NEA) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have jointly prepared the periodic report
“Uranium Resources, Production and Demand”. The report commonly known as the “Red Book” is
published by the OECD. The seventeenth edition of the “Red Book” was published in 1998.
In 1996, the Joint NEA-IAEA Uranium Group which prepares the “Red Book”, established a
“Working Group on Environmental Issues in Uranium Mining and Milling”. This was done in
response to an initiative from the Swedish Minister of Environment Ms. Anna Lindh, supported by
both the IAEA and NEA, encouraging the Joint NEA-IAEA Uranium Group to broaden its mandate to
foster the exchange of information on environmental effects and environmental technologies
associated with uranium mining and ore processing.
To obtain an overview of this theme, the Working Group sent out a questionnaire requesting
information about current activities and interests of participating Member countries/states with
uranium-related activities. It also reviewed the relevant IAEA and NEA programmes. The results of
this survey form the basis of the report on “Environmental Activities in Uranium Mining and Milling”
presented to the Uranium Group in the fall of 1997. Following review, the Joint NEA-IAEA Uranium
Group concluded that the report was of sufficient interest to be published as a complement to the
seventeenth edition of the Red Book.
The report is not intended to be a comprehensive review of all related environmental issues for all
countries. As environmental and safety aspects related to uranium mining and milling is a broad
subject, the questionnaire asked for submissions from each country based on what participants
considered to be of importance. The report therefore includes information related to those activities
judged to be important by the contributing countries.
The options expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the position of Member countries
or international organisations. This report is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General
of the OECD.
Acknowledgement
The Working Group and the Joint NEA-IAEA Uranium Group would like to acknowledge the
co-operation of all the organisations (see Annex 4) which submitted information for this report.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE.............................................................................................................................................. 3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY................................................................................................................... 7
I. INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................... 9
II. ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS RELATED TO URANIUM MINING AND MILLING........ 11
III. ACTIVITIES OF THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY AND
THE OECD NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY............................................................................ 31
IV. SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES REPORTED BY COUNTRIES................................................. 33
V. NATIONAL REPORTS................................................................................................................. 43
Argentina.................................................................................................................................. 43
Australia................................................................................................................................... 45
Brazil........................................................................................................................................ 54
Bulgaria.................................................................................................................................... 63
Canada...................................................................................................................................... 64
China........................................................................................................................................ 78
Czech Republic........................................................................................................................ 80
Estonia...................................................................................................................................... 87
Finland...................................................................................................................................... 88
France....................................................................................................................................... 89
Gabon....................................................................................................................................... 95
Germany................................................................................................................................... 104
Hungary.................................................................................................................................... 110
India.......................................................................................................................................... 111
Japan......................................................................................................................................... 112
Jordan....................................................................................................................................... 113
Kazakhstan............................................................................................................................... 113
Namibia.................................................................................................................................... 115
Niger......................................................................................................................................... 116
Portugal.................................................................................................................................... 123
Romania................................................................................................................................... 123
Russian Federation................................................................................................................... 124
Slovenia.................................................................................................................................... 127
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South Africa............................................................................................................................. 128
Spain......................................................................................................................................... 132
Sweden..................................................................................................................................... 136
Ukraine..................................................................................................................................... 139
United States............................................................................................................................ 147
Uzbekistan................................................................................................................................ 149
ANNEXES
Annex 1. Example of an evaluation of the impacts at a uranium mining and milling facility...... 155
Annex 2. IAEA activities and publications relevant to environmental issues in uranium
mining and milling........................................................................................................... 160
Annex 3. Members of the Joint NEA/IAEA Uranium Group........................................................ 167
Annex 4. List of reporting organisations......................................................................................... 172
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report on “Environmental Activities in Uranium Mining and Milling” presents an overview
of environmental activities related to uranium production. The profile of activities and concerns are
based on survey responses from 29 countries and a review of relevant activities of the International
Atomic Energy Agency and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency. It also provides an overview of the
reported interests of specialists working in the field, including environmental impact assessment,
emissions to air and water, work environment, radiation safety, waste handling and disposal, mine and
mill decommissioning and site restoration, and the regulation of these activities.
The report reflects the increasing awareness in all countries of the need for environmental
protection. For several years large programmes have been underway in several countries to clean up
wastes from closed mines and mills. Many of these sites, particularly the older ones, were brought into
production, operated and closed when little was known about environmental effects. At the time, little
concern was given to the resulting environmental impacts. Currently, planning for and conducting
uranium mine closure and mill decommissioning, together with site clean-up and restoration, are of
almost universal concern. Mine closure and mill decommissioning activities have been or are being
conducted in most of the countries with a history of uranium production. Information about several
mine closures and mill decommissioning projects is included in this report.
For new projects, managers must prepare and submit an environmental impact assessment to
regulatory authorities. This normally consists of detailed planning for the life of the project, including
relevant safety and environmental aspects. These plans and assessments are scrutinised by the
responsible authorities before decisions are taken to allow – or not allow – the new project to proceed.
The environmental assessment process may involve public hearings that provide for discussion of
socio-economic impacts and the concerns of stakeholders in the communities affected by the project.
In particular, information is given in this report on new projects being developed in Australia and
Canada that must successfully complete environmental assessment programmes.
Measures taken to limit emissions to air and water, and the new rules for radiation protection of
both project personnel and the general public are discussed. These measures, implemented as the
“Basic Safety Standards”, are becoming increasingly stringent to provide appropriate radiation
protection. The new “Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of
Radioactive Waste Management” is expected to be applied to wastes from uranium mining and milling
in the future. New technology such as “non-entry mining” has been developed to make possible the
mining of deep, high-grade ores in Canada. In this system mine personnel carry out routine ore
extraction without entering the ore-zone. In addition, the technology for closing mines and
decommissioning mills is also advancing, and improved methods are being developed for long-term
isolation of contaminated wastes from uranium mines and mills.
Nuclear power makes a major contribution to sustainable development as it does not generate
greenhouse gas emissions and has a low environmental impact. For several decades the uranium
mining and milling industry has been improving the efficiency of its operations while reducing
impacts on both humans and the natural environment in general. This includes the reduction of short-
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