Compensation for uranium workers afflicted by radiation
some of the workers who were exposed to radiation in those eight years would pay the price
decades later….
the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program has paid $7.8 billion in medical bills and compensation to 151,095 individuals.
Radiation workers sought by program May be compensated if Cold War-era job involved uranium Dan Stockman | The Journal Gazette, March 11, 2012 FORT WAYNE – The work lasted only eight years, but the effects scarred a generation for decades. Continue reading
Tanzania’s battle over uranium tax
The fierce battle for $205m uranium tax, BY FLORIAN KAIJAGE 11th March 2012 As the Russian firm seeks court order Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) and Russian company JSC Atomredmetzoloto (AMRZ) are in fierce legal battle over the $205.8 million (Sh330billion) that TRA demands from the company as an income tax and stamp duty emanating from thelatter’s purchase of Mkuju River Uranium mining site from Mantra
Resources of Australia in 2011.
The legal battle is before the Tax Revenue Appeals Board that begun hearing of the matter on Monday March 5, 2011 in Dar es Salaam under the chairmanship of Pentarin Kente…. The amount of money involved is staggering; this is a record amount in Africa just on income tax. It
is $196 million that equivalent to Sh320 billion, 2 percent of the country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product); it is not a small amount by local or international standards…. http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=39338
Virginia – hasty uranium regulations, behind closed doors
Activists urge caution on regulations for uranium mining, Virgnia Politics, 03/07/2012, By Anita Kumar As Gov. Bob McDonnell’s administration begins developing regulations for uranium mining, some activists are expressing concerns about the process.
In a letter to the administration, representatives of the Piedmont Environmental Council, Virginia League of Conservation Voters and Sierra Club say they worry that the regulations, which are supposed to be written over the next year, will be done too quickly, behind closed doors and with little input from the public.
Another group of business leaders from Southside Virginia called for additional data instead before the regulations are developed. In January, McDonnell (R) recommended that the state further study the impact of excavating a site in Southside Virginia that contains the nation’s largest known uranium deposit before lifting a mining ban.
He created a multi-agency group — comprised of staff from the Virginia Department of Health, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy — to study the site and draft regulations for a possible new mining industry in Virginia. The group will accept public comments during four open meetings and on a new Web site ….. Environmental groups — worried that a uranium mine in Virginia’s relatively rainy climate could contaminate natural resources, cause illness and have long-term effects on plants and animals — are disappointed that McDonnell wants to begin preparing regulations….. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/virginia-politics/post/activists-urge-caution-on-regulations-for-uranium-mining/2012/03/07/gIQAwJpYxR_blog.html
World’s biggest man made hole – BHP ‘s uranium mine, might not go ahead
Reuters report on mining conference in Canada Mar 6, 2012 By Euan Rocha TORONTO, March 6 – The Anglo-Australia mining giant, which already operates an underground mine at the site, has yet to sign off on the budget for
the open pit…. but BHP may opt to delay taking on the heavy financial burden that could easily be in the $10 billion to $20 billion range…..
…. PDAC, the mining industry’s largest annual gathering. The convention, organized by the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, opened in Toronto on Sunday.
Even though Olympic Dam, located 550 km (345 miles) north of Adelaide, is one of BHP’s biggest growth prospects, the cost of
digging the massive pit may prove prohibitive.
Last month the company reported a profit decline, and it struck a cautious tone on its expectations for growth in China, one of its
biggest markets. That has led some to speculate that the miner may delay spending on capital-intensive projects such as Olympic Dam and the Jansen potash project in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.
In late 2011, BHP finalized state approvals to begin construction work on the open-pit phase of the Olympic Dam project, but the agreement would lapse around December if BHP delays its decision on proceeding.
“We want to see a board decision before the end of the year about substantial works beginning. If not, the approvals run out and BHP know this,” said Tom Koutsantonis, minister for mineral resources and energy for the state of South Australia.” I’m not in the business, and no government should be in the business, of allowing anyone to have massive tenements that they don’t develop …”-
A spokesman for BHP declined to comment on the remarks.
MASSIVE SCALE The sheer scale of the open-pit project is formidable. BHP will have to shovel rock for five to seven years before it reaches the Olympic Dam ore body, discovered in the mid-1970s….. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/06/canada-mining-pdac-olympicdam-idUSL2E8E60E220120306
Confusion about Australian company Lynas rare earths and radioactive waste in Malaysia
No decision yet on sending Lynas waste to Western Australia The Star, Malaysia, KUALA LUMPUR, 7 March 12, : The Cabinet has not decided on a proposal asking Lynas Corp rare earth waste material to be sent back to Western Australia, said Green Technology, Energy and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin.
