In September, Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) suspended and restarted operations at its Ranger mine in Australia’s Northern Territory.
The action came in response to a water contamination incident in March, which highlighted a number of problems which were described in reports by the Office of the Supervising Scientist (OSS). They included what the Ian Macfarlane, the industry, tourism and resources minister, described as a “culture of complacency.”
The 31 August suspension allowed ERA to take steps to meet the recommendations of two reports by the OSS, by a 10 September deadline, concerning radiation clearance procedure for vehicles leaving the mine and the water contamination incident.
ERA must now take further steps to meet additional audit deadlines, dated 31 October and 31 December. The mine will face shutdown unless it passes the two additional audits.
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