Toro Energy’s plan to track radioactive material through Western Australia and Northern Territory
The Australian, 23 May 12 WEST Australian yellowcake will be carted thousands of kilometres across state borders and shipped out of Adelaide or Darwin in a bold plan that limits political fallout in the west and puts the blowtorch on federal Labor to increase uranium exports.
South Australian company Toro Energy yesterday received approval from the WA Environmental Protection Authority to mine 1200 tonnes of uranium ore from its Wiluna operations, 520km north of Kalgoorlie, and to truck it in 200-litre drums across the Nullarbor. Once it crosses state lines, it will go direct to Adelaide and be shipped out or put on rail to Darwin.
The plan means the yellowcake will not have to be shipped through the port at Fremantle, near Perth, where the local council’s policy declares that “no uranium, nuclear waste nor other material connected with the nuclear power industry may be stored or transported in or through the municipality”.
ANSTO says not involved in 1981 truck’s toxic spill. Inquiry to be held
Nuclear agency distances itself from toxic scare ABC News, April 18, 2012 Australia’s peak nuclear agency says toxic material that has halted upgrade work of the Pacific Highway in New South Wales did not originate at its Lucas Heights facility…… a statement from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), says a review of records shows its predecessor, the Australian Atomic Energy Commission (AAEC), was not concerned with any aspect of the truck accident….
It went on to say that a report from April 1981 stated that “the sources were not the property of the AAEC nor were they being consigned to or from the AAEC”. ”They were the property of a geophysical company and do not appear to have suffered any harm.” ANSTO says it has received advice from the Environmental Protection Agency that there is no indication of radioactive drums or canisters being located at the site……A federal parliamentary report into
hazardous materials in 1982 included details of the crash which Mr Higgins says is being checked in light of the sick workers….. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-18/ansto-distances-itself-from-radiation-scare/3958572
Minister calls for highway inquiry http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/minister-calls-for-highway-inquiry-20120419-1x83j.html April 19, 2012 NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay says an independent inquiry will investigate how five road workers came to be exposed to potentially toxic material buried on the state’s mid-north coast. Read more »
New South Wales: road workers made sick by ionising radiation?
Workers sick amid highway radiation scare http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-18/radioactive-discovery-halts-pacific-hwy-upgrade/3957168 April 18, 2012 Road workers were sent for medical treatment after vomiting when suspected nuclear material was unearthed during work on an upgrade to the Pacific Highway on the mid-north coast of New South Wales The materials, which include caesium, were buried north of Port Macquarie after a truck carrying radioactive isotopes from Sydney’s Lucas Heights nuclear reactor crashed in the area in 1980.
The isotopes were being taken to Brisbane, before being shipped to the United States. The upgrade’s project manager, Bob Higgins, says road workers fell ill after unearthing a strange clay-like material.
“As we’ve taken down the cutting there we exposed the face of the existing material (and) came across a clay material that when it’s exposed to air it gets an orange streak through it,” he said. ”There were a number of workers that felt a little bit of nausea and there was a bit of vomiting when they were in close proximity. ”[They went] off to the doctor, but obviously we need to be extremely careful here.”
The Environmental Impact Statement for the highway upgrade had noted some uncertainty about where exactly the containers were buried. Specialists are in the area assessing what to do with the radioactive materials, and if they pose any risk.
Lucas Heights nuclear reactor’s slips and leaks
Radiation leak fear at Sydney’s Lucas Heights as four workmen contaminated, Linda Silmalis The Sunday Telegraph April 15, 2012 FOUR workmen at the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor suffered low-level radiation contamination late last year.
An investigation by the nuclear safety watchdog of the reactor log books to ensure it was meeting its licence conditions has found a rise in the number of contamination events recorded in November and December..
…Two reactor trips were also recorded, while “unusual” water leakage was identified coming from one of the control rods, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency report said…. While the watchdog ticked off the 
operations at the reactor as complying with safety regulations, it recommended the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) consider increasing the level of detail it recorded for events.
It noted a number of events and items of interest that had been recorded in the Reactor Operation Event Management System and log book. ”The number of minor contamination events at OPAL has increased recently,” it said..
… OPAL replaces the high flux reactor, which began a $50 million decommissioning phase in 2007. The process is expected to take 10 years, with dismantling of the structure only to begin in 2016 after short-lived radioactive materials in the reactor have decayed. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sydney-nsw/radiation-leak-fear-in-sydney/story-e6freuzi-1226326493993
South Australian will have no say about radioactive waste transport through their State
South Australians will be given no say on the transportation of radioactive waste through the state as the National Radioactive Waste Management Act overrides all state laws. SA laws regulating the transport of hazardous materials will have no effect. South Australians will have no say over the mode of transport or the route taken or the timing of waste transportation through the state.
