Uranium Mining
Uranium mining is necessary to provide the "fuel" for nuclear reactors (and also to make nuclear weapons). Historically, uranium mining has been carried out on land occupied by indigenous people - who have often also comprised the work force, and who have suffered the health and environmental consequences. High-grade uranium is a finite resource, therefore disqualifying nuclear power from consideration as renewable energy.
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A proposal for a new mill to process uranium ore, which would lead to the opening of long-shuttered mines in Colorado and Utah, has brought global and local concerns into collision — jobs, health, class-consciousness and historical memory among them — in ways that suggest, if the pattern here holds, a bitter national debate to come. The New York Times
State and Federal Government officials are investigating an environmental proposal released this week by one of the world's biggest uranium companies to begin open-pit uranium mining upwind of an existing copper mine camp. Cameco's Kintyre Uranium Project report details risks to mine workers from radiation exposure, the potential for groundwater contamination and the spread of radioactive dust and its potential to endanger flora and fauna. Also at issue is the water, equivalent to two Olympic-sized pools - to operate the mine. Perth Now Sunday Times.
The National Academy of Sciences has now chosen panelists for a study which will be used by the Virginia General Assembly to determine whether uranium mining should be permitted in the state. Concerned citizens asked for the removal of an Areva employee, but their request was denied. Areva runs uranium mines in Niger and, therefore, has a vested interest in uranium mining expansion.
The first meeting to vet the conflicts of interest of the panelists was on October 26-27, 2010. The second meeting will take place November 15 and 16. There will be another meeting in the Virginia target community December 13-15. Some sessions are closed. For meeting information and updates, go here.
Future meetings are planned for Saskatchewan and Colorado, specific places to be determined. While this study claims to be assessing just uranium mining in Virginia, citizens fear the results of this study could be used for other potential uranium mining sites.
Given the serious health issues surrounding the two Areva-owned uranium mines in Niger, an agreement was finalised in 2009 providing for the setting up of a health and safety observatory: medical staff, appointed by a joint committee representing the company and civil society, would examine any former miners who requested a check-up. If an occupational complaint linked to radiation was diagnosed, Areva would pay for treatment., However, writes Herve Kempf in The Guardian, "A year later there is still no sign of the observatory." Furthermore, Kempf continued, in February Greenpeace and Criirad, the independent French laboratory that has monitored radioactive contamination at the mines and in the communities, published another report alleging that there were serious hotspots in the town itself."
How much do people know about the origins of nuclear energy - more properly called - but perhaps deliberately NOT called - uranium energy? Not very much, as shown in this film, Uranium - is it a country?
December 28, 2010