uranium news

AFRICA: We Are the Government  By Jessie Boylan LAGO DISTRICT, Mozambique, Nov 6 (IPS) – As if they were going to the races, Emma Musako and Monica Mhango showed up in their finest outfits to attend a meeting on the health, social and environmental impacts of uranium mining. They came because they, like the other attendees, no longer want to remain uninformed citizens.

Last month in the dusty lakeshore town of Karonga in northern Malawi, some 80 people met to discuss issues concerning the Kayelekera Uranium Mine (KUM) which lies 52 km north east of Karonga.

“Before we came to this meeting,” said Musako, a strong willed mother of 10 and member of the Women’s Forum of Karonga, “we weren’t sure what this ‘uranium’ was; we thought maybe it was the name of a person.”

Organised by the Citizens for Justice (CFJ), the meeting had representatives from Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), churches, communities and universities; and concluded with a clear strategy and action plan as to how the new civil society ‘movement’ would proceed. …………..

“The government is you and me, we are supposed to take control,” said a university representative.

“We are citizens of Malawi, we all have constitutional rights to be protected and safe. Our government is a signatory to international laws… they must protect us,” said a workers rights campaigner. ……………………

The KUM, which is owned by Paladin Energy Africa, an Australian company, began full operation this year, and intends to begin exporting within the coming months.

The mine began production without the proper legislation in place to deal with minerals such as uranium. Paladin and the government have been criticised for failing to meet international standards of uranium mining and the handling of radioactive waste.

Paladin are junior players in the mining business, with only one other operating mine, the Langer Heinrich uranium mine in Namibia. They have been criticised for being unable to conform to Australian mining standards and turning to Africa, which has little understanding and regulation of uranium mining, meaning they can operate without being monitored or being held accountable.

“Paladin are operating under outdated legislation,” said Reinford Mwagonde, the director for CFJ. “They are operating under the 1981 Mines and Minerals Act, which was passed during (President Kamuzu) Banda’s ‘one-party’ regime, so it is very archaic, it’s very old, and it bares little relevance to current standards………
The KUM, which is owned by Paladin Energy Africa, an Australian company, began full operation this year, and intends to begin exporting within the coming months.

The mine began production without the proper legislation in place to deal with minerals such as uranium. Paladin and the government have been criticised for failing to meet international standards of uranium mining and the handling of radioactive waste.

Paladin are junior players in the mining business, with only one other operating mine, the Langer Heinrich uranium mine in Namibia. They have been criticised for being unable to conform to Australian mining standards and turning to Africa, which has little understanding and regulation of uranium mining, meaning they can operate without being monitored or being held accountable.

“Paladin are operating under outdated legislation,” said Reinford Mwagonde, the director for CFJ. “They are operating under the 1981 Mines and Minerals Act, which was passed during (President Kamuzu) Banda’s ‘one-party’ regime, so it is very archaic, it’s very old, and it bares little relevance to current standards…………….“So we will speak with a strong voice,” Emma Musako said. “We don’t have to fear because our children are dying and in (years) to come people will have more problems, and our animals will be dying because of unclean water, so we have to speak now.”

AFRICA: We Are the Government – IPS ipsnews.net

Sheep Mountain files suit against uranium mill approval Telluride Daily Planet (USA) By Matthew Beaudin Editor , November 8, 2009
“………….Sheep Mountain Alliance, a local environmental group, recently filed a lawsuit against the Montrose County Commissioners and its land use director, alleging a hopscotch of missteps in the board’s approval of a uranium mill to be built six miles outside of Paradox, Colo.

The problems in the approval, they say, are far-reaching and systemic: At the heart of the matter is the notion that a uranium mill — heavy in both regulation and stigma — could be plopped down in the middle of the lofty and stark Paradox Valley, which is zoned for agricultural uses. The complaint alleges inappropriate meetings, abuses of discretion when approving a special use permit for Energy Fuels Inc., the company hoping to build the mill, and more……..”

Incidental damage The Age 9 Nov 09 A MONTH has passed since ”an incident” occurred at BHP Billiton’s underground uranium and copper mine at Olympic Dam in South Australia, but the mining giant is still no closer to coming clean on what happened.

The team at BHP headquarters on Lonsdale Street has revealed the ”incident” has ‘’significantly damaged operating equipment at the Clark Shaft haulage system, which is responsible for around 75 per cent of the mine’s ore production”.It’s not good news

Say your prayers as Jen’s Myer share tops $1m

Olympic mine job losses The Age BARRY FITZGERALD November 7, 2009 BHP Billiton has warned of job losses among its contractor workforce at the damaged Olympic Dam copper-gold-uranium mine in South Australia until full production resumes in the March quarter next year………….there will be a net loss of contractor numbers before a resumption of full production at the mine. All up, it has about 3000 employees and contractors and underpins the nearby Roxby Downs township………………….
While a significant copper producer, Olympic Dam’s real importance to world metal markets is its uranium production. At about 4000 tonnes a year, it accounts for about 10 per cent of new mine supply of the radioactive material.

