Uranium mining — dollars for death

Radioactive dollar signs lit up in the eyes of mining and resource company executives on August 4 when federal resources minister Ian Macfarlane declared the Northern Territory’s uranium deposits “open for business”. Indigenous communities and environmentalists have vowed to fight the government’s plans.

Australia is the world’s second largest producer of uranium (after Canada) and has up to 40% of the world’s known uranium deposits.

The mining industry is itching to take advantage of a global uranium market opening. China alone plans to build 30 new nuclear reactors by 2020. New reactors are also being planned in India, the US, Britain, South Korea, Russia, Ukraine and Chile.

Green Left