SA must win nuclear battle with feds, Independent Weekly (SA) Jim Green , 27 March 2012
www.indaily.com.au/#folio=10 EIGHT years ago South Australians won a famous victory, forcing the Howard government to abandon its plan to establish a national radioactive waste dump in SA. The victory was all the sweeter because of the schoolyard-bully tactics of the Howard government including its use of compulsory land acquisition powers and its indifference to public opinion and to South Australian legislation banning the imposition of a nuclear dump…..
The current [nuclear waste] debate has important implications for SA. A federal government-commissioned report outlines four possible transport routes between the Lucas Heights nuclear site in NSW and the proposed NT dump site. Two involve trucking waste long distances through SA (one through Adelaide) and a third involves train transport through SA including Adelaide. The report also flags the option of spent nuclear fuel reprocessing waste being shipped from France and the UK to Port Adelaide then being trucked north. Read more »
Earthquakes in South Australia, latest is near Olympic Dam uranium mine
SEISMIC SURGE IN FAR NORTH: 3.9 EARTHQUAKE NEAR ROXBY DOWNS, Coober Pedy Regional Times, 26 March 12, A 3.9 magnitude earthquake has struck near Olympic Dam in South Australia’s Mid – Far North overnight, in addition to a spate of 4 separate earthquakes in the Far North of the state in the past week.
The succession of medium to significant earthquakes has promted Geoscience Australia to begin setting up seismic monitoring equipment in the Far North where three of the earthquakes occured last week including a 6.1 magnitude quake….. The most recent earthquake which occured overnight is not far from the townships of Roxby Downs and Andamooka near the Stuart Highway, and situated within relatively close proximity to a number of the state’s mining and prospecting operations including the Olympic Dam uranium mine, whose massive orebody engulfs the 35km Masher’s Fault. …… http://cooberpedyregionaltimes.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/seismic-surge-in-far-north-3-9-earthquake-near-roxby-downs/
4 earthquakes in South Australia’s far North within the past week
SPATE OF EARTHQUAKES HIT SOUTH AUSTRALIA’S FAR NORTH, Coober Pedy Regional Times, 24 March 12, A spate of earthquakes all within a week of each other have occurred in South Australia’s Far North with three strikes on the APY Lands. A significant 6.1 earthquake struck near Ernabella (Pukatja), Fregon and Indulkana on the APY Lands at 8.25pm South Australian Daylight Savings Time CDT Friday night 23 March 2012. ..
… Three further earthquakes have struck South Australia’s Far North in the past week.
16 March a 4.3 earthquake struck in the Musgrave Ranges near Ernabella at a depth of 15 km.
20 March a 3.8 earthquake struck in the Musgrave Ranges near Ernabella at a depth of 10 km.
21 March a 3.9 earthquake struck between Oodnadatta and William Creek in the Arckaringa Basin at a depth of 0.007km. http://cooberpedyregionaltimes.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/spate-of-earthquakes-hit-south-australias-far-north/
Lynas’ Mt Weld rare earths mines found to have out-dated safety permits
Lynas’ Mt Weld Rare Earths Mines Safety Permits Outdated : http://community.nasdaq.com/News/2012-03/lynas-mt-weld-rare-earths-mines-safety-permits-outdated.aspx?storyid=125132#ixzz1oO63K2tj NASDAQ 3/5/2012 by Esther Tanquintic-Mis The controversy now has hit home. With Lynas Corp. still to fully arrest and win over the controversy surrounding its Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) in Malaysia, here comes yet another information that could possibly whip up a storm right where its home base is.
In a statement released to media news agencies worldwide, the Anti-Nuclear Alliance of Western Australia (ANAWA) is set to file a motion today, Mar. 6, at the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to question the authenticity and effectiveness of the health and safety approvals issued to Lynas Corp. in reference to its Mt Weld rare earths mines in Western Australia.
According to the Free Malaysia Today, it was the Environmental Defenders Office of Australia that issued the media statement.
Marcus Atkinson, ANAWA spokesperson, alleged Lynas Corp. had made a number of alterations on the original health and safety approvals issued more than a decade ago for the operations of Mt Weld that did not undergo through the appropriate standard operating procedures relative to updating or modifying obsolete approvals.
“Lynas are currently operating under approvals issued to them 14 years ago,” Atkinson said, noting the terms and conditions contained in the original approvals could possibly no longer hold true to this day, specially “the amounts of radioactive materials being transported from Mt Weld through Fremantle Port.”
