Radiation fears erupt over planned West Coast mineral processing plant
Saturday, 4 July 2026
A proposed mineral sands processing plant has sparked concern in a West Coast community after a scientist warned it could produce radiation levels far above international guidelines. The company involved disputes the findings, but residents want independent monitoring before they can be reassured. JOANNE NAISH reports.
Residents of the small West Coast settlement of Rapahoe, near Greymouth, say they were left in the dark about plans for a mineral sands processing plant now at the centre of a debate over radiation risks, independent monitoring and community trust.
Local Sharel Kokshoorn says she only learned Tāiko Critical Minerals’ plant would be be built 360m from her property boundary after reading media reports, when “the ink was already dry”.
“I’m not anti-mining, however, I am a mother of a 6-year-old daughter and her safety is my priority.
“It’s cumulative and there is no safe level of naturally occurring radioactive material.”
She became concerned after reading a peer-reviewed scientific paper by West Coast-born scientist John Bradley, of the University of Hawaii and currently based at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the United States.
Bradley concluded that while radioactivity in the Barrytown mineral sands was relatively low, it could increase significantly during further processing at Rapahoe, potentially producing radon gas at levels he says pose a lung cancer risk.
His paper, published in the New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, found radioactivity could increase to 40 becquerels per gram (Bq/g), a measure of radioactive material — above New Zealand's allowable limit of 10Bq/g and the internationally recognised guideline of 1Bq/g. He also estimated radon concentrations could rise well above the World Health Organisation’s recommended reference level.
Kokshoorn is concerned Tāiko will be allowed to self-monitor and self-report any breaches of its consent conditions.
A community meeting with the company did little to alleviate her concerns.
“The lack of information and a three-page slide show presentation with no radiation plans felt like the company either didn’t have the answers or were being disingenuous.”
Kokshoorn says she contacted the Ministry of Health’s Office of Radiation Safety, which did take her concerns seriously and installed a monitor in her home in January to track a baseline for the household before the plant begins operations.
She says independent, real-time monitoring across the community would go some way towards reassuring residents.
Developer rejects radiation risk claims
Tāiko Critical Minerals project manager Mike Meehan says the company strongly disputes Bradley’s conclusions, arguing the paper is based on a single sample rather than extensive testing.
“If his report had any kind of accuracy, we wouldn’t be able to operate,” Meehan says. “We [would] just get shut down and $125 million would be wasted.
“We’ll be in there for two or three shifts a day. I’ll be in there and I won’t want to be exposed to radiation levels above what’s safe.”
Meehan says the company has collected samples from about 1000 drill holes across the site, representing about 11,000 metres of mineral sands, with testing being carried out by certified Australian laboratories, including for radioactivity.
“This further work will definitely introduce a lot more facts into the conversation. We’ve had independent radiation experts looking at this and they’ve all come to the same determination that we’re well below the allowable limits.”
He says the company will share “all our information openly”.
“We have talked to the community about having some kind of portal where the results are shared. As soon as results are collected, we can publish it in whatever format the community finds the easiest.
“We’ve got nothing to hide.”
The Ministry of Health says the proposed plant, as planned, presents no immediate or acute radiation risk.
A spokesperson says there is currently no requirement for public reporting of monitoring reports, but confirms the ministry has begun collecting baseline measurements before the plant becomes operational.
“The long-term risk from exposure to small amounts of radioactive material is very low if guidelines are followed.”
The spokesperson says radiation safety staff have visited a small number of neighbouring properties to measure naturally occurring background radon levels. Those measurements will provide a baseline for future monitoring once the plant is operating.
Neighbours say questions remain unanswered
Rapahoe resident Judy Forbes, whose street sits at the end of the road where trucks are expected to enter the site, says the community has been blindsided by the processing plant.
“How is it that we don't deserve to be informed, discussed, consulted?
'Why don’t they put the monitors out to the community? They have never said, ‘well, let’s get you some monitors. Let’s put them around the place.’ Nothing. Absolutely nothing.'
Forbes says the peace, the beach access and the neighbourly feel of a small community where people stop to chat on their way past is under threat.
Marie Sheehan and Robin McCarthy sold their Banks Peninsula farm seven years ago specifically to move to Rapahoe, describing it as idyllic.
Sheehan says the prospect of a processing plant operating directly behind their homes, running throughout long summer days with an increase in trucking and noise and the possibility of radiation was a jolt.
“It’s just an intrusion in our lovely little Rapahoe.”
How the project was approved
Tāiko Critical Minerals secured consent following a public hearing and Environment Court mediation to mine 4.8 million tonnes of mineral sands, including garnet, ilmenite, zircon and gold, from 63 hectares at Barrytown over 12 years. The consent also allows for an initial processing plant and an average of 50 truck movements a day.
