1982 – Northern Territory government’s secret plans for uranium enrichment plant
Plan for nuke plant NT News, NIGEL ADLAM | January 1st, 2013 THE
Territory Government was keen to set up a uranium enrichment plant in
the NT, according to Cabinet documents from 1982 made public today
under the 30-year rule. Paul Everingham’s administration wanted to
process yellowcake from the Ranger mine, which had opened a year
earlier. ..The project was stillborn because it failed to win Federal
Government approval.. Yellowcake is trucked 220km from Ranger, near
Jabiru, to Darwin for export.
The trade used to attract fierce opposition. Protesters often tried to
halt the shipments, which left from Fort Hill wharf until the East Arm
port was built, by climbing cranes. It would usually take several
hours for police to get them down….
Australian mining companies are lobbying to remove Aboriginal right to veto mining on their land
Northern Territory Review of Aboriginal Land Rights https://www.amec.org.au/northern-territory-review-of-aboriginal-land-rights-4030 Association of Mining and Exploration Companies
December 10, 2012
Part IV of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act (1976) is under review to ensure that the regulations are fulfilling the purposes that were intended. AMEC, in consultation with various members that operate in the Northern Territory, have responded that significant and often unnecessary delays are inherent in the current system.
The main recommendations from the AMEC submission is the removal of the right of veto from traditional owners and the instating of the “Right to Negotiate” system that is used under Native Title Acts. Using this system, negotiating is not threatened by 5 year moratoriums and both parties have an opportunity to negotiate in good faith. Letter and submission to NT Aboriginal Land Commissioner re ALRA review
ERA shuts down its open cut Ranger uranium mine
Open cut operations cease at Ranger uranium mine, Australian Mining 11 December, 2012 Cole Latimer Energy Resources of Australia’s Ranger uranium mine has finally stopped open cut mining, after three decades of operation.
It comes as the mine further explores its underground Ranger 3 Deeps project after receiving approvals for a prefeasibility study earlier this year.
ERA is now backfilling its Three Deeps pit after it extracted the last of the ore from Pit 3 in the last week of November, several weeks ahead of schedule, the company says….
Unanimous decision of Labor Northern Territory branch opposing Muckaty nuclear waste dump plan
The ALP conference endorse the motion that-
1. The Barkly ALP Sub Branch sternly opposes the establishment of a Nuclear Waste Storage Facility at Muckaty NT
1.A the Barkly sub branch opposes the Australian Government capacity to override the Northern Territory Legislation regarding establishing a Nuclear Waste Management facility in the NT.
1.B Rejects any legislation which would continue to target a site on the Muckaty land trust or any other site in Australia, for a nuclear waste dump that is not based on recognised science and international best practices.
1.C Notes the recent application by ANSTO for reprocessed spent fuel waste to return to the Lucas Heights facility in Sydney and acknowledges this as an opportunity to review radioactive waste management in Australia by conducting an independent and comprehensive public commission into all aspects of radioactive waste transport, storage and management in Australia.
New members joining Northern Territory’s Labor Party, in reaction against Federal nuclear waste dump plan
ALP NT president Matthew Gardiner says Labor needs to rebuild after its loss in this year’s Territory election.
“We probably have more members now than we ever had before because people are actually responding and reacting to some of the decisions made by the current Government.
NT Labor draws line in sand on nuclear waste dump http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-10/nt-alp-on-nuclear-waste-dump/4418778?section=nt By Allyson Horn, 10 Dec 12, The Northern Territory branch of the Australian Labor Party has passed a resolution against the construction of a radioactive waste facility at Muckaty Station near Tennant Creek. Continue reading
Kakadu yellowcake legacy no blueprint for Queensland
Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation November 23rd 2012 Traditional owners directly affected by uranium mining in the Northern Territory, the Mirarr people of Kakadu, have rejected suggestions that the Ranger uranium mine provides a model for Queensland to follow and called on others to heed their experience.
Supporters of the LNP’s decision to open Queensland to uranium mining, including the Australian Uranium Association head Michael Angwin, have made public claims about the ‘excellent’ track record of Ranger uranium mine.
“The suggestion that Ranger provides a blueprint for Queensland must be contested,” said Justin O’Brien, executive officer of Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation, the organisation established and operated by the Mirarr to represent their rights and interests.
