Antinuclear

Australia’s uranium industry seeks to weaken safeguards about radioactivity

The group wants the commission to explicitly recommend the EPBC Act be amended to remove uranium mining and milling from the definition of “nuclear actions”……

 uranium prices have fallen since Japan’s Fukushima disaster led many nations to rethink nuclear power programs.

Miners seek radioactive rethink, BY:ANNABEL HEPWORTH  The Australian , April 08, 2013 URANIUM miners have demanded changes to laws so that the “mild” radioactivity that is unique to the sector is no longer a trigger for federal environmental assessments.

The Australian Uranium Association — whose members include BHP Billiton and the operator of the Ranger mine at Jabiluka in the Northern Territory, ERA — says that uranium mining and the milling that makes yellowcake should no longer be defined as a “nuclear action” under the federal law known as the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

“Under the . . . act, the underlying assumption is that uranium mining and milling of themselves  have a significant impact on the environment.

“This assumption has never been justified. It seems that the fact of mild radioactivity is justification in itself, not requiring explanation,” the association’s chief executive Michael Angwin said.

The comments are contained in a new submission to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into the approvals process for major projects. The submission also asserts that state laws already deal with radiation, based on advice by the federal government’s Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency…… But groups including the Australian Network of Environmental Defenders’ Offices are opposed to a streamlining of environmental processes, fearing this will lead to high-risk and unsustainable developments…….

In the submission, the association points to a 2007 Productivity Commission recommendation to review the treatment of uranium mining as an automatic trigger for environmental assessments under the EPBC Act.

The group wants the commission to explicitly recommend the EPBC Act be amended to remove uranium mining and milling from the definition of “nuclear actions”……

uranium prices have fallen since Japan’s Fukushima disaster led many nations to rethink nuclear power programs. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/miners-seek-radioactive-rethink/story-fn91v9q3-1226614448413

April 8, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, secrets and lies, uranium