nuclear-news

Regional groups unite to oppose uranium mining
The Chadron Record 28 oct 08

By GEORGE LEDBETTER, Record Editor  October 28, 2008

Environmental activists from a four-state area met near Chadron last weekend to discuss their objections to the rapid expansion of uranium mining in the region, and to plan strategies to advance their cause.

The meeting, hosted by the Western Nebraska Resources Council (WNRC), was held in Chadron because of its proximity to the Crow Butte Resources in-situ leach (ISL) uranium mine, which is already in the process of permitting one major expansion and has two more in planning stages.

Participanting groups included the Powder River Basin Resource Council, from Wyoming, ACTion for the Environment from South Dakota’s Black Hills, the Black Hills chapter of the Sierra Club, Defenders of the Black Hills, Owe Aku/Bring Back the Way, a Lakota cultural group, and Coloradoans Against Resource Destruction.

“We want the uranium industry to know that we stand together on this issue. Whether in a rural setting or a populated area, uranium mining causes radioactive contamination,” said Tom Cook of WNRC, reading a jointly prepared statement. “Past uranium sites continue to contaminate the air, land and water:………………A regional approach to stopping further uranium mining makes sense because of the shared issues, said Shirley Fredrick of the Sierra Club. “Everyone at this event has similar concerns, starting with the need to keep our water clean and protect millions of gallons for future use. Our local economies, our health and our ways of life depend on this,” she said.

Bush’s nuclear deal with India: bigger consequences to considerThe Japan Times Oct. 29, 2008 By BRAD GLOSSERMAN and BATES GILL HONOLULU/STOCKHOLM —”…………………Is the deal a meaningful compromise that protects India’s national security interests and the integrity of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) or does it give Delhi too much and undermine the NPT?………………..Unfortunately, potentially far greater consequences garner far less attention. In particular, little has been said about how this deal is seen in other countries,………………….Washington’s decision to come to terms with Delhi offers hope to other governments considering nuclear weapons that they too may receive special status…………………Will a democratic and nuclear-armed (but U.S. friendly) Pakistan, Iran or (your favorite future strategic partner) also get a pass?………………Japanese officials and strategists also worry that the U.S.-India agreement could clear the way for a nuclear-armed Korean Peninsula.

African civil society hits back at uranium mining
http://www.namibian,com BRIGITTE WEIDLICHAFRICAN October 28, 2008 communities are gathering to take up the fight against international companies which are mining uranium on their land and their own governments, as they are driven off their land, suffer exposure to radiation and toxic waste at mining sites, a seminar on uranium mining was informed.
“We have formed a civil society organisation and took the Australian mining company Paladin to court,” Reinford Mwangobe of Citizens for Justice (CFJ) told the seminar, organised by Earthlife Namibia and the Labour Resource and Research Institute (LaRRi)……………………..