Nuclear waste storage a boon for Taitung?
Nuclear waste storage a boon for Taitung?
The China Post 31 March 09 “…………………….a preferred storage site for such low-radiation waste is somewhere reasonably remote with a small population………………………..Taipower has selected two sites they believe are best suited as storage locations. The first is Wan-an Township located on the Penghu archipelago’s Dongji Island. The second site is Taitung County’s Da-ren Township. Predictably, many of the residents of both sites are strongly against the proposal. The opposition is fiercest in Wan-an where some 90% are said to be against the plan……………………Many at the two proposed sites feel as if their ancestral lands are being polluted. Therefore, the company is offering a NT$5 billion (US$146 million) “friendly-neighbor” payment to the residents of the selected site…………………….Taitung is one of the poorest counties in Taiwan and is home to a significant number of Paiwan aboriginal people……………….hopefully through consultations and outreach, Da-ren Township will come to see that this plan could be in their interest.
NIGER: Desert residents pay high price for lucrative uranium mining | Economy Environment Health & Nutrition Conflict Water & Sanitation | Feature
NIGER: Desert residents pay high price for lucrative uranium mining IRIN 1 April 09 DAKAR, – After a visit in late March from French President Nicholas Sarkozy to Niger, residents in the uranium-exporting desert country continue questioning whether AREVA, a company primarily owned by the French government, will honour its promise to protect communities from mining hazards.
Studies and residents’ testimonies have pointed to health and environmental dangers from mining operations owned and operated by both AREVA’s subsidiaries and the Niger government…………………… The AREVA majority-owned mine called COMINAK (Mining Company of Akouta) commissioned an environmental study of its operations in Arlit in 2006, which reported that the number of deaths linked to respiratory infections was twice as high in the mining town (16 percent) as in the rest of the country.
Arlit’s population is 110,000.
“The wind carries dust contaminated with the long-lasting radium [time required for it to lose toxicity is more than 1,600 years] and lead…Samples taken from 5km within site…Sandstorms [and] atmospheric waste from mines could be aggravating factors for pulmonary [illnesses] in the region,” the researchers wrote in COMINAK’s environmental study. ………………. Radioactive waste – possibly used in road construction – may be responsible for the abnormally high levels of radiation, according to CRIIRAD. In 2007 CRIIRAD researchers wrote that radiation levels were up to 100 times above average in front of the AREVA-funded hospital near the COMINAK mine…………………… But environmental studies carried out by CRIIRAD and Sherpa in 2005 in mining communities showed water radiation levels up to 110 times higher than World Health Organization (WHO) safe drinking water standards in industrial areas
Nuclear power and indigenous peoples
The Nuclear Goliath: Confronting Industrial Energy TOWARD FREEDOM Frank Joseph Smecker 30 March 2009 – “……………………………………. the deleterious effects of uranium mining imposed on the environment have been felt worldwide–from Saskatchewan all the way to Rum Jungle in Australia, which is perhaps the world’s worst case of negligent mining.
………………………………………It is, by far, the indigenous peoples of the world who have most felt the encroaching and damaging effects of the nuclear industry. The aboriginals of Australia, perhaps the oldest human cultures of any still in existence, are threatened daily by the encroachment of uranium mining and the deadly legacy of uranium tailings.
In the U.S., the land surrounding Yucca Mountain (a proposed nuclear waste repository and current weapons testing site) is not U.S. territory, but legally belongs to the Shoshone Nation (
In Canada, ten lakes within the Lake Huron region are now radioactive waste sites due to uranium mining. Uranium mined from Elliot Lake in Ontario was used for U.S. nuclear weapons and the area is now infecund, emitting dangerous levels of radiation, immiserating the Northern Ojibwa peoples…………………
Sarkozy in Niger to back deal
Sarkozy in Niger to back deal news 24.com 27/03/2009 (SA)
Nairoby/Niamey – French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Niger on Friday to back a deal by French firm Areva to exploit uranium deposits in the north of the West African country.
