Three Mine Policy

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Australian Three Mine Policy (German: Drei Uranbergwerke-Politik ) was followed by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1984 to March 1996 in order to limit uranium mining in Australia to three mines. Afterwards there were different political positions of the central ALP governments in Australia and in the Australian states. At times, after the Tree Mine Policy was abandoned, four mines were operated. In 2013 the honeymoon uranium mine and the main mine of Beverley with North Beverley were closed due to falling raw material prices . Beverley continues to operate the four mile uranium mine . This means that three uranium mines are currently being mined.

Australia was the world's third largest exporter of uranium in 2010 . 31% of the world's known uranium deposits are located on the Australian continent.

history

prehistory

In 1977 the ALP favored an infinitive moratorium on uranium mining and export at its national conference . As a result, the anti-nuclear movement in Australia decided to support the ALP in the upcoming national election. Another ALP conference decided on a One Mine Policy (German: Ein-Uranbergwerkpolitik ). At that time there were the Ranger Uranium Mine and Nabarlek uranium mines in the Northern Territory .

1980s

When the ALP won the national election under the leadership of Bob Hawke in 1983, another ALP conference in 1984 voted for the Three Mile Policy . This decision allowed uranium mining at the Olympic Dam mine . This also meant the continuation of existing mining contracts, but the opening of new uranium mines was excluded. After the uranium deposits of the Nabarlek uranium mining were exhausted , the Beverley uranium mining took its place as the third uranium mine.

1990s

The Three Mile Policy ended in 1996 when John Howard won the election and a conservative ruling coalition of Liberal Party and National Party came to power.

Trial field for solution mining, honeymoon uranium mine in South Australia

In an investigation on behalf of the conservative government, uranium mining is generally approved, provided that geological and other conditions allow uranium to be mined using solution mining. Reference is made to successful tests of this method in the Australian uranium deposits of Beverley and Honeymoon in South Australia . It is also stated that this practice has been practiced successfully in the United States , Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan since 1996 and that, in contrast, conventional mining methods have a much greater impact on the environment. The declaration demands that in solution mining, the water and groundwater must not be salinated or radioactively contaminated for human consumption. Furthermore, in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol, no greenhouse gas emissions were recorded when uranium was used to generate energy .

The problem with solution mining is that even with current successful mining, not all of the acid and dissolved uranium can be removed from the geological body. Therefore, in the event of geological changes that destroy the clay bed layers, radioactive and acidic contaminated water can escape or penetrate into the groundwater. This is particularly problematic when uranium mining takes place in the area of ​​the Great Artesian Basin , the largest fresh or drinking water resource on earth.

The opposition ALP changed its policy in the 1990s to the No New Mines Policy (German: Keine-Neuen-Uranbergwerke ), which meant that the uranium mining of the three uranium mines was maintained.

2000s

In 2001, the fourth uranium mine, Beverley uranium mine was opened and the reduction in the Honeymoon Uranium Mine has been approved, it came shortly to a "Five Mine Policy" (German: five uranium mines policy ) to the Naralbek degradation hired .

In 2006, under Kim Beazley , the ALP began a discussion on moving away from the Three Mine Policy . In 2007 the new ALP government under Kevin Rudd ended this policy, which also earned him fierce international criticism.

In 2008, the Western Australia government lifted uranium mining ban after the Liberal Party won the election. In 2009 the Australian government allowed the opening of another Australian uranium mine in July 2009, the Four Mile uranium mine in South Australia. However, the local Aborigines do not release the land rights for mining and uranium mining has been prevented.

2010s

In South Australia the ruling ALP approves uranium mining, in the Northern Territory the current (2011) Australian central government is responsible for uranium mining and in Western Australia the conservative government coalition. In Queensland , the uranium mining ban continues to be upheld, despite unions advocating uranium mining on the grounds of job creation. In Tasmania , the government is against uranium mining.

In 2012, Western Australia will mine the Lake Maitland uranium deposit , the Kintyre uranium deposit in 2013 and the Centipede Lake Way uranium deposit in 2014 in solution mining.

In 2013, the mining operations of the honeymoon uranium mine and parts of the Beverley uranium mine were stopped due to falling raw material prices. This means that three mines are currently (2014) extracting uranium in Australia.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b science.org.au : Australian Academy of Science: Prospect or suspect - uranium mining in Australia , September 2002 (English), accessed May 1, 2011
  2. ↑ a b australian.com.au : Mike Steketee: Fierce ALP brawl on uranium policy of April 26, 2006, accessed May 1, 2011
  3. ^ A b Australia's Uranium Mines , accessed November 9, 2014
  4. ↑ world-nuclear.org , World Nuclear Association: Australia's Uranium and Nuclear Power Prospects , February 2011 (English), accessed on May 1, 2011
  5. ^ Verity Burgmann: Power, profit, and protest: Australian social movements and globalization. Allen & Unwin 2003, ISBN 9781741140163 (English)
  6. ↑ Chris Evans: Labor & uranium: an evolution. Laboratory E-herald. March 23, 2007, accessed May 1, 2011.
  7. ↑ a b aph.gov.au : Paul Kay: Beyond the Three Mines - In Situ Uranium Leaching Proposals in South Australia, Science, Technology, Environment and Resources Group, May 12, 1998, accessed May 2, 2011
  8. ↑ theage.com.au : Beazley's mines gamble, The Age, July 25, 2006, accessed May 1, 2011
  9. ↑ Beazley flags 'three mine' policy debate Australian Broadcasting Corporation , March 20, 2006, accessed May 1, 2011
  10. ↑ perthnow.com.au ( Memento of the original from April 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Labor abandons three mine policy of April 27, 2007, accessed May 1, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.perthnow.com.au
  11. ↑ news.ninemsn.com.au ( Memento of the original from July 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. WA closer to having first uranium mine, July 23, 2009, accessed May 1, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / news.ninemsn.com.au
  12. ↑ theaustralian.news.com.au ( Memento of the original from July 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , The Australian , Peter Van Onselen: The good oil: Peter Garrett knows his job, July 18, 2009, accessed May 2, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.theaustralian.news.com.au
  13. ↑ abc.net.au Mine objections 'short-sighted' from July 15, 2009, accessed on May 2, 2011
  14. ↑ watoday.au : Barnett lifts WA uranium ban dated November 17, 2008, accessed May 2, 2010
  15. ↑ Union calls for Qld to lift uranium ban The Sydney Morning Herald, February 16, 2011, accessed May 1, 2011
  16. ↑ hg.org : Australias States React Strongly to Switkowski Report of December 10, 2006, accessed on May 2, 2011