ABOUT 500 tonnes of uranium concentrate from Jabiru is set to be loaded from East Arm Wharf on to ships bound for China.

The uranium powder will be packed in sealed containers.

One wharf source said, with all the recent pollution problems there, the shipment was being kept "quiet".

"They don't want any attention."

Darwin Port Corporation corporate services manager Melissa Reiter said the shipment was "nothing out of the ordinary", although she said the port hadn't had those shipments through for about the past 18 months.

The source said the sealed containers should keep the material safe. But they also said it was also not uncommon for containers to be damaged.

"Our wharfies aren't trained to know what to do should one of the containers get damaged or there's a spill ... we'd have to call the fire service and hope they've got the expertise," the source said.

Ms Reiter said none of the port's wharf staff would be involved in either the unloading of trucks or the loading on to the ship bound for China.

She said Energy Resources of Australia - which mines uranium ore at its Ranger mine, 260km east of Darwin - had staff and a stevedoring firm there that would be responsible for the shipment.

ERA spokeswoman Janet Hamilton said they had shipped uranium oxide through the Darwin port for 30 years without incident.

She said shipments were always made in accordance with strict Australian and international guidelines.

"ERA's stevedoring company has undertaken these services for many years and the procedure is well understood."