It’s the uranium, stupid! France’s war in Mali
Although Niger has been France’s primary uranium trading partner in the region, investors are currently estimating 5,200 tonnes of untapped uranium sources in Mali, making the requirements of a favourable government and a suppressed civil society all the more urgent.
The curbs on civil liberties in the West which the so-called War on Terror forces upon citizens is part of the same struggle that activists in West Africa are fighting against uranium mining corporations
Blood for Uranium: France’s Mali intervention has little to do with terrorism http://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/blood-uranium-frances-mali-intervention-terrorism/ Adam Elliott-Cooper looks at the geo-strategic and economic interests shaping the current French intervention in Mali. 17 Jan 13, France opened 2013 with a series of airstrikes on Northern Mali to prevent “the establishment of a terrorist state”. At the time of writing, 11 civilians (including two children) have been killed, and according to the UN, an estimated 30,000 have been displaced. The morbid irony of the France’s leaders bombing people in order to prevent a “terrorist state” appears to be lost on them, but this may be due to their eyes being on something far more important – Mali’s economy. (Picture: Activists in Niger protesting uranium mining company AREVA) Continue reading
The Western lifestyle is not our only choice, we can change
the visionary realm of the Aborigines represents one of the great experiments in human thought
Studies of the human genome leave no doubt that the genetic endowment of humanity is a single continuum. Race is a fiction. We are all cut from the same genetic cloth, all descendants of a relatively small number of individuals who walked out of Africa some 60,000 years ago and then, on a journey that lasted 40,000 years, some 2,500 generations carried the human spirit to every corner of the habitable world.
It follows, as Boas believed, that all cultures share essentially the same mental acuity, the same raw genius. …..
The Victorian notion of the savage and the civilised, with European industrial society sitting proudly at the apex of a pyramid of advancement that widens at the base to the so-called primitives of the world, has been thoroughly discredited – indeed, scientifically ridiculed for the racial and colonial notion that it was, as relevant to our lives today as the belief of 19th-century clergymen that the Earth was but 6,000 years old….. Continue reading
Idle No More – indigenous movement spreads beyond Canada
Why Idle No More matters, Montreal Gazette, The aboriginal protest
movement fits into a pattern that suggests we are entering a new era
of collective action
By Celine Cooper, Special to The Gazette December 30, 2012 MONTREAL —
In a teepee on Victoria Island in the Ottawa River just a stone’s
throw from Parliament Hill, Attawapiskat First Nations Chief Theresa
Spence is engaging in a hunger strike. Her actions have come to
represent the growing social movement known as Idle No More.
Set into motion and founded by four women from Saskatchewan — Sheelah
McLean, Nina Wilson, Sylvia McAdam and Jessica Gordon — Idle No More
(#idlenomore on Twitter) has gained momentum as an indigenous-led
protest against the mammoth omnibus Bill C-45 tabled by the federal
Conservative government this month. Critics of the bill have taken
particular issue with its amendments to the Indian Act and the
Navigable Waters Act, arguing that it disrespects treaty rights and
aboriginal sovereignty and erodes protection of the environment. Continue reading
The exploitation of indigenous peoples by uranium mining companies
Nuclear dangers real and widespread
BY HELEN CALDICOTT, THE STARPHOENIX NOVEMBER 9, 2012
Caldicott is founding president of Physicians for Social
Responsibility and was featured in the Oscar winning film, If You Love
This Planet.
I write to reply to the allegations made about me in John Gormley’s
column, More private liquor stores, less Caldicott (SP, Nov. 2).
First, it is important for me to stress that the aboriginal people in
Northern Saskatchewan are being exploited by the uranium and nuclear
power industry, as they have routinely been in the United States and
Australia.
People who have lived benignly with nature for tens of thousands of
years have been forced to allow mining companies to extract uranium
from beneath their feet and to work in the mines.
Ample evidence abounds in the scientific literature that one-fifth to
one-half of uranium miners in North America have suffered from lung
cancer. Furthermore, uranium miners are also exposed to carcinogenic
whole body gamma radiation as well as the ingestion of radium – the
element that induced leukemia in Madame Marie Curie.