Columban priest tackles a mining giant Independent Catholic News By: Ellen Teague November 1, 2009 A Columban priest has  challenged the appalling environmental and human  rights record of the world’s biggest mining company at its recent AGM on 29 October. Attending alongside  other justice and peace activists and indigenous Wayuu people from  Colombia, he called on BHP Billiton to  respect the human rights of local people in mining areas around the world. Also,  to care for water, air and biodiversity which are often polluted by large scale  mining, thus destroying livelihoods.

Fr Frank Nally, who  worked in the Philippines  with indigenous peoples, challenged BHP Billiton’s Hallmark project in the  Philippine island  of  Mindanao…………London-based BHP  Billiton is not a household name in Britain, but the  activities of the  BHP Billiton group have a massive impact on communities all around the world.  These are part-funded by high street banks and pension funds investing money  provided by millions of individuals, church and other groups in the  UK. An alternative report released at  the offices of Amnesty International outlined the negative impacts of the  company’s operations in Australia, West Papua, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, South  Africa, Canada, Colombia and Chile. The  report was the work of organisations from many  countries, including church-based  groups, working with affected communities.

“Our Columban mission is to support  the local people and care for the  natural world around them” says Fr Nally.

The  report catalogued abuses of human rights concerning worker health and safety,  livelihood and food security, and environmental problems. It also raised issues  around climate change and BHP Billiton’s commitment to increased extraction and  promotion of both coal and uranium for power production.

Columban priest tackles a mining giant on Independent Catholic News

Fallujah Horror: Depleted Uranium? Ya Libnan By Ghassan Karam, Beirut, 1 November, 2009
“…………………..we are concerned with much more sinister effects of war, effects that linger on and destroy life. What the people of Fallujah, more than any other people in the world, are facing everyday and every second of every day is hell on earth;
they have to witness the death of more than a quarter of the new born within a week of their birth and to make the deeply painful decision of what is to be done about the huge proportion of grotesquely deformed babies that are born with two heads, three eyes, no limbs, one eye.

The world owes the people of Fallujah an explanation of what has triggered this avalanche of deformity and horror. The usual celebratory experience of giving birth has been transformed to a time of anxiety and horror. Women dread becoming pregnant and above all carrying the fetus for nine months only to find out that what they are carrying has been condemned to death the moment that life was to begin.

Such rapid and unique developments do not occur without a cause. The only logical proximate cause for this human tragedy was the 2003 war and in particular the 2004 assault on Fallujah. It was estimated that during that assault over 10,000 tons of depleted uranium, DU, was used in the bombardment of the city of 300,000 people.Both the Pentagon and the British governments insist that the use of DU is not illegal and that the studies that they have undertaken do not reveal DU to be a carcinogen.
That might be true but many an international body including the EU and the UN have been trying, unsuccessfully, to prevent the use of DU munitions because there are many physicians, engineers and studies that suspect that the DU produced vapour in battles is capable of contaminating humans, soil and water. It is this radioactive contamination that causes the severe deformities in the newly born “things” since any of them do not look like humans.

A group of doctors at the hospitals of Fallujah have documented the severity of the problems encountered by the newly born and has approached the UN and other world institutions asking for an investigation to determine the root cause of this tragedy……….

DU is an instrument of death and horror that must be banned from use in war until serious and exhaustive studies can be made to show the opposite. Meanwhile the heart of all decent and honorable citizens in the world goes out to the suffering parents of Fallujah and to the horror that they have been forced to live with. We must make sure that such acts are never repeated again. DU; if found to be the culprit; must be prohibited and declared in violation of the laws of war besides the Declaration of Human rights.

Fallujah Horror: Depleted Uranium? | Ya Libnan | Lebanon News Live from Beirut

Calls for clarity on Chinese resources investment October 29, 2009 The Australian  AUSTRALIA’S policy on Chinese investment in resources has, if anything, become murkier since Chinalco’s controversial $US19.5 billion Rio Tinto rescue package fell through earlier this year, prompting renewed calls for more clarity………………

Last month, FIRB executive director Patrick Colmer said the government preferred foreign investment in undeveloped mineral deposits to stay below 50 per cent, and for investment in “major producers” to stay below 15 per cent…………..

This was followed by a decision yesterday to let China Guangdong Nuclear Power pay more than $100 million for up to 73 per cent of Perth uranium explorer Energy Metals,

Southwest Indigenous Uranium Forum a Success Indybay by Anna Rondon  Oct 27th, 2009 This past weekend Indigenous Peoples from Alaska, North America, Bolivia and Japan converged near Acoma Pueblo for the 7th Southwest Indigenous Uranium Forum in Sky City, New Mexico.

Although the forum focused on the uranium developments being proposed at Mount Taylor and throughout the grants mineral belt of New Mexico, it also provided an opportunity for affected communities to share knowledge, experiences, and strategies to combat the current onslaught of nuclear power throughout Indigenous territories worldwide.