The Australian non-governmental organization urged the EPA to scrutinize the present operations at Mt Weld versus was what contained in the original health and safety approvals. ”Health and safety issues need to be thoroughly examined to ensure the best protection of those involved in the handling of this material,” he said.
“The approvals given 14 years ago need to be re-examined by the EPA and stronger regulations need to be put in place to ease the fears of the community.” ANAWA also called for “extremely stringent” safeguards to protect Fremantle residents and other communities along the transport routes.
“We have made many mistakes in the past with the transport of lead and other materials, and we need to ensure that the same mistakes are not made with rare earth products,” Atkinson said.
Lynas Corp. is currently embroiled in a bitter battle against residents and political wannabes in Malaysia over its $200-million rare earths processing plant project in Gebeng, Kuantan.
Olympic Dam uranium mine at risk from earthquakes
from our Seismology Watcher, 28 feb 12, Australian Yet another timely warning for Quarry Australia following seismologist, Edward Cranswick’s peer-reviewed paper on the 35-km-long, steeply dipping Mashers Fault which passes through the middle of the Olympic Dam ore body. The fault length implies an earthquake of maximum about 7.
An observation by Cranswick is that censoring of Australian lists of earthquakes and their corresponding source parameters, (i.e., time, location, depth, magnitude) has taken place.
Cranswick, who investigated earthquakes for the US Geological Survey for 22 years, suggests that the connection between mining and sesmicity (earthquakes) is obscured in Australia particularly the seismic hazard of the OD project in SA. Seemingly, BHP’s proposed expansion and potential radioactive fall-out at the Olympic Dam project in the event of a “natural” catastrophe reveals scant regard for public health and safety. However, there is nothing like an outraged Momma Nature (whose **se is being chewed by the mining industry) to make an ecocidal event, a grim reality.
Cranswick also makes reference to the Barrick/Newmont super pit and its connection to the unprecedented 5.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred in the stable continental region of Kalgoorlie/Boulder in April 2010. And what a pitiful mess that made of the historic buildings in the main street of Boulder which is about a kilometre from the super pit.
En garde my fellow Australians, asleep at the wheel.
Australian company involved in a nuclear power mess in Egypt
As usual, trouble for Australian uranium, or nuclear-involved countries overseas, does not reach the Australian media. The troubles and losses of Paladin uranium company, over recent years, in Africa, have been ignored.
Likewise Australian company Worley Parsons has not suffered in the media, the embarrassment of its involvement with the fiasco that is Egypt’s new nuclear reactor
“WorleyParsons has the contract with the Egyptian Nuclear Power Plant Authority (NPPA) for a consultancy services contract to support the delivery of the first Egyptian Nuclear Power Plant…. a major milestone in the development of nuclear power generation in Egypt and WorleyParsons is very proud to be associated with the NPPA in this exciting project… It also demonstrates our leading position in the global nuclear new build arena.” - from Worley Parsons website
Soldiers and the demonstrators threw stones at each other and exchanged gunfire after the protesters demolished a wall surrounding the site, a security source and witnesses said…
Radioactive material stolen from Egyptian power station: report Reuters Jan 19, 2012 CAIRO – Radioactive material has been stolen from a nuclear power station on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast that was the scene of violent protests last week, the state-run al-Ahram newspaper reported on Thursday.
A safe containing radioactive material at the Dabaa nuclear power plant, which is still under construction, was seized while another also containing radioactive material was broken open and part of its contents taken, the newspaper said. Read more »
Northern Territory radioactive river spill causes wave of concern
Environment Centre NT calls for EPA investigation radioactive spill, 2 Jan 2012 The train derailment at Edith River spilling 1200 tonnes of copper concentrate into the flooded environment, which may have contained 0.01% of uranium, has urged the Environment Centre NT to call on the EPA for a full investigation.
“We have now learnt that the NT Government approved the transport of these toxic materials in substandard casing, covered only by a tarp. We want to know which department and which minister had signed off on this outrageous exemption” Said Cat Beaton, Nuclear Free NT Campaigner at the Environment Centre NT.
“This incident is a serious warning, that must trigger serious action. We will be writing to the EPA requesting a full investigation”.
“NT Government should not approve any increased transport of radioactive materials by rail until such an independent investigation has been undertaken,” continued Ms Beaton.
The Northern Territory is at the dawn of increased transport of toxic and radioactive materials. The expansion of BHP’s Olympic Dam mine in SA is set to see 1.6 million tonnes a year of uranium infused copper concentrate transported daily by 1.8km long trainloads for the next 80-plus years.
