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Western Australia has started the autumn season with searing temperatures that have broken several weather bureau records.

Carnarvon experienced its hottest day on record yesterday at 47.8 degrees, which also equalled the Australian record for the hottest day in March. Geraldton broke its record for the hottest March day yesterday with 45.2 degrees and Perth equalled its second hottest March day with 42 degrees.

Farmers are being alerted to check livestock water supplies as the mid-west swelters in its third consecutive day above 40 degrees Celsius.

Water management a top priority, says ERA: Water was shunted around the site, from the pit after heavy rainfall, through retention ponds and into the giant tailings dam. Ranger had built a $25 million plant to help make sure all the water was treated. Managing water was the No. 1 issue for the mine, said an Energy Resources Australia spokesperson, Amanda Buckley.

Deluge poses no threat, says ERA, experts think otherwise: Buckley explained the mine often closed after heavy rainfall, but this week’s deluge posed no environmental issues. Australian standards were high compared with many overseas mines, said Dr Gavin Mudd, a uranium mining expert and lecturer of engineering at Monash University. “But we still cannot answer the fundamental questions about rehabilitation [of land after mining ceases] and we still have accidents. So, from a scientific point of view, it is still not good enough.”

Rum Jungle, an example of mismanagement: The Rum Jungle uranium mine, about 64 kilometres south of Darwin, is one example of how not to manage a site, critics say. At Australia’s first large-scale uranium mine, the dams, which were meant to prevent acidic materials and heavy metals used in the milling process from reaching rivers and streams, frequently overflowed during the wet season. The environmental damage it caused had still not being fully repaired since the mine was closed in 1971.

ERA’s water treatment not foolproof, says expert: Mudd supported Energy Resource Australia’s investment in a sophisticated water treatment facility. But he said it was not without its problems because of the nature of some of the highly contaminated water it dealt with. He was also concerned that tailings being dumped back into an old mine pit could leach out because the upper parts of the pit walls were permeable.

Land rehabilitation will remain an issue: The academic, who has visited many existing and disused mines here and overseas remained sceptical about rehabilitating land after uranium mining had ceased because of the industry’s poor track record so far. “You need to keep an eye on the old uranium sites to see how they are being rehabilitated and how water was used so that you can draw conclusions about current mines,” he said. “Give me 100 years and then let’s see how good today’s standards are.” He said that because Ranger was planning to extend the life of the mine out to 2011, more room would be needed for the tailings. “Tailings dams are not cheap to build … and it is going to be a huge problem rehabilitating them.”

The Sydney Morning Herald, 3/3/2007, p. 28

Source: Erisk Net

Poison DUst tells the story of young soldiers who thought they came home safely from the war, but didn’t. Of a veteran’s young daughter whose birth defect is strikingly similar to birth defects suffered by many Iraqi children. Of thousands of young vets who are suffering from the symptoms of uranium poisoning, and the thousands more who are likely to find themselves with these ailments in the years to come. Of a government unwilling to admit there might be a problem here.

Filmmaker Sue Harris skillfully weaves the stories of these young veterans with scientific explanations of the nature of "DU" and its dangers, including interviews with former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, New York Daily News reporter Juan Gonzalez, noted physicist Michio Kaku, Dr. Rosalie Bertell, Dr. Helen Caldicott and Major Doug Rokke- the former U.S. Army DU Project head.

Western Australia has started the autumn season with searing temperatures that have broken several weather bureau records. Click here for more details

Some argue that the solution is nuclear, a cost-effective way of producing electricity without any CO2 emissions. But the nuclear alternative faces a major hurdle in that people remain unconvinced about long-term, safe solutions for disposal and management of nuclear waste, according to Claude Mandil, director of the International Energy Agency, in The Australian Financial Review (1/3/2007, p.14).

Nuclear path can’t be only solution: The nuclear avenue is cost-effective only when producing electricity, and even if waste issues were solved, the nuclear path could not be the only solution.

Coal’s CO2 problems: Some argue that fossil fuels, and in particular coal, could solve the problem. True, coal is inexpensive and widely distributed. But its use emits enormous amounts of CO2.

CO2 dump idea "seems promising": However, a new technological avenue seems promising: capturing CO2 in the stacks of large coal users and storing it in deep geological layers. Australia is playing a leading role in demonstrating the viability of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and in overcoming the many technical challenges that remain.

CO2 dumps only feasible in limited areas: Still, even its strongest proponents acknowledge CCS is feasible only with concentrated uses of fossil fuels, not when the use is scattered among individual consumers such as in transportation.

APEC meeting crucial for energy policy: The APEC energy ministers’ meeting is of great importance as the role governments have to play in achieving such a truly sustainable energy system will be crucial. They have to let market mechanisms work but they have to supplement market mechanisms when they do not work.

Possible policies: This may involve funding research and development, using norms and standards when consumers do not receive the price signals, ensuring that the investment climate is appropriate and explaining to citizens, who would like energy availability but dislike energy production facilities, that it is not possible to have the first without having the second.

The Australian Financial Review, 1/3/2007, p. 14