The Mirarr, traditional owners of lands in the Kakadu region, including the Ranger and Jabiluka uranium deposits, have the longest lived experience of uranium mining in Australia. The Ranger mine was imposed on Mirarr against their strong opposition and has been operating for 30 years.
“Despite three decades of mining royalties, the socioeconomic standing of local Indigenous people remains below that of the NT average and well below the national standard. It is only in very recent years that income from Ranger has been adequately invested in social and cultural development programs,” Mr O’Brien said.
“The suggestion that Ranger’s track record confirms the high environmental standard of Australia’s uranium mining industry is in stark contrast to the Mirarr experience of mining on their land. Water and tailings management at the mine continue to cause serious concerns and what environmental gains we have secured have been hard fought for over decades.
“In addition, the Mirarr hold grave concerns about the legacy of uranium mining as well as the impact of its products. The fact that Australian uranium was in the failed reactors at Fukushima that have caused so much damage and human misery remains a source of great sadness for the Mirarr.
“To cite Ranger as a rationale for expanding the uranium industry in Australia is disingenuous,” Mr O’Brien concluded.
Earthquake zone all too close to proposed Muckaty nuclear dump site
Earthquake map shows Tennant Creek hot spot, ABC News Darwin, By Clare Rawlinson, 20 Nov 12, A new earthquake hazards map released by Geoscience Australia has revealed Tennant Creek is among the locations most likely to be affected by an earthquake.The map shows a hot spot under Tennant Creek, along with Moe in Victoria and York and Kirwan in
Western Australia.
The Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, says the new information should help communities to plan for the possibility of earthquakes…
.. the information reinforces fears that Muckaty station, around 100km from Tennant Creek, is not a suitable location
for the Federal Government’s proposed nuclear waste site. Seismologists from Geoscience Australia developed the map according to the history of earthquakes in Australia.
They said Australia has experienced 168 earthquakes above magnitude 5.0 since 1950, and last year alone, 82 earthquakes were recorded at a magnitude 3.0 or above.
In 1988, Tennant Creek was struck by a 6.7 magnitude earthquake, causing around $2.5m damage.
Alice Springs water supply from aquifer is dwindling
This is a very bad omen for the water intensive uranium mining industry – C.M.
Talks focus on alternative Alice water supplies http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-15/talks-focus-on-alternative-alice-water-supplies/4373848 By Ruby Jones Nov 15, 2012 The deputy director of the National Centre for Groundwater Research says alternative water supplies need to be found for Alice Springs.
Peter Cook says the aquifer that provides the town’s fresh water supply is being drawn down. Professor Cook says the centre is negotiating with the Northern Territory Government on investigating alternatives.
“We’ve had some very preliminary discussions with the Territory Government about whether we should develop a project to look at the options for future water supplies for Alice Springs because I’m aware that the current aquifer …. [is being] drawn down and there is a need to look for alternative supplies for the future,” he said.
“We’re already doing some work in the Ti Tree [area] and we’re keen to do some more work in Alice Springs and where there might potentially be new supplies.
“We would definitely expect what we learn in Ti Tree would really help us understand better what happens in Alice Springs and other aquifers in central Australia.”
Vague, veiled discussion on new nuclear dump site, as legal case continues on Muckaty proposal
NLC pledges more talks with waste dump opponents
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-08/muckaty-station-waste-dump-talks-follow/4360760?§ion=news By Michael Coggan. 8 Nov 12 The Northern Land Council says people involved in a legal dispute 
over a site earmarked for the case construction of a nuclear waste dump in the Northern Territory will be consulted about plans to nominate a second site.
The NLC says about 60 people attended a formal meeting yesterday to discuss the nomination of a second site at Muckaty Station, north of Tennant Creek.
Lawyer Elizabeth O’Shea, who is representing the people challenging the first site, says her clients were shut out of the meeting.
An NLC spokeswoman says Ms O’Shea’s clients will be consulted in a separate meeting that was arranged prior to yesterday’s meeting at Muckaty Station.
Ms O’Shea says traditional owners who did attend that meeting said they were not shown a map of where the proposed second site might be.
She says the NLC must say what it plans to do to overcome the clear division that exists over the first site, which will persist in any additional nomination. “If families don’t agree about what should happen on the land, what’s the NLC going to do?” she asked.
