Antinuclear

Responses to New South Wales government new policy on uranium mining

 O’Farrell’s 180 degrees on uranium a toxic turn,Senator Scott Ludlam,  February 14^th, 2012. The New South Wales Government appears poised to commit a random act of colossal stupidity, following reports that the NSW Cabinet will move to overturn the state’s 26-year uranium ban. Greens spokesperson on nuclear affairs Senator Scott Ludlam said Premier Barry O’Farrell should stick to the position he held before being lobbied by the uranium industry and Federal ALP minister Martin Ferguson.

“In August 2011 it was revealed that resources minister and nuclear fanatic Martin Ferguson had urged Premier O’Farrell to lift the ban and the Australian Uranium Association had lobbied state resources and energy minister Chris Hartcher to do their dirty work. Asked in parliament if the government was considering lifting the ban, the Premier said no.”

“Uranium mining in the Northern Territory has a long and sorry history. More than forty years after Rum Jungle’s closure, the Federal Government recently committed eight million dollars over four years just for an attempt to figure out how to clean up the mess.

“Australian uranium was used in every reactor at Fukushima. Why would the O’Farrell Government want New South Wales to be complicit in the next disaster?”

Nuke South Wales? Uranium plan is unsafe and unwelcome, Dave Sweeney, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATION FOUNDATION 15 February 2012  State government plans to open the door to the uranium mining in NSW are ill-considered and out of step with community opinion, the Australian Conservation Foundation said today.

“Premier Barry O’Farrell has not taken his uranium u-turn to the NSW community, because he knows it would be deeply unpopular,” said ACF nuclear free campaigner Dave Sweeney. “The uranium industry is unsafe, unclean and unwelcome in NSW. “For the NSW government to open the door to uranium mining now is like taking up smoking at thirty: it would bring high risk, little joy and it’s completely unnecessary.”

The last independent assessment of the Australian uranium industry – a 2003 Senate Inquiry – found the sector is characterised by underperformance and non-compliance, an absence of reliable data to measure the extent of contamination or its impact on the environment and an operational culture that gives greater weight to short term considerations than long term environmental protection.

The Senate report concluded that the uranium industry in Australia had to change to protect the environment and its inhabitants from ‘serious or irreversible damage’. “In the shadow of the first anniversary of the continuing Fukushima nuclear crisis – which was fuelled by Australian uranium – we need to move away from this controversial and contaminating industry, not open the door to more environmental and community threat,” Dave Sweeney said.  “The Premier lacks a mandate to mine.  This poorly considered policy reversal will be actively contested.”

NSW’s  peak environment group condemns Government green light for toxic impacts of uranium mining February 15th 2012  The state’s peak environment group, the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, has strongly condemned Premier O’Farrell’s decision to overturn a 26‐year ban on uranium exploration in NSW.

February 15, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | uranium