The company has since applied through the Fast-track Approvals process to expand the mine onto a further 304ha of neighbouring farmland, which it has agreed to purchase subject to approval.
Concerns about radiation associated with mineral sands mining are not new.
A 1991 report by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research into a sand mining proposal at Barrytown by Westland Ilmenite Ltd warned that any further processing of the material would involve thorium and uranium concentrations well in excess of the recommended notifiable product level.
A 2021 submission on a mineral sands mine in Australia by public health specialist Dr Tillman Ruff, who has expertise in radiation health, states there is no dose of radiation without an incremental health risk, particularly to children, women and young adults.
Retired scientist Garry Hill, who lives near the Barrytown mine, says New Zealand’s regulatory threshold for uranium and thorium is 10 times higher than the level recommended by the International Atomic Energy Agency and adopted in Australia.
He believes the Radiation Safety Act should be updated to bring New Zealand into line with international best practice by lowering acceptable radiation levels and introducing recommended limits for average radon concentrations in air.
“New Zealand has no such limits but Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand) discusses radon as a potential carcinogen and problem in dwellings.”
Hill says the Ministry of Health’s Office of Radiation Safety has now published long-awaited guidelines for managing naturally occurring radioactive material in mining and mineral extraction.
The guidelines state that if monitoring detects radioactivity above the internationally recognised threshold of 1Bq/g, the director of radiation safety would be notified and a comprehensive assessment undertaken to determine and manage any risks.
However, Hill says the guidelines are not enforceable.
He is also critical of the conditions imposed on the Rapahoe processing plant, saying they rely too heavily on company-led monitoring.
Under the Grey District Council consent, Tāiko must monitor and report radiation and radon levels, provide appropriate safety equipment and, if necessary, modify its operations to keep workers and the public safe.
If elevated radiation or radon levels are detected, the company must notify both the council and the Office of Radiation Safety within 72 hours.
Hill says the West Coast Regional Council imposed more prescriptive conditions on the Barrytown mine itself, including requiring notification when uranium, thorium or radon reached lower trigger levels.
“Had the Grey District Council imposed conditions similar to this, I don’t think I would be worrying too much about the Rapahoe plant.
“However there are at least two important criticisms of the conditions remaining. Tāiko are being allowed to do their own monitoring and the methods of radiation sampling are ill defined and open to gaming.”
Grey District Council regulatory manager Michael McEnaney says the council followed the statutory process when assessing the application.
The consent was limited-notified to five parties, including three neighbouring properties, and two submissions were received.
He says the consent requires the company to prepare a health and safety plan, including radiation and radon monitoring, with any exceedances reported to both the council and the Office of Radiation Safety.
Debate over monitoring far from over
Bradley says historical evidence also raises questions about whether the potential for elevated radiation should have been identified much earlier.
He says a 2008 airborne radiometric survey of the Barrytown sand placer deposit recorded an area of significantly elevated radiation, which typically indicates a strong radiation field.
“Why this report alone was not enough to raise a red flag is difficult to understand. The response to concerns expressed about radioactivity is a rich tapestry of denial, obfuscation, and wilful blindness.
“The entire mining venture could be done safely but it would cost money to do so.”
Bradley is calling on Tāiko to release the results of its site-wide borehole sampling so they can be independently assessed.
John Caygill, a member of the Coast Road Resilience Group, which unsuccessfully challenged the mine in the Environment Court, has written to Health New Zealand medical officer of health Cheryl Brunton and the Environmental Protection Authority raising concerns.
He says waste material should be carefully monitored before being returned to the mine site to avoid creating radioactive “hot spots” that could pose risks to workers and nearby residents.
Meehan says any waste material will also be monitored for radiation levels, but the company expects those levels to be low.
He says Tāiko has engaged Australian mineral sands specialist Dave Bougourd, who has decades of industry experience and radiation safety qualifications, to prepare a radiation safety plan before construction of the Rapahoe plant, scheduled for 2028.
“Before any works begin, the company will produce and seek approval for a safety plan as required under the resource consent. We will comply fully with both New Zealand and Australian standards on radiation safety. We can’t operate if we’re not compliant.”
Meehan says all workers will wear personal radiation monitors, radiation monitors will be installed around the site's boundary and another will be placed near the local school. The company also plans to create a 55-hectare wetland, rehabilitate the land back to pasture and restrict operations to daylight hours to protect the tāiko/Westland petrel.
A Ministry of Health spokesperson says the company has responsibility for radiological monitoring, and the safety of its workers and the public.
“The Ministry of Health’s view based on international experience is that the safety risks can be appropriately managed.”
Substantive testing of background radioactive baseline levels would also be done prior to the plant beginning operations, they say.
“The director for radiation safety at the Ministry of Health will keep an eye on this area and keep under review options for amending the Act to include the low levels of radioactive material associated with mineral extraction and processing.”