nuclear-news

Former Weldon Spring uranium workers seek money for cancer claims

Market malaise fails to budge Alliance Resources despite high grade uranium hits
The Four Mile uranium project in South Australia, already ranked as the best new uranium discovery in Australia this year, failed to provide share price impetus for its junior partner despite the spectacular nature of the new intersections. MineWeb : Ross Louthean , 08 Dec 2008 PERTH -……………..the price stagnation reflects how tough times have hit Australia’s uranium juniors………….The project sits within the shadow of the Flinders Ranges, 550 kilometres north of Adelaide, and is being brought into production by Alliance’s 75% partner Quasar Resources, an affiliate of Heathgate Resources which runs the Beverley in situ recovery (ISR) uranium mine only 8 km away. Heathgate in turn is controlled by the big American conglomerate General Atomics.

You know what happened, but do you know why? NICHOLAS STUART9/12/2008 8:57:00 AM – “……………….the invasion was beginning to cause political problems for the government. It had just been revealed in Washington that the claims that Iraq had been attempting to obtain uranium out of Africa were completely bogus………………….This was also the time when the US wanted to ramp up the Australian troop commitment in the country,

Give tax break to miners, says study –
 Sydney Morning Herald Joel Gibson Indigenous Affairs Reporter December 9, 2008 EXTENSIVE tax breaks would be given to mining and resources companies that do the right thing by native title claimants under proposed improvements to the native title system.

Fifteen years of negotiations under the Native Title Act had produced a handful of model agreements because native title groups were inadequately represented and companies and governments had taken advantage of that.

New entrants into the industry were the worst offenders, the report said. “While hundreds of agreements exist between traditional owners and industry, there are only around one dozen agreements that provide substantial benefits to Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders and exhibit principles embodying best practice in agreement making.

“Traditional owners’ interests are often compromised in negotiations. Commonly the traditional owners’ interests are not adequately represented………….More than 60 per cent of mineral operations in Australia are next to indigenous communities, and about 340 new resource development projects are proposed in coming years.

Give tax break to miners, says study –
 Sydney Morning Herald Joel Gibson Indigenous Affairs Reporter December 9, 2008 EXTENSIVE tax breaks would be given to mining and resources companies that do the right thing by native title claimants under proposed improvements to the native title system.

Fifteen years of negotiations under the Native Title Act had produced a handful of model agreements because native title groups were inadequately represented and companies and governments had taken advantage of that.

New entrants into the industry were the worst offenders, the report said. “While hundreds of agreements exist between traditional owners and industry, there are only around one dozen agreements that provide substantial benefits to Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders and exhibit principles embodying best practice in agreement making.

“Traditional owners’ interests are often compromised in negotiations. Commonly the traditional owners’ interests are not adequately represented………….More than 60 per cent of mineral operations in Australia are next to indigenous communities, and about 340 new resource development projects are proposed in coming years.

It’s the climate, stupidBy Amanda McKenzie

ABC News 9 Dec 08 It seems that many, including the government, no longer believe it is “realistic” to take the action necessary to prevent substantial shifts in the global climatic system. However, failing to take adequate action to mitigate climate change will impose substantial economic and societal costs, as well as locking Australia out of the benefits of the emerging green economy.

The speculation in the media this week is that the government will set an emission reduction target of 5 to 15 per cent based on a global greenhouse gas concentration stabilisation of 550 parts per million (ppm), substantially higher than what the world’s scientists recommend.

What does this target mean for Australia? In a recent interview on the ABC’s Lateline, Professor Ross Garnaut, the government’s climate change advisor, acknowledged that on the balance of probabilities, allowing global emissions to reach 550 ppm would all but destroy the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu, the Alpine region and do immense damage to the Murray-Darling Basin.

The risk to the economy from this scenario is substantial……………………………..Cloudy Germany is now is a world leader in renewable energy exporting their technology to the world. Businesses have capitalised on the new regulatory environment with turnover in the renewable energy industry increasing nearly fourfold since 2000 and jobs doubling between 2004 and 2007. Jobs in renewable energy in Germany are expected to increase from 250,000 to 710,000 by 2030.

Australia would be wise to follow the example and vision of these countries and disregard the outdated dichotomy of “jobs vs environment”. Our economy, particularly in Australia, is fundamentally intertwined with the health and capacity of our environment. To fail to recognise this will see Australia suffer from substantial climate change impacts as well as fail to capitalise on the emerging green economy – leaving Australia to share the wins of a diminishing pool of traditional industries.

Have Irvine and Lennar Ignored Hazardous Nuclear Waste at El Toro?
Tim King Salem-News.com 8 Dec 08 The Chair for the former Marine base Technical Subcommittee in 2000, went public with details about nuclear contamination at El Toro shortly before his death the same year.(IRVINE, Calif.) – We have written several articles and produced a number of video reports about the environmental damage on the grounds of the now-closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in Orange County, California………………..El Toro is also contaminated by nuclear waste………………..Dr. Bennett wrote. “The Uranium they found in Site 1 has too much Uranium 235 in it (N.B. it is the U235 in Uranium that makes nuclear power plants work and splits when an atom bomb explodes). The amount of U235 in the Site 1 samples is more than twice as much as you would find in natural uranium, and several outside experts have confirmed that the Site 1 results demonstrate enriched uranium. If it is enriched, it is man made and not natural. If it is not natural, the DoN will become liable for remediating all the Uranium………………………….ormer Marine said, “our squadrons worked out of El Toro and the test or (tests) were actually carried out on the Yucca Flats (or wherever we did the bulk of our ground testing which included even smaller nuclear weapons which could be mounted on 105-155 etc artillery).” I am hoping to hear from Marines and former Marines and anyone else who may have information regarding the nuclear contamination at El Toro.