Mirrar Aboriginal people oppose expansion of Ranger uranium mine
Senior Mirarr traditional owner Yvonne Margarula, who led the push against the Jabiluka mine, accuses ERA of telling the community “half truths” about the environmental impact on an area where children fish and swim.
Indigenous owners to block mine plans, Lex Hall , The Australian May 29, 2010 “…….TRADITIONAL owners at Kakadu will oppose Energy Resources Australia’s plans to expand the Ranger uranium mine unless the company can make what they say are necessary improvements in its environmental performance, following revelations of radioactive waste leaking into wetlands in the World Heritage-listed national park. Continue reading
AREVA’s Northern Territory uranium plans blocked by one Aboriginal man
Owner wants uranium-rich land to be added to Kakadu, Sydney Morning Herald, LINDSAY MURDOCH IN KAKADU, May 29, 2010 “……….Areva executives in Australia did not return calls from the Herald. The blocking of the mine comes five years after a federal takeover of uranium mining from the Northern Territory Labor government that was supposed to boost uranium mining. But the move is in tatters, Continue reading
Earthquake danger ignored in BHP’s planned Olympic Dam uranium mine expansion
Edward Cranswick, a geophysicist and expert on earthquakes, has warned the South Australian and federal governments of the earthquake danger for the Olympic Dam uranium mine area.
This risk has been ignored in BHP Billiton’s Environmental Impact Statement for its proposed gigantic expansion which would form the world’s biggest mining hole.
The Kalgoorlie Earthquake and the Proposed Olympic Dam Mine Expansion. by Edward Cranswick, 25 May 2010, BHP Billiton has proposed to dig the largest open pit mine on the Earth at Olympic Dam, 4.1 km long, 3.5 km wide, 1 km deep. As a geophysicist who investigated earthquakes for the US Geological Survey for 22 years [1], I strongly criticised BHP’s Olympic Dam Expansion Draft Environmental Impact Statement 2009 (ODXdEIS) [2] because it omitted consideration of seismicity, i.e., rockbursts or earthquakes, caused by open pit mining, despite the fact that seismic hazard is well-known in the Australian mining industry (Hudyma et al. 2003 [3], Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM) [4]).
The recent Kalgoorlie Earthquake emphasises the probability and consequences of these seismic events as mines grow larger and deeper – the ODXdEIS needs to be re-evaluated because it does not address this issue at all. I discuss the connection between mining and seismicity and how it is obscured in Australia, particularly the seismic hazard of the Olympic Dam mine, and I make recommendations about these matters. Read on for the complete submission. Continue reading
Northern Territory to become China’s uranium colony?
Uranium powers Chinese interest in NT Northern Territory News |NADJA HAINKE May 28th, 2010
CHINA is turning to the Northern Territory to source uranium in its ever-increasing need for power. Territory Uranium Company has received immense attention from several Chinese businesses wanting to invest in its exploration projects in the NT.
//But it is believed no solid agreements have yet been reached…..Managing director Ian Bamborough said …… Territory Uranium Company was keen to sell off about 50 per cent of its shares as more funding would mean more drilling…………
……One of the prospects getting particular interest from Chinese businesses is the Daly River project, about 350km south of Darwin…….
Environmental surveys and negotiations with traditional owners have yet to be completed. Uranium powers Chinese interest in NT | Northern Territory News | Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia | ntnews.com.au
Yet another attempt to start an Australian pro-nuclear party
Pro-nuclear pollies join the party, Reportage; 27 May 2010 “… Anna Watanabe investigates the Environmentalists for Nuclear party, a new minor party waiting to join Australia’s political system.
Goronwy Price is a former adventurer, turned software designer, and is the candidate-to-be for Environmentalists for Nuclear Power Australia (EFN), an umbrella group of the original organization founded in France.
Price and the EFN plan to register as a federal political party when their membership exceeds 500 people…………….But the vast majority of Australia’s Green movement remains decidedly anti-nuclear………..
Dr. Mark Diesendorf, author and deputy director of the Institute of Environmental Studies, UNSW says that he has a more conspiratorial objection to pro-nuclear environmentalism.“Just like there is big money behind climate change deniers, from the coal industry…there has to be big money behind these so called environmentalists for nuclear power.”
Campaign to remove BHP’s special legal exemptions for Olympic Dam uranium mine
Friends of the Earth is currently working on a campaign to have the SA Roxby Downs Indenture Act repealed. This legislation allows the mine to operate with wide-ranging exemptions from the Aboriginal Heritage Protection Act, the Environment Protection Act, the Natural Resources Act and the Freedom of Information Act………….
