High Risk – Low Return: The case against uranium mining in Queensland

Australian Conservation Foundation Australian Manufacturing Workers Union Electrical Trades Union Friends of the Earth North Queensland Conservation Council Queensland Conservation Council Queensland Nuclear Free Alliance The Wilderness Society

Cover picture: Mine tailings dam failure at Merriespruit, South Africa gold mine. On the day of the failure 50mm of rain fell in 30 minutes, comparable to flooding rain quantities in Qld in recent summers (source: tailings.info)

High Risk – Low Return: The case against uranium mining in Queensland

1. Overview 2. Overstated economic potential 3. Environmental Impacts 4. Radiation and Health 5. Uranium and Indigenous Communities 6. Inadequate Regulation

6.1 Unresolved regulatory and operational issues
7. Beyond mining 7.1 Transportation 7.2 The myth of the peaceful atom: Weapons Proliferation 7.3 The myth of clean energy from nuclear power 7.4 A positive way forward for Queensland 8. Conclusions

This report was prepared under the joint auspices of the unions and environmental and social justice groups listed on the cover. March 2013. Authors: R. Taubenfeld, D. Sweeney, J. Green

High Risk – Low Return: The case against uranium mining in Queensland

In October 2012 the LNP government broke its clear commitment not to allow uranium mining in Queensland. This commitment was the position of the LNP at the March 2012 state election and was reaffirmed after they took office. In the absence of open, inclusive and evidence based policy making, the Newman LNP government has set up the Uranium Implementation Committee. The Committee has not sought broad community input and has not been asked to assess the arguments for and against uranium mining in Queensland. The Committee’s mandate is the far narrower task of recommending how uranium mining