Many indigenous people who live near uranium mines are also exposed to
radioactive elements, and newly elevated rates of cancer are now
reported in these populations. We don’t know exact numbers because the
Saskatchewan government has not performed a baseline health study on
the populations affected.
As if this ecological danger were not enough, the nuclear industry is
proposing to bury 37,000 tonnes of extremely toxic, high level
long-lasting radioactive waste from Canadian nuclear reactors among
this vulnerable group of people, which, it is claimed will give them
jobs.
As the isotopes inevitably leak, they will contaminate the food chain
for evermore inducing more malignancies and genetic disease over
future generations…..http://limitlesslife.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/nuclear-dangers-real-and-widespread/
Prairie Island Indian Community raised matters opposing 40-year extension of nuclear license
Tribe to get hearing on Prairie Island nuclear waste concerns
http://www.startribune.com/business/184841971.html?refer=y
by: DAVID SHAFFER , Star Tribune December 26, 2012 –
A federal panel will consider some of the issues raised by the nuclear
plant’s neighbors. Xcel Energy Inc. faces more scrutiny from a federal
panel reviewing the utility’s requested 40-year extension of its
license to store high-level nuclear waste at its power plant in Red
Wing, Minn.
The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, in a ruling released Friday,
said the Indian tribe living next to Xcel’s Prairie Island nuclear
power plant and waste-storage site has raised several contentions
about the license extension that warrant a hearing before the board’s
three-judge panel.
A core issue — whether the “temporary” cask storage is becoming
permanent — was set aside by the panel while its parent agency, the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, studies the problem across the
nation. A federal appeals court in June struck down the commission’s
waste storage rules, forcing another look at the implications of
keeping radioactive waste at reactor sites for up to 60 years.
“We are dealing with regulations that were established 30 years ago
for what everybody thought would be 10 to 20 years of storage,” said
Phil Mahowald, general counsel for the Prairie Island Indian
Community.
Indigenous community resisting nuclear reactor in Eastern Cape, South Africa
the Gamtkwa community still feels marginalised
and establishing a nuclear reactor atop a priceless heritage site is
likely to alienate them further.
There goes the neighbourhood…and here comes nuclear, Mail and
Guardian, Africa,
21 DEC 2012 05:00 – LIONEL FAULL
What happens when government plans to build a nuclear plant in your
hometown? Lionel Faull went to the Eastern Cape to find out.The
process of rolling out a massive nuclear power expansion programme
gained momentum in November when the Cabinet endorsed electricity
utility Eskom as the owner and operator of the proposed new nuclear
power stations. But the plan still faces an uphill public battle, not
least from the people in whose back yard the first new nuclear
behemoth is going to be carved out.
The Mail & Guardian went to Thyspunt in the Eastern Cape, where Eskom
is finalising the environmental plan for its preferred site, to hear
what locals have to say about living next door to nukes……. Continue reading
“Uranium widows country” – prolonged task of cleaning up Navajo land
Uranium cleanup on Navajo Nation complicated by scope, history of problem 19, 2012 By MARYANN BATLLE Cronkite News WASHINGTON – For seven weeks this fall, workers and scientists labored from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., six days a week, digging up and hauling off thousands of cubic yards of uranium-tainted soil in Cove, Ariz., and sealing what remained.
The $1.5 million project by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was an emergency measure to clean up two former uranium transfer stations because of their proximity to a day school, a house – which sat on top of one station – and a highway on the Navajo Nation.
The goal was to remove the immediate threat of uranium contamination, stabilize the soil and keep uranium from becoming windborne.
It’s a stopgap measure on two tainted sites among at least 500 – possibly more than 2,000 – that pose a threat to people on the Navajo reservation that spans parts of Utah, New Mexico and Northern Arizona.
More than six decades after the first mines opened on Navajo lands, it is still unclear how many sites need to be cleaned up, how many people may be suffering from the effects of uranium exposure and what can be done to contain all the hazardous material in these communities – if that’s even possible.
