BY CHRISTOPHER HARRIS
Protestors gathered outside Malcolm Turnbull’s electorate office on Tuesday morning to protest the government’s recently announced plans to sell uranium to Ukraine.
The protest on Tuesday coincided with the thirty year commemoration of the Chernobyl meltdown, which left Ukraine and surrounding countries struggling with radiation exposure for years.
Kerry Laws from Uranium Free NSW said in that the waste containment issues around Chernobyl were ongoing, and that many Ukrainian reactors were past their use by date and that Australia should not be shipping uranium there.
“These issues urgently need to be addressed and it is outrageous to send more fuel to the fire. We urge the Australian government to stop all uranium exports. We have to stop this toxic cycle.”
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop announced on March 30 that Australia will start selling uranium to Ukraine.
Australia holds almost one third of the world’s uranium and accounts for ten per cent of global production.
Ukraine was severley affected by the Chernobyl disaster, along with neighbouring Belarus and the Russian Federation.
Natalie Wasley from Beyond Nuclear Initiative said that the anniversary of Chernobyl should be a time for reflection.
“It is disgraceful timing for Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop to announce a deal to sell uranium to the Ukraine,” she said.
“Post Fukushima, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for Australia to undertake a risk analysis of the uranium sector. This has not been done, showing the federal government is again ignoring concerns of the international community in pursuit of export dollars.”
“We urge PM Turnbull to invest in a renewable energy future rather than continuing to chase dirty uranium dollars.”
According to the World Health Organisation, 116 000 people were evacuated from the area surrounding the Chernobyl reactor to non-contaminated areas in 1986. Another 230 000 were relocated in subsequent years. It estimates five million people live in areas with high levels of radioactive contamination.
47 workers died from radiation poisioning immediately after the event. A 2005 report said that it expects there to be 4,000 deaths from the disaster, including those who died immediately after and those from who may die from cancer as a result of exposure to radiation. This figure has been the subject of extensive debate.
