Jon Lamb, Darwin
Record world prices for uranium and the federal government's green light for new uranium mines has spurred exploration for uranium deposits across the Northern Territory. Since March, the number of companies searching for viable deposits has doubled to at least 25.
The frenzy follows Australian government trade talks with China in August and September, with the supply of coal and uranium to meet China's growing energy needs a central focus of negotiations.
Nuclear energy production in China is expected to increase fourfold by 2020, with China's largest nuclear power company, China National Nuclear Corporation, projecting to invest US$50 billion in nuclear power plants over the next 15 years.
NT Minerals Council chief Kezia Purick believes that a new mine will be operational in the NT in two to five years, followed by a second mine five to 10 years after that.
Exploration is taking place in several environmentally significant locations, including Aboriginal land near Alice Springs and across Arnhem Land. Other possible locations include deposits that have been mined before, such as the infamous Rum Jungle, where operations severely contaminated the surrounding Finnis River flood plains that adjoin Litchfield National Park.
In related developments, the declaration by former prime minister Bob Hawke that Australia should become an international centre for collecting nuclear waste has angered environmental organisations and strengthened the resolve of newly formed anti-nuclear waste dump groups in the NT.
Traditional owners near Alice Springs have also become more vocal in their opposition to the nuclear waste dump, especially the proposed sites at Mount Everard (one of three sites being considered by the federal government). Kathleen Martin Williams from the Athenge Lhere people told ABC Radio on October 4: "I'd like Johnny Howard and his sidekicks, especially that [education minister] Brendan Nelson, to come here, take off their shoes and walk in the red sand with us ... Maybe they will appreciate our country. Maybe."
Since July, campaign groups to stop the nuclear waste dump have formed in Darwin, Katherine and Alice Springs. The Darwin-based No Radioactive Waste Alliance is organising a protest on October 24 outside a hearing of the House of Representatives Industry and Resources Committee inquiry into the development of the non-fossil fuel energy industry in Australia. The committee is heavily stacked with supporters of the uranium mining industry.
For further details email <no-waste@eco-logical.info> or phone (08) 8948 3339.
From Green Left Weekly, October 12, 2005.
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