Friday, 18 May, 2007

by Melinda James
NT Stateline

MELINDA JAMES:
Michael Angwin thanks very much for joining us.

MICHAEL ANGWIN - AUSTRALIAN URANIUM ASSOC:
My pleasure.

MELINDA JAMES:
Well if Australia becomes the worlds largest Uranium producer, as the Uranium Industry says is likely, how big a chunk of the economy would it represent in dollar terms would it be on par with the coal industry as it operates now for example?

MICHAEL ANGWIN:
No it wouldn't be as large as the coal industry but it would still be a very large industry. I recall Minister Natt saying this week that in the Northern Territory for example there is 50 billion dollars worth of uranium still in the ground here. So it's a very large number in anybody's language and the numbers are big, as big or bigger in the other states of Australia as well. So it can make quite a contribution to the Australian economy.

MELINDA JAMES:
So exploration activity here is ramping up. But what are the chances realistically for small time prospectors?

MICHAEL ANGWIN:
Well I think the chances of small time prospectors are as good as anybody's. It depends upon how good they are as a company, how well they do their work. But much of the ground here in the Northern Territory has been unexplored since the 1970's so that represents a pretty big opportunity for anybody with a bit of nous and sufficient investment behind them so I think there are opportunities for all the explorers who are currently in business in the Northern Territory.

MELINDA JAMES:
So you say that Minister Natt says we potentially have 50 billions dollars worth of uranium under the ground what kind of competitive advantage might the Northern Territory have compared to other jurisdictions to really capitalise because clearly that can't all be dug up at one, to capitalise on this immediate momentum.

MICHAEL ANGWIN:
Well I think that the advantages that the Northern Territory has is that it's already very supportive of the industry, it already has the regulatory and policy infrastructure in place and again as I recall Minster Natt saying he will approve uranium projects on their merits and I think that all of those things added together give the Northern Territory a jump start.

MELINDA JAMES:
So you say that the Territory government is supportive of uranium mining but uranium does remain contentious in some elements of society. You talk about the mainstreaming of the uranium industry. What does that mean? Is the industry winning the PR war?

MICHAEL ANGWIN:
I think that this is more than PR I think what's happening is that as people understand an issue more they became more supportive of it and I think that's exactly what's happening in the case of uranium. What Australians understand is that it has economic benefits in terms of export incomes and jobs and it also has potential benefits for the worlds climate change challenge.

MELINDA JAMES:
So can I ask do you believe that the public should see uranium as just another mineral?

MICHALE ANGWIN:
Yes they should see it as another mineral on its merits but with the capacity to increase our export income and jobs and to make a contribution to the worlds green house challenge. And that's what distinguishes it from other mines and exports.

MELINDA JAMES:
Labour did overturn its no new mines policy at last months national conference but the margin wasn't huge 205 to 190 there are still obviously many uranium opponents within the labour party do you think you can every win them over?

MICHAEL ANGWIN:
I think that this is a journey and there is clearly still some lingering doubts in some parts of the country and in some parts of the labour party and that's the challenge for our industry to look at those lingering doubts, look at the arguments which are made against the expansion of Australia's uranium industry and deal with those carefully and courteously.

MELINDA JAMES:
Do you think any of the doubts are warranted? For example the Shadow Environment Minister Peter Garrett has said he still has concerns about what he calls the fragile safety regimes, he has concerns about what he also calls the poorest nature of safe guards because the international atomic energy agency's monitoring of safety issues is in his mind not adequate. Are those concerns justified?

MICHAEL ANGWIN:
I think that our industry should be the world's best supporter of the non-proliferation regimes in the world both Australia's domestic arrangements and the global arrangements which apply to the trading of uranium and our industry should be looking for opportunities to bring about continuous improvement in those arrangements and to take those opportunities whenever and wherever they arise.

MELINDA JAMES:
So you agree that those non-proliferation aspects of the uranium industry do need to be strengthened and tightened?

MICHAEL ANGWIN:
I think that if people can make a case then we should address the issues which arise but at the same time like any system and the regulation of the trade of uranium is a system one should always be looking for opportunities to improve it.

MELINDA JAMES:
What kind of responsibility do you think companies have for where uranium ends up so that it doesn't end up in some clandestine nuclear weapons program which a lot of peoples fears. What kind of responsibilities do companies have?

MICHAEL ANGWIN
It's true people do fear that. In our industry we're embarking on an uranium stewardship project and the purpose of that project is to identify those aspects of a nuclear fuel cycle for which our industry as explorers and miners is responsible and to do our best to make sure that we manage those in the best possible way. We're also interested in the rest of the nuclear fuel cycle and we want to make sure people understand what their accountabilities are and that is to address our interests and concerns in the rest of the nuclear fuel cycle.

MELINDA JAMES:
Well just finally on that topic then if the Northern Territory does cash in on uranium exports. Does the Territory have an obligation to store radioactive waste?

MICHAEL ANGWIN:
I think you should look at the practice which currently exists in the world and the practice is that those countries which use uranium to produce fuel manage the waste. All the countries to which Australia exports has a waste management program. None of them exports nuclear waste and none of them exports it to Australia and none of them is asking Australia to take the waste.

MELINDA JAMES:
Michael Angwin thank you very much for joining us.

MICHAEL ANGWIN:
Thank you very much.