Radiation a danger to pregnant women – Paladin a danger to common sense!

…Narib, who described the situation at the mine as tense, claimed that since January last year almost 70% of pregnant employees had suffered miscarriages, while three maternal deaths were reported so far this year….

http://www.namibiansun.com/labour/langer-heinrich-rocked-by-resignations.54683

…Australian-based Paladin Energy Ltd. (TSE:PDN) owns 100% interest in the mine….

…Dr Swiegers says that he is not taking sides in the dispute between the workers and the mine’s management: “My job is to make sure the mines have the right information with regard to dust and radiation. It is not my job to police the mines.”…

…He explained that the international dose limit of radiation exposure is 20 millisievert (msv) per year, which is what mine workers are exposed to and for a citizen it is 1 msv per year…

….When a female mine worker falls pregnant the mine is required to shift the worker to a low-risk area, with no more than 1 msv of radiation exposure…

…The mine says that they followed the necessary procedures with regard to pregnant women. The National Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA) also says the mine is doing well…

Radiation a danger to pregnant women – MUN

Posted by

Namib Times on June 28, 2013 at 11:35 in News
Paulina Moses

Concerns amongst mineworkers at Langer Heinrich Uranium (LHU) about the exposure of pregnant women to dangerous levels of radiation resulted in another heated demonstration at the mine yesterday.

A petition was handed to the mine’s management team by representatives of the Mineworkers Union (MUN) on Thursday morning. The latest petition – the third in three months – was drafted in response to an incident whereby a female employee at the mine allegedly suffer-ed a miscarriage, which the MUN maintains was due to exposure to radiation.

Mineworkers at LHU are concerned about the exposure of women to dangerous levels of radiation and protested yesterday over what they called “continuous maternal deaths” and against the alleged practice of allowing pregnant women on site, despite provisions in the Radiation and Atomic Act of 2005, which are specifically designed to protect women and their unborn children.

Union representatives said that “investigations by government agencies are still underway”, but complained that their attempts to engage the mine’s management on the issue of exposure to radiation has produced no results yet. They alleged that “another maternal death occurred again recently”, in reference to a miscarriage experienced by a female worker at the mine.

Against the backdrop of a long drawn-out struggle between union representatives and the mine’s management, Mr John Narib, chairman of the MUN Branch Executive Committee at LHU read the workers’ petition out loud and claimed that the interests of workers at LHU “are overlooked and ignored intentionally”. He directed his anger at LHU’s managing director, Mr Werner Duvenhage; the MUN had previously demanded the resignation of Mr Duvenhage, after Mr Narib was suspended from duty several weeks ago.

LHU’s management dismissed the allegations, claiming that the union has undertaken a concerted campaign to discredit the mine. “Recently, the MUN Branch Executive Committee has embarked on a public campaign to try and discredit the policies and practices that Langer Heinrich Uranium applies with regard to the treatment of pregnant employees, through the media and through direct engagement with government,” said Mr Duvenhage in a written statement.

Mr Duvenhage, who is also the chairman of the Chamber of Mines, added that “LHU has recently engaged the ser-vices of a well-respected Namibian lawyer, who confirmed that LHU’s policies on treating pregnant employees comply with all Namibian legislation. LHU also recently requested international radiation specialists to review the company’s policies and procedures. They have found the policies and procedures to comply with inter-national best practice and are therefore in line with the policies and practices at other uranium mines internationally.”

Asked for comment on the issue of exposure to radiation, Dr Wotan Swiegers of the Uranium Institute – which is funded by the Chamber of Mines – said that it is essential that one does the necessary research before making such serious accusations. “When you accuse someone it is better to do research, because just like a rumour it is better to have the facts right before spreading it.”

Dr Swiegers says that he is not taking sides in the dispute between the workers and the mine’s management: “My job is to make sure the mines have the right information with regard to dust and radiation. It is not my job to police the mines.”

He explained that the international dose limit of radiation exposure is 20 millisievert (msv) per year, which is what mine workers are exposed to and for a citizen it is 1 msv per year. When a female mine worker falls pregnant the mine is required to shift the worker to a low-risk area, with no more than 1 msv of radiation exposure.

“When a lady becomes pregnant she is advised to consult their supervisor that she is pregnant. The mine is then required to put her on another job with 1 msv and her pay is not allowed to be reduced. My job is to make sure the mine does that. The mine says that they followed the necessary procedures with regard to pregnant women. The National Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA) also says the mine is doing well. As far as I know the NRPA has investigated the mine several times.”

