In a recent media interview Mr Orion Phillips of the National Nuclear Regulator assures the residents of Carltonville on the west Rand that the radiation is in the area is so low that they have no need to be fearful.

Prof. Dr Chris Busby, Visiting Professor School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Life and Health Sciences, University of Ulster (Northern Ireland) has a different opinion.

"Recent research on uranium has shown that the radiation risks are very much greater than the current risk model of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) states.

"The exposure to uranium is enhanced near mines and uranium mines and the material is then called TENORM - Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material - and many court cases have been taken and won in the USA on  the health effects of exposure to uranium in TENORM affected areas.

"There are many who now question the current scientific risk model for uranium exposure, and the public should be made aware that regulators are required to assess all the facts and the scientific evidence, not just blindly follow the rulings and beliefs of one set of scientists.

“It is now clear that the expertise relied upon by the NNR is fatally flawed and overtaken by scientific research. The Minister should be made aware of this development,” says Busby.

Busby has given expert testimony in trials in the USA on the subject of exposure to radioactive material.