Radioactive Exposure tour at Olympic Dam, The Monitor Newspaper : by Celeste Lustosa, 27 May 2010, The Friends of the Earth conducted their annual Radioactive Exposure Tour from May 14 to 23. As part of this event, they were in the Roxby Downs / Olympic Dam area from Sunday, May 16. Continue reading
Ranger uranium mine water poorly monitored
Stringent Water Monitoring Needed at Uranium Mine: Greens | theangle.org. 27 May 21010, The Australian Greens have called for better water monitoring methods to be implemented in the wake of allegations that contamination of creek systems has occurred near the Ranger Uranium Mine in the Northern Territory. Continue reading
Tony Abbott would sell uranium to India
Australia’s Abbott Wants Japan Trade Deal, India Uranium Sale, Bloomberg Business Week By Marion Rae May 25 — Australia will try to clinch a trade deal with Japan, boosting ties with its second-largest trading partner after China, and will sell uranium to India under a Liberal-National government, opposition leader Tony Abbott said..
…The coalition will build a “strong strategic partnership” with Japan, including stronger military links and a conclusion to free trade talks, and will “overturn Labor’s ban on uranium exports,” Abbott said today in a speech to the Asialink-Asia Society forum in Canberra……Rudd’s government doesn’t allow uranium to be sold to India for energy use because the South Asian country hasn’t signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
That ban will be scrapped, opening a new market for uranium producers such as BHP Billiton Ltd., Energy Resources of Australia Ltd., which is controlled by Rio Tinto Group, and explorers such as Toro Energy Ltd., Abbott said. Australia’s Abbott Wants Japan Trade Deal, India Uranium Sale – BusinessWeek
National Radioactive Waste Management Bill overrides State and Territory laws
it deems ineffective any Commonwealth, State or Territory law to the extent that any law hinders or prevents the Commonwealth from doing anything necessary regarding the site…This includes overriding State and Territory laws relating to environmental land use, archaeological sites, aboriginal heritage and the control and transport of radioactive material or dangerous goods…….
Nuclear waste storage facility one step closer, Clayton Utz, 25 May 2010, Australia will soon have a national radioactive waste management facility at a selected site in the Northern Territory, as it looks likely that the National Radioactive Waste Management Bill 2010 will soon be passed. Continue reading
Australia way behind in global movement to renewable energy
Australia lags in renewable energy, The PoliJAM TIMES, CANBERRA, Australia, May 25 (UPI) — Australia lags behind in renewable energy investment despite having “world class” renewable energy resources, a new study indicates. Continue reading
Uranium mine’s radioactive leak raises doubts on Cameco’s planned mine close to Alice Springs
No clean water, no Alice Springs. Is a uranium mine worth the risk? Judging by the experience of the Mirrar people in Kakadu — no way.
Kakadu’s tainted water is a no-go for Alice Springs, The Age, Jess Abrahams, Arid Lands Environment Centre, Alice Springs, 25 May 2010, URANIUM mining is not a safe or sustainable industry for Australia.The Ranger mine is meant to epitomise world’s best practice.But a poorly engineered dam apparently collapsed, spilling 6 million litres of radioactive water into the Gulungul Creek, which flows into Kakadu. Is this the best the uranium mining industry can manage?
Here in Alice Springs, Canadian company Cameco wants to dig a uranium mine at Angela Pamela, just over 10 kilometres from the southern outskirts of town. Continue reading
BHP’s dangerous plan to transport uranium through towns
Greens say uranium too risky to transport through towns ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) May 24, 2010 The Greens say the Western Australian Government should prevent the transport of uranium through all Goldfields towns, as well as Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Mines Minister Norman Moore last week revealed he does not want BHP Billiton to move yellowcake from its planned Yeelirrie mine through Kalgoorlie.The company has indicated it wants to temporarily store yellowcake in the town before it is transported to Adelaide or Darwin. Continue reading
Uranium mining radioactively pollutes Kakadu National Park
Mine fears grow as pollutants flow to Kakadu, Sydney Morning Herald, LINDSAY MURDOCH May 24, 2010
MILLIONS of litres of radioactive water from the Ranger uranium mine have flowed into internationally acclaimed and World Heritage-listed wetlands in Kakadu National Park. Continue reading
No gold health card for Australia’s atomic veterans
no provision had been made for the children of Maralinga veterans suffering from nuclear-related health problems.
Payment for nuclear veteran ‘not enough’ * Verity Edwards The Australian * May 23, 2010 AFTER almost 50 years of fighting for compensation, Maralinga veteran Avon Hudson’s frustration has turned into a feeling of intense disappointment.Mr Hudson says the Rudd government’s budget decision to provide nuclear veterans with a pension is just not enough.In particular, he thinks the defence force members who participated in British nuclear testing at Maralinga, Emu Field and the Monte Bello Islands in the 1950s and 60s deserve a health gold card. Continue reading
W.A. Mines Minister opposes transport of uranium through Kalgoorlie
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