COMPANY LAW

Company Law



Company Law

Introduction

Go-get-it plc (Go-get-it), a company incorporated in England and Wales, has decided to diversify its activities into the lucrative business of the transportation of uranium waste from nuclear power stations to authorised sites offshore. The uranium waste is highly dangerous if handled incorrectly. Go-get-it incorporates two wholly-owned subsidiaries, also in England and Wales, Handling Limited (Handling) and Leasing Limited (Leasing). The collection and transportation business is conducted by Handling. Leasing owns the handling and transport equipment and leases it to Handling, since this arrangement has substantial tax advantages. The director of Handling is a middle-ranking director of Go-get-it. Handling has its own employees. The sole director of Leasing is a junior manager of Go-get-it and all its activities are conducted by employees of Go-get-it. Handling and Leasing trade successfully for several years, making substantial profits which are passed on to Go-get-it. Montana is employed by Handling. Handling does not have any safety procedures and Montana is exposed to uranium waste. Some time later, the government bans the disposal of uranium waste by private contractors. With no income, Handling goes into insolvent liquidation. However, Go-get-it's other activities remain very profitable. Leasing repossesses its equipment, rents it out to another subsidiary of Go-get-it and continues to trade profitably. Montana becomes terminally ill as a result of being exposed to uranium waste.

Discussion

Uranium mining, like all mining and indeed most industrial activity, generates wastes. The wastes from mining fall into four categories: waste rock from the actual mining, tailings from the ore processing (commonly called milling), industrial waste, and waste water. The two principal wastes from uranium mining, the waste rock and the tailings, are dealt with in some detail in this paper, while the other two wastes are briefly covered for completeness.

Most of the waste management problems faced by uranium mines are not unique; they are problems common to most of the mining industry. The presence of radioactivity, however, is a complicating factor. The three uranium isotopes, U-238, U-235 and U-234, found in natural uranium are parts of two radioactive decay chains, headed by U-238 and U-235. These two chains contain 14 and 11 principal radioisotopes respectively, with four and three minor radioisotopes, due to branches in the decay chains. Ultimately these chains decay into stable lead isotopes.

Environmental Standards For Uranium And Thorium Mill Tailings

There are some standards for collection and transportation of Uranium that should be taken in to consideration by Montana. Uranium mill tailings consist mainly of nonradioactive materials but also contain essentially all of the thorium and radium present in the ore. The largest source of radiation exposure is the short-lived radioactive decay products of radon-222, itself a decay product of radium-226. Radon can build up to high levels indoors when tailings are placed around buildings or when buildings are located close to tailings piles. Other problems with tailings include gamma radiation and a water contamination potential from radioactive and the nonradioactive, hazardous constituents in the tailings. In 1978, government passed the Uranium Mill Tailings ...