He said Western Australian Minister for Mines and Petroleum Norman Moore was entitled to his view that Australia would not accept responsibility for any waste produced by Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd. “Our Cabinet has not made a decision on the matter. Wait for it to be announced,” he said after the launch of the National Energy Security Conference 2012 yesterday.
Moore told the Australian parliament that the Western Australian government does not support the import and storage of other countries’ radioactive waste.
PKR MP Fuziah Salleh had proposed that the rare earth waste material for Lynas be returned to Australia. ….http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/2/29/nation/10825847&sec=nation
Lynas to send residue abroad if no suitable disposal site found in Malaysia The Star, Malaysia, By ONG HAN SEAN KUANTAN, March 6, 2012:Lynas Corp has already submitted a letter of undertaking to send its rare earth processing residue abroad if it cannot find a suitable waste disposal site in Malaysia. International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the move was taken as an assurance to the people’s psychological and emotional safety.“Even though the Government is satisfied there will be no radioactive residue produced during the plant’s operation, we have ordered Lynas to guarantee and plan the provision of a permanent waste disposal facility far from human population as recommended by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“Failing which, Lynas has already expressed willingness to take the residue out of Malaysia,” said Mustapa in a joint statement with Pahang Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob here Tuesday.
He said the Government had also announced the setting up of an independent monitoring panel to audit the plant’s construction as an additional measure. On the residue’s radiation monitoring, Mustapa said the plant had yet to start operation and the Government had not appoint independent experts to analyse the radiation level of the residues produced by the
plant….. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/3/6/nation/20120306154934&sec=nation
Shut down or there’ll be another anti-Lynas rally, Govt told http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/2/28/nation/10818800&sec=nation The Star, Malaysia, 6 March 12, KUANTAN: Another anti-Lynas rally will be held if the Government does not shut down the rare earth refinery project in Gebeng, said the Himpunan Hijau committee which organised the first protest on Sunday.Its chairman Wong Tack said he was disappointed with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s statement that the Government had to look for a solution that would be acceptable to the people without affecting investments. “We cannot accept his statement. Therefore, the Himpunan Hijau 3.0 rally is on – unless the project is cancelled,” Wong said at a press conference yesterday. The organisers had called on the Government to respond within 24 hours after the Himpunan Hijau 2.0 rally ended two days ago. Najib had said Lynas was looking for an uninhabited location to store the waste material from the plant, although it was scientifically safe. Wong said the committee would discuss with Bersih chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan on the possibility of holding a joint rally soon.
Quebec rejects uranium mining
Quebec Says No to Uranium World Business Report, 4 Mar 12, In 2009, on the North-Shore of Quebec, the population of Sept-ÃŽles, with the help of “Sept-ÃŽles sans uranium”, had expressed its opposition against Terre Venture. The population won, and the company abandoned its project. Continue reading
Malaysia needs an independent panel to scrutinise Lynas’ radioactive wastes
’Let independent panel monitor Lynas’, New Straits Times, 05 March 2012, KUALA LUMPUR: The government has been urged to hire independent monitoring bodies to publish the radiation readings of residue to be disposed by Lynas Corporation. Environmental Protection Society Malaysia adviser Gurmit Singh said this was important as proof that the radiation level was safe as the government had claimed…
…. “As long as the research and findings by the government are not published, there is always going to be concern,” he told the New Straits Times when contacted yesterday. Citing the now-closed Asian Rare Earth (ARE) project in Bukit Merah, Perak, as an example, he urged the government to reconsider its decision to continue with the project.
“Shifting the disposal site is not going to address bigger problems that will occur later in the future, the site might be shifted far from where people live but there is still the eco-system and animals could also be affected. ”Radiation is not something that can be immediately seen or felt, hence the phobia by the public.”
On Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the government had decided to ask Lynas Corporation to dispose of residue from its rare earth processing plant to a dedicated site far from residential areas.
Lynas ordered to relocate its proposed radioactive waste site
Malaysia Upholds Decision on Lynas; but Wants Relocation of Residue Disposal Facility, International Business Times, By Esther Tanquintic-Misa | March 5, 2012 The Malaysian government continues to uphold Australian miner Lynas Corp., and its beleaguered Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) after it directed the Australian company to relocate its earlier proposed residue disposal facility to a site that is far from the LAMP location in Gebeng, Kuantan province.
Malaysian news agencies reported over the weekend it was Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who specifically ordered the rare earths miner to locate an alternative location for its residue disposal facility that is away from Gebeng and its residential communities.