The nomination of the first proposed site on Muckaty Station is being challenged in the Federal Court.
Move to cleanup radioactive water at Ranger uranium mine
Mine equipment transport to disrupt weekend travellers ABC Radio 105.7 Darwin, By Clare Rawlinson , 8 Nov 12 Energy Resources Australia has asked for motorists’ patience as the uranium miner prepares to transport heavy equipment from Darwin to Jabiru at speeds of 30kmph this weekend.
ERA chief executive Rob Atkinson said the company would use police escort down the Stuart Hwy and Kakadu Hwy over two days of travel. The equipment will be used in a new $220m “brine concentrator” – a machine being built at the Jabiru Ranger Uranium Mine to treat 30 years of contaminated waste water… Continue reading
Cowardly backdown by Northern Territory Chief Minister, on nuclear waste dump
“Terry Mills is rolling over to Canberra and not standing up for territorians who have great concerns about the impact a nuclear waste dump will have for generations,”
Mills slammed over NT dump comments http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/mills-slammed-over-nt-dump-comments/story-fn3dxiwe-1226511626127 AAP November 06, 2012 ENVIRONMENTALISTS and opposition politicians are criticising the Northern Territory government after Chief Minister Terry Mills appeared to accept a nuclear waste dump would be built in the jurisdiction.
“I accept the premise of this, that there needs to be a site,” Mr Mills has told ABC radio. Continue reading
Aboriginal traditional owners kept in the dark about a plan to change proposed nuclear waste dump site
NLC in talks about alternate nuclear waste site, ABC News By Michael Coggan, 6 Nov 12 :
The Northern Land Council has confirmed it is about to start formal talks about a new site for a proposed nuclear waste facility in the Northern Territory. The Federal Government is planning to build a national nuclear waste dump in the Territory.
The only site nominated is on Aboriginal land at Muckaty Station, about 120 kilometres north of Tennant Creek.
That nomination is being challenged in the Federal Court by local land owners opposed to the dump.
NLC chairman Wali Wunungmurra has confirmed that formal consultations will begin this week about a proposed second site on a different section of land on Muckaty Station. The consultation process is expected to continue into next year.
Chief Minister Terry Mills says he will talk with the Northern Land Council about the move.
He says there needs to be an alternative site for a national waste dump if the legal challenge is successful……
Opponents of any nuclear waste facility being built in the Territory say Aboriginal traditional owners have not been told about a meeting to discuss a new site.
Natalie Wasley from the Beyond Nuclear Alliance says more people should’ve been told about the consultations.
“It is disappointing that, once again, the Northern Land Council does not seem to be very broadly notifying people about this meeting,” she said. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-06/nlc-nuclear-wastle-dump-talks-muckaty-station/4355986?section=nt
CEO dismisses Japanese nuclear disaster to promote Alice Springs uranium mine
CEO dismisses Japanese nuclear disaster to promote Alice Springs uranium mine The Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) says comments attributed to Paladin CEO John Borshoff on the Angela Pamela uranium deposit are disingenuous and insulting to people still suffering from the effects of the Fukushima disaster in Japan.
“Claims that Fukushima is behind us are a gross insult to the intelligence of the public here in Australia and completely misrepresent the situation in Japan. In Japan the ongoing problems from the reactor disasters are far from in a state of ‘clear air’ – the real and political fallout is ongoing,” was the response today from PHAA Spokesperson Clive Rosewarne on reports that the exploration company Paladin was keeping the uranium deposit at Angela Pamela (around 25kms south of Alice Springs) on its proposed projects list.
“Comments attributed to Paladin CEO John Borshoff in the NT News and on ABC News look like a desperate attempt to talk up an industry to investors who are rightly looking to place their money on better investment options. The price of uranium continues to fall amid growing international rejection of nuclear power by the public and their governments.”
In July this year the Japanese Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission reported most of the 150,000 evacuees ‘continue to face grave concerns, including the health effects of radiation exposure, displacement, the dissolution of families, disruption of their lives and lifestyles and the contamination of vast areas of the environment.’ And that ‘There is no foreseeable end to the decontamination and restoration activities that are essential for rebuilding communities.’ http://naiic.go.jp/en
“The Angela Pamela deposit has been soundly rejected as an option on the doorstep of Alice Springs,” said Mr Rosewarne. In recent NT elections anti-uranium candidates polled strongly – often against the general NT voting trend. He continued, “People in Alice Springs don’t want this project both for its impact locally and because of the events at Fukushima.”