The Territory could also face the reality of radioactive waste transport for a proposed nuclear waste dump at Muckaty, 120ks north of Tennant Creek.
“Right now the Territory Government cannot be trusted to ensure the safe transport of dangerous goods and we all need to think about the risks to our rivers, environment and the outdoors lifestyle that Territorians enjoy,” concluded Ms Beaton.
Northern Territory train derailment raises danger of uranium transport in tropical weather
Audio Questions raised over toxic goods transport in the Northern Territory ABC Radio AM December 29, 2011 While government officials are investigating the cause and the environmental impact of a serious train derailment in the Northern Territory, a Territory Environment group has raised questions over the safety of transporting uranium in tropical weather conditions.
Michael Coggan MICHAEL COGGAN: Forty-eight hours after floodwaters swept part of a large freight train into the Edith River and cut off the Stuart Highway north of the Top End town of Katherine, several investigations are underway into the cause of the train derailment and the environmental impact of tonnes of copper concentrate spilled into the flooded Edith River from the freight train.
Jim Grant is the head of the Northern Territory Environment Department. JIM GRANT: Well it’s not a highly toxic substance but it’s not to be ingested or inhaled. We think it’s washed all over the place…..
MICHAEL COGGAN: Environment Centre director Stuart Blanch says the accident shows why dangerous goods including uranium oxide should not be carried on the Alice Springs to Darwin railway.
STUART BLANCH: A much bigger risk to Top End rivers would be derailment of trains carrying uranium oxide from the Roxby Uranium Mine in South Australia. The Territory Government should call a halt on approving the transport of more and more trains of uranium oxide up to Port Darwin until there are really adequate, safe measures in place to stop such a derailment ever happening with uranium on the track.
MICHAEL COGGAN: But Chief Minister Paul Henderson doesn’t want to speculate about the implications for the transport of uranium in the Northern Territory…. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-29/questions-raised-over-toxic-goods-transport-in-the/3750842?section=nt
The Nuclear Terrorism Legislation Amendment Bill – new law coming to Australia
Australian Lawmakers to Consider Nuclear Terror Bill, NTI Nov. 28, 2011 Lawmakers in Australia have received a bill intended to bolster the nation’s posture against nuclear terrorism, Australian Attorney General Robert McClelland announced on Wednesday (see GSN, May 8, 2009). The Nuclear Terrorism Legislation Amendment Bill 2011 would institute as national law the requirements set on member nations to the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism.
“This bill sends a strong message to the international community demonstrating Australia’s continued commitment to addressing the threat of terrorism,” McClelland said in a press release. “It will also strengthen Australia’s case in encouraging our neighboring countries to ratify the 16 international counterterrorism instruments.”
The legislation increases the number of criminal offenses covered by the 1987 Nuclear Nonproliferation (Safeguards) Act that bans the illicit application of radioactive substances and nuclear plants. It sets a two-decade maximum punishment for crimes listed in the 24-year-old law.
“Acts of nuclear terrorism, including conduct relating to radiological and nuclear material, may result in grave consequences and pose a threat to international peace and security,” McClelland said. “We need to make sure that any act of nuclear terrorism is treated as a criminal offense” (Australian Attorney General Robert McClelland release, Nov. http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20111128_5611.php
Secrecy and security violations in Silex laser uranium enrichment technology
NRC fines GE-Hitachi $45K over NC nuke test site, October 21, 2011 Bloomberg By EMERY P. DALESIO, RALEIGH, N.C. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has fined GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy $45,000 for multiple security violations at a North Carolina facility using classified technology to test whether lasers can be used to enrich uranium. Read more »
Deep mining might increase Australia’s earthquake risks
about every five years there’s a potentially devastating quake of magnitude 6.0 or more.
some scientists have suggested that mining might have been to blame in that case [Earthquake in Newcastle 28 December 1989,] …..Some experts think this [ deep-core mining] might be enough to destabilise pre-existing faults in the Earth’s crust, and to trigger an earthquake. Certainly, human activity – like large dams being filled – has been linked to quakes overseas….
Earthquakes in Australia, AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC BY:EMMA YOUNG | OCTOBER-6-2011 Earthquakes don’t only occur near our neighbours Japan and New Zealand – they’re common in Australia too ”……..Australia doesn’t sit on the edge of a tectonic plate. However, the Indo-Australian plate, at the centre of which our continent lies, is being pushed to the north-east at about 7cm per year. It’s colliding with the Eurasian, Philippine and Pacific plates, causing stress to build up in the 25km-thick upper crust. This build-up of pressure within the plate can cause earthquakes in Australia.
