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Friends of the Earth Adelaide > Nuclear

Media Release: PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS BASED ON MISINFORMATION:

August 10, 2015

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.  However, there are substantive differences between the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988 and the legal framework that does apply to BHP Billiton.  For example, one of the differences between the law that applies to BHP Billiton, and that which applies elsewhere in the state, is that certain matters of Aboriginal Heritage are decided by BHP Billiton instead of the Minister.  This includes determining which areas are to be protected. A corporate body with a commercial interest in land also making determinations on its competing non-commercial values is arguably a conflict of interest.  At the least it is a substantive difference from such powers being held by the Minister.”

“Does the Royal Commission have such little respect for Aboriginal Heritage matters that they consider such details irrelevant?” asked Ms Calan.  “The starting point for any credible consultation process is the presentation of accurate information.  Curiously, the Royal Commission advised Friends of the Earth to put our concerns regarding this issue in a submission, sidestepping the key issue – that the public are making submissions based on inaccurate information provided in the Issues Paper.  The dismissive response of the Royal Commission undermines any confidence that the Issues Papers are accurate overviews of the nuclear industry.”

For comment contact:

Nectaria Calan

0432 388 665

Friends of the Earth Adelaide

Clean Futures, FoE, Media releases, Mining, Nuclear, Sustainability

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Movie: Uranium: Twisting the Dragon’s Tail premieres SBS 9 August

July 21, 2015

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

Uranium Twisting the Dragon's Tail

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.

Derek explores the birth of the Atomic Age and the dreamy promise of uranium’s clean limitless power. For a time, uranium even becomes sexy. We learn how thousands of lives are saved through its ability to diagnose and treat cancer. But the price of uranium is anxiety. New words enter the language, such as ‘fallout’ and ‘Mutually Assured Destruction’. Uranium becomes a nightmare.

Derek takes us through the scary silence of abandoned radioactive cities – places such as Chernobyl and Fukushima, where uranium has poisoned the earth. He helps us understand the nature of the extraordinary power in uranium, a power that can bring us energy without end, or kill every one of us. Uranium changes everything.

Destroyer and saviour, dream and nightmare: the extraordinary paradox of uranium.

Uranium – twisting the dragon’s tail is produced by Emmy Award-wining Australian science television specialists Genepool Productions, for SBS Australia, PBS America, and ZDF/Arte (France/Germany).

The series was filmed in 2014-2015 across England, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, the United States, Japan and Australia.

 

Clean Futures, Climate, Mining, Nuclear, Old_Notes, Weapons proliferation

Nuclear Royal Commission submission deadlines extended

July 19, 2015

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.

Clean Futures, Nuclear, Weapons proliferation

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MR: SCARCELY ACCURATE: NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE ROYAL COMMISSION ‘ISSUES PAPER’ INACCURATE

July 15, 2015

MEDIA RELEASE     

13th July 2015

SCARCELY ACCURATE: NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE ROYAL COMMISSION ‘ISSUES PAPER’ INACCURATE

Friends of the Earth have informed Royal Commissioner Kevin Scarce and the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission of a significant inaccuracy in Issues Paper 1, regarding the current and future legal framework for the nuclear industry in South Australia.  According to the Royal Commission, the Issues Papers are intended to provide factual information and background to assist the public in making submissions.

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.

“This is not the case for BHP Billiton, South Australia’s biggest miner,” explained 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 also apply to any future expansion of uranium mining by BHP Billiton at Olympic Dam or in the surrounding area.”

“This inaccuracy is significant as it misrepresents existing regulatory and legal arrangements and potential arrangements in the future, issues on which the Issue Paper invites public comment,” said Ms Calan. “The largest of the two operating uranium mines in the state is exempt from the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988, alongside a further 15, 000 square kilometres of South Australia. BHP Billiton is also the most likely candidate for the expansion of uranium mining, also the subject of Issues Paper 1.  It is negligent to omit that this company is subject to a different legal framework than other companies operating in the state.”

“We have requested that the Royal Commission address this mistake, adequately publicise the required corrections, and extend the upcoming deadline for submissions to allow people to consider the new information that the Royal Commission should provide. The public cannot make submissions based on inaccurate information.”

N.B.  Legal details are provided as an appendix.

For comment contact:

Nectaria Calan

Friends of the Earth Adelaide

Appendix

Legal details:

  • Pursuant to section 9(10) of the Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratification) Act 1982, the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988 does not apply to the Olympic Dam mine. Rather, the Indenture Act recognises the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1979, a historical version of the Act that was effectively repealed by the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988.  The Aboriginal Heritage Act 1979 was never proclaimed, so has never operated as a law in South Australia. Section 9(10) of the Indenture Act further  states that any subsequent amendment or repeal of the 1979 Act shall not affect its application for the purposes of the Olympic Dam mine, without the consent of the Joint Venturers (now BHP Billiton).
  • Section 9 of the Indenture Act also grants BHP Billiton exemptions from the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1979. In particular, section 9 exempts BHP Billiton from provisions in sections 21 and 26 of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1979 which relate to protected sites and the removal of artefacts.  Broadly, the significance of these exemptions is that lands subject to a mining lease (currently the Olympic Dam mine), may not be declared by the Minister to be a protected area in order to protect an aboriginal heritage site without the agreement of BHP Billiton, or unless the site has already been identified by the company in the Environmental Impact Statement (Section 9(5) and 9(6)). The company must also agree before a person may enter and excavate the land to remove an item of aboriginal heritage, on land subject to a mining lease or associated infrastructure, and lands subject to exploration licences granted subject to the Indenture Act (Section 9(7)(c)) . Under the Aboriginal Heritage Act these matters are decided by the Minister, whereas the Indenture Act grants BHP Billiton ultimate discretion.
  • Although most parts of the Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratification) (Amendment of Indenture) Amendment Act 2011 are yet to commence, this Act would extend the application of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1979 to the future expansion of mining activities by BHP, alongside exemptions similar to those outlined above.
  • Pursuant to sections 9(1) and 9(10) of the Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratification) Act 1982, the application of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1979, subject to the exemptions outlined in Section 9, extends beyond the Olympic Dam project area to cover the much larger geographic area of the “Stuart Shelf Area.” This covers most of the Stuart Shelf at some 15 000 square kilometres. This estimate was provided in the Legislative Council by Gail Gago, with the qualification that it is an estimation as the government did not have an exact figure (South Australian Parliament, Legislative Council, Hansard, 24th November 2011, p. 4719). The Stuart Shelf Area is defined in Schedule 6 and Map B of the Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratification) Act 1982.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clean Futures, Media releases, Mining, Nuclear

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