Antinuclear

Toro Energy’s Wiluna uranium project is looking very vulnerable and unceratin

WA Should Leave Its Uranium In The GroundNew Matilda By Dave Sweeney, 6 March 13, “…….Toro Energy — a small and unproven uranium company — is seeking to open WA’s first uranium mine near Wiluna in the East Murchison region, around 600 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie. Toro has no proven corporate mining experience, and their costly and controversial project and is facing strong community, political and civil society opposition.

Toro Energy’s major shareholder, OZ Minerals, has described Toro as “a tiny company” and a “non-core asset” and Toro is facing severe financial constraints. The proposed Wiluna uranium mine is on the Lake Way arid zone lake system which includes mulga and acacia shrub land and sand dunes and spinifex plains. It is also home to a number of unique and endemic groundwater dependent plants and animals.

Despite attracting over 2000 formal public objections, state government support has seen the mine fast tracked through the state environmental approval process.

Even so, Toro’s hopes to have the project approved ahead of the state election have now stalled. Federal environment Minister Tony Burke has extended his decision-making time and requested further information on how the mine would impact on precious regional water resources and manage its radioactive mine wastes.

Given the clear policy difference between the two major political parties on whether the uranium trade has any place in the West, this lack of full and final state and federal approval means the Toro project is even more vulnerable and uncertain……

Industry would push for uranium shipments on roads and through ports and pressure would grow on WA to manage and store radioactive wastes. Currently only two Australian ports — Adelaide and Darwin — are licenced to handle uranium shipments. The Federal Government and the uranium industry are seeking to get more ports licensed but the state government is reluctant because of community concern.

This means Toro Energy plans to truck uranium ore from deep inland WA to Darwin — a journey understood to be the longest road transport of radioactive material in the world — involving thousands of kilometres, scores of communities and lots of risks and variables.

At the other end of uranium’s industrial process lies radioactive waste. WA currently has a purpose built state waste facility at Mt Walton around 500 kilometres north-east of Perth. Many critics maintain that should WA mine uranium then domestic and international industry pressure will grow for the state to host growing amounts of radioactive waste. Many West Australians retain clear memories of the 1990s plan by Pangea Resources, a consortium of US, UK and Swiss nuclear interests, to open a burial site for high-level international radioactive waste in regional WA…….  http://newmatilda.com/2013/03/06/wa-should-leave-its-uranium-ground

March 7, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business, uranium, Western Australia