In fact, Australia has more quakes than other regions that sit in the middle of plates and are considered relatively stable, Read more »
This month
For international news, go to nuclear-news ion for Western Australia’s energy future
http://ifyoulovethisplanet.org/?p=5755 Mary Olson on how women are more vulnerable to atomic radiation
- Muckaty Gathering 25 May 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1J9q-OeEO4 - NuclearKop http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpMhhzkeYjk
Anti nuclear action below: - more info at Action Australia « Antinuclear and at Event details « Antinuclear
- http://www.communityrun.org/petitions/put-the-brakes-on-toxic-trucks-no-nuclear-waste-at-muckaty
- Online Petition - against the proposed national radioactive waste dump at Muckaty Station in the Northern Territory http://www.gopetition.com.au/petitions/no-nuclear-waste-dump-at-muckaty.htmlUranium Free WA Sign the online charter saying no to uranium mining in Western Australia http://ccwa.org.au/takeaction/uraniumnotforsaleSIGN THE PETITION TO STOP LYNAS RARE EARTH EXPORTS TO MALAYSIA http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ban-rare-earth-exports/
EVENTS
- May 29 – Melbourne - Amnesty International panel on weapons and war .
- May 29 – 30 Melbourne - Wind Farms conference
- May 30 Darwin - expert Panel on Nuclear Waste Dump plan for Muckaty
- June 2 - Nuclear Abolition Day
- June 13 - Melbourne -Lizards Revenge -Shut Roxby Down
- June 14 Melbourne Beyond Zero Emissions ZCA 2020 plan.
- June 19 - Melbourne Public meeting US FORCES IN AUSTRALIA: SECURITY OR THREAT? USforcesflyer-2.pdf
The Nuclear/uranium industry and WOMEN - theme for May 2012
Deceptive information given to women about breast cancer. Women are repeatedly told about “genetic causes”, about “risks of obesity:. about “diet factors”, about “not having babies”, or “having a baby at a later age” even about “stress” – as causes of breast cancer. The not so subtle message is that it is THEIR FAULT – a problem caused by the individual woman, so – the only preventive actions must be those made by individual women.
The facts are otherwise. The single most proven cause of breast cancer is ionising radiation. After that, other environmental causes exist, amongst the wash of chemicals, and synthetic hormones, that pervade our environment. After that – probably some hereditary susceptability, amongst some women.
Why is this so? One could conclude that breast cancer is a growth industry. There’s money at every point in this sorry cycle – from the radiation from nuclear fuel through to the medical radiation used to detect and treat breast cancer. There is no money clearly involved in shutting down a toxic industry, and preventing millions of breast cancers.
How does ionising radiation cause breast cancer? Ionising radiation comes in several forms. for example, Gamma rays, x-rays, and some sub-atomic particles such as alpha particles and protons In ionising radiation, a tiny electron is released from an atom, and enters a body cell, hitting the DNA in the cell’s nucleus, and damaging it. The damaged DNA sends out ‘wrong’ messages telling the cell to divide in an uncontrolled manner – cancer develops.
“...the time between radiation exposure and breast cancer development is longest in young women and shortest for older women; young children do not show a detectable elevation in breast cancer occurrence for some 35 to 40 years after exposure. Radiation-induced breast cancers appear to occur later in life during the same ages when breast cancer rates, in general, begin to increase. It appears that a single exposure of sufficient dose during early life can increase breast cancer risk even 50 years later...
the relationship between radiation dose and breast cancer risk can be described by a straight line which implies that no matter how low the dose, there is some small risk associated with the exposure.…
The risk of subsequent breast cancer from very high doses is lower than that which might be expected from the effects of lower doses. This is because radiation at high doses is an effective killer of cells and dead cells are not able to develop into cancer…..
Young girls are at highest risk …when a young girl is exposed to radiation, she will have menstrual cycles for several decades that might enhance the development of any underlying damage caused by the radiation. There is evidence to suggest that exposure to the immature breast during early development, and around the age of beginning menstruation, carries a higher risk than at other times of a woman’s life.
It is unclear how radiation exposure of the breast during pregnancy affects a woman’s breast cancer risk. However, a recent study of women treated for Hodgkin’s disease concluded that pregnancy might be a time of increased sensitivity of breast tissue to the cancercausing effects of radiation……”
.” John D Boyce, Jr, DSc, Scientific Director,Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors in New York State.. Ionizing Radiation and Breast Cancer Risk
