Risks of uranium mining outweigh any benefits
Anti-uranium activists criticise NSW exploration program, Australian Mining 15 September, 2014 Vicky Validakis Anti-nuclear campaigners have criticised the NSW government for opening up the state to uranium exploration.
Last week the state government invited six companies to apply for exploration licences.
The move comes two years after NSW overturned a uranium exploration ban. Mining uranium is still restricted.
Three locations around NSW – near Broken Hill, near Cobar and south of Dubbo – have been earmarked for drilling activity.
Natalie Wasley, spokeswomen for the Beyond Nuclear Initiative, said the decision was disappointing, ABC reported.
“Uranium has very unique and dangerous properties and risks,” Wasley said. “It’s linked to the production of the world’s most toxic and long-lasting industrial waste, as well as proliferation of the world’s most destructive weapons, so it poses a risk to workers, to communities and the environment.”
Wasley said the sector will only create a small number of jobs, and claims the risks associated with uranium outweigh any economic benefits. “We know that in rural and regional areas there’s a much better opportunity for long-lasting sustainable jobs in the renewable sector.”
“We’d really encourage those local governments and the state governments to be putting money and resources into developing more creative, long-term and sustainable jobs for people.”……..
The six companies invited to apply for licenses are Australian Zirconia, Callabonna Resources, EJ Resources, Hartz Rare Earths, Iluka Resources and Marmota Energy. http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/news/anti-uranium-activists-criticise-nsw-exploration-p
Uranium mining still prohibited in New South Wales, and not considered economically viable
Uranium exploration in western NSW – but mining is still prohibited NSW Country Hour Sally Bryant and Julie Clift 15 Sept 14, The New South Wales Government has invited six mining companies to put in expressions of interest to explore for uranium, but mining will remain prohibited, until deposits prove economically viable.
However not all of the mining companies who are involved in this process are actually interested in mining for uranium.
One of six companies invited to tender for an exploration licence, Alkane Resources, is developing a rare earth project near Dubbo, in the state’s central west.
Alkane say they’re not interested in uranium, that they are merely protecting their rare earth project from other resource companies applying for an exploration licence over the top of them
Managing Director Ian Chalmers says this is an insurance policy for his company……..http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-15/uranium-exploration-in-western-nsw/5743584
Victoria’s Planning Tribunal gives go ahead for wind farm
VCAT approves Berrimal Wind Farm changes http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-15/vcat-approves-berrimal-wind-farm-changes/5743290 15 Sep 2014,
Victoria’s planning tribunal has given the green light to changes to a renewable energy company’s plans for a 24-turbine wind farm in the Buloke Shire.
Acciona’s Berrimal Wind Farm had the support of the Buloke Shire but needed approval from the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) to make the amendments to its original planning permit.
The project is located between Wedderburn and St Arnaud and is expected to generate 72 megawatts of electricity.
Buloke Shire’s chief executive officer, John Hicks, says the $150 million project will benefit the municipality in a number of ways.
“That will provide six ongoing jobs for maintenance and looking after the turbines, plus the economic development that’s available to other people in the shire because of the added business,” he said.
“There’s also the benefits of rates coming into the shire which relieves the burden on other ratepayers.”
However, Acciona says all its projects, including the Berrimal Wind Farm, are on hold because of the uncertainty caused by the Federal Government’s review of the Renewable Energy Target.
New painstaking and detailed research on cancer from radiation fallout
Decades After Nuclear Test, U.S. Studies Cancer Fallout http://online.wsj.com/articles/decades-after-nuclear-test-u-s-studies-cancer-fallout-1410802085
Examination Will Probe Radiation Exposure Near 1945 Trinity Blast in New Mexico By
DAN FROSCH Write to Dan Frosch at dan.frosch@wsj.com Sept. 15, 2014 TULAROSA, N.M.—Nearly 70 years after the U.S. conducted the world’s first atomic-bomb test here in the New Mexico desert, federal researchers are slated to visit the state this month to begin studying whether some residents developed cancer due to the blast.
As part of the long anticipated project, scheduled to start Sept. 25, investigators with the National Cancer Institute will interview people who lived in the state around the time of the 1945 Trinity test and assess the effects of consuming food, milk and water that may have been contaminated by the explosion.
