Beyond the mine – what happens to our uranium?

While mining companies say that current international safeguards to prevent uranium from being used outside the civil nuclear power cycle will ensure the safe and responsible use of the mineral once it leaves our shores, some commentators interviewed by ECOS say these safeguards are inadequate.

ECOS also investigates the social responsibilities of mining companies and governments to indigenous landowners around the Ranger uranium mine near Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory.

There is some good news about increasing indigenous involvement with land management in the Ranger mining area, as well as efforts by Ranger management to work with local Aboriginal communities to help improve social and health conditions.

Ian Dunlop – a former senior executive in the international oil, gas and coal industry – provides an insight into the issue of peak oil and the prospect of the world entering ‘the arena of dangerous climate change’.

Dunlop proposes that the most equitable and practical way to reduce emissions is to set an international target of per capita carbon emissions, which would require wealthy developed countries to work harder to reduce emissions than countries in the developing world.

Peter Andrews is the founder of Natural Sequence Farming, an innovative approach to farming that seeks to restore water flows in the Australian landscape to pre-European patterns. ECOS looks at why more scientists and farmers are turning to Andrews’ theories in their efforts to rehabilitate degraded land.

ECOS also reports on the booming carbon trading market overseas and how the ‘cap and trade’ market has taken off in the European Union. However, Australia’s decision to postpone setting carbon emission reduction targets and a carbon price means that we could miss the boat.

Other stories in ECOS 138 include:

• Ghost nets: indigenous sea rangers in remote northern Australian waters clean up abandoned fishing nets that are threatening marine life.
• Cutting energy use in your home: an electrical engineer takes a closer look at what really consumes energy in the home and offers sage advice on how to cut electricity bills and carbon emissions.
• Desalination plants: they are planned across the country to supply fresh water to our cities, but are they the answer to our water woes?
• Green printing: despite living in the so-called digital age, we still read and produce print materials, but there are more sustainable choices we can make to reduce the environmental footprint of print.
• Locals join forces to take on aquatic weeds: it looked like an impossible task, but a concerted community effort to clean up an aquatic weed infestation has breathed new life into a local creek.
• Sustainability business strategy: the difference between companies that relegate corporate social responsibility (CSR) to their public affairs department and those that embrace it as a core value.

ECOS magazine – Issue 138 is available at major national newsagents or at ECOS Current Issue 138.

ECOS covers environmental and sustainable development issues relevant to Australia and the Asia-Pacific.

Download image at: Beyond the mine – what happens to our uranium?