ABC NT Local News
Saturday 17 December 2005

The Federal Government has announced that Alan Hughes will be the new supervising scientist for the Alligator River region of the Northern Territory.

Mr Hughes will replace Dr Arthur Johnston, who retired in October.

Mr Hughes says he is committed to ensuring the region, which includes Kakadu National Park, remains protected from the effects of uranium mining.

He says he brings experience in environmental management to the role and has worked with the supervising scientist for the past six years.

"Prior to that I was with the Territory Government working in the mines regulatory branch as the uranium adviser," he said.

Mr Hughes says he is committed to protecting the Territory from the effects of uranium mining and there will be many challenges ahead.

However, he says he is pleased with the current operations of the Ranger Uranium Mine after some health and safety issues.

"The performance that's come out of the report into the investigations by the supervising scientist has seen some considerable improvements in that and that the mine has gone a long way to improving its performance," he said.