Suffice to say, this could mean Lynas Corp.’s assurance of a winning edge over its detractors who have turned the business investment into a political mill. The Lynas plant would remain at its present location, Mr Najib was quoted as saying by www.asiaone.com. The new location of the residue disposal facility would be announced later……
On Feb. 17, Gebeng residents filed a case against Lynas Corp., as well as an application for leave for judicial review, over the temporary operating licence it received from the AELB and the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (Mosti) issued end January.
The High Court Apellate and Special Powers Judge Justice Rohana Yusuf had scheduled Mar. 20 as initial hearing.
Danger of uranium and plutonium use by terrorists
Resolution on the use of uranium, plutonium to be tackled at summit, Business World, Philippines, 5 Mar 12, THE GOVERNMENT will be pushing for an international resolution that would tighten security measures and prevent nuclear resources such as uranium and plutonium from being used for terrorist activities, a high-ranking Executive official said late last week.
Mr. Binay remarked that with the pressing threat of nuclear terrorism, member states of the IAEA — a specialized United Nations body comprising 153 countries and aims to promote safe and peaceful nuclear technologies — “should not only focus on the possibility of terrorists being able to use nuclear bombs in the future, but should urgently improve their respective security and safety measures in the storing and keeping of their uranium and plutonium resources.”…. http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Nation&title=Resolution-on-the-use-of-uranium,-plutonium-to-be-tackled-at-summit&id=47788
Hackers break into Lynas’ website, while Malaysian court case continues
Australian miner hacked, WA Today, Rania Spooner February 27, 2012 In a show of opposition to a near-complete rare earths processing plant in Malaysia, the website of Australian miner Lynas Corporation has been hacked. WAtoday.com.au understands the miner’s website was brought down on Sunday as reports emerged of more than 5000 protestors converging on the seaside city of Kuantan, near the site of the controversial facility.
The Lynas website was still down at 7.30pm (EST) Monday, with a message from the company advising: “We are currently experiencing some technical difficulties at the moment. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
A hacker, using the name “4z1″ and claiming to be a Malaysian citizen, has taken credit for bringing the site down in a statement on a personal blog.
In a rough translation of 4z1′s statement from Chinese into English, internal Malaysian race issues and fear of radiation from the plant was the explanation for the hacking….
A group of Kuantan residents have launched court proceedings against Malaysia’s Atomic Energy Licensing Board, the Malaysian Department of Environment and Lynas Malaysia over the plant, the company reported on Thursday. The group has sought a review of the plant’s temporary operating license granted by the AELB early this month and a halt to the commencement of operations, due in the coming weeks, while such a review is undertaken….
The plant would be used to process concentrate from the Mount Weld deposit in Western Australia’s Goldfields region, believed to be the largest of its kind in the world. The company previously announced plans to transport the concentrate from Mount Weld to Malaysia via road and sea. http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/australian-miner-hacked-20120227-1tyn0.html#ixzz1o5i4ZS2d
One stop nuclear shop AREVA suffering, as nuclear industry declines
Areva, which has been designed as a one-stop nuclear shop, has been affected by massive impairments on its uranium assets and a slowdown of the nuclear industry following Japan’s Fukushima disaster
Areva Accelerates Disposals By GERALDINE AMIEL, WSJ, March 2, 2012, PARIS—French state-controlled nuclear energy company Areva SA announced two asset disposals as part of a plan to boost competitiveness and better position it to face a slowing civil atomic industry, one year after Japan’s Fukushima nuclear catastrophe. Continue reading
Debts force First Uranium to sell off assets
First Uranium to sell two South African assets for $405 mln, Mar 2, 2012 (Reuters) – First Uranium Corp said it would sell two assets in South Africa for $405 million, as the gold and uranium miner scrambles to liquidate itself to pay off its debts.
The company will sell Mine Waste Solutions, a tailings recovery project, to South Africa-based AngloGold Ashanti Ltd for $335 million in cash.
First Uranium also said it would sell its stake in First Uranium Ltd, which owns the Ezulwini Mining Co, to Australian miner Gold One International Ltd for $70 million. Gold One will also provide a $10 million loan facility to First Uranium.
The company said it is moving ahead with plans to liquidate the company and will use the proceeds to pay its securityholders and shareholders…. http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE8210CP20120302?feedType=RSS&feedName=investingNews
Rare earths company Lynas wants the profits, but nobody wants the radioactive wastes
Malaysia – How to dispose of the waste? MY Sin Chew Daily,, 2012-03-01 By LIM SUE GOAN, Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE, Four government departments have earlier recommended that Lynas should ship back waste material produced by the refinery plant to Australia. They have a certain representativeness as four departments account for 16% of the total 25 departments.
It was reported that the Malaysian Cabinet has accepted the recommendation and required Lynas to ship back all waste material back to Western Australia. It is indeed a positive development, but is it feasible or just a wishful thinking?
