‘Radioactive dust storm threat’ if mine goes ahead
An Academy Award-nominated documentary maker claims the red dust dumped onto Australian east coast cities recently is a reason to be concerned about BHP Billiton’s proposal to turn South Australia’s Olympic Dam uranium mine into an open-cut mine. David Bradbury has made four documentaries on the nuclear issue and says figures in the company’s environmental impact study suggest that 70 million tonnes of radioactive tailings will be dumped at the minesite each year. He says these tailings contain alpha radiation, which is known to be carcenogenic to humans and animals. “My grave concern is that with the open-cut mine expansion that BHP Billiton wants permission from state and federal governments to go ahead with, that the radioactive tailings left behind will blow over the eastern coast centres of the most populated cities of Australia,” he said. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlsJHeNEtik.
Uranium mine told to address dust risks
Issues such as dust risks from a planned expansion of BHP Billiton’s uranium mining operations in outback South Australia will have to be addressed by the company. SA’s Mineral Resources Development Minister Paul Holloway has told the SA Parliament BHP Billiton will need to prepare a supplementary environmental impact statement addressing dust management. See http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/25/2696047.htm?site=news.
Uranium policy a hypocrisy
As China celebrates the 60th anniversary of communist rule with a slickly orchestrated march down the Avenue of Eternal Peace to Tiananmen Square that featured new nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles, it is a fitting moment to question Australia’s role as uranium supplier to the crouching tiger of our region.
See http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/uranium-policy-a-hypocrisy-20091004-ght0.html.