Uranium dust, an unmentionable radioactive fact
The dust that dare not speak its name WA Today September 30, 2009 Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, Elizabeth Farrelly “…………………For us, as for most of the world, central Australia might as well not exist. It is almost a paradigm of unthinkability. It’s Timbuktu. That’s why we do things like nuclear testing there. It’s why BHP Billiton’s proposal to turn the Olympic Dam uranium mine into an open-cut operation is even contemplated for approval. Because it’s there, not here. Or was there – until, like Burnham Wood, it came here.
Open-cut uranium mining? It’s a gash a kilometre deep, churning 410 million tonnes of radioactive dirt per annum, “dewatering” the local aquifers, using 253 megalitres of water a day. No wonder the locals call them water thieves.
Of course, BHP’s environmental impact statement devotes a couple of pars to dust management. BHP proposes water trucks – like the ones they spray roads with. And they’ll monitor airborne particulates at nearby Hiltaba Village (so small even Google Maps can’t find it) and the thriving metropolis of Roxby Downs. That’ll do it.
A possibility the EIS doesn’t contemplate, however, is that several thousand tonnes of the stuff might reach the Opera House, or even Mount Egmont, where it lay so thick people thought their cars had rusted overnight. Where even New Zealand rains couldn’t wash it away…………….What goes around, comes around.
70 Million tonnes of radioactive uranium tailings – to blow in the wind?
Radio active dust claims drift in after storms Roxby Downs Sun 30/09/2009 SA Greens MP Mark Parnell has claimed the Olympic Dam mine expansion will create the biggest radioactive waste pile ever seen. Continue reading
A nurse wonders about radioactivity in dust from uranium mine
Reflection on Dust Storm
ABC Contribute, by Pete 30 Sept 09 “……………Out of curiosity I googled radioactive sites Woomera as I was born in South Australia and knew a little of what Woomera was involved with as a testing range area for radioactive experiments post Second World War era. Continue reading
Uranium investing future not all it’s cracked up to be
Uranium hunt could have sour fallout the Age BARRY FITZGERALD AND MATHEW MURPHY September 30, 2009 “………..In contrast with the rest of the metals sector since mid-February, uranium prices have been going backwards. Continue reading
Australia does not need the USA’s “nuclear deterrent”
A nuclear challenge to the world On Line opinion By Sue Wareham – 30 September 2009 “…President Obama’s chairing of the UN Security Council on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation served to focus the nuclear spotlight where it is most needed, on the Council’s five permanent members. Continue reading
Radioactivity from uranium to go way beyond Roxby Downs?
Lifeinthemixtalk.com By Lynn Stanfield 30 Sept 09 “……..It would not be out of the question to consider this dusty little equation :If a violent dust-storm were to arise in the Woomera – Roxby Downs – Olympic Dam region, then the prevailing ‘Westerly Winds’ which stream across our country at around the 30 – 32 deg (s) latitudes are bound to contain a heap of Uranium 234 particulate matter!. Continue reading
Nuclear hype, but nuclear future uncertain
Review, by Christina Macpherson. It’s been an interesting week. Internationally – two blatant lies are being taken up by prominent world leaders:
1. that developing nuclear power is an essential part of nuclear disarmament
2. that nuclear power is the solution to global warming.
Meanwhile, the global nuclear energy leader, AREVA, is in debt as “poster boy” new reactors in Finland and France continue to have troubles. Thousands of Russians protest against a new nuclear plant.
In Australia, Liberal party MP’s disagree on nuclear policy. The nuclear lobbyist Ziggy Spinowsky is frantically busy pushing nuclear, (as uranium prices remain low). In W.A., BHP is gently “advised” to consider the Ngalia people’s views on uranium developments. Dust storms, with more predicted, raise fears of radon gas reaching millions of Australians and New Zealanders.
Still much to fear from nuclear
The Age, David Noonan, 29 Sept 09
Nuclear weapons raise serious, unresolved questions about Australia’s uranium exports. The lesson from Iran is that nuclear technology and materials can be – and are – used for dual purposes. The weapons dangers in uranium enrichment are not unique to Iran. All facilities in the nuclear fuel chain can be used to make weapons.
