Comment: No to building any nukes, just good info on u mining! Keep the ban!
The Scourge of Uranium Mining
Uranium mining around the world has increased greatly in the recent years. In particular, many African countries have been receiving much attention from the mining industry: in Niger, Mauritania, Zambia, Malawi, Gabon, Tanzania, South Africa, Namibia, the Central African Republic, and elsewhere, uranium exploration and/or exploitation projects are currently in development.
These and other countries in the developing world are keen to deal with the multinational mining companies because of their desire for economic development. In turn, the lack of strict mining and environmental laws, and the very limited regulatory and enforcement regimes present there are all factors that help to make these countries more attractive to the mining companies.
A new report - Uranium from Africa. Mitigation of uranium mining impacts on society and environment by industry and governments, by the Dutch research organisations WISE and SOMO - compares today's practices in the mining sector in Africa, with those carried out in Australia and Canada, although even there - despite good laws, a strong judicial system, powerful NGOs, and democratic governments - uranium mining practices still threaten indigenous societies and natural protected areas in Canada and Australia.
Specifically, it examines mines in only three countries, taking them to be representative of the rest: Namibia, South Africa and the Central African Republic.
The companies involved in these mines include Rio Tinto, Paladin, Areva - which has interests in building new plants in the UK - First Uranium, and AngloGold Ashanti.
The survey found the following catalogue of failures:
environmental pollution uncontrolled at many sites
citizens and workers remaining uninformed about their radiation exposure
radiation control only carried out by the mining company
local communities not having a voice in far-stretching decisions about their land and health
high-impact mining operations located in sensitive desert regions and natural protected areas
payments not being reported
documents and contracts remaining unpublished
agreements known only by companies and government
While some companies are developing serious corporate social and environmental responsibilities programmes, others seem not to ignore these issues completely, or simply make a slight effort to greenwash their operations.
Alarming reports from NGOs, international and national, in all the African states the researchers visited, showed that mitigation of uranium mining impacts is insufficient.
Namibia, after decades of mining, lacks proper laws, and fails to protect its people and environment.
It is because it is cheaper and easier to mine in a situation like this, that companies which supply uranium to developed countries choose these developing countries in which to operate.
Lack of information, transparency and accountability prvail throughout the industry. These are crucial factors that prevent a population in a country from properly profiting from their natural resources.
AREVA, though, is still highly centralised and is giving little attention to local issues such as stakeholder communication and public participation.
It seemed to be only lightly engaged in mitigation measures, which seems surprising for a large nuclear energy company partly owned by the French government.
The other companies perform very poorly.
Even in Canada and Australia there is insufficient research to find out whether individual deaths can be attributed to having worked in a uranium mine. Hardly any work has been done in this area. This means that governments and mining companies can deny responsibility with little difficulty.
Read more:
http://theenergycollective.com/david-k-thorpe/61328/nuclear-industry-must-come-clean-and-get-clean-we-build-more-plants
