NSW Cannot Risk a U-Turn on Uranium Mining

The Sydney Morning Herald yesterday today that the O’Farrell government met with the head of the Australian Uranium Association in mid June, and has not ruled out overturning the state’s 25-year ban on uranium mining and exploration.

The Yellowcake Road Collective, a Sydney anti-nuclear group, condemns this development.

Spokesperson Emma Kefford says, “The 1986 ban was implemented for a good reason – uranium mining is highly polluting for the surrounding land and poses considerable danger to mine workers’ health. It is also the first stage of an extremely hazardous industry, as evidenced in the recent Fukushima nuclear disasters in Japan.”

Spokesperson Hannah Walters says, “There are no known uranium deposits in NSW, yet there are ample and untapped clean energy resources. The uranium and the nuclear industry are simply unsafe – why waste resources exploring for it?  We want NSW to become a renewable energy state, not a nuclear state.”

In May, Federal Minister for Energy and Resources Martin Ferguson contacted both the NSW and Victorian governments urging them to wind back their bans on uranium exploration.

Ms Walters says, “Martin Ferguson is pushing his personal pro-nuclear agenda onto the Federal ALP and now our state governments. He is attempting to steam-roll ahead with Australia’s first nuclear waste dump at Muckaty in the Northern Territory, despite strong opposition from the local community. We expect that there will be similarly strong resistance to the prospect of opening up NSW to uranium mining.”


For more information contact:

Emma Kefford - 0437028245
yellowcakeroad@gmail.com

The Yellowcake Road Collective is a Sydney-based group working towards a nuclear free and clean energy future. We are a member group of Friends of the Earth Australia.