Climate impacts, implications and adaptation options for the uranium supply chain in South Australia — YRD

Climate impacts, implications and adaptation options for the uranium supply chain in South Australia (1045)

Jessica Pizarro Loza 1 , Ros Taplin 1 , Barton Loechel 2 , Jane Hodgkinson 2
  1. Australian Centre for Sustainable Mining Practices (ACSMP), School of Mining Engineering - UNSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  2. CSIRO, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Uranium mining has been an economic activity in Australia for over three decades. Australia has the largest known reserves worldwide and prospects are that future uranium production may increase in volume per annum as global demand for uranium is projected to increase in coming years. This prospective increase in mining activity presents challenges, due to the nature and risks involved in the extraction and processing of the mineral, and also due to the potential impacts of climate change on mining activities. A growing scientific literature is under development that draws an inventory of the risks that mining companies face in the wake of climate change, while also indicating the lack of action on the part of many companies to undertake adaptation strategies. This may be due to lack of understanding and enumeration of risks, as well as lack of assessment of the expected costs and benefits of corresponding adaptation strategies. Cost assessments of climate change in the mining sector documented in the literature to date have been carried out in the context of activities outside Australia. This poster examines aspects of the uranium supply chain in South Australia and how it may be impacted by climate change. Vulnerability and adaptation capacity assessment of the mining firms involved in the chain are addressed. The research demonstrates that quantitative assessment is needed for the socio-economic and environmental costs and benefits of adaptation to climate change for the uranium supply chain in South Australia.

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