Wobbly Word of the Week – “Rare Earths”
Yes – Rare Earths – What are they? The title sounds innocuous, and there’s no doubt that some “rare earths” are essential to many of today’s technology items.
It’s just that we should not lose sight of the radiation problems involved in mining and processing rare earths, nor let them slip under the radar as pro-uranium governments, like South Australia’s , promote the nuclear fuel cycle
Well, take the Arafura project below – this project includes a (small) commercial quantity of uranium product, and a large volume of thorium waste, enriched to ten times the radioactivity of the ore.
Many other rare earth projects won’t produce any commercial uranium or thorium, but will still have radioactive tailings.
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1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 
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