………………Niger is Africa’s biggest uranium producer and a vital source for Areva………………..However, mining has caused problems in the north, where nomadic Tuareg are fighting the government, saying they have remained poverty-stricken despite the mineral uranium riches.
France 24 | Sarkozy backs Areva’s uranium deal in Niger | France 24
Sarkozy backs Areva’s uranium deal in Niger
FRANCE 24.com 27 March 2009
Sarkozy is expected to back a controversial deal signed in January between French nuclear giant Areva and Niger’s government that would lead to the exploitation of the Imouraren mining site in northern Niger, the world’s second biggest uranium deposit……………………………
France takes great pride in a civilian nuclear program that it says is the key to its energy independency. But the reality is more complex, says Yves Marignac, director of the World Information Forum on Energy.
“One hundred percent of uranium in France comes from abroad,” he says. “A large part comes from Niger. With this contract, its share could increase.” The visit comes a day after Areva chief executive Anne Lauvergeon signed an agreement for mining research and exploration with the Congolese government, on the sidelines of Sarkozy’s visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Niger has one big asset compared with rival uranium exporters Australia and Canada, Martignac adds. “It is the only country that has a uranium contract that doesn’t prevent France from using the ore for something else than a civilian nuclear program.”…………………………….
But the deal has come under scrutiny in France. Environmentalists have warned Areva against the temptation to enforce poor safety and environmental standards in the mostly desert region.
There are also mounting allegations that the Niger government expelled nomadic Tuareg tribes to make way for the French operation. Tuareg rebels have threatened to attack the uranium mine and transport as they did once in 2007.
It is a tense situation that contributes to blurring the line between trade relations and neo-colonialism.
“A vice-director of Areva has been quoted saying that the nuclear company has urged the French government to help Niger’s government stamp out the rebellion,” Martignac says.
France 24 | Sarkozy backs Areva’s uranium deal in Niger | France 24
Uranium: Wealth or Woe?

Uranium: Wealth or Woe World Sihk News Gunter Wippel and Norbert Suchanek 26 March 09 Whilst tragic results of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are well documented, the environmental and health problems that are a consequence of uranium exploration are less well known by the general global public.
During the development of the atomic bomb, thousands of mines were built in the Southwest of the United States and Northern Canada. The radioactive waste, known as tailings, that builds up in huge piles of rocks and slush outside the mines continues to threaten the wellbeing of local populations and contaminates the environment.
The sad truth is that Governments are fully aware of the dangers but still refuse to implement adequate protection measures.
Uranium is not only radioactive but chemically toxic too. 80% of the radioactivity of the original uranium ore is left behind in highly acidic ‘tailings’. It remains radioactive for hundreds-of-thousands of years and should be kept safely isolated from the environment.
Uranium can cause a wide variety of health problems. Miners and local communities drink contaminated water, eat contaminated food and breathe in radon gas and dust from the tailings. In addition to this, the extraction and processing of uranium ore uses huge amounts of highly sought-after water that cannot be recycled.
It has been argued by mining companies that uranium extraction brings jobs to local populations, thus creating better living conditions, and for a few this was true. However the companies also quietly ignore the health and environmental effects of the process. ……………….After 30 years living alongside uranium mines, the Tuareg of Niger refer to uranium as a ‘curse’ rather than a blessing. They say the North of Niger “suffer[s] from its wealth’, rather than reap supposed rich rewards. ………………………t appears that financial institutions within the country, such as the Bank of Namibia, have found the potential income that mining may bring too attractive to reject. This is despite studies in other African countries that demonstrates only a small percentage of the worth of the resources extracted actually stay in the country.
The killing uranium fields of Topnaar Nama
The killing uranium fields of Topnaar Nama2009-03-12 15:20:00 Commodity Online (Courtesy: Unrepresented Nations and People’s Organisation- UNPO, PRLog)
NAMIBIA: Topnaar Nama people in Namibia are going through tough times even as the government is giving exploration licences to international companies. The Topnaar people now fear for their lives and existence. Uranium mining poses a considerable threat to general health, and lifestyle because of effects on underground and surface water resources………………………Whilst tragic results of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are well documented, the environmental and health problems that are a consequence of uranium exploration are less well known by the general global public.
