Australia’s threatened water resources, and the uranium mining risk
(for more Australian news, go to
What impact is uranium mining having on our water?
The Advertiser, by Jim Green, 25 july 09
ENVIRONMENT Minister Peter Garrett buttressed his decision last week to approve in situ leach (ISL) uranium mining at Beverley Four Mile with the claim that he is “certain this operation poses no credible risk to the environment”.
Thus Mr Garrett adds another chapter to the history of spin surrounding ISL mining.
Environmental debates typically revolve around differing assessments of the possibility of environmental contamination.
But with ISL mining, environmental pollution – specifically contamination of groundwater with radionuclides, heavy metals and acid – is a certainty.
ISL mining involves pumping an acidic solution into an aquifer, dissolving the uranium ore and other heavy metals and pumping the solution back to the surface.
After the uranium has been separated, liquid radioactive waste is simply dumped in the aquifer. Isolation and containment of the pollutants would not be difficult or expensive, but the mining companies will take the cheaper option of polluting groundwater for as long as the politicians let them……………………
A 2003 Senate References and Legislation Committee report recommended banning the discharge of radioactive liquid mine waste to groundwater. ISL uranium mining is used at the Beverley uranium mine and it is the mining method proposed for Beverley Four Mile, Oban and Honeymoon.
The future of this mining technique is plain to see: short-lived mines leaving SA with a legacy of polluted aquifers.
Spills and leaks are common at ISL mines. The SA Department of Primary Industry and Resources lists 59 spills at Beverley from 1998 to 2007.
Serious questions must be raised as to BHP Billiton’s capacity to safely manage radioactive tailings at Olympic Dam if, as planned, tailings production increases sevenfold to 68 million tonnes annually and water consumption increases to more than 250 million litres daily.
BHP Billiton pays nothing for its massive water take for the Olympic Dam mine, despite recording a $17.7 billion profit in 2007-8. That arrangement is enshrined in the Roxby Downs Indenture Act 1982………
……… The Indenture Act provides a raft of exemptions and overrides from the SA Natural Resources Act 2004, the Environment Protection Act 1993, the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988 and even the Freedom of Information Act 1991.
BHP Billiton and the Rann Government are currently engaged in secret discussions over the future of the Indenture Act.
Fairfax News has conflict of interest in reporting on nuclear power
Why is Fairfax Promoting nuclear power?
Becruz by Robert Vose 25 July 09The Chairman of the Board for Fairfax Media Limited is Mr Ron Walker. Ron Walker was also one of the three owners of a company that aimed to build Australia’s first nuclear power station:
Herald Sun Michael Harvey February 28, 2007
JOHN Howard has admitted he had known of a private bid by a Liberal powerbroker to build Australia’s first nuclear power station since the middle of last year.
Mr Howard received a phone call from businessman Ron Walker about the time the Federal Government established its expert investigation into the viability of nuclear power.
Mr Walker told the Prime Minister he was registering a private company interested in nuclear power…
The Herald Sun revealed yesterday that Mr Walker joined forces with fellow business chiefs Hugh Morgan and Robert Champion de Crespigny to establish a private company called Australian Nuclear Energy Pty Ltd.
If Fairfax newspapers such as The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald are starting up a campaign to subtly promote nuclear power – through these pretend allegorical stories of the last couple of days – THEY NEED TO DECLARE A POSSIBLE CONFLICT OF INTEREST!!!!
These nuclear power puff pieces do not constitute rational debate. They do not look at the options for energy systems that could replace coal power stations. The writing style even suggests that the authors are embarrassed to have to present these kinds of positions in their writing.
……………………….If editors and the board are pushing the nuclear power wheelburrow they need to declare their interests in nuclear power.
Becrux » Blog Archive » Why is Fairfax Promoting nuclear power?
Australia: Aboriginal voices raise uranium concerns
ANFA – protecting country, supporting communities – www.anfa.org.au
Australia’s poor record as a uranium mining nation
ARCHIES ARCHIVE 24 July 09
Ranger:• despite being expected to operate under a “no-release” water management system, incidents involving misplaced low grade ores or failures in water control bunds have led on numerous occasions to contaminated runoff waters being leaked into adjacent creeks (especially Corridoor Creek, a tributary of Magela Creek).• in early 2004 incorrect plumbing saw the process water circuit being connected to the potable drinking water circuit – leading to rapid and significant toxic process water being mixed with drinking water, and much of the Ranger workforce being potentially exposed to both acute chemical and radiological exposure.Olympic Dam:• after operating for nearly a decade, a major ongoing leak from the tailings dam was revealed, amounting to the loss of billions of litres of tailings water to groundwater.• in March 1999, and again October 2001, major explosions and fires caused substantive damage to the mill and smelter complexes, including major releases of noxious fumes – though the extent of radiological releases remains highly contentious, the fact that the uranium solvent extraction circuit in the 2001 incident was on fire raises serious concerns about how these incidents are handled by current regulators.
Beverley:
• numerous spills and leaks from pipelines have occurred………………Can uranium mines be satisfactorily rehabilitated?
The experience of rehabilitating uranium mines to date in Australia is questionable. The first generation of uranium mines from the Cold War, namely Rum Jungle, Radium Hill, Mary Kathleen and the South Alligator group of mines, all still present environmental and radiological management problems and require constant vigilence and maintenance.
Examples include: – Rum Jungle –….mine drainage continues to pollute the Finniss River…… Radium Hill…………tailings requires ongoing maintenance…..Mary Kathleen………… ongoing seepage of saline, metal and radionuclide rich waters from the tailings dam
From a briefing paper by Gavin M. Mudd for <a
Uranium Mining and a National Park #2 « Ærchies Archive – The Curmudgeon’s Magazine
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 