The military remain inextricably linked to the civilian nuclear sector in Iran, in Russia, in China and in India. All these countries fail the test of strengthened nuclear safeguards and should be disqualified from receiving Australian uranium. And in an age of terrorism every nuclear reactor is a potential target that can be used as a weapon against the community. The inherent safety and security risks of nuclear are strong reasons to phase out Australia’s uranium exports. These risks should be front of mind when governments consider BHP Billiton’s plans to expand Olympic Dam to make Australia the global uranium quarry to fuel the nuclear industry.
Nuclear Technology Agency will Analyse Possibly Radioactive Dust
So ANSTO will analyse Australia’s dust storms? – Sounds a bit like Dracula looking after the Blood Bank – Christina Macpherson
Glowing welcome for nuclear partnership
PS NewsvANU 29 Sept 09 The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and the Australian National University have joined together in a partnership aimed at enhancing the nation’s nuclear science and technology engagement. Continue reading
A caution about Australia’s uranium future
Australia’s Uranium, by Greg Baker. Parliament of Australia Research paper Sept 2009 “….. Australian and worldwide concerns about the environmental and health dangers of mining and using uranium, the need to store nuclear fission products for very long periods of time and the issues concerned with the decommissioning of nuclear electricity reactors at the end of their useful life may act to linit growth in nuclear generating capacity…” http://www.aph.gov.au/Library/pubs/rp/2009-10/10rp06.pdf
Australian govt fails to deal with nuclear waste
Danger in nuclear waste move: ACF
ABC News 29 Sept 09Nearly 10,000 barrels of nuclear waste will be moved again in the Woomera prohibited area, to a more suitable storage facility. Continue reading
BHPB not publicly discussing Olympic Dam’s radioactive dust danger
FILMMAKER DAVID BRADBURY: RED DUST DUMP ORIGINATING AT WOOMERA IS GRAVE CONCERN FOR PUBLIC HEALTH
September 25, 2009 by Coober Pedy Regional Times“…….70 million tonnes of radioactive tailings to be dumped at the Roxby mine site each year without evidence of dust control is cause for concern”, says David Bradbury.. Continue reading
Australian Liberal MP opposes nuclear plant
MP warns against Port Stephens nuclear plant
ABC Newcastle News 26 Sept 09 The state Liberal Member for Port Stephens, Craig Baumann, says he is not against nuclear energy, but will not tolerate a power plant being built in his electorate.
Yesterday, Acting Opposition Leader Julie Bishop said nuclear energy needs to be considered as a way to address climate change.Three years ago Mr Baumann strongly criticised an Australia Institute report that named Port Stephens as an ideal site for a nuclear power station.He says such a plant would ruin the area.
ABC Newcastle NSW – MP warns against Port Stephens nuclear plant
Dust to be analysed for radioactivity
Are the dust storms radioactive? Australian scientists study Aussie dust from New Zealand * Daily Telegraph By Greg Roberts and AFP September 26, 2009
- Second dust storm ‘on the way’
- Fears mine dust is radioactive
A TEAM of Australian scientists are analysing the dust that has engulfed eastern Australia this week to see whether it is dangerous.
The dust storm is believed to have originated around Woomera in outback South Australia near the massive Olympic Dam uranium mine, prompting fears it was radioactive and dangerous…
………The scientists were analysing dust that had been blown 2150km to New Zealand and “fingerprinting” it, and its minerals, to find out where it came from and if it was a threat to the Coral Sea and agriculture…………
Academy Award nominated documentary maker David Bradbury, who has made films about nuclear power, warned about the risks from radioactive dust near the Olympic mine yesterday.
Radioactive waste’s journey from Melbourne to Sydney, and now to South Australia
Dangerous waste to be moved
The Age MARK DAVIS September 26, 2009 TWENTY years after it was first uncovered at an old CSIRO site in Melbourne’s Fishermans Bend, nearly 10,000 barrels of radioactive waste are on the move again Continue reading
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