During the development of the atomic bomb, thousands of mines were built in the Southwest of the United States and Northern Canada. The radioactive waste, known as tailings, that builds up in huge piles of rocks and slush outside the mines continues to threaten the wellbeing of local populations and contaminates the environment.
…………………Uranium can cause a wide variety of health problems. Miners and local communities drink contaminated water, eat contaminated food and breathe in radon gas and dust from the tailings. In addition to this, the extraction and processing of uranium ore uses huge amounts of highly sought-after water that cannot be recycled…………………………The problems associated with uranium mining are set to continue with its rising price as demand from nuclear power plant companies increases. Africa is especially at risk because companies are attracted by the lack of strict regulations.One community that is particularly at risk from uranium extraction is the Topnaar Nama, one of fourteen groups of Nama people. These groups traditionally lived in the southern parts of the Namib, which today is part of Namibia and adjacent to South Africa. This nomadic group breed their own livestock such as goats and cows, which, along with !Nara fruits make-up their main food staples. They now live their traditional way of life in the area of the Kuiseb River and canyon, south of Walvisbay and Svakopmund.
There are currently two mines operating in the Topnaar territory with the Namibian Government recently issuing more uranium exploration licenses to various international companies.
The lack of water, and other environmental issues related to uranium mining have other impacts on the Topnaar. ………………….It has been reported that workers of the Roessing mine, amongst them Topnaar people, are becoming ill and are dying. One Topnaar reported that his friend, a miner, had died a few weeks ago because of what the doctor referred to as ‘old mans illness’. He was only 60, and those within the Topnaar villages that have never worked in the mines live beyond 80 without any ‘old mans illness.’It is clear from the issuing of uranium exploration licenses that the Namibian Government is less than supportive towards the Topnaar peoples’ situation. This is despite the fact that the Namibian constitution states that traditional chiefs (captains or kings) of different tribes be included in parliament.
The killing uranium fields of Topnaar Nama | 12 March 2009 | www.commodityonline.com
Indigenous Leaders Call For End To Uranium Mining
Indigenous Leaders Call For End To Uranium Mining allheadlinenews.com
Windsor Genova – AHN News Writer 26 Feb 09Takoma Park, MD (AHN) – Indigenous activists and leaders of Native American, Australian aboriginal and Tuareg communities are in Washington, D.C. Friday to press elected officials at Capitol Hill to stop uranium mining.
Leaders of the group said the extraction of uranium ore needed to produce nuclear weapons and fuel for nuclear reactors are being done in indigenous communities contaminating scarce water supply there and causing cancer to Native Americans, aborigines in Australia and Tuaregs in Niger.
Tuareg activist Sidi-Amar Taoua said uranium mining in Niger has devastated its landscape, destroyed the fauna and flora around the mines and contaminated the land, air and water with radioactive dust, gases and liquids.
“The depletion of already scarce water supplies threatens the very survival of the Touareg as well as the local communities around the mines who are already suffering the many illnesses caused by the uranium mines,” Taoua said.
Dr. Bruno Chareyron, director of the French investigative lab that has conducted radiological testing at nuclear sites in France and around the world, and actor James Cromwell are backing the group and campaign against uranium mining.
“When my laboratory went to the mining towns in Niger we found radioactive scrap metal from the uranium mill being sold on the city market; uranium contamination of drinking water that exceeded World Health Organization standards; and radioactive tailings from the uranium mill stored in the open air,” Chareyron said. “The situation is equally bad in France where tailings have been paved into school playgrounds and parking lots. But the French nuclear corporation, Areva, denies in its own press release that there is any contamination from the Niger mines. This is simply not true.”
