What is the extent of the emergency response equipment, material and manpower that will exist during the ongoing operation?
During the operational phase of the mine, there will be an emergency response assistance plan (ERAP) registered with Transport Canada in place with qualified people ready to respond to accidents. Training of local people along the shipping route will be provided and equipment necessary to contain spills will be made available. The operational phase of the mine is still at least 7 years away so the details of ERAP are not yet finalized. A transportation risk study is in progress and the Environmental Impact Statement scheduled to be released in 2011 will contain details of spill response and prevention during the operational phase.
During the exploration phase in progress now, much less material is being transported than will occur during the operation. There is a Spill Contingency Plan in place and an ERAP registered with Transport Canada.
AREVA has had ERAP programs in place for its Saskatchewan Operations for over 15 years. In over 30 years of trucking of products from the uranium mines in Saskatchewan there has never been an accident resulting in a spill of uranium concentrate. In the instance where there has been a spill at the Saskatchewan mine sites clean-up measures where implemented immediately and there were no residual environmental effects. AREVA’s emergency response team is available 24 hours/7days per week.