Uranium mining company Paladin – seen as The Ugly Australian, in Malawi
Of the profits made, Paladin, for instance rakes in about 80% and has a paltry 1.5% for the Malawi nation
Paladin says in one breath it paid over U$5.6 million in taxes to the Malawi government, and in its other breath through its published annual report, indicates it paid about U$9.3 million in taxes.
the British silently stole our uranium and left when their projections did not add up to their whims, and now we have the Aussies who are refusing to deal fairly.
Killing Malawians through the rotten extractives deals: The case of Paladin’s uranium mining http://www.nyasatimes.com/2013/04/24/killing-malawians-through-the-rotten-extractives-deals-the-case-of-paladins-uranium-mining/ Patricia Masinga, April 24, 2013 Malawi has in the few weeks been engaged by a plethora of stakeholders discussing strategies to revive, or more on the ground, reclaim the benefits that Malawians are been milked of by the so-called extractive industry multi-national corporations.
They call themselves investors, and government believes that the Malawi Development Goals (MDGs – who cares if it’s the second phase) will be boosted, particularly that mining alone through Kayerekera of Paladin Energy Limited group of companies (trading as Paladin (Africa) Ltd in Malawi?) could provide a large economic base.
But that is all a fat lie. Paladin and many other foreign multinational mining countries are least interested to contributing to the Malawi economic growth. They are here to milk the country – exploiting all that it has rich in minerals and dump us when the time is right even poorer.
Imagine, to screw Malawians of their rightful economic gains, the company, incorporated in Australia first listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) on March 29, 1994 under code ‘PDN’, and quickly changed its name from Paladin Resources NL to Paladin Resources Ltd in 2000 and listed under the Toronto Stock Exchnage (TSX) in Canada April 29, 2005, and again changed its name to Paladin Energy Ltd in November 2007 and listed on the Namibian Stock Exchnage on February 2008.
By such trends, one is compeled to question the motive, Continue reading
South Australian Premier admits mistake in over promoting uranium and rare earths projects
VIDEO Mining promises too bold, concedes SA Premier http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-23/mining-promises-too-bold-concedes-sa-premier/4645662 Apr 23, 2013 South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill has conceded the Government needs to be more cautious about spruiking mining opportunities in the state. Rare earths company Arafura Resources is to scrap a minerals processing plant planned for Whyalla and keep more of its operations close to the mine site north of Alice Springs.
Mr Weatherill said he agreed with the Opposition the Government had a track record of overselling mining projects but underdelivering.
“I think this was a bit over-spruiked. It was always a speculative project but at the time it was always one that was a realistic project,” he said.”We did no more or less than back up what the company was saying about what they proposed to do, but I think we should be a little more cautious about that and obviously cases like this indicate that.”
Mr Weatherill said with both the shelved BHP Billiton Olympic Dam mine expansion and now Arafura’s project, the Government only backed up what the companies had told it.
“We did the thing we could do which was to provide speedy approvals, now to the extent to which we jump up and down and say this is going to happen is something we can control and we have to take a bit of care about that,” he said.
“It’s difficult to underestimate the significance of these projects, because they are significant.”
Dave Sweeney from the Australian Conservation Foundation said the loss of hundreds of potential jobs was a disappointment for Whyalla, but the decision against shipping material south for processing was a win for the environment.
“There are real concerns with this sort of processing and rare earth processing – you’re dealing with radioactive materials including uranium,” he said.”You would have radioactive exposures and elevated radiation levels in the area, you’d be left with a waste stream that would include a range of radioactive materials that pose a long-term human and environmental problem.”
Uranium, an underperforming industry has particular dangers for Queensland
Dave Sweeney ABC Environment 23 Apr 2013 Uranium mining may be attractive to those seeking to boost state coffers, but it leaves the land poisoned and communities divided. COMMUNITIES IN REGIONAL Queensland are increasingly concerned about Premier Campbell Newman’s decision to open the Sunshine State to uranium mining — and with good reason.
The decision was made behind closed doors in response to pressure from industry lobby groups and — by the Premier’s own admission — without reference to independent economic analysis or advice.