Meanwhile, a plan to allow uranium mining in New Mexico’s Mt. Taylor will be opposed, said Acoma Pueblo spokesman Manuel Pino. “We are not going to let that happen. We will fight that industry tooth and nail to the very end,” Pino said. Indigenous Leaders Call For End To Uranium Mining | AHN | February 27, 2009
Green Glow Renaissance: Global Nuclear Genocide
The nuclear industry seized on the “peak oil” and “global warming” crisis which they created and turned it to their advantage. They call nuclear a “green”, “clean”, “renewable” resource because they can reuse the deadly waste to make nuclear weapons. They lump it under with wind and solar. The theme of the Canadian Nuclear Association CNA convention and trade show from February 25 to 27 at the Westin in Ottawa is “the reality of renaissance”. [Is that crazy or what?] Yes, they rely on our ignorance and naivety. ………………..They want to build dozens of nuclear reactors all over the world in Indigenous communities along and dump the nuclear waste for us to “manage”!! We live in remote areas far from any place they would want to even visit. …………………….
Meanwhile, Canada helps set up private organizations as government fronts like CNA (Canadian Nuclear Association), NWMO (Nuclear Waste Management Organization) and CAP (Congress of Aboriginal People) and OMAA (Ontario Metis and Aboriginal Association). The latter two are so-called “aboriginal” organizations. NWMO and CNA are funding the Assembly of First Nations, another government set up, and CAP to talk us into managing and storing nuclear fuel waste on our territories. Meetings have gone on for years to get Elders and “leaders” on side. Canada has even sent in Mother Joan Holmes to turn non-natives into “Indians” who can then sign away our inherent rights. Nuclear salesmen are courting “Aboriginal partners” to sign away our birthright and existence.
So-called 34-year old “aboriginal”, Patrick “Fabio-Wannabe” Brazeau, was recently appointed Senator by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen “Ford-Modelling-Agent” Harper. What was this all about? Brazeau’s rap sheet looks like the antithesis of anything anyone would want in the Senate. He was rewarded for fronting the phony CAP to try to destroy Indigenous nations and sovereignty.
CAP has arrangements with NRC (Natural Resources Canada) and NWMO to consider nuclear waste management on or near our communities. Brazeau proposed, “… the 633 native communities in Canada be reduced to between 60 and 80. The 10 Algonquin reserves in Quebec and Ontario, for example, would become one. Same for the Cree. The Mohawk. And so on”. The guy didn’t consult any of us or visit any of our communities. Now, if he has any sense, he’d be afraid to come. He wants to redirect the flow of nearly $10 billion in federal funding for “aboriginal” programs and services in Canada. He thinks we wont need it because we are going to liquidated. So he wants the money to go to the many “aboriginal” that he and Mother Jones have created. …………………………NWMO wants to store nuclear waste in Indigenous communities in the Canadian Shield. Sites in NAN (Nishnaabe Aski Nation) in northern Ontario appear to be the most likely. ………………………………A telling example of these “courtships” with the Indigenous is the recent attempted seduction of the Navaho. Areva, the French nuclear power company, took the council on a recent trip to Paris. Areva “owns” uranium mines in northern Saskatchewan. They want the Navaho to put a nuclear reactor and to do more uranium mining in their territory in the U.S. southwest.
The Navaho know about the devastation of uranium tailings. Most want nothing to do with nuclear development. The same is true of the Ojibwe, Cree and Metis who have been targeted in northern Canada. Nishnaabe are fully aware of and suffering from the ongoing poisoning at Blind River and the tons of nuclear waste at Elliot Lake.
Nuclear promoters like AECL (Atomic Energy Canada Ltd) and CNSC (Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission) will coo soothingly, in their brushed suits, carefully coiffed hair [if they have any] and manicured hands, “There’s no risk”…………………………
We all have to drastically cut back on our materialistic lifestyle. Every household could be generating enough clean energy to power their own grid. We Indigenous understand this basic and practical way of taking only what we need and leaving little or no footprint.