What everyone can agree on is that overcoming the legacy of uranium mining will take a long, long time.
“They say it’s a widow community,” Eugene Esplain said of Cove, where this fall’s cleanup took place. “So many men have died from the impacts of uranium mining.”….. http://cronkitenewsonline.com/2012/12/uranium-cleanup-on-navajo-nation-complicated-by-scope-history-of-problem/
.Mining uranium – A recent history of uranium on Navajo lands
Uranium cleanup on Navajo Nation complicated by scope, history of problem 19, 2012 By MARYANN BATLLE Cronkite News “…..
• 1940s: The mining and milling of uranium ore for U.S defense and energy begins on the Navajo Nation. Continue reading
Cree Nation stand against uranium mining in Quebec
many concerned groups and individuals are now joining the Crees in urging the Quebec government to conduct an independent and comprehensive assessment of the long-term environmental, social and ethical challenges presented by the uranium industry
When the mining is done and the profits have been taken, these tailings will be left behind in my people’s backyard, where we have lived for thousands of years, and where we hunt, fish and trap, raise our children and bury our dead.
It is indisputable that these uranium tailings will remain radioactive and highly toxic for hundreds of thousands of years.
The Cree Nation will not be intimidated or silenced
Quebec should support Cree moratorium on uranium mining http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Opinion+Quebec+should+support+Cree+moratorium+uranium+mining/7695600/story.html By Matthew Coon Come, Montreal Gazette December 13, 2012 This summer, my people, the James Bay Cree Nation, enacted a permanent moratorium on uranium exploration, mining, milling and waste emplacement in our territory on the east shore of James Bay, Eeyou Istchee. I was
mandated to take all necessary steps to ensure full recognition of our stand. Continue reading
Cameco and AREVA ‘s deal with indigenous people, to silence criticism of uranium mining
The agreement would prohibit Pinehouse from criticizing the companies now or in the future, a measure that amounts to an indefinite “gag order”
- Pinehouse promises to “fully support” Cameco and Areva’s current, proposed and future projects in public, to investors, to regulators and with other groups. Pine-house leaders must make reasonable efforts to ensure community members “do not say or do anything that interferes with or delays” the companies’ operations.
- Pinehouse agrees to not make any future financial requests or claims against the companies.
Uranium firms offer deal to Sask. community Agreement sparks opposition By Jason Warick, The StarPhoenix November 27, 2012 An offer by uranium giants Cameco Corp. and Areva could soon deliver jobs, cash payments and other benefits to the northern community of Pinehouse, but some residents worry it’s a thinly veiled attempt to buy their silence. Continue reading
What uranium mining and milling have done to Navajo lands
The Curse of the Yellow Powder, Bacon’s Rebellion, by Rose Jenkins December 2, 2012 Is it possible to restore a landscape damaged by uranium? Ask the Navajo in New Mexico. “……There are 520 abandoned uranium mines in the Navajo Nation. Navajo territory extends over 27,000 square miles in the Four Corners area of the American Southwest. In this sparsely populated desert, approximately 30% of the population is not connected to a public water supply, so people drink from the sources available, including springs and private wells.
Out of approximately 375 Navajo water sources tested by various agencies, according to data compiled by SRIC, more than a quarter contain excess levels of contaminants that could derive from uranium operations — including arsenic in 17% and uranium in 10%.
In response, the EPA shut down three of the most contaminated sources. The agency is also working with local partners, including SRIC,to publicize warnings about hazardous water sources and to provide safe drinking water for thousands of homes. That addresses people’s immediate needs, but it doesn’t resolve the underlying problem — the polluted groundwater.
I asked the EPA if there was any chance the groundwater could ever be treated enough to be safe to drink.