The decision also broke a promise. In a letter to the Australian Conservation Foundation dated 11 October 2012 Premier Newman stated: “I take this opportunity to reaffirm my statements, made before the last election, that the State Government has no plans to approve the development of uranium in Queensland”. Two weeks later the Premier put out the welcome mat for the uranium industry.
Queensland is no stranger to mining, but uranium is different.
Uranium is a dual use fuel — it can provide the raw material for nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. Its mining and export divides communities as well as atoms.
It is a high risk, low return sector that makes only a modest contribution to employment (around 0.015 per cent of Australian jobs) and economic activity (under 0.3 per cent of national export revenue) but brings significant and unresolved environmental, health and safety risks, and leaves significant toxic legacies.
Of particular concern in Queensland is the possibility of uranium being transported across the Great Barrier Reef. Continue reading
Tony Shepherd’s attack on Renewable Energy Target does not make sense, for Business Council of Australia
by using the BCA’s own criteria, the RET is sensible energy policy.
The RET has been a very effective piece of legislation enjoying bipartisan support for good reason. South Australia now sources over 25 per cent of its electricity from renewable energy sources resulting in lower emissions, substantial regional investments and jobs, and perhaps most importantly, lower wholesale electricity prices in that state.
We need policy settings to remain predictable and thereby provide investor confidence. Investment in large-scale renewable energy generation in Australia will deliver economic prosperity to regional Australia and more broadly improve Australia’s competitiveness.
Waging war on sensible energy policy : http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/4/22/renewable-energy/waging-war-sensible-energy-policy#ixzz2RWoPG4SL Miles George22 April 13, In an address to the National Press Club on Thursday, Business Council of Australia president Tony Shepherd AO asserted without any basis in fact that Australia needed “to wind up the Renewable Energy Target”.
Mr Shepherd said that the BCA was “consulting widely and broadly” and welcomed the “contest of ideas”, and yet clearly the BCA did not refer to the findings of the recent independent Climate Change Authority review of the Renewable Energy Target.
Following broad and wide consultation and a very strong contest of ideas, modelling undertaken on behalf of the CCA found that:
— The cost of the RET is an immaterial component of retail electricity bills before taking into account the benefits it brings in reducing wholesale electricity prices.
— Reducing the large-scale RET would result in higher wholesale and retail electricity prices. Continue reading
In Western Australia, opposition strengthens against Wiluna uranium project, despite Federal approval
In the Media – National Indigenous Times, Lateral Love Australia, 22 April 13, Wiluna and Tarlpa peoples face the fear of uranium poison as Burke gives green light to Toro Energy to mine in their country Western Australia will be exporting uranium within two years after the Federal Government’s Environment Minister, Tony Burke granted environmental approval to Toro Energy’s Wiluna project.
To many people this was unexpected, including to Wiluna’s Aboriginal peoples and to anti-uranium mining and anti-nuclear advocates nationwide. Aboriginal leaders have promised to put themselves in the line of fire to protect Country and the future for their children’s children. Continue reading
South Australia may cut its a Solar Feed In Tariff
South Australia Solar Feed In Tariff Threatened, by Energy Matters, 23 April 13, Households and businesses in South Australia considering going solar may want to do so soon. The Essential Services Commission of South Australia (ESCoSA) has proposed that from 1 July 2014, the amount paid to South Australian owners of solar panel systems for surplus electricity exported to the mains grid should be slashed from 25.8 cents down to 9.8 cents.
Under current arrangements and according to information from solar systems provider Energy Matters, a 5kW solar panel system installed in Adelaide can provide a financial benefit exceeding $2,000 a year.
The CEC says ESCoSA has “used the narrowest definition of a feed-in tariff, based on the financial benefit that a solar PV owner provides to his or her electricity retailer.”….
ESCoSA has invited public submissions to its draft determination and a copy of CEC’s submission can be viewed here (PDF). http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3703
Future for Small Modular Nuclear Reactors not looking so good
The Next Nuclear Reactor May Arrive Hauled by a Truck NYT By MATTHEW L. WALD April 24, 2013 WASHINGTON “…….The Obama administration, with nuclear power aims that have received less attention than its alternative energy initiatives, began a five-year program to develop reactors in 2012, planning to spend $452 million.