The elders are concerned about the future based on our traditional knowledge. The youth are concerned with living with the legacy of nuclear waste disposal. Women are concerned with protecting the clean and safe water for all people and the environment as this is our traditional role.
http://www.pacificfreepress.com/news/1/3738-green-glow-renaissance-global-nuclear-genocide.html
Green Left – Traditional owner: don’t mine our land
Traditional owner: don’t mine our landJay Fletcher & Emma Murphy Green Left 4 February 2009 A multinational mining company that has been exposed for leaking uranium into Lake Ontario in North America is now exploring uranium deposits only a few kilometres from a significant Alice Springs water supply.Canadian resource giant, Cameco, has entered a joint venture with Australian Paladin Energy to explore and potentially mine the Angela Pamela uranium tenement 25 kilometres south of Alice Springs near the old outstation of Owen Springs.
Last year, Cameco was forced to admit to leaking uranium, arsenic and fluorides into Lake Ontario, one of the biggest lakes in North America. On May 23, ABC Alice Springs reported that the Port Hope refinery plant was closed when contaminated soil was discovered, but during the “clean-up” it is likely that tailings found their way into the harbour.Moreover, the company has been ordered to pay a C$1.4 million settlement to the state of Wyoming for failing to comply with environmental standards at its uranium mine. Among the charges were problems with the pace of ground water restoration, according to Canada’s Calgary Herald.
Traditional owner Raelene Silverton from Urana Potara community — located on the West Waterhouse station near Owen Springs — told Green Left Weekly in December that mining the site would create serious risk to local and Aboriginal communities. “There are a lot of people saying not to mine in there”, Silverton said. “There’s a bore there and Alice Springs communities get their water from there, it would be too dangerous.”
Cameco-Paladin were granted an exploration permit by the Northern Territory government in 2007. A May 27, 2008 media release from the Central Land Council (CLC) said that negotiations were being conducted with traditional owners, yet local owners such as Silverton, who do not want the plans to go ahead, say they have been excluded from the process.
Dissident Voice : Under The Cover Of Racist Myth, A New Land Grab In Australia
Under The Cover Of Racist Myth, A New Land Grab In Australiaby John Pilger / January 31st, 2009 DISSIDENT VOICE “…………………..Having let a few crumbs fall, Kevin Rudd has picked up where Howard left off. His indigenous affairs minister, Jenny Mackie, threatens to withdraw government support from remote communities that are “economically unviable”. The Northern Territory is the only region where Aborigines have comprehensive land rights, granted almost by accident 30 years ago. Here lies some of the world’s biggest deposits of uranium. Canberra wants to mine it and sell it.
Foreign governments, especially the US, want the Northern Territory as a toxic dump. The railway from Adelaide to Darwin, which runs adjacent to Olympic Dam, the world’s largest uranium mine, was built with the help of Kellog, Brown & Root, a subsidiary of the American giant Halliburton, the alma mater of Dick Cheney, Howard’s “mate”. “The land grab of Aboriginal tribal land has nothing to do with child sexual abuse,” says the Australian scientist Helen Caldicott, “but all to do with open slather uranium mining and converting the Northern Territory to a global nuclear dump.”
Dissident Voice : Under The Cover Of Racist Myth, A New Land Grab In Australia
Aboriginal tribe defy BHP Billiton
The Kokatha have issued the following STATEMENT re: BHP & Native Title ;Kokatha have denied their signatures to BHP Billiton for both an open cut and an expansion.Kokatha denounced Native Title who are not appointed to speak for Kokatha or their lands. Native Title are not recognised by the Kokatha.
Native Title have been notified of the above in writing and have continued to conspire with mining companies and collect “people” claiming to be related to Kokatha. A meeting was staged on the 14th December 2008 with participants allegedly willing to accept payment in exchange for some signatures on Kokatha land, for BHP Billiton.