Over the two and a half days, participants shared knowledge about a variety of topics related to uranium mining including ongoing resistance efforts, the health affects on uranium mining, the implications of U.S. energy and climate policy, and the emerging green economy. Suzanne Singer, a young Navajo woman new to the issues of uranium mining reflected, “I have learned a lot here. This summit has been very different than other conferences I’ve been to because it brought out so much emotion in me – anger, happiness, and most importantly, inspiration.”

Michaela Stubbs traveled from Melbourne, Australia representing the Australian Nuclear Free Alliance, a network of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people sharing skills and strategies to campaign against nuclear development in Australia. “It’s been amazing to be here, meet people and strengthen international links,” said Michaela. “The tactics used by multi-national corporations on the Indigenous Peoples here – division, bribery, and bullying – are the same tactics used in Indigenous communities in Australia. We need to find the resources to connect, support and strategize together. If we can accomplish that on the grassroots level, I believe we can shut ‘em down.”

The Indigenous Environmental Network, Honor the Earth, and the Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development will be key strategic partners in strengthening connections between national and international communities fighting the nuclear industry.

 Next steps for the forum include improving communication between communities, coordinating smaller international and inter-tribal dialogues, and planning for the 8th Indigenous Uranium Forum in Australia.
Find more information about the 7th Indigenous Uranium Forum by visiting the website at http://www.siuf.net/index.html.

Southwest Indigenous Uranium Forum a Success : Indybay

World’s biggest mining company under fire‘Alternative report’ questions environmental, human rights record of world’s biggest mining company One World.net 27 October 2009 London-based BHP Billiton plc is not a household name in Britain, but the activities of the BHP Billiton group have a massive impact on communities all around the world. Those are part-funded by high street banks and pension funds investing money provided by millions of working people in the UK.The company will present its own report on its activities at its London AGM on Thursday 29 October. It will claim to work to the highest corporate responsibility and environmental standards in the industry. But two days before this, critics of the company will present an alternative report outlining the negative impacts of many of the company’s operations – in Australia, West Papua, PNG, the Philippines, South Africa, Canada, Colombia and Chile. The report is the work of organisations from many countries working with directly impacted communities.

The report catalogues abuses of human rights, particularly of affected communities, issues of worker health and safety, livelihood and food security, and environmental problems. It also raises issues around climate change and BHP Billiton’s commitment to increased extraction and promotion of both coal and uranium for power production
At the launch, representatives of communities in Colombia being removed to make way for expansion of the world’s biggest opencast coal mine, Cerrejon (one-third owned by BHP Billiton) will describe their own experience with the company……………..

World’s biggest mining company under fire

The Forgotten Navajo: Uranium contamination  —Pavement Pieces  By Rachel Morgan on October 14, 2009

CHURCH ROCK, New Mexico — Teddy Nez’s home sits 500 feet from the mouth of abandoned uranium mine.

Since 1982, Nez and his family have been breathing in uranium particles and drinking uranium-contaminated water. They didn’t know the land that surrounded their home in Church Rock, N.M. – located on the 27,000 square-mile Navajo Reservation – was slowly killing them.

“We just assumed this was the way people lived,” Nez, 65, said. “But we came to find out the human risk factor.”

Nez has colon cancer, which he believes was caused by uranium contamination. From roughly the 1940s to the 1980s, the federal government contracted private mining companies to blast uranium ore out of the rocky terrain of Navajo Nation for the development of nuclear weapons during the Cold War as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project.

During that time, nearly 4 million tons of the radioactive ore were mined from the area.

Decades later, the deadly health risks of uranium mining are starting to materialize. Workers who mined the rock are being diagnosed with cancer, respiratory problems, liver disease and more.

Perhaps most troubling is the effect on young children, who are prone to developing Navajo Neuropathy, a rare degenerative disease of the peripheral nervous system caused by breathing in uranium particles in the air and drinking water contaminated by the deadly metal. Symptoms include the shriveling of hands and feet, muscular weakness, corneal ulcers, delayed walking, infections and stunted growth.

The disease is primarily diagnosed in children in their first year of life – and 40 percent of these children die before they reach their 20s. There is no cure…………

The L.A. Times reported in 2006 that cancer rates among the Navajos, once thought to be immune to cancer, doubled from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.

According to the EPA, there are four primary ways the public can be exposed to the dangers of these radioactive materials: using uranium-contaminated rock as construction material, drinking uranium-contaminated water, breathing in uranium particles and being in the vicinity of the gamma radiation found in uranium.

Uranium mill tailings, leftover material from mining, are a radioactive, sand-like material that pose a variety of risks to anyone working or living in the vicinity of the mines, the EPA said…………………….

Perhaps the most concrete example of “institutionalized racism” was in 1979 when there was a massive uranium spill in Church Rock, Ariz., on Navajo land – the largest peacetime release of radiation in history. A dam holding back thousands of gallons of uranium-contaminated water burst, and 94 million gallons of radioactive water was released into the Rio Puerco. This massive spill occurred the same year as the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania, which was cleaned up almost immediately. But 40 years later, the Navajos are still waiting.

Pavement Pieces » Blog Archive » The Forgotten Navajo: Uranium contamination