Sa Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission Mr Kevin Scarce
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SA NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE ROYAL COMMISSION MR KEVIN SCARCE, Presiding Commissioner MR CHAD JACOBI, Counsel Assisting SPEAKERS: MR KEVIN KAKOSCHKE OAM, Radium Hill Historical Association MR GREG MARSHALLl and MR TONY WARD, Department of State Development MR KEITH BALDRY, MR GRAEME PALMER and DR ARTEM BORYSENKO, Environmental Protection Authority DR PAUL ASHLEY, University of New England TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS ADELAIDE 10.30 AM, THURSDAY, 8 OCTOBER 2015 DAY TEN PROCEEDINGS RECORDED BY SPARK AND CANNON COMMISIONER: Good morning. It being 10.30 we will convene. Topic six is the environmental impacts, lessons learnt from past mining and milling practices in South Australia, case studies for Port Pirie Rare Earths Treatment Facility and Radium Hill. Might just start with a context statement about what 5 we are attempting to achieve in this particular section. The commission’s terms of reference expressly require it to give considerations to the environmental impact of the potential expansion of exploration and extraction activities. That much of the exercise is to be conducted by considering what has occurred elsewhere, largely overseas, and what might occur were those 10 activities to be carried out in Australia. Our terms of reference expressly require us to give consideration to the lessons that can be learnt from past exploration and extraction activities in South Australia. The commission, before it considers any possible expansion of operations will examine South Australian history to see whether that might inform what we should do 15 in the future. In short, the commission will pay heed to the past, lest mistakes be repeated. The most significant of these past extraction activities was the radium and later uranium mine operated at Radium Hill in South Australia’s north-east and the 20 associated processing works operated here where we are today in Port Pirie. The question faced by the commission is what can be drawn from the way those activities were established, operated and closed, to better inform future practice. The commission already understands a number of the issues in the broad outline. It has already inspected the Port Pirie facility in April and the 25 former Radium Hill mine site in August. Given that much time has elapsed between the closure of both the mine at Radium Hill and the facility at Port Pirie, it is necessary to understand what changes have already taken place in the practical planning development conduct and ultimate decommissioning of mining and processing activities. In conjunction with their contemporary 30 regulation and licensing. The commission is not tasked by its terms of reference with an inquiry in to what ought to happen now at these particular sites, or whether more, if anything, should be done. That said, it must understand the complexity of any issues that now exist, to form a view as to what might be done during any expanded operations to avoid those issues in 35 the future. To discharge its functions, it will speak to those that were present when the Radium Hill mine was established and operated, those responsible for now managing the sties and also an independent expert that has undertaken a study 40 at Radium Hill in the context of his work to understand the environmental impacts of closed mines. I now invite counsel assisting Mr Jacobi. MR JACOBI: Mr Kevin Kakoschke worked at the Radium Hill uranium mine for nine years. Since that time has been a TAFE lecturer in mechanical 45 engineering and a consultant to the manufacturing industry. He is the author of .SA Nuclear 08.10.15 P-536 Spark and Cannon several books concerning Radium Hill, including We Were Radium Hill and Off The Barrier Highway. He is the president of the Radium Hill Historical Association which seeks to preserve the cultural heritage of the Radium Hill site. 5 COMMISSIONER: Can I suggest you come forward a bit. We won’t bite I promise. MR JACOBI: Sorry, just to repeat, he is the president of the Radium Hill 10 Historical Association which seeks to preserve the cultural heritage of the Radium Hill site. The commission calls Mr Kevin Kakoschke. COMMISSIONER: Kevin, welcome. Can we start – what we are trying to do here is to put in to context what happened at the mine at the time you were 15 there, you were part of it and Mr Jacobi now will lead you through a bit of context, so that we can see what it was like during the time. MR KAKOSCHKE: Mm’hm. Good. 20 MR JACOBI: Just wondering whether you could describe first, the period of time that you worked at Radium Hill? MR KAKOSCHKE: Having just left school, turned 16, fortnight later I signed up at the University Life on the 3 March 1953 to work at Radium Hill as an 25 apprentice fitter and turner. I progressed through the ranks and was there when it closed in December 1961 and involved with the mentors, my mentors who were the mining, mechanical, electrical, civil engineers and metallurgists. MR JACOBI: How long after you commenced, had the – perhaps I should ask 30 this, in terms of when you started, how much of the planning and other work had already commenced at Radium Hill? MR KAKOSCHKE: When I commenced at Radium Hill, my quarters were a tent and the implementation of the building of the main mill area was 35 commencing and I was a little bit involved in that on the periphery really. I didn’t have anything to do with the design or anything like that but I was just one of the workers on the initial building of some of the aspects of the plant, the crusher house and some of the items in the mill. 40 MR JACOBI: In very broad outline, since the mines closure in the late – early 1960s, have you had a continuing involvement with Radium Hill? MR KAKOSCHKE: Really I suppose I would have to say yes. More so in the last 14 years but initially after it closed, I had a close relationship, went up 45 there a couple of times because a couple of my brothers were involved in the .SA Nuclear 08.10.15 P-537 Spark and Cannon clean up and my father-in-law was in charge of all the clean up immediately after it closed. MR JACOBI: Did you make visits in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s? 5 MR KAKOSCHKE: Yes. So used to have to go up to Cobar, the Cobar mines at least once a year and generally would call in to Radium Hill just to see what’s left there. 10 MR JACOBI: Perhaps if we can go to the – watching on the first slide and perhaps you can give us a broad indication of where the Radium Hill mine is located relative to the other geography in the area? MR KAKOSCHKE: Yes. Well, Radium Hill, as you can see on the slide, is in 15 the north-east of South Australia, southeast from Olary around about 12 mile, 18 k’s off the main Barrier Highway and the railway line. It’s in a land of mulga, saltbush and bindi eye and around about seven and a half inches of rainfall a year, but the evaporation rate is seven and a half feet, so we had a massive water problem right from the start. 20 MR JACOBI: In terms of its distance from other main settlements, as the position stands now, how distant is it from other main settlements that are located nearby? 25 MR KAKOSCHKE: Basically because all the facilities that were built up over the period of time, the other settlements along the Barrier Highway and a lot of the station properties, we were the regional centre, north-east regional centre. They used to come in to Radium Hill because around about 1,000 people were living there. We had all facilities, eventually we had all facilities. You name 30 it, we had it and the surrounding areas would come in, whether it be rifle shooting, tennis, football whatever. MR JACOBI: Yes. Mr Kakoschke in terms of, as it stands at present, in terms of the main population centres, how distant are they from where the mine is 35 now? MR KAKOSCHKE: Well, the main population centres I tend to think would have to be Peterborough and Broken Hill. Olary, Mingary, Cockburn, Manna Hill and Yunta – well, Yunta’s only got 58 people there, so that’s the 40 biggest. Olary’s got six, so yes. MR JACOBI: And in terms of the railway line in to New South Wales? MR KAKOSCHKE: Railway line to New South Wales, that was used after the 45 railway line in to Radium Hill was constructed and that was a narrow gauge .SA Nuclear 08.10.15 P-538 Spark and Cannon line of course but that was surveyed January 1953 and the first train called the Atomic Comet moved in to Radium Hill on the 3 October 1953. MR JACOBI: But in terms of the distance from the standard gauge, as I 5 understand it, the now standard gauge line going in to New South Wales, what is the distance of that relative to the Radium Hill mine site? MR KAKOSCHKE: Well, a lot of the waste from Radium Hill was used as ballast in 1965, the line from Radium Hill into Cutana Siding was the first state 10 government built standard gauge railway line in South Australia, and from then they branched east and west to do the railway line from Peterborough to Cockburn. MR JACOBI: Approximately how far is it away from the mine? 15 MR KAKOSCHKE: The line is approximately 18 to 19 kilometres, about 12 mile.