“Our first goal is to make sure people are not being exposed to contaminated groundwater,” Rusty Harris-Bishop, an EPA spokesperson, told me………
In Yellow Dirt, journalist Judy Pasternak describes how thoroughly the leavings of uranium operations infiltrated Navajo people’s lives. Pregnant women drank water from lakes left by pit mines. Families built foundations and stucco walls out of the sandy mine wastes. Children played on tailings piles. Livestock grazed around the mouths of unreclaimed mines (and still do, according to a recentNew York Times article). Pasternak chronicles case after case of lung cancer, stomach cancer, children with deformities — death after death.
The Navajo decided that they have reason enough to be done with uranium extraction, at least while so many problems remain. In 2005, the tribe passed the Diné Natural Resources Protection Act, banning uranium mining and milling on their lands. The act states as its purpose: “to ensure that no further damage to the culture, society and economy of the Navajo Nation occurs because of uranium mining… [and] processing, until all adverse environmental, economic and human health impacts from past uranium mining and processing have been eliminated or substantially reduced.”……” http://www.baconsrebellion.com/2012/12/the-curse-of-the-yellow-powder.html
Australia’s Aboriginal Mirrar people warn about uranium mining
Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation November 23rd 2012 Traditional owners directly affected by uranium mining in the Northern Territory, the Mirarr people of Kakadu, have rejected suggestions that the Ranger uranium mine provides a model for Queensland to follow and called on others to heed their experience.
Supporters of the LNP’s decision to open Queensland to uranium mining, including the Australian Uranium Association head Michael Angwin, have made public claims about the ‘excellent’ track record of Ranger uranium mine.
“The suggestion that Ranger provides a blueprint for Queensland must be contested,” said Justin O’Brien, executive officer of Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation, the organisation established and operated by the Mirarr to represent their rights and interests.
The Mirarr, traditional owners of lands in the Kakadu region, including the Ranger and Jabiluka uranium deposits, have the longest lived experience of uranium mining in Australia. The Ranger mine was imposed on Mirarr against their strong opposition and has been operating for 30 years.
“Despite three decades of mining royalties, the socioeconomic standing of local Indigenous people remains below that of the NT average and well below the national standard. It is only in very recent years that income from Ranger has been adequately invested in social and cultural development programs,” Mr O’Brien said.
“The suggestion that Ranger’s track record confirms the high environmental standard of Australia’s uranium mining industry is in stark contrast to the Mirarr experience of mining on their land. Water and tailings management at the mine continue to cause serious concerns and what environmental gains we have secured have been hard fought for over decades.
“In addition, the Mirarr hold grave concerns about the legacy of uranium mining as well as the impact of its products. The fact that Australian uranium was in the failed reactors at Fukushima that have caused so much damage and human misery remains a source of great sadness for the Mirarr.
Tragedy of the displaced Bikini Atoll residents, following atomic bomb tests
PARADISE WITH AN ASTERISK, OUTSIDE MAGAZINE, OCTOBER 17, 2012“…”………WHAT HAPPENED TO THE displaced islanders after 1946 was a tragedy of neglect. There was never enough food on Rongerik: the reef fish were poisonous; a fire damaged the island’s coconut trees. There was not enough water. By 1948, they were starving to death, even though the United States had committed to taking care of them. In March of that year, the Bikinians were moved to Kwajalein Island, home to a new U.S. naval base, where they camped miserably on a small strip of grass next to the runway. A few months later they were relocated yet again, this time to the island of Kili.
