Uranium miners who worked to supply the British and U.S. military in the 1970s are reported to be dying of cancers and unexplained illnesses after working in one of Africa’s largest mines, says a report by the Guardian newspaper.
A study based on questionnaires of current and former workers at the giant
Rio Tinto Plc (
NYSE: RIO,
Stock Forum)-owned Rossing uranium mine in Namibia says that everyone questioned was aware of people who are now suffering from lung infections and unknown illnesses thought to be linked to their work, the Guardian report said.
The mine in the Namibian desert, produces about 7% of the world’s uranium but was operated with rudimentary safety when it was opened in 1976.
“People get sick. We are seeing it in people that have worked for Rossing for a long time. They just go back and die after working at Rossing,’’ one man told researchers working with Earthlife Namibia and the Labour Resource and Research Institute.
The Guardian said the study, which is expected to be published this week, accepts that working conditions in the mine have greatly improved, but says all workers questioned said they were exposed to high levels of dust.