For years, residents of the rural, heavily Hispanic villages near the test site have claimed that a mysterious wave of cancer has swept through this dusty stretch of south-central New Mexico, decimating families and prompting calls for the government to determine whether radiation exposure played a role. Continue reading
Jadugora is paying the price for India’s nuclear dreams
India’s nuclear nightmare: The village of birth defects The Star.com By: Raveena Aulakh on Mon Sep 15 2014 Indian court trying to unravel mystery of sick and disabled children, miscarriages and fatal cancers around the country’s first uranium mine……..Now, an Indian court wants to unravel the mystery of what is happening in Jadugora, the hub of India’s uranium mining industry since the late 1960s……..
Today, nuclear power provides less than 5 per cent of India’s electricity. The aim is to make it 25 per cent by 2050. This month, Australia signed an agreement giving India access to its vast supplies of uranium.
But activists say Jadugora is paying the price for India’s nuclear dreams……….
Until a decade ago, miners took their uniforms home to be washed by their wives or daughters, says Xavier Dias, a political activist who has worked for decades with the indigenous people who made up the majority of the mine’s workforce.
“They never wore masks then … or boots. Or even gloves.”
The workers were free to take building materials from the mine and even waste material, which they used to build their homes, he says.
When people began to notice that young women were having miscarriages, witches and spirits were blamed. Prayers were said to ward off the “evil eye.” But people had lesions, children were born with deformities, hair loss was common. Cows couldn’t give birth, hens laid fewer eggs, fish had skin diseases.
“If you ask the tribals (as the indigenous people are known) who have lived there for decades, long before uranium was discovered, they will tell you that they lived healthy lives, drank from the rivers, ate fruits and vegetables … and they never saw the inside of a hospital,” says Dias……
In Jadugora, tailing ponds take up more than 65 hectares — and they are all uncovered with easy access for people and animals. A few homes stand fewer than 50 metres from the pond’s edge. There are some no-trespassing signs, but children still play cricket or hopscotch nearby. Another tailing pond a few kilometres away sits beside a busy street with pipes constantly delivering more sludge.
The tailing ponds tend to overflow, especially during monsoon season, say villagers. If that happens, radioactivity can seep out and contaminate the groundwater and rivers. River water is used for washing and bathing, sowing and irrigation — and sometimes for drinking.
Trucks filled with yellow cake or mine waste trundle day and night along the highway. The cakes are covered with flimsy plastic covers; sometimes bits of rubble fall off………
The Jharkhand High Court is also looking for answers.
In March, it sent a notice to UCILasking for an explanation for the deformities, cancers and miscarriages around the Jadugora mine. It based the notice on local media reports, which included shocking pictures of children who were sick or deformed. (The demand was made by the court unilaterally, without a filing by officials or victims, in what is known as a suo moto action.)
According to local reports, UCIL told the court that the radiation emitted through its mining is under permissible limits and contained within a safe zone. The court refused to accept the submissions because they were old.
In August, the court also asked that the company disclose the radiation levels and the presence of any heavy metals in soil and water in the cluster of villages around Jadugora. It also asked UCIL to explain how it ensures the safety of those who live near radioactive waste.
The answers are due in November……….
While families of children with deformities will tell their stories to reporters, the families of women who have been unable to get pregnant or who have had unexplained miscarriages often don’t.
Since Jadugora’s health problems made the local newspapers, few families receive marriage offers for their daughters. In a country where not being able to bear children is such a stigma that women are either thrown out by their in-laws or banished to their parents’ homes, Jadugora women are now tainted and unwanted……….http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/09/15/indias_nuclear_nightmare_the_village_of_birth_defects.html
Save Solar campaign is taking off
Save Solar campaign revs up http://ecogeneration.com.au/news/save_solar_campaign_revs_up/088884/ Mon, 15 September 2014 As part of the next stage of its campaign to save the Renewable Energy Target, the Australian Solar Council has launched a new TV advertisement.
The ad will run in regional Queensland and regional Victoria in the lead up to State elections, and on Sky News, according to the Australian Solar Council.
Australian Solar Council CEO John Grimes said, “Voters going to the polls in Victoria and Queensland should be aware where the parties stand on support for solar.
“Governments should be making it easier, not harder, for families to drastically cut their power bills.”
