Antinuclear

If uranium becomes profitable – likely that Queensland will ship it through Barrier Reef

Qld Mines Minister Andrew Cripps says no current plan to ship uranium through Barrier Reef ABC News, By James Kelly, Francis Tapim and Isobel Roe 13 Sep 2013,  Queensland’s Mines Minister Andrew Cripps says uranium will not be exported through the Great Barrier Reef any time soon, but will not rule it out down the track. The State Government announced yesterday its action plan to reintroduce uranium mining in Queensland after lifting the ban in October last year…….

Mr Cripps says once mining starts, uranium would be shipped out of existing licensed ports in Adelaide or Darwin.

“Any situation where the commercial volumes of uranium developed in Queensland requiring the licensing of an additional port somewhere in Queensland is many years into the future,” he said.

Reef shipping ‘catastrophe waiting to happen’

Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) spokeswoman Felicity Wishart says shipping uranium through the reef is a catastrophe waiting to happen……

“It only takes one accident from one massive ship to cause major damage to the reef and imagine if that ship was carrying radioactive material.”

She says all Australians and Queenslanders need to “raise their voices” and let Government know the Great Barrier Reef must be protected.

“If we can mobilise the community and get them active, they will send a message to the Queensland Government, to the Australian Government, that the reef must be protected,” she said………

Uranium’s economic benefit questioned

Meanwhile, the Queensland Conservation Council (QCC) says uranium mining will have much less of an economic benefit than the public is led to believe.

QCC spokeswoman Wendy Tubeman says most of the $8 million in profits from uranium buried in north-west Queensland will go overseas.

She says the Government has not considered the environmental and economical impacts.

“The Queensland Government is striding ahead for the sake of striding ahead,” she said.

“It hasn’t really given a great deal of thought to the real costs and the real benefits of uranium mining in Queensland…….. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-13/cripps-says-no-current-plan-to-ship-uranium-through-barrier-reef/4955414

September 14, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, Queensland