Environmentalists today responded to an announcement that the Nolans Bore mine, near Ti-Tree, will be subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment.

Justin Tutty, from the No Waste Alliance, claims the miner, Arafura Resources, attempted to side-step federal environment protection laws relating to the mining of uranium.

"The company attempted to skirt around these laws, but now the cat's out of the bag. Yesterday's decision recognised the mine as a nuclear action, likely to pose significant environmental impacts."

"That makes this the first new uranium mine to come up for assessment since Labor turned their backs on the 'no more uranium' policy, so the project will be scrutinised by environment groups around the country."

Mr Tutty warns that the declared impact assessment ignores some significant features of the mine.

"The Nolans Bore project includes the option of transporting ore - including uranium - to a processing plant on Middle Arm, in Darwin Harbour," said Mr Tutty.

"It's outrageous that the company is seeking approval to dig the uranium without making public the details of their processing plant, or the precise nature of the large volumes of radioactive waste to be dumped back on the site."

"Without a full description of the project, we can't be sure about the full range of environmental impacts. It's a text-book example of the pitfalls of piecemeal assessment and we call on the company to make all their plans public," said Mr Tutty