Individuals who attempt to sign on Kokatha lands are not Kokatha. Any Native Title negotiations with any Kokatha person, past or present are undoubtedly coerced as noone understands Native Title…………………………………
Maralinga, was our lesson and is a prime example of reckless and long term environmental damage sustained to aboriginal lands and people, including your own white communities, Native Title have no authority to attempt alteration of our history, geneology or land areas. Native Title may not touch our business. You have betrayed our trust.
The horror that followed Maralinga has not been forgotten by the Kokatha and we remain united.”
Ms Dingaman warns communities using underground water for drinking to insist on RADON testing now, before it is too late.
“We continue to suffer radiation poisoning and do not wish to see other innocent people subjected to this slow genocide and terminal illnesses”.
Ms. Dingaman says she doesn’t believe there is any more respect for white people than there is for the aborigines. This water is contaminated and everyone has a right to legitimate testing”.
“What do these people expect after Maralinga and now three uranium mines operating near them”, Ms Dingaman said, Radon testing must be done.
“You ignore this poison being leached into the waterways because it’s invisible. You need to demand tests independently or you and your children will become sick as we did.”
“Your governments thirst for nuclear and power has stolen this country’s water. They are out of control and you must speak up and demand that this madness stops.”
Isabelle Dingaman (Executive Member) on behalf of Kokatha
KOKATHA REFUSE BHP EXPANSION AND DENOUNCE NATIVE TITLE “MINING CO. AGENTS” «
Activists walk for recognition – Local News – News – General – Southern Highland News
Activists walk for recognition Southern Highland News 16/01/2009 A GROUP of activists is walking from Sydney to Canberra to call for indigenous sovereignty and an end of the Federal Government’s intervention into Northern Territory Aboriginal communities.
The walkers will arrive in Moss Vale today and continue their 17-day walk to Parliament House tomorrow, stopping at Penrose tomorrow night.
“Aboriginal Australia has been battling for over 200 years,” said Darren Bloomfield of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy established in Sydney to launch the walk…………….
“The Federal Government has been hacking away at Aboriginal Land Rights with the NT Intervention and now compulsory leases if Aboriginal communities want to receive basic services. The land grab has to stop.”
The walkers are also protesting proposals to dump nuclear waste in the Northern Territory.
Activists walk for recognition – Local News – News – General – Southern Highland News
Climate will hit indigenous Australians hardest: report
Climate will hit indigenous Australians hardest: report
Sydney Morning HeraldJoel Gibson Indigenous Affairs Reporter January 13, 2009INDIGENOUS Australians in remote areas will be hardest hit by climate change because of their poorer health and access to services, a team of environment and indigenous health experts has warned.
And the documented link between the health of traditional Aborigines and the health of their ancestral country could make them more vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
In an editorial in the Medical Journal Of Australia, three authors from different fields argued that the vulnerability of indigenous people should be recognised so health policy could be adjusted to counter the effects of rising temperatures in some of the hottest reaches of central and northern Australia……………….
The authors said the challenge for Australian doctors would be to look beyond a Western, scientific approach to indigenous health and acknowledge the influence of ecology and other factors on indigenous lives.
More services would be needed in northern Australia, as well as cross-cultural training for medical professionals and changes to the teaching practices in medical schools.
If done properly, that approach would raise social and economic indicators, not just health, they said.
“Ignoring the warning signs and failing to take action is no lo
Country needs Kiwi culture not consumer culture
Country needs Kiwi culture not consumer culture
The Gisborne Herald Peter Jones 31 December 2008 Nuclear power is probably only needed if NZ is going to remain mindlessly addicted to the compounding growth theory that is being blasted out of the water right now.We only need nuclear power if we keep importing consumers and destroying our social values by trying to perpetuate a consumer culture.
We want Kiwi culture not consumer culture…………………Spend your way out of trouble. Yes, another inspired concept doing the rounds at the moment.
So why not have nuclear power. Then the Maori and Pakeha culture and values can be resigned to history
Country needs Kiwi culture not consumer culture – The Gisborne Herald
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