The waste problem is particularly ignored in URANIUM MINING AND MILLING
This is easier to ignore, as it has always gone on in rural areas, most often in the homelands of indigenous people, safely far away from the concerns of the owners, directors and shareholders of the uranium company. Below: some examples
Africa: In Niger – AREVA continues to mine uranium, leaving evermore radioactive pollution of the land, air and water, of this impoverished population. Left in the Dust – Areva’s uranium mining in Niger
Greenpeace International: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/nuclear-reaction/left-in-the-dust-arevas-uranium-mining-in-nig/blog/11734/
In USA and Canada, long gone uranium mines have left radioactive wastelands for the home areas of indigenous peoples, as well as of the rural poor. Uranium movie makes comeback:
http://www.socialdoc.net/magnus/2008/06/05/uranium-movie-makes-comeback/
Many of the companies that left hazardous sites in the 1980s are the same companies that are receiving new leases for projects now…..the mess left behind is staggering: In New Mexico,…..In Colorado,…Near Moab, Utah,….Wyoming….. Arizona is a unique and potentially expensive case. D.A. Barber: Hot Rocks: Hidden Cost and Foreign Ownership of “Clean” Nuclear Fuel Emerging :
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/da-barber/hot-rocks-hidden-cost-and_b_518956.html
Central Asia: “…..little thought was given to the disposal of radioactive waste. Approximately 2 million cubic meters of uranium tailings were buried in the area, according to Kyrgyz government statistics. It is the largest such site in the country. In addition to the 23 tailings dumps, workers sprinkled almost a million cubic meters of uranium waste rock atop 13 dumps nearby, on land still exposed to the rain and annual mudslides. below mountain of uranium tailings- Tajikistan
Many of the tailing sites and waste rock dumps are now poorly marked. Sheep graze on them.Water drains through the radioactive material and downstream into Uzbekistan and the Syr Darya, which winds its way through Central Asia’s most densely populated areas… EurasiaNet Civil Society – Kyrgyzstan: Radioactive Legacy Vexes Bishkek
In Australia old uranium mining and milling left radioactive tailings to be blown away, (Radium Hill) washed into the sea (Spenser’s Gulf), seeping into underground waters, (Mary Kathleen), poisoning rivers (Rum Jungle) . Today’s mine at Ranger leaks radioactivity into the World Heritage Kakadu National Park. BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam uranium mine leaks radioactivity into groundwater, while BHP plans the world’s biggest uranium mine and biggest uranium tailings dump at that site.
Please visit this wonderful wesite:
http://nuclear-news.net/2012/10/09/powerful-opposition-growing-against-nuclear-waste-in-saskatchewan/
