Rossing uranium mine has disastrous radioactive spill

Rössing shuts operations after ‘catastrophic leak’ Namibia Times, December 6, 2013  By Jade McClune & Marshallino Beukes All milling operations at Rössing Uranium Mine ground to an immediate halt after “a catastrophic structural failure” at one of twelve leach tanks in the processing plant on Tuesday.

The incident triggered a veritable crisis, reinforcing widespread fears of a radioactive leak.

Sources at the mine told the Namib Times on Tuesday that they had heard some “kind of explosion”.

The mine has since confirmed that a leak was detected near one of the leach tanks and said there was “a very serious incident”, but did not mention any explosion.

A Red Banner Health and Safety Alert was sent out to all employees of the mine on Wednesday, confirming that there had been a “leach tank failure” at around 18:30 on Tuesday, 3 December.

The actual outcome of the incident was described as “serious” and the “maximum reasonable outcome: critical”……..http://www.namibtimes.net/forum/topics/rossing-shuts-operations-after-catastrophic-leak

Rio Tinto cuts back as uranium market remains gloomy

Namibia’s Roessing uranium mine to slash jobs Global Post, 1 Mar 13, The Roessing uranium mine in Namibia, a unit of British mining giant Rio Tinto, said Friday it plans to cut 17 percent of its workforce due to slowing demand for nuclear fuel…. As with many other uranium producers, Roessing is buckling under low metal prices and reduced demand, the company’s managing director Chris Salisbury told reporters.

“Since the Japanese tsunami in 2011, uranium demand has remained depressed and the uranium price has fallen by more than 36 percent,” he said.

Japan shut down its nuclear power plants after the tsunami destroyed the Fukushima nuclear plant, and a number of other countries including Germany have also signalled they plan to reduce or phase out their facilities.

“With the utility sector in Japan essentially shutdown, there is little prospect of a turnaround in the near term,” he added.

At the same time electricity and water costs have gone up…. Roessing Uranium Limited is owned 68.6 percent by British mining giant Rio Tinto and is one of two operating uranium mines in Namibia. .http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130301/namibia-s-roessing-uranium-mine-slash-jobs

The human cost of uranium mining in Africa

The most difficult part for the victims of uranium exposure is to prove that their symptoms are directly related to the work they were doing in those mines,” Hecht said. Due to this difficulty, workers do not receive any compensation.

Lecture tackles global uranium trade, The Brown Daily Herald. Alissa Haddaji, February 17, 2012 To understand the consequences of global uranium trade in Africa, the intricate interaction between political lobbying, government and human interests must be explored, said Gabrielle Hecht, professor of history at the University of Michigan, in a lecture hosted by the science and technology studies program Thursday.

The presentation — held in Smith-Buonanno 106 — was part of the program’s lecture series “Nothing Can Go Wrong: Rethinking Nuclear Energy in the 21st Century” and  introduced themes from Hecht’s forthcoming book, “Being Nuclear: Africans and the Global Uranium

Africa’s troubled uranium sector

The signals of a troubled uranium sector are manifest. On Tuesday Areva wrote down the performance of its African mines, including Trekkopje and suspended further development.

Fukushima still haunts uranium producers, The Southern Times, South Africa, 30 Dec 11 International prices of uranium, the major feedstock in nuclear reactors, have remained flat; averaging US$53 per pound as the market struggles to shrug off the effects of Japan’s nuclear crisis earlier this year.

Market analysts are warning that shrinking order books, a flat spot price and production cutbacks – largely attributable to the Fukushima disaster – will haunt uranium producers well into 2012.

A sluggish US economy and sovereign debt problems in advanced economies will continue to severely impact the uranium spot price. Global uranium stocks have significantly underperformed during 2011 and analysts attribute this to the diminishing appetite for nuclear energy after the horror of Fukushima. “The sector has faced near-term uranium price uncertainty since the March nuclear crisis in Japan.

Rio Tinto tries to put on a cheerful face about uranium industry’s future

Rio Tinto hopes for a short nuclear slowdown, The Australian, Dow Jones Newswires , September 23, 2011 JAPAN’S Fukushima nuclear accident in March has damaged the credibility of the uranium mining industry and will slow nuclear power growth for up to two years, predicts a Rio Tinto executive…..

The medium-term outlook for uranium, the key fuel for nuclear reactors, remains clouded in the wake of the Fukushima crisis.The crisis began in March when explosions crippled the Fukushima reactor complex following the country’s devastating earthquake and tsunami. Rio Tinto is a major uranium producer via its majority ownership of Energy Resources of Australia and the huge Rossing Uranium mine in Namibia….

Mr Lloyd said that, in addition to uncertainty about demand, the “high capital cost” of new nuclear reactors might be an issue for the sector as it sought to attract funding in coming years. ……http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/rio-tinto-hopes-for-a-short-nuclear-slowdown/story-e6frg9df-1226144025698

Rossing uranium mine – rain trouble, then strike

Namibia mine union readies for strike at Rossing Reuters 21 Sept 11,  – Namibia’s Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) on Wednesday served Rio Tinto’s Rossing uranium mine with a strike notice after failing to reach a deal in talks over output incentives, with a stoppage expected to start on Friday.

MUN, which represents some 1,200 of Rossing’s 1,600 workers, has been protesting over differences in bonuses paid to workers and management in a dispute which already caused a three-day illegal strike in July.

“We have served the company with a notice to strike today (Wednesday),” MUN’s Rossing branch representative Ismael Kasuto told Reuters.

“The strike is set to commence on Friday at 08:00 (0600 GMT).”…..

Strike action would further hurt output at Rossing, whose production was hit by heavy rains earlier in the year……..

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/21/namibia-rossing-idUSL5E7KL0K920110921

Determined industrial action by Rossing uranium miners

“It is the second largest employer after Namdeb. Rössing already made a loss last year, so this is big stuff.”

Rössing workers defy court order, Namibian 15 July 11, By: DENVER KISTING, YESTERDAY afternoon, Rössing Uranium employees ignored an order by Judge President Petrus Damaseb, who had ruled that their three-day strike was illegal and they must return to work immediately.

This means that by this morning, the accumulated loss for the uranium giant as a result of the strike amounted to approximately N$22,5 million. In court papers filed at the High Court in Windhoek yesterday, the company’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Mpho Mothoa, said Rössing has lost approximately N$2,5 million per shift. It has three shifts per day.
Although Mineworkers of Namibian (MUN) representative Ismael Kasuto yesterday afternoon said that the labour union will abide by the court order, he confirmed that workers have not resumed production.
Operations at the mine came to a halt early on Tuesday morning. Ever since then, workers have vowed not to return to work until they each get a N$30 000 payout based on this year’s production thus far.
They are furious because, allegedly, the company’s managing director pocketed a short-term incentive package of more than N$500 000, general managers more than N$400 000, managers more than N$240 000 and superintendents more than N$160 000 based on last year’s production. The bargaining unit employees received N$11 000 before tax……

Members of the Police’s Special Reserve Force were deployed on the premises yesterday. It is understood that they were on standby armed with AK47s and teargas……

Robin Sherbourne, an independent economist, warned that  the impact of the strike would be “significant”. He said: “It is the second largest employer after Namdeb. Rössing already made a loss last year, so this is big stuff.”…

http://www.namibian.com.na/news/full-story/archive/2011/july/article/roessing-workers-defy-court-order/