To what extent should there be limitation on the mining of uranium in Australia ?
Uranium has become a big issue as an alternative energy resource in the future due to the shortage of fossil fuel as a primary energy resource in the world. Australia is one of country that has the largest uranium deposits in the globe. So, Australia has important opportunity to make a lot of money from uranium exports to other countries. However, the Australian Government is still debating this issue because of the negative impact of uranium mining and exploration. For these reason, some people believe that uranium mining has more positive impacts on the economy such as, income benefits from uranium exports and an increase a new job opportunities. However, this essay will argue that there needs to be a complete ban on uranium mining in Australia because it is produce radioactive waste, inefficient and ineffective nuclear power technology, and the use of uranium for nuclear weapons. Uranium could be used as material for nuclear weapons production which can cause massive destruction. Moreover, nuclear power is not an efficient and effective energy resource because it is very expensive, it takes a long time to build a nuclear power station and there are waste storage problems. In addition, the mining of uranium will spread the radiation that has harmful effects on human beings.
The first argument against the limitations on uranium mining in Australia is the economic benefit from this industry. According to the International Journal of Environmental studies (2006), the first commercial mining of uranium in Australia was begun in 1950s for the American and British nuclear weapons programs. Then, in the 1970s uranium deposits were discovered in South A...
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...gry nations like, China, Korea, and India. However, the Australian Government’s policy of not exporting uranium to countries who have not signed the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, which means the Australian Government will not sell uranium to any country who may use it for nuclear weapons programs. Therefore, as long as uranium is using for alternative new energy resources it will not be a problem to export it.
In short, there are some arguments to support uranium mining because it has positive impacts on the economy such as, financial benefits from uranium exports and it creates new job opportunities. However, the mining of uranium has some negative aspects such as; produce radioactive waste, inefficient and effective power technology, and the use of uranium for nuclear weapons production. Therefore, there should be restrictions on uranium mining in Australia.
On top of it being cleaner it is cheaper the mining of uranium is cheaper than the mining of coal
Australia’s resources otherwise known as factors of production – natural resources, labour, capital and enterprise, are relatively scarce, resulting in the economic problem of relative scarcity as we cannot satisfy all our needs and wants in Australia as they are unlimited. Collective and individual wants are
MacDermott, D. (1993). As we see you. In D. Grant & G. Seal (Eds.), Australia in the world (pp. 86-91). Perth: Black Swan Press
Any country with a nuclear program has the prospective to make nuclear weapons. The fuel of a nuclear reactor at its core is uranium. Low enriched uranium is used in energy production while the highly enriched version is used to make weapons and is called weapons grade uranium. The atom bomb that landed in Hiroshima used 60kg of weapons grade uranium and since the advancements of warfare it now only requires 20-25kg to make a nuclear weapon. Plutonium which is a byproduct of the fission process can also be used for manufacturing weapons and only requires 2-10kg to develop weapons. The atom bomb that landed in Nagasaki contained plutonium fuel. Depleted uranium, which is the left over from the enrichment process, is used to make military grade armor piercing bullets. These DU penetrators have been used in wars throughout history the most recent being the Gulf wars. This is a disadvantage because the depleted uranium is toxic and has been scientifically proven cause birth defects, cancer, and death where it was used. All these effects were the cause of discovering nuclear fission and its
First, the stance on nuclear power and uranium mining has been at the centre of fierce controversy. Tim Flannery stated (Boyd 2006):
mining of uranium which is a resource used to creating nuclear weapons also causes nuclear
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