11 Realising Australias uranium potential Uranium is a mildly radioactive metal predominantly used for the generation of nuclear energy and the production of radioactive isotopes for medical and industrial applications 2 The uranium challenge Historically it was also in high demand for military applications specifcally the development of nuclear weapons during the Cold W ar Uranium mining is generally little different from other kinds of mining 2 It differs from most other mining activities in the management of two issues radiation safety during mining and processing operations and the risk of nuclear proliferation Radiation The Nuclear Energy Agency NEA of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD detailed the environmental and health impacts of uranium mining in a 2014 report 3 It outlined how industry trends in radiation safety management have changed dramatically In the mid20 th century there was little knowledge and understanding of radiation health risks and little appropriate protection or regulation F ollowing a range of epidemiological studies there is now increased understanding of the risks associated with uranium mining and radiation protection systems have been introduced and strengthened W ith improved understanding tightened regulatory controls and improved operational practices worker exposures to radiation have been signifcantly reduced In Australia the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency ARP ANSA maintains the Australian National Radiation Dose Register ANRDR This electronic database was developed in 2010 to ensure that workers radiation dose records are maintained in a centralised register regardless of where an individual employee is working Analysis of the ANRDR data reveals that approximately 95 per cent of workers received a dose less than 35 mSv and 73 per cent of workers received a dose below 05 mSv 4 The annual dose limit is 20 mSv According to ARP ANSA average doses to workers remain consistently low 5 Nuclear nonproliferation The risk of nuclear weapons proliferation has been the other unique issue that the uranium and nuclear industry has needed to manage to secure public acceptance and trust Australias track record with respect to nuclear nonproliferation has been an important factor in consolidating the uranium industry within the mining and industrial landscape The Australian Safeguards and NonProliferation Offce ASNO within the Department of F oreign Affairs and T rade ensures that Australia meets its international obligations under the Nuclear NonProliferation T reaty NPT Australias NPT safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and various bilateral safeguards agreements 6 Australia sells uranium only to those countries where it has a bilateral agreement committing that country to the exclusively peaceful use of that uranium ASNOs last annual report concluded that all AONM Australian Obligated Nuclear Material is satisfactorily accounted for and that no AONM was used for nonpeaceful purposes in 2013 7 Uranium is a low emissions energy source The advantage of nuclear energy