Maralinga nuclear tests and the environment
areas of fused or ‘glazed’ sand are still contaminated with levels of plutonium which are of a high and dangerous level
The impact of nuclear testing on the Australian environment | Blog About All 16 Feb 2010 “………..As well as the tests at Monte Belle islands, between 1952 and 1963 the British government, with the agreement and support of Australia, carried out ‘major’ tests at two other sites on the Australian mainland at Emu Field and Maralinga in South Australia.
There were two types of tests Britain conducted, contained explosions and atmospheric. Contained explosions were the most common and involved exploding a nuclear device under ground and were generally used to measure shock wave affects and the general effectiveness of the devices, while atmospheric tests involved the setting off of nuclear devices in the open air to test such things such as dispersion of radiation and the effectiveness of the bombs .
The environmental impact of these tests had wide ranging implications with radioactive particles that dispersed into the atmosphere and could spread for kilometres away from the test sites, settling on the ground and in water supplies contaminating the environment with radioactive fallout.
The effects of these tests (especially six mounted tests undertaken at both sites) were that at present, areas of fused or ‘glazed’ sand are still contaminated with levels of plutonium which are of a high and dangerous level. The worst of these sites is at Taranaki, which was used for minor tests from 1960 until 1963, with the high levels of uranium particles and debris at the site having made the area un-inhabitable for both humans and wildlife for the next quarter of a million years .
Perhaps one of the saddest testimonies to the effects that the nuclear tests had on the environment is the health of the local Aborigine populations who from around the time tests were carried at out Maralinga have been plagued with an above average amount of cases involving illness which are caused by exposure to unsafe levels of radiation in the environment. One Aboriginal who lived near the area of some of the tests, told in a governmental enquiry that he remembered when he was a child a ‘black mist’ that occurred after one of the tests at Maralinga. The black mist caused conditions in the local Aboriginal community such as sore eyes, diarrhoea and general sicknesses, which are common signs of exposure to unsafe levels of radioactive materials ………..
The impact of nuclear testing on the Australian environment | Blog About All
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This month
For international news, go to nuclear-news
Check on the Ugly Australian company, Lynas, in Malaysia http://baddevelopers.nfshost.com/Docs/L.htm
http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/49872 Peter Watts at Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World
Aboriginal protest in Canberra. Scroll down page. Video news shows no violence from protestors, only from police http://www.3aw.com.au/blogs/breaking-news-blog/the-referendum-died-today/20120126-1qj4x.html
of the week. http://www.radiationreport.com/effects-of-radiation/nuclear-apologists-play-shoot-the-messenger-on-radiation/
Energy Matters Video News – Episode 56 – February 1, 2012
http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3021
Anti nuclear action below: - more info at Action Australia « Antinuclear and at Event details « Antinuclear
EVENTS
- February 13 Adelaide Fukushima and the Future of Nuclear Power
- February 23 - Adelaide Nicole Foss – a Mentor For Turbulent Times. Nicole Foss speaks on Energy and the Economy http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=FqRGVNUK5x0
LATEST AUDIO & VIDEO ITEMS. arrive – so fast and so good – go to our audiovisual page Audiovisual « Antinuclear for information on these websites
Nuclear power and WATER – theme for February 2012
For Australia especially, Global warming means WATER shortage – drought over wide areas, more evaporation.
Nuclear power and uranium mining are water-intensive
Uranium mining is water intensive. Already outback communities are being hit by water shortage, as water is being extracted from the Great Arterial Basin faster than it is being replenished.
Yet BHP Billiton has open slather, at no cost whatever, to its daily guzzle of 35 million litres, and BHPB plans to extract an additional 120 million litres of publicly-owned artesian water per day, every day, for the next 70 years.)
Out of sight, out of mind
Groundwater is a major resource, but one that has been taken for granted for decades. In the past, groundwater supplies were treated as an infinite resource, and subject to an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ attitude. But that’s changing. There’s now an enormous interest in the way our groundwater resources are measured, managed and utilised. There are also concerns over issues such as over-extraction of water, pollution, wastage, allocation and licensing issues, water pricing and groundwater salinisation.
The water source beneath one-fifth of Australia
The most well-known and important groundwater source in Australia is the Great Artesian Basin, or GAB. This is a vast groundwater source that underlies 22 per cent of Australia – extending beneath the arid and semi-arid regions of Queensland, the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales. It covers about 1.7 million square kilometres, and contains an estimated 8700 million megalitres of water. Not surprisingly, it’s one of the largest artesian water basins in the world……
The sustainable yield of a groundwater source depends on balancing the use or discharge against recharge rates. Normally discharge of groundwater occurs through vegetation, into streams and lakes, or through evaporation into the atmosphere. Sustainable yield cannot simply be determined by a measure of the recharge rate. If water is extracted for human use at the recharge rate, discharge to other areas can be affected…..
Extraction of groundwater can also lead to salinity problems and have a negative impact on native vegetation with roots that tap into groundwater, as well as wetlands, rivers and streams. The full impact of using these aquifers as planned is not known, but is likely to reduce the rate of water flowing to support rivers and wetlands and other groundwater dependent ecosystems…. http://www.science.org.au/nova/100/100key.htm
Garlick said water from the Great Artesian Basin in Central Australia is being depleted to keep residual radioactive dust from uranium mining wet in order to keep it from blowing across the continent. Seven million gallons of water is being extracted from the basin per day to keep the radioactive dust in place, she said.
Despite its profits more than tripling in the last three years, BHP has never paid a cent for the vast amounts of water used by the Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine near Roxby Downs. The mine currently uses approximately 35 million litres of water a day from the Great Artesian Basin. Under the Roxby Downs Indenture Act BHP is not required to pay for this water usage.
The Indenture Act applies specifically to the Olympic Dam mine, and provides for wide-ranging legal exemptions and overrides from environmental and Aboriginal heritage protection laws that apply elsewhere in the state, including the Environmental Protection Act and the Natural Resources Act (which incorporates water management issues).
“The Indenture Act means that the Olympic Dam mine is not subject to the same environmental regulatory framework as other industrial projects in the state,’ explained Nectaria Calan of Friends of the Earth Adelaide. “Additionally, by allowing BHP to take water from the Great Artesian Basin for free, the South Australian government is essentially providing BHP with a massive subsidy,” she continued.
The water intake from the Great Artesian Basin has already had adverse impacts on the unique Mound Springs found near Lake Eyre, which are fed by the underlying Artesian Basin, and are sacred to the Arabunna people, the traditional owners of the area.
As part of the proposed expansion of the Olympic Dam mine, BHP Billiton proposes to increase its water consumption by an additional 200 million litres per day. Water intake from the Great Artesian Basin will increase to up to 42 million litres per day, with the remainder to come from a proposed desalination plant at Point Lowly. This amounts to over 100,000 litres of water per minute.
“The vast water usage of uranium mines is often forgotten in the debate about uranium and nuclear energy. Here we are, in the driest state on the driest continent on earth, host to a mine which needs millions of litres of water each day. Due to the Indenture Act, we are essentially exporting our water overseas for free,” said Ms. Calan. (FOE)
