Evaluation of selected aspects of the environmental assessment report for the Langer Heinrich Uranium Mining Project in Namibia

Due to an inappropriate selection of input data (Radium in ore and tailings) and to a too small breathing rate, the dose calculations in the EA understimates the doses for the public. Together with a higher contribution of Radon to the total dose, a person at Bloedkoppie, a publicly accessable place and a tourist attraction in 1.5 to 2.5 km distance to the mine, can exceed internationally accepted dose limits. The EA does not clearly define the areal extend, where the doses are below the dose limits and where doses exceed the limits. The areal extend, where the dose limits are exceeded, clearly reach beyond the facility’s operational area, probably reaching a distance of some kilometers. The missing definition of a clear boundary is a general short-coming of the EA and should be corrected.

Additional contradictions and problems in the EA’s calculation of doses from Radon are discussed and can give rise to an additional underestimation of doses.