The budget outlook for the final three years is uncertain, but the incoming energy secretary, Ernest J. Moniz, speaking at his confirmation hearing on April 9, said of small modular reactors: “I think that it’s a very promising direction that we need to pursue. It’s where the most innovation is going on in nuclear energy.”
But new approaches to nuclear power have been forecast far more often than they have been realized, and some worry that small modular reactors could fall into that category. Joyce L. Connery, an Energy Department nuclear expert assigned to the National Security Council, remarked at a nuclear power conference in March, “I hope that soon we populate the world with S.M.R.’s as much as we populate the world with conferences about S.M.R.’s.”
The economics may still be challenging even if the price tag is smaller, she said. …. the environment for nuclear energy is not so great right now,” she told a gathering of several hundred experts organized by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Cheap natural gas in North America and global political fallout from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan are not helping, experts say.
And the regulatory structure is not so great for small reactors. Regulatory commission rules for control-room staff levels, emergency planning zones and security are all predicated on large, aboveground reactors. A small one built mostly underground might logically have smaller requirements, but a potential buyer would be reluctant to build one under the current regulatory regime, experts say.
Also, small reactors still face serious scrutiny for safety. David Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said that the nice thing about reactors that existed only on paper was that the worst damage risk is paper cuts; their weaknesses do not become evident until the design or construction is further along…..
Ukraine still battling to prevent spread of radioactive dust from collapsed roof at Chernobyl
http://enenews.com/officials-trying-to-stop-nuclear-material-from-spreading-after-chernobyl-roof-collapse-will-be-covered-with-special-resin
Title: Ukraine to cover collapsed Chernobyl roof with special resin
Source: Xinhua
Author: Thomas Whittle
Date: April 24, 2013
Ukraine will cover the collapsed roof of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant with special resin to prevent the spread of radioactive dust, a senior nuclear safety official said here Tuesday.
“As soon as the weather permits, we will cover the equipment under the caved-in parts of the roof with special resin,” Mikhail Gashev, Ukraine’s chief inspector of nuclear and radiation safety, told reporters. […]
About 600 square meters of the roof at Chernobyl […] collapsed in mid-February. Authorities said at the time that the collapse posed no threat to human health.
See also: Chernobyl workers evacuated from site — Roof collapse was 50 meters from reactor’s sarcophagus — Soundness inspection underway (PHOTOS)
Toro Energy will face continued obstacles to its planned Wiluna uranium mine
In the Media – National Indigenous Times, Lateral Love Australia, 22 April 13, “…….Ms Pepper said there was still time to halt the push for uranium to be mined.
“It is a long way from a Federal approval to an operating mine and we will be there every step of the way contesting and opposing this uranium mine and any other proposed uranium mine in Western Australia,” Ms Pepper said.
“Uranium is different. It is radioactive and poses great risks to workers, communities and the environment.
“Uranium oxide can be very dangerous if ingested or inhaled. Other breakdown products of uranium can also be dangerous like Radon gas.
“Radon gas is the second biggest cause of lung cancer in the world.”
“The biggest concern with uranium mining is the long term impacts of radioactive mine waste on country and how that is contained, whether that will get into the groundwater and the food chain.
“There has never been a successful uranium mine in Australia. Each one has had its accidents, its spills, its leaks and its failed rehabilitation.
“The Aboriginal communities which will be near these mines have legitimate concerns on how uranium mining and potential radiation fallout will impact on the environment, the animals, bush tucker and their townships.
“Toro have done some opportunistic studies on road kill (dead animals) but they have not done detailed data analysis on the fauna passing through the region,” Ms Pepper said.
“Uranium is the asbestos of the 21st century. The World Health Organisation, the United Nations and other international agencies recognise the risks of radiation and they all say that safe dose of radiation.
“What they are saying is every dose of radiation increases the risk of developing cancer.”…….http://lateralloveaustralia.com/2013/04/22/in-the-media-national-indigenous-times-6/
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 