Paydirt 2011 Uranium Conference

Australia's uranium exploration and nuclear development industry has been warned to "get it right the first time, not the second time" as the sector grasps the opportunity in coming years to expand its number of mines and uranium oxide export contracts.

Addressing the Paydirt 2011 Uranium Conference, advisory firm, Uranium Associates' Principle, Mr Mark Chalmers, said "second chances" with uranium or nuclear energy associated infrastructure or operations were extremely difficult - and it was far preferable to "get it done right the first time!".

"No element can polarise the population or political system more than being confronted with, and having to manage, some failure in the domestic uranium or nuclear sector," Mr Chalmers said.

"It can be, in some cases, virtually impossible to recover from a uranium or nuclear "mistake" or "oversight," he said.

"This is regardless of how insignificant or significant, an incident may be.

"The technical demands of uranium mining or in-situ recovery (ISR) for example, are high and in most cases, unforgiving.

"Uranium mining can be conducted correctly but any second time around will be more expensive for one let alone having to manage public and political disquiet and renewed suspicion."

Mr Chalmers pointed out that if uranium was easy, why had not yellowcake production increased substantially in most producing countries?

"Only Kazakhstan and Namibia have substantially increased their uranium oxide output in the past five years - and even those gains have not been without a number of difficulties."