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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-10-16 Daily Xml
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OLYMPIC DAM

In reply to the Hon. M. PARNELL (18 June 2008).

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy): The Minister for Environment and Conservation has provided the following information:

1. BHP Billiton conducts monitoring in accordance with an approved Radiation Management Plan, as required by the Radiation Protection and Control Act 1982 and the commonwealth Code ofPractice on Radiation Protection and Radioactive Waste Management in Mining and Mineral Processing 2005, which specifies location, frequency and type of measurement. The monitoring results are provided to the EPA on a quarterly and annual basis for review. The EPA can access the monitoring database at Olympic Dam at any time to verify the reported details.

2&3. Reports of elevated radon decay measurements at Olympic Dam have reduced because of measures introduced by BHP Billiton to improve its ventilation and access procedures.

There were three elevated radon decay measurement reported by BHP Billiton from August 2007 to February 2008, and there have been two since then. In response to each event BHP Billiton took appropriate action such as ensuring access to the area was closed, logging the event on the mine notification system, investigating the cause of the reported level and returning the areas to service once measurements dropped by to acceptable levels.

The EPA misplaced three faxed events from this period hence these were not provided in the honourable member’s FOI request. These events were reported in the relevant quarterly reports provided by BHP Billiton. The EPA is looking into why it did not have the facsimiles on file and will take appropriate action to improve the system to ensure there is no re-occurrence of misplaced reports.

4. There has been no downgrading of reporting requirements. The monthly reports from BHP Billiton were not a regulatory requirement. As the same information was provided in quarterly reports and by facsimile, it was agreed that the monthly reports served no useful purpose and could cease.

5. The dose limit for workers in Australia is the same as for workers in the UK and is 20 milliseverts per year. Both are based on the same international standards. In the UK, workers exposed to greater than 6 milliseverts are required to be ‘designated radiation workers’ and must be subject to personal monitoring regimes. At South Australian uranium mines, workers are 'designated' and must receive personal monitoring at 5 milliseverts, less than the UK value. In practice, workers receive personal monitoring at much lower levels.

All radiation doses are reported to the EPA radiation protection division on a quarterly and annual basis.

6. Radiation dose limits in Australia are based on international standards and are set at conservative levels to ensure that there is no unacceptable risk to workers. The doses received by all workers at Olympic Dam have been well below the appropriate limits since the start of the operation.

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