Despite Cabinet lifting the ban on uranium mining in Western Australia, The Anti-Nuclear Alliance of W.A. (ANAWA) is confident that mining will not go ahead, according to spokesperson, Jo Vallentine.
"It’s a long way from a bad idea to a dirty mine," Jo Vallentine said. "There are enormous hurdles for the uranium mining industry to contend with, apart from strong community opposition to taking W.A. down the dangerous nuclear pathway.
Premier Barnett’s enthusiasm for uranium mining does not take account of complex regulatory requirements, nor of the skills shortage in this area, or of infrastructure shortfalls, like a dedicated port.
Neither will finances flow readily into a speculative area of uncertainty when money markets are tight.
The Premier and his uranium mining mates are backing a loser: this is not a growing industry, but a shrinking one, as more nuclear power stations are being "retired" than new ones are being built.
Currently six out of ten of the United Kingdom’s nuclear power stations are either shut down due to technical faults, or producing way below forecast capacity.
Nuclear power is not part of the solution to climate change .... nine out of ten phases of nuclear production result in substantial greenhouse emissions, from mining and milling leaving behind massive amounts of radioactive waste with ubiquitous radon gas free flowing, thus putting workers’ health at risk) to the transport, processing and re-processing, through to the unanswered question of waste, and as well as that, the possible diversion into nuclear weapons.
Another reason for community disquiet at the prospect of uranium mining is its gross water usage: in this dry continent, with less reliable rainfall, it is madness to think that W.A. would replicate the drain on scarce water resources, which BHP Billiton currently uses – a
massive 33 million litres of water daily, at great cost to the Great Artesian Basin, but at no cost to themselves.
People of Western Australia will not allow this mining to occur.
The Government will face enormous community resistance to this backward-thinking policy.
We say to the Government "Wrong Way – Go Back", Jo Vallentine concluded.
