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Footprints for Peace speakers in U.S. talk about Australia’s uranium mining

“Australians feel a deep responsibility,” said Atkinson. “We are sending this poison around the world.” ………. The uranium mining has destroyed sites sacred to the aborigines, polluted their water and food supplies and endangered their hunter/gatherer way of life, said Atkinson…………..

Uranium: The Australia-Vt. connection, Brattleboro Reformer, By BOB AUDETTE / Reformer StaffThursday May 6, 2010 BRATTLEBORO — Australia and Vermont are connected in a way not many people think about — through uranium.”We are pretty sure that some of the uranium mined in Australia is being used in the fuel rods at Vermont Yankee,” said Marcus Atkinson, an anti-nuclear activist who, with Kerrie-Ann Garlick, just completed an 11-week hike from Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee to New York City.

Atkinson and Garlick are members of Footprints for Peace, based in Ohio, which organizes peace walks to educate people about the nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear weapons.

Tonight, at 7 p.m. at the Marlboro Tech Center on Vernon Street, they will talk about that connection and how people around the world can help each other in their fight against nuclear power.

Australia is the second largest exporter of uranium in the world. Only Canada exports more uranium.

“Australians feel a deep responsibility,” said Atkinson. “We are sending this poison around the world.”

Of the 12,000 tons of uranium exported, one-third ends up in the United States.

“The United States is one of the major consumers of our uranium,” he said.

Uranium is mined from the remote areas of Australia where many of the aborigines live, said Atkinson.

“Mining encroaches on their land and divides their community,” he said.

Many aborigines see uranium mining as a benefit because the money can help pay for medical facilities, schools and other

things, said Atkinson.

“But the majority of them understand the danger and the long-term damage it will cause,” he said.

The mining has destroyed sites sacred to the aborigines, polluted their water and food supplies and endangered their hunter/gatherer way of life, said Atkinson…………..

“It is completely untrue that nuclear power is a solution for climate change,” said Atkinson.

A lot of fossil fuel is used during the mining, processing and transporting of nuclear fuel, he said, and must also be used during the management of spent fuel and the dismantling of a nuclear power plant.

Atkinson and Garlick made connections with many people on their walk but, he said, “It’s surprising to us how little they know about uranium mining.”

Uranium: The Australia-Vt. connection – Brattleboro Reformer

May 7, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons, radiation, reactors, uranium, water