uranium news

The group wants the commission to explicitly recommend the EPBC Act be amended to remove uranium mining and milling from the definition of “nuclear actions”……

 uranium prices have fallen since Japan’s Fukushima disaster led many nations to rethink nuclear power programs.

Miners seek radioactive rethink, BY:ANNABEL HEPWORTH  The Australian , April 08, 2013 URANIUM miners have demanded changes to laws so that the “mild” radioactivity that is unique to the sector is no longer a trigger for federal environmental assessments.

The Australian Uranium Association — whose members include BHP Billiton and the operator of the Ranger mine at Jabiluka in the Northern Territory, ERA — says that uranium mining and the milling that makes yellowcake should no longer be defined as a “nuclear action” under the federal law known as the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

“Under the . . . act, the underlying assumption is that uranium mining and milling of themselves  have a significant impact on the environment.

“This assumption has never been justified. It seems that the fact of mild radioactivity is justification in itself, not requiring explanation,” the association’s chief executive Michael Angwin said.

The comments are contained in a new submission to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into the approvals process for major projects. The submission also asserts that state laws already deal with radiation, based on advice by the federal government’s Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency…… But groups including the Australian Network of Environmental Defenders’ Offices are opposed to a streamlining of environmental processes, fearing this will lead to high-risk and unsustainable developments…….

In the submission, the association points to a 2007 Productivity Commission recommendation to review the treatment of uranium mining as an automatic trigger for environmental assessments under the EPBC Act.

The group wants the commission to explicitly recommend the EPBC Act be amended to remove uranium mining and milling from the definition of “nuclear actions”……

uranium prices have fallen since Japan’s Fukushima disaster led many nations to rethink nuclear power programs. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/miners-seek-radioactive-rethink/story-fn91v9q3-1226614448413

Pressurized drums create yellowcake uranium hazard, NRC says By Todd Sperry, CNN Senior Producer July 11, 2012 – Washington (CNN) — After three Canadian employees were exposed to yellowcake uranium last month when a lid blew off a pressurized 55-gallon drum, a uranium mining company has informed U.S. nuclear regulatory officials it has found additional drums possibly susceptible to the same problem, CNN has learned..

.. The NRC and
Canadian nuclear officials are investigating drums shipped from a Willow Creek, Wyoming, mining facility operated by Uranium One to an Ontario processing plant where workers opened them, including the one that ejected the powder. The three employees were overcome by a cloud of yellowcake uranium that had unexpectedly become pressurized.
The worker closest to the drum and two others in the area, who were not wearing respirators, were exposed to airborne uranium, according to the NRC..

… Yellowcake is the byproduct of uranium ore that is mined, crushed and milled until concentrated. It is a key component in manufacturing uranium fuel for nuclear reactors.
NRC officials gave Uranium One until this week to identify whether any other drums had become pressurized during manufacture or shipment…… Other drums shipped to the Canadian facility containing yellowcake were found to be bulging from internal pressure, the NRC said.

Resolution on the use of uranium, plutonium to be tackled at summit, Business World, Philippines, 5 Mar 12, THE GOVERNMENT will be pushing for an international resolution that would tighten security measures and prevent nuclear resources such as uranium and plutonium from being used for terrorist activities, a high-ranking Executive official said late last week.

 Environment Centre NT calls for EPA investigation radioactive spill,   2 Jan 2012 The train derailment at Edith River spilling 1200 tonnes of copper concentrate into the flooded environment, which may have contained 0.01% of uranium, has urged the Environment Centre NT to call on the EPA for a full investigation.

“We have now learnt that the NT Government approved the transport of these toxic materials in substandard casing, covered only by a tarp. We want to know which department and which minister had signed off on this outrageous exemption” Said Cat Beaton, Nuclear Free NT Campaigner at the Environment Centre NT.

“This incident is a serious warning, that must trigger serious action. We will be writing to the EPA requesting a full investigation”.

“NT Government should not approve any increased transport of radioactive materials by rail until such an independent investigation has been undertaken,” continued Ms Beaton.

The Northern Territory is at the dawn of increased transport of toxic and radioactive materials.  The expansion of BHP’s Olympic Dam mine in SA is set to see 1.6 million tonnes a year of uranium infused copper concentrate transported daily by 1.8km long trainloads for the next 80-plus years.

The Territory could also face the reality of radioactive waste transport for a proposed nuclear waste dump at Muckaty, 120ks north of Tennant Creek.

“Right now the Territory Government cannot be trusted to ensure the safe transport of dangerous goods and we all need to think about the risks to our rivers, environment and the outdoors lifestyle that Territorians enjoy,” concluded Ms Beaton.

Audio:  Questions raised over toxic goods transport in the Northern Territory ABC Radio AM December 29, 2011 While government officials are investigating the cause and the environmental impact of a serious train derailment in the Northern Territory, a Territory Environment group has raised questions over the safety of transporting uranium in tropical weather conditions.

Michael Coggan MICHAEL COGGAN: Forty-eight hours after floodwaters swept part of a large freight train into the Edith River and cut off the Stuart Highway north of the Top End town of Katherine, several investigations are underway into the cause of the train derailment and the environmental impact of tonnes of copper concentrate spilled into the flooded Edith River from the freight train.

Jim Grant is the head of the Northern Territory Environment Department. JIM GRANT: Well it’s not a highly toxic substance but it’s not to be ingested or inhaled. We think it’s washed all over the place…..

MICHAEL COGGAN: Environment Centre director Stuart Blanch says the accident shows why dangerous goods including uranium oxide should not be carried on the Alice Springs to Darwin railway.

STUART BLANCH: A much bigger risk to Top End rivers would be derailment of trains carrying uranium oxide from the Roxby Uranium Mine in South Australia. The Territory Government should call a halt on approving the transport of more and more trains of uranium oxide up to Port Darwin until there are really adequate, safe measures in place to stop such a derailment ever happening with uranium on the track.

MICHAEL COGGAN: But Chief Minister Paul Henderson doesn’t want to speculate about the implications for the transport of uranium in the Northern Territory…. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-29/questions-raised-over-toxic-goods-transport-in-the/3750842?section=nt