Preliminary modelling undertaken by PHAA shows that prevailing winds would pose a risk of contamination to residents in the local vicinity, particularly those in the jail, the Joint Defence Facility (Pine Gap) and rural areas.
“Given the right wind and weather conditions, failure of dust suppression and tailings management at any Angela Pamela mine means people around Alice Springs are at a low but still significant risk of dust exposure. Workers at the Brewer Industrial Estate, prisoners and officers at the Correctional Facility, staff at the Joint Defence Facility at Pine Gap and residents of the Iwupataka Homelands face this risk. In Alice Springs itself, workers and tourists at the airport and residents at Amoonguna are at lower risk. The Ilparlpa subdivision carries an intermediate risk. Grazing cattle and station workers in the surrounding country would always be at some risk,” concludes Dr Peter Tait author of the study.
With their joint venture partner having taken a step back, Paladin CEO Borshoff’s description of the Angela Pamela deposit as a ‘key project’ may reflect more upon his personal attachment to the deposit (he was involved in the early exploration of the site in the 1970-80’s) rather than on the economic or social reality facing the project,” concluded Mr Rosewarne.
For further information/comment Clive Rosewarne, Spokesperson for PHAA Ecology and Environment Special Interest Group: 0487 282 303
Negotiations focus on historical Kakadu uranium injustice
In response to recent media reports on the renegotiation of the Ranger Uranium Mine agreement, the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation (GAC), which represents the Mirarr Traditional Owners of the Ranger mining area, confirms that talks are continuing. These talks aim to mitigate some of the historical political and financial injustices associated with the 1978 Ranger Uranium Mine arrangements put in place by the Australian government.
The current renegotiation – recently referred to by mining company Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) – addresses historical matters only. It does not consider the future of mining beyond the existing Ranger authorisation. Mining at Ranger must cease by 2021 with rehabilitation completed by 2026. Any mining beyond 2021 would require Federal legislation and cannot be agreed to under present arrangements. The Mirarr remain unequivocal in their opposition to any mining operations at the adjacent Jabiluka site.
The Mirarr await detailed information from the current Ranger 3 Deeps exploration. Mirarr insist on the highest level of scrutiny of the potential environmental and social impact of any proposal to mine uranium at Ranger beyond 2021.
Rio Tinto and ERA as well as the Australian government must genuinely respect and adhere to the internationally recognised right of Indigenous people for free, prior and informed consent regarding development on their traditional lands before any further arrangements are made for extension of the Ranger operations into the future.
Rio Tinto and ERA have gone some way to demonstrating a collaborative approach in their current dealings but the future of the operations remains a matter for the Australian government which has yet to engage with the Mirarr about future authorisations.
We look forward to a positive and speedy resolution to this long-standing injustice.
—
______________________________________
Kirsten Blair
Community and International Liaison
Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation
0412 853 641
skype: kirsten-blair
www.mirarr.net
www.facebook.com/mirarrcountry
$Multi million sale of Australia’s biggest solar power plant in Alice Springs
Australia’s biggest solar power station sold http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201210/s3604021.htm By Allyson Horn, 04/10/2012 Australia’s largest solar power plant has been sold in what’s believed to be a multi-million dollar deal.
The Uterne power plant in Alice Springs began operating last year. It was developed in partnership between internationally-based SunPower Corporation and the Northern Territory’s electricity provider, Power and Water Corporation, at a cost of $6.6 million.
It’s been sold to Australian-based alternative energy company Epuron for an unknown price. The terms of the deal are not yet known. Under a new arrangement, Power and Water will continue to buy electricity generated by the plant at an agreed rate for the next 20 years.
SunPower will continue to provide operational and maintenance services in conjunction with Ogden Power, which is based in Alice Springs. The venture was financed by the Commonwealth Bank, making it Australia’s first major bank to support a solar project of this size.
Epuron executive director Andrew Durran said the acquisition made the company one of the largest solar project owners and asset managers in Australia.
The solar station produces about 1 per cent of Alice Springs’ electricity a year and can meet 2 per cent of peak demand on a sunny day. Epuron, which was founded in 2003, has also been involved in the development of a large number of power-generating wind farms, particularly in NSW.
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