Health, safety and environmental experts who are monitoring radiation levels at the Kayelekera mine, in the Karonga district of Malawi, have ruled out any radiation risks for the mine’s employees, indicating that the radiation levels to which employees are exposed are “very low”.
The experts continuously monitor radiation levels to ensure compliance with standards set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), based on advice from the International Commission for Radiation Protection (ICRP).
The experts’ report reads: “The annual exposure of workers for 2011 was less than one-eighth of the annual limit set for radiation workers, and most employees received less than one-tenth of the annual limit.
“The annual limit is set at a level that is many times below the level at which any health effects are observable.”
The 2011 results are comparable with results from previous years and imply that the exposure of employees at the Kayelekera mine is very similar to exposure at open- cast uranium mines in Australia, Canada and other uranium mining countries where records have been kept for more than 50 years.
Commenting on the report, Paladin GM for international affairs Greg Walker says Paladin Africa’s monitoring and management programmes are designed to maintain a safe and healthy workplace environment.
Says Walker: “The radiation exposure of most Kayelekera employees is lower than levels received by many international airline pilots and other air crew owing to their prolonged exposure to cosmic radiation at high altitudes.
“The average exposure of employees at Kayelekera is less than that received by someone who has several abdominal X-rays in a year. It is less than natural background levels in some parts of the world where people live – for example, Ramsar, in Iran, and Kerala, in India.”
Radiation management is administered at Kayelekera through a series of plans and procedures developed in line with interna- tional and Malawian legislation.
A comprehensive radiation monitoring programme is in place at Kayelekera to assess, report and assist continuous efforts to reduce already low occupational radiation doses employees are exposed to.
Employees are divided into similar- exposure groups (SEGs) and the aggregate results for these SEGs are published in the yearly radiation report, which summarises 12 months of monitoring data. Individual doses are reported to designated employees and are determined from the results of the monitoring programme. Designated workers receive a printed copy of their personal dose report during their yearly radiation reinduction.
Radiation monitoring is conducted using a risk-based approach. Where the potential for exposure is higher (as shown through previous monitoring results and through analyses of results from other, similar operations), the frequency of monitoring is increased. Conversely, low-risk areas and work groups are monitored at a lower frequency.