When a woman applies for a job at a mine, they should be aware of the risks, he said, adding that we are adults and must be aware of the dangers. He also explained that miscarriages among pregnant women may be due to a number of social and environmental factors, and that it is not easy to infer that the cause in all instances is related to exposure to dangerous levels of radiation.

Dr Swiegers acknowledged the importance of the union and said that civil society organisations play a pivotal role, but he firmly believes that LHU has been following the right procedures. He further recommends that independent research should be conducted on the issue of miscarriages among pregnant women at the mine to get to the facts: “I recommend that they take all the cases (of miscarriages) and have an independent review con-ducted, with the per-mission of the patients.”

The office of the National Radiation Protection Authority was contacted for comment, but the director is said to be out of the country at present.

http://www.namibtimes.net/forum/topics/radiation-a-danger-to-pregnant-women-mun

Australian uranium mining company Paladin in trouble in Namibia, as well as in Malawi

Some of the issues pertain to female worker’s miscarriages; [CEO] Duvenhage’s apparent failure to engage with the union; the company’s reluctance to give workers a “single cent” for an annual increment; unfair performance bonuses; nepotism and corruption.

Australian-based Paladin Energy Ltd. (TSE:PDN) owns 100% interest in the mine.

Protests hit second largest uranium mine in Namibia July 2, 2013

https://nuclear-news.net/2013/07/05/australian-uranium-mining-company-paladin-in-trouble-in-namibia-as-well-as-in-malawi/#comment-67810

UK Increase in miscarriage rates due to MOX nuclear fuels policy change!

July 5, 2013 - Posted by arclight2011part2 | Uncategorized

4 Comments »

Legal firm Ashurst threatening Australian nuclear/uranium critic

Among other things, the Ashurst letter accused the anti-nuclear campaigner of imputing that Mr Walker was ‘’insensitive’’.

civil-liberty-2smIn any case, these kinds of threats to muzzle free speech are on the rise. At a time when the mainstream media is under pressure from falling revenues, lawyers are threatening and shutting down websites around the country at an alarming clip.

flag-AustraliaAnti-nuke campaigner braces for legal blast, The Age, December 19, 2012 Michael West Ashurst is at it again.
Acting on instructions from its clients, the big law firm last month was threatening a farmer who had the hide to express his opinion on electricity prices. This month it has been instructed to threaten a 75-year old pensioner who has spoken out against the alleged exploitation of African workers by an Australian uranium miner.

Noel Christina Macpherson Wauchope, who runs the website http://www.antinuclear.net under the name Christina Macpherson, told BusinessDay she was not in a position to hire lawyers.

“I think they must have thought AntiNuclear Australia was a big organisation, but it is just me,” she said. Read more »

https://nuclear-news.net/2012/12/22/legal-firm-ashurst-threatening-australian-nuclearuranium-critic/

A bit more here >> 🙂

https://nuclear-news.net/?s=ashurst

Comment by arclight2011part2 | July 5, 2013 | Reply
WHO and IAEA cover up – Namie-machi and Iidate villages not warned about the high radiation
Fukushima Appeal 福島アピール

http://fukushimaappeal.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/it-was-in-fact-well-over-100msvy.html

SATURDAY, 29 DECEMBER 2012

In my previous post it says “The WHO report put the maximum whole-body radiation dose per person in the first four months of the crisis at 50 millisieverts”

It was in fact well over 100mSv/y.!!
http://fukushimaappeal.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/who-downplayed-health-effects-of_27.html

This September, after one year and half, Fukushima government and Tepco finally revealed the radiation level of area near Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant at the time of the accident.

Highest point in Futaba-machi was 1590 uSv per hour (=13,928 mSv per year!) at 3pm before 1st explosion at reactor 1 on March 12, 2012.

The level was so high that being there for 40 minutes would expose you to the annual radiation dosage limit. Citizens within 10km radius of Daiichi nuclear power plant were evacuated in early morning on the day but not everybody managed to evacuate before vent was carried at reactor 1around 9am. Mr. Hirose, journalist and been a main figure of anti nuclear campaign in Japan commented in his lecture that we should review evidence of the high radiation level and the evacuation situation.

While central and Fukushima government, Tepco employees, IAEA members and possibly even Radiation Effects Research Foundation (they were there carrying measuring equipment) with protective gears were collecting samples, local people were staying in the shelter without any protections or safety information. Also residents in Namie-machi and Iidate village weren’t told the danger of the radiation for several months although it was over 100 uSv/h (=876 mSv/y) in some places.

