Australia’s uranium industry is a minor contributor to employment and the economy, a major source of domestic and international risks and is overdue for an independent inquiry into its effects on the environment, health, safety and security, according to a report released today on the anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
The report, Yellowcake Fever: exposing the uranium industry’s economic myths, released by the Australian Conservation Foundation, shows uranium accounted for only 0.29 per cent of national export revenue and less than 0.015 per cent of Australian jobs in the decade to 2011.
Among companies mining uranium in Australia are London-listed BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto (through its subsidiary ERA).
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=12262.