“By abolishing or cutting the Renewable Energy Target, the Government will be locking millions of Australian families into every spiralling power bills.” The TV ads complement the Australian Solar Council’s Save Solar Forums, which are being run in marginal seats across Australia.
The next Save Solar Forum will be held in the seat of Barton in Sydney on 17 September, and will be attended by Opposition Leader, Bill Shorten; Shadow Environment Minister, Mark Butler; and Greens Leader, Senator Christine Milne.
Water, basic services denied to a Central Australian Aboriginal community
Protesters rally at Bess Price’s office after water supply cut at Aboriginal community of Whitegate http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-15/protest-demands-water-solution-for-whitegate/5744654 Holding signs that included “turn on the tap” and “water is a human right”, dozens of people have protested against a decision to cut off water to an Aboriginal community in Central Australia.
The protesters included MLA Alison Anderson – formerly of the Country Liberal Party and now a member of the Palmer United Party – who shed tears as she discussed the treatment of Aboriginal people in Alice Springs.
She repeated past claims that the Country Liberal Party that rules the Northern Territory was racist.”This is not anything to do with squatters, this is to do with people who actually own the country,” Ms Anderson said. “If this was happening at the back of Palmerston or Fannie Bay it wouldn’t be tolerated by anybody, but it is happening to Aboriginal people.”
The rally of about 60 people was held outside the Alice Springs office of NT Community Services Minister Bess Price, who has defended a decision to cut off water to Whitegate, a small community on the town’s outskirts with between four and 30 residents.
Water to Whitegate was cut off about a month ago, leaving its residents fearful for their future. They were thrown a lifeline last week when the Lhere Artepe Aboriginal Corporation offered to supply the community with water for 12 months.
But protesters have called for a more permanent solution.
The NT Government said it told residents before the water was turned off, although this has been disputed by some of the residents of the community.
The traditional owners – Felicity Hayes and her family – were granted native title on the land in the 1970s, but it was never gazetted as one of Alice Springs official town camps.Ms Hayes spoke at the protest about her family’s right to live at the camp.”I want the government to know that we are traditional owners of Alice Springs and I want them to know that we are human beings as well, and to be treated like Australians.”
Because it is not an official camp, Whitegate residents, who live in tin sheds, do not get basic services, including electricity.
Western Australia warning on cancer risks of tanning beds
Letter by Australian Medical Association state president Michael Gannon urges tanning bed ban KARA VICKERY HEALTH REPORTER PERTHNOW SEPTEMBER 13, 2014 THE state’s top doctor’s group has written to every state MP calling for immediate action to ban tanning beds.
In the letter, the Australian Medical Association state president Michael Gannon accused Health Minister Kim Hames of an “inexcusable” lack of leadership on the issue.
Dr Gannon’s letter also warns WA is at risk of becoming a “solarium tourism” destination at the start of 2015, when tanning beds are outlawed in all other states.
It comes as Labor has vowed to introduce laws to ban tanning beds from January 1…….http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/letter-by-australian-medical-association-state-president-michael-gannon-urges-tanning-bed-ban/story-fnhocxo3-1227057792846?nk=bac73ea2ae593147970
Cancer Council Queensland warns on UV radiation danger
Mackay sun-lovers face a deadly risk for a tan, Daily Mercury, 15 Sept 14 FAR too many of Mackay’s young residents sizzle their skin – risking a leathery complexion and cancer – for the love of a good tan.
The Cancer Council Queensland says its figures show more than 83% of Mackay residents aged 18-34 get sunburnt each year. The sunburn figures drop back to 63 % for people aged 35-54, and to 28% for those aged over 55.
This averages out to around 60% of adults getting sunburnt every year. With summer fast approaching and the UV risk increasing, Cancer Council Queensland is again warning of the dangers of too much exposure to the sun.
Cancer Council spokeswoman Katie Clift said sunburn was linked to all skin cancers, including potentially deadly melanomas.
“Queensland has the highest rates of skin cancer in the world,” Ms Clift said.
“Around 3000 melanoma and 133,000 non-melanoma skin cancers are diagnosed across the state each year.
“In Mackay alone, around 80 people are diagnosed with melanoma each year.
“And about 99% of all skin cancer cases are caused by exposure to UV radiation.”……http://www.dailymercury.com.au/news/sun-worshippers-face-a-deadly-risk/2386302/
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 