The Long-term Safety of Uranium Mine and Mill Tailing Legacies

The political changes from the late 1980s onwards have led Europe-wide to programmes for dealing with the uranium mining and milling legacies. A report drafted on behalf of the European Commission described the situation as it had developed by the end of 2005. With the EU having been enlarged since then, it appeared necessary to review the findings and conclusions of this report. The earlier report also did not provide conclusive thoughts on the long-term management of uranium mine and mill tailings. The present report reviews the current situation in Romania and Portugal, singled out in the earlier report as needing further attention. It is concluded that Portugal has made good progress, while the situation in Romania continues to be unclear; reviews the bearing that international regulations, such as the EC Environmental Impact Directive, and conventions, such as the Aarhus and Espoo conventions, might have on the management of uranium mine and mill tailings sites; also developsthoughts on the long-term management of uranium mining and milling sites that are not fit for free release.