Although Namie-machi and Iidate village are about 30km away from Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, unfortunately wind blew towards there and became heavily contaminated area. There was an article “Prometheus’ Trap” – “Men in protective cloth” on Asahi Newspapers written by one of residents in Namie-machi. These men were IAEA members.
In this article it says that they had men in protective cloth, visiting every day, measuring the level of radiation. They were told it was safe although the most of the area in the town was well over 100 mSv/y in March and April 2011.

(Reference)http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0922/TKY201209220154.html

Comment by arclight2011part2 | July 5, 2013 | Reply
Langer Heinrich rocked by resignations
Submitted by NamibianSun101 on Fri, 2013-07-05 08:19

WINDHOEKFAITH SANKWASA

Langer Heinrich Uranium Mine has been rocked by the resignation of three senior executives.
The resignations came a day after mine representatives and the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN), President Ismael Kasuto, along with other union executive members, were locked in intensive talks on Monday to find a solution to the escalating unhappiness at the company.
The mine is located in the Namib Desert about 70 km from Swakopmund.
The outcomes of Monday’s meeting included that pregnant employees be sent to work at the mine’s head office in Swakopmund, instead of being exposed to radiation levels that the union claims caused many other workers to have miscarriages.
Namibian Sun is informed that the mines’ commercial and administration manager, Wikus Heyns, has resigned and will be leaving the company on August 15.
Heyns’ resignation followed that of the management accountant, Ester Kafidi, and metallurgical and process manager, Sarel Malan.
Sources have tried to link their resignations to the alleged tussle between employees and the mine’s managing director, Werner Duvenhage.
Duvenhage said in an email to employees on Tuesday: “Wikus has resigned and will be leaving us. We will still say all our goodbyes to Wikus, but in the meantime a recruitment process will be initiated in order to find a suitable replacement for Wikus.”
Last Thursday over 100 employees led by MUN branch chairman, John Narib, held a demonstration at the mine, during which they bemoaned the fact that they had not been given salary increases this year.
They also demanded to know why pregnant women were still working in radiation-exposed facilities.
They also asked for better working conditions in their petition to management.
Last week Friday, Narib, who described the situation at the mine as tense, claimed that since January last year almost 70% of pregnant employees had suffered miscarriages, while three maternal deaths were reported so far this year.
Narib added that employees affiliated to the union are punished for simple mistakes, saying this was a systematic action to reduce the number of unionised workers.
However, Duvenhage denied this, saying international radiation specialists found that the mine’s policies and procedures comply with international best practice.
When contacted, Kafidi said: “I have resigned, but my leaving the mine has nothing to do with what is currently going on. It did not affect my resignation in whatsoever way.”

http://www.namibiansun.com/labour/langer-heinrich-rocked-by-resignations.54683

Comment by arclight2011part2 | July 5, 2013 | Reply
Paladin selling stakes and cutting costs
Submitted by NamibianSun101 on Mon, 2013-07-01 07:58

WINDHOEKSTAFF REPORTER

The owners of the Langer Heinrich Uranium asset, West Australia’s Paladin, last week said it hoped plans to sell off a minority stake in the mine would be finalised by September.
With global resource prices still under pressure, the company announced in November last year already that it planned to reduce its total operating costs by between U$60 million (N$600 million) and U$80 million (N$800 million).
According to mining website miningweekly.com, a cost review by the company further found that Langer Heinrich had potential to deliver cost savings of up to N$100 million, through “discretionary spending” and improvements in mining costs.
On Wednesday, Paladin’s chief executive John Borshoff issued a statement in which he said plans to sell off a minority stake in the Namibian mine had been delayed due to a revised bid from one of the two bidding parties.
Paladin had originally hoped to have the deal done by June, the company said, but the new developments have pushed forward the deadline to around September.
“The company is confident a sale will be successfully achieved, however, a revised bid from one of the parties has meant a reconsideration and the approval process will be extended,” Borshoff said.
The move, the company said, forms part of its “strategic initiative to unlock value” at Langer Heinrich.
Besides the above-mentioned cost-cutting measures, Paladin has also announced that it plans to scale back on exploration spending by at least 20%, which amounts to around N$40 million.
It would do so by deferring all non-essential drilling while targeting a further 10% reduction in its total corporate overheads.

http://www.namibiansun.com/business/paladin-selling-stakes-and-cutting-costs.54474

Comment by arclight2011part2 | July 5, 2013 | Reply

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