BHP and Olympic Dam uranium mining – beyond the laws
BHP Billiton’s power in Australia seems to grow daily.
BHP , Rio Tinto, Xstrata showed their power by intimidating Julia Gillard with the threat of renewing their $100 million advertising campaign. She had to act fast – hence the new, watered-down Resources Rent Tax.
Exempted from Australia’s planned new Resources Rent Tax, and with BHP people in its policy-making, along with their lackey, Martin Ferguson, BHP adds to its achievements in being beyond both Federal and State laws.
Water: In South Australia, BHP’s Olympic Dam uranium mining gets 37 million litres of water daily completely free of charge
SA Roxby Downs Indenture Act . This legislation allows the mine to operate with wide-ranging exemptions from:
Aboriginal Heritage Protection Act
Environment Protection Act
Natural Resources Act
Freedom of Information Act
BP oil spill endangers coastal nuclear power plants
A May 12 situation report from the Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability acknowledged the potential for problems.
“If water supply for these facilities becomes contaminated with oil, cooling water systems could be damaged,” it said.
(USA) Gulf Coast nuclear plants at risk from BP oil spill, FACING SOUTH, 1 July 2010, Watchdog groups are warning about the BP oil spill’s potential damage to Gulf and Atlantic coast nuclear power plants that use seawater to cool pumps and other safety equipment. Continue reading
Water scarcity an increasing problem for nuclear industry
what, in particular, does this mean for the nation’s fleet of nuclear power plants?
Drought and heat waves in the United States and other countries have highlighted one of nuclear power’s most intractable vulnerabilities: water scarcity.
(USA) Water Scarcity: Nuclear Power’s Achilles’ Heel, THE HUFFINGTON POST Kyle Rabin: June 28, 2010, Scientists, researchers and other experts warn that the United States is entering an era of water scarcity.
Back in 2003, the US General Accounting Office (now known as the US Government Accountability Office or GAO) projected that 36 states, under normal conditions, could face water shortages by 2013. However, those shortages were realized in 2008 — five years sooner than predicted. Current forecasts suggest that climate change will only exacerbate the challenges of managing and protecting water resources. Continue reading
Surfers against nuclear power
The message is clear from the surf community in Jeffreys Bay and is supported by surfers from all over the world. Don’t build a Nuke at Thuyspunt.
(South Africa) 23 June 2010, The Jeffreys Bay surf community came out in full support of the Supertubes Surfing Foundation’s call to prevent the building of a nuclear power station at nearby Thuyspunt. Continue reading
Uranium mining guzzles Australia’s precious groundwater
water from the Great Artesian Basin in Central Australia is being depleted to keep residual radioactive dust from uranium mining wet in order to keep it from blowing across the continent. Seven million gallons of water is being extracted from the basin per day to keep the radioactive dust in place
Unhappy Anniversary for the Atomic Bomb, Streetvibes Newspaper , June 15, 2010 Anti-nuclear activists want it to retire By Jeremy Flannery ” …..Riley is traveling across the United States with a fellow member of Think Outside the Bomb and two Australian members of Footprints for Peace to campaign for the end of nuclear energy. Continue reading
Ranger uranium mine’ s salty leak into freshwater creek
Uranium mine caused abnormal salt levels in Kakadu creek – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting
Corporation) 12 June 2010, The company that operates the Ranger uranium mine has confirmed higher-than-normal salt levels in a creek in Kakadu National Park is a result of its operations.Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) has investigated two salinity spikes in Magela Creek downstream of the mine in April.Chief executive Rob Atkinson says run-off water from the mine had flowed into the creek….
Navajo oppose new uranium mining
Navajo Activists Protest Uranium Mining Plans May 28, 2010 , warresisters . By Bruce FinleyThe Denver Post Uranium-mining leaders and fed
eral regulators poised to fuel a resurgent nuclear power industry gathered in Denver on Wednesday, ….outside the conference Wednesday, American Indian demonstrators with drums and signs demanded a halt to all new uranium mining on Navajo land, where federal regulators have permitted several projects.“Our Navajo communities rely on the groundwater for everything. These new projects could contaminate the source of drinking water for 15,000 Navajo community members,” said Nadine Padilla of the Multicultural Alliance for Safe Environments. “Our communities are still living with the legacy of contamination from past uranium mining.” Navajo Activists Protest Uranium Mining Plans « The War Resisters League Blog
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
Cameco’s planned uranium mine a risk to Alice Springs’ water supply
“The radioactive water would contaminate our water through surface recharge,”
Ranger problems cause a stir in Alice Springs ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) 28 May 2010, An overflow of contaminated water at the Ranger Uranium mine has prompted an environment group in Alice Springs to again speak out against a possible mine in Central Australia. Energy Resources of Australia operates the Ranger mine, which is surrounded by Kakadu National Park. The Greens say there have been 150 reported leaks from the mine since it opened and ERA should be forced to conduct continuous monitoring.
Cameco is leading a joint venture project exploring for uranium at its Angela Pamela project, 25 km south of Alice Springs.
Jess Abrahams from the Arid Lands Environment Centre says the project would be too close to the towns future drinking water supply.
“Now if the tailing’s dam were to burst here at Angela-Pamela, radioactive water would run downhill from the mine towards our future water bore at a place called rocky hill.
“The radioactive water would contaminate our water through surface recharge,” said Ms Abrahams.
Cameco says if it cannot protect the town’s drinking water, it will not mine the uranium.
It says any Environmental Impact Statement would consider all environmental, social and economic impacts. Ranger problems cause a stir in Alice Springs – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Ranger uranium mine water poorly monitored
Review: Kakadu, Israel’s nukes, UK’s muddle
Australia: Doubts on the future of uranium mining are really the result of the financial crisis in Europe. Still BHP, ERA etc grasp the opportunity to blame the Australian govt’s proposed new resources profit tax. BHP plans transporting uranium through W.A. towns. ERA’s uranium mine leaking into Kakadu National Park. Women peace walkers ,- part of Footprints For Peace International, arrive in Canberra. Lucas Heights about to close down old nuclear reactor.
International: Israel in awkward double standards over nuclear weapons. USA’s far right pushing for hawkish nuclear policy. World uranium stockpiling up, as its market in the doldrums. UK’s nuclear policy in a muddle. Marshall Islanders to be sent back to polluted islands.Native Americans fighting new uranium mining. Conflict of interest in USA’s Radiation Health Study
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
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
Navajo to fight uranium mining expansion
Navajo to Protest Uranium Mining Expansion, Censored News, May 20, 2010 On May 25-27 a delegation of Navajo community leaders will come to Denver to protest US Government support for expanding the nuclear industry that has already had a devastating impact on Native American and Chicano communities in New Mexico.The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the National Mining Association will host a “Uranium Recovery” conference designed to make it easier for mining companies to move forward with a new era of uranium mining. Continue reading
Tribal women aim to prevent uranium mining in Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon uranium threatens tribal water, High Country News, Caitlin Sislin | May 18, 2010 Last week, a delegation of leaders from Arizona’s Havasupai Tribe traveled to Washington D.C., to advocate for the protection of the Grand Canyon region from a potential onslaught of uranium extraction activities.
These four women – tribal council members and traditional elders – voiced their concern for the safety of the land, the purity of the water and the health of the community, and called for the passage of the Grand Canyon Watershed Protection Act (H.R. 644). Introduced in 2009 by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) this law would ban mineral exploration and the establishment of new mining claims pursuant to the 1872 Mining Law, on about one million acres of public lands surrounding Grand Canyon National Park. Continue reading
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