The next antinuclear coalition meeting will be this Thursday 20th August 6pm start at Mad Mouse Alley, 58 Light Square, City (on the eastern end of the square, along the alley to the north of the People’s Choice Credit Union building). Mad Mouse is a DIY not-for-profit social centre.
Enquiries robyn.wood@foe.org.au or 0423 219 096
MEDIA RELEASE
23rd July 2015
PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS BASED ON MISINFORMATION:
ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE FAILS TO CORRECT FACTUAL ERROR IN ISSUES PAPER
Friends of the Earth Adelaide have recently informed the Royal Commission into the Nuclear Fuel Cycle of a factual error in Issues Paper 1, concerning the regulation of Aboriginal Heritage matters in South Australia. Issues Paper 1, which deals with the exploration, extraction and milling of uranium, states that Aboriginal sites of significance are protected by the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988.
“The Royal Commission was informed in writing that this is not the case for BHP Billiton, South Australia’s biggest miner,” said Nectaria Calan of Friends of the Earth Adelaide. “Under the Indenture Act, which applies solely to BHP Billiton, the company’s Olympic Dam mine and some
15, 000 square kilometres of the surrounding Stuart Shelf are exempt from the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988. This exemption would carry through to any future expansion of uranium mining by BHP Billiton at Olympic Dam or in the surrounding area.”
In his recent response to Friends of the Earth Adelaide Royal Commissioner Kevin Scarce insisted that in the event of an expansion of uranium mining Aboriginal Heritage matters would be regulated by the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988.
“This is simply not the law throughout the state,” said Ms Calan. “Friends of the Earth Adelaide have supplied the Royal Commission with referenced information regarding the Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratification) (Amendment of Indenture) Amendment Act 2011, which amends the current Indenture Act to apply to any expansion formally announced by the company up until October 2016. If it was an honest mistake to begin with, it is negligent not to correct it.”
“At one point, the Royal Commissions reply almost acknowledges the inaccuracy by suggesting that it is the substance rather than source of legal protections that is important. … Read more >>
Hiroshima Day Vigil – a public event to remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki 70 years on
5pm – 7pm, Thursday 6 August in Victoria Square / Tarndanyangga
Uranium – Twisting the Dragon’s Tail
The untold story of the most controversial rock on earth.
Premieres in Australia on SBS 8.30pm Sunday 9th, 16th & 23rd of August
The untold story of the most wondrous and terrifying rock on Earth.
Legends say there’s a world beneath this one where a dragon lies sleeping. They say be careful how you wake the dragon. The year 2015 marks the seventieth anniversary of the most profound change in the history of human enterprise on Earth: the unleashing of the elemental force within uranium, the explosion of an atomic bomb, the unleashing of the dragon. Come on an epic journey with physicist and YouTube phenomenon Dr Derek Muller to discover the untold story of the most wondrous and terrifying rock on Earth.
Love it or loathe it, whatever your views on uranium, this series will challenge them.
Uranium – twisting the dragon’s tail is an Australian made series, an epic journey through nine countries and over a century of stories. Part science and part history, it’s an adventure brought to life by an exciting new personality in television science: Australian-born Canadian raised, Dr Derek Muller. Creator of the hit YouTube channel Veritasium, this is his first appearance as host of an international television documentary series.
In Uranium – twisting the dragon’s tail Derek unleashes a historian’s passion for detail, a physicist’s understanding of science, and a journalist’s nose for a good story. Derek takes a fresh path through the story of uranium, the most desired and the most hated rock on Earth.
Across three fascinating episodes, Derek follows uranium from its birth, forged in an exploding star six billion years ago, through the ancient dreamtime stories of Australia’s indigenous people, and into the laboratories of the first nuclear physicists. Derek takes us down medieval mines and across the arid beauty of a New Mexico desert where the power of uranium was unleashed in the first atomic bomb.
In Whyalla, at the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission Community Consultation session, Jon Bok told the audience that the Commission would consider receiving late submissions (on application for an extension) until late August.
Contact details for deadline extensions are here.
Friends of the Earth Adelaide are working on submissions for each of the four issues papers.