This was a disaster, too, but of a different kind. Kili was a true island, which meant that there was no ring of coral, no protected lagoon, no jungle-fringed outer islands to fish and hunt, just the big waves of the Pacific crashing up against rugged shores. Fishing was nearly impossible. “It was just a small piece of rock in the middle of the ocean with some coconuts growing on it,” says Alson. Once again food supplies were intermittent. At one point, the island’s new inhabitants required an emergency airdrop. The Bikinian exile continued for another 20 years, long after the last bomb, code-named Fig, was detonated in August of 1958……
The final devastating blow came in 2010, when the Bikinians lost their largest lawsuit against the U.S. government. In 2001, the Nuclear Claims Tribunal—a body established in 1983, as part of the Compact of Free Association, to handle Marshall Islands complaints—awarded the Bikinians $563 million in compensation. But the tribunal was never adequately funded to pay a claim of that size. The Bikinians sued to force payment, but the effort failed when the Supreme Court refused to hear the case in 2010, claiming it doesn’t have the right to rule over international agreements. The U.S. courts are now closed to them. “It was absolutely devastating,” says Niedenthal. “We always had the idea and the hope that we were fighting for something. When we got the final rejection by the Supreme Court, that was it. We’re done.”http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/nature/Paradise-With-An-Asterisk.html?168980656
Radiation exposure to Nevada’s Native American communities
The assessment of radiation exposures in Native American communities (Nevada) http://nuclearhistory.wordpress.com/2012/09/28/the-assessment-of-radiation-exposures-in-native-american-communities-nevada/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10795343
Risk Anal. 2000 Feb;20(1):101-11.
The assessment of radiation exposures in Native American communities from nuclear weapons testing in Nevada.
Frohmberg E, Goble R, Sanchez V, Quigley D.
Source
Clark University, Center for Technology, Environment, George Perkins Marsh Institute, Worcester, MA 01610, USA.
Abstract
Native Americans residing in a broad region downwind from the Nevada Test Site during the 1950s and 1960s received significant radiation exposures from nuclear weapons testing. Because of differences in diet, activities, and housing, their radiation exposures are only very imperfectly represented in the Department of Energy dose reconstructions. There are important missing pathways, including exposures to radioactive iodine from eating small game. The dose reconstruction model assumptions about cattle feeding practices across a year are unlikely to apply to the native communities as are other model assumptions about diet. Thus exposures from drinking milk and eating vegetables have not yet been properly estimated for these communities. Through consultations with members of the affected communities, these deficiencies could be corrected and the dose reconstruction extended to Native Americans. An illustration of the feasibility of extending the dose reconstruction is provided by a sample calculation to estimate radiation exposures to the thyroid from eating radio-iodine-contaminated rabbit thyroids after the Sedan test. The illustration is continued with a discussion of how the calculation results may be used to make estimates for other tests and other locations.
PMID: 10795343 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
Savannah River Nuclear Bomb Plant – home of Radioactive Racism
Race and Radiation: The Equal Opportunity Killer at the Savannah River Site DC Bureau By Joseph Trento, September 6th, 2012 The old Atomic Energy Commission did not give much thought to where they were going to put their new nuclear weapons processing plant in the 1950s other than it needed to be on the other side of the country from their World War II era facility in Hanford, Washington…..
At SRS, five reactors, two separation plants, thousands of miles of pipes and high level nuclear waste storage facilities were built on what amounts to a swamp with the worst earthquake fault in the South running under it. Towns were relocated and the orchards, hunting and fishing grounds that sustained the lives of poor residents were taken over by a country fighting a new kind of war – a cold war. The reactors were built five miles apart so if the Soviets attacked one, the others could survive and keep producing plutonium. Production wastes – deadly to humans – were buried in cardboard boxes in open trenches.
The ugliest of America’s nuclear weapons history is the cavalier way in which the old Atomic Energy Commission and later Department of Energy management allowed African American workers to be deliberately exposed to radiation at the sprawling Savannah River Site while sparing white workers from the same dangers. Continue reading
1 This Month
4 August – WEBINAR – Hiroshima & Nagasaki: Nuclear Bombs Never Again
Tuesday, Aug. 4 at 5 pm PT / 8 pm ET.
Aug 5, 2026 10:00 AM in Australia/Melbourne
Join the Nuclear Bombs Never Again webinar on August 4th at 5pm Pacific Time / 8pm Eastern Time / 9am Japan Standard Time.
Cross generational voices at the intersection of Japan-Korea-US policy and militarization will share their lived experiences, nuclear impacts in these contexts, anti-war strategies, and actions you can take to advocate for a world with Nuclear Bombs Never Again. This 75-minute event is co-hosted by WILPF US and Korea Peace Now.
22,000+ miles voyaging for nuclear disarmament
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