Western Australian Minister for Mines and Petroleum Norman Moore told the Parliament in April last year that the Australian Government would not accept responsibility for any waste produced by Lynas. Even if the recommendation works, there is still a distance from the anti-Lynas group’s demand of revoking the temporary operating licence.
The Cabinet must have a clear decision on the issue, whether to revoke the licence or keep the refinery plant. If they decide to revoke the licence, they have to study how to deal with the aftermath problems, including explaining to the international community that Malaysia does not deliberately violate the agreement. The country might also have to compensate a huge sum of money, particularly when the rare-earth plant’s construction is almost complete.
If they decide to keep the plant, they should then ponder over how to ensure that the waste material will not threaten the people’s health. The chemical toxicity of thorium is estimated to be little and the risk is mostly from its radioactivity. The most stable isotope of thorium is 232Th, with a half-life of 14.05 billion years. Can Lynas’ permanent waste disposal facilities withstand the test of time and natural disasters?
In politics, the BN must also get prepared for attacks, particularly from political leaders of eastern Peninsula.
Since the anti-Lynas movement is in full swing in the civil society, BN leaders must think twice before making a speech. If they make a slip of the tongue, including calling it a local community issue and threatening to sell cendol at the rallies, it would only heighten the public’s ill-feeling. As Himpunan Hijau 2.0 chairman Wong Tuck said, the then process of approving the investment of Lynas lacked transparency and who actually allows the plant to be built in Kuantan? Why was the environment-threatening projects approved within a week?
……. we wonder how severe is the assessment procedure in Malaysia. It is understood that the Pahang Environment Department had given its approval only three weeks after Lynas submitted its environmental impact assessment report, while the radiation impact assessment procedure was completely opaque.
Should the rare-earth refinery plant be kept after the exposure of so many management weaknesses in the approval process? http://www.mysinchew.com/node/70809
Kazakhstan says Japan will continue to buy its uranium
Japan to Purchase Contracted Kazakh Uranium, Kazatomprom Says Bloomberg, By Nariman Gizitdinov and Yuriy Humber – Feb 23, 2012 Kazatomprom (KZAP), the state nuclear company in the world’s biggest uranium-producing nation, said its Japanese customers will take delivery of the fuel they agreed to buy even as the country idles its atomic stations.
The supply contracts with Japan haven’t changed, Chief Executive Officer Vladimir Shkolnik told reporters in Almaty, Kazakhstan, today without identifying the buyers…..
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-24/japan-to-purchase-contracted-kazakh-uranium-kazatomprom-says.html
Questions on Australian company Lynas’ radioactive wastes plan in Malaysia
The Lynas Advanced Material project will produce 20,000 tones of radioactive waste, which is 10 times more than the Asian Rare Earth factory in Bukit Merah.
1. Why didn’t Lynas set-up the rare earth plant near its source of extraction in Western Australia as it would have saved a huge amount of money in shipping costs?
2. Why didn’t Lynas obtain an approval from the authorities in Western Australia to set-up the plant?
3. Could the authorities in Western Australia be concerned about the possible radiation leaks, health hazards, birth defects, lead poisoning and other complications?
4. Shouldn’t this in itself raise a red flag with the Malaysian authorities?
Gov’t fails to learn from Bkt Merah tragedy http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2012/02/22/govt-fails-to-learn-from-bkt-merah-tragedy/ Free Malaysia Today February 22, 2012 Is the RM700 million in Lynas investment more important to the government than the lives of its citizens? By Charles Santiago Severe birth defects, eight leukemia cases over five years in a community of 11,000, tears and anguish of the poor people from a largely shoe-making community – these are not news headlines. Neither is it the plot of a movie.
These are the consequences of carelessly allowing the Asian Rare Earth factory to be built in Bukit Merah, Perak in 1982. When Mitsubishi Chemical started operating its rare earth factory, the villagers complained of choking sensation, pungent smell, coughs and colds. The community also saw a sharp rise in the cases of infant deaths, congenital disease, leukemia and lead poisoning. While US$100 million is estimated to be the clean-up cost of the factory and dump site, the largest in the rare earth industry, it has not wiped out the memories and heartache of the villagers who lost their children and loved ones.
But 30 years later, the government has again allowed a rare earth factory to be set-up by Lynas Corporation Ltd in Gebeng, Kuantan. This means the government has waved the green flag with full knowledge of the possible consequences and deadly effects. Continue reading
1 This Month
of the week – Shut Down Drone Warfare!
Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko
Petition to revoke the licensing of the Near Surface Nuclear Disposal Facility (NSDF) at Chalk River. https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-7247
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