Uranium rush seen as an environment threat

HELSINKI – The rising price of uranium is tempting leading mining corporations to look for the metal in resource-rich Finland, but resistance from locals, worried about the environment, is mounting.

Five companies, including Canada’s Belvedere Resources and France’s Cogema, have asked for permission to check whether it would be profitable to mine uranium in Finland. High prices for the radioactive heavy metal used to produce nuclear energy have prompted fresh spending on exploration, after investment dried up a decade ago.The world’s main uranium producers are Australia, South Africa, Namibia, Niger and Canada.After reaching an all-time low of seven dollars (about N$45) per pound in 2001, uranium prices have rebounded to 40 dollars (about N$250) a pound in March, a level not seen in more than 25 years, making exploration in smaller producer countries viable.Like neighbouring Sweden, Finland is witnessing a rush for several metals and minerals, including gold, diamonds, zinc, iron, copper, and most recently, uranium.In 2005, mining companies invested some 35 million euros (about N$262 million) in Finland.”In terms of investment, Finland and Sweden are number one in Europe,” said Krister Soederholm, the Finnish government’s chief mining inspector.French nuclear conglomerate Cogema last November staked a claim on 174 kilometres square in the Askola region, an hour’s drive from Helsinki, and also reserved areas in Lappland and northern Karelia, near the border with Russia.But the local community in Askola says it will resist attempts to mine uranium in its backyard, fearing for tourism, housing prices and the purity of their drinking water.”Exploration will happen in a densely-populated area where housing prices are already falling,” said Per-Haakan Slotte, general secretary at the townhall of Borgaa, a tourist destination with 48 000 inhabitants situated 50 km from the capital.”People fear for their environment,” he said.Environmentalists focus on the danger of soil and ground water contamination from waste produced by the mining of uranium, which is highly toxic.Some are afraid that agricultural land, forests and areas currently earmarked for housing construction will be cut off from clean water.”We are obviously worried.We have three children.If they dig a mine here we will have to leave,” said Reija-Riikka Stenbaeck, a veterinary nurse in Askola.Soothing comments by Cogema, a subsidiary of Areva which is building Finland’s fifth nuclear reactor, that research and exploration “have no significant impact on the population” and that local communities would be consulted on further plans, don’t cut any ice with the locals and environmental organisations.”Why would they explore if the aim is not to open a mine?” asked Tapio Reinikainen, a member of protest organisation “uraaniton.org”, predicting that Cogema would have to withdraw in the face of future protests.But there are no signs of this, as international mining companies feel the pressure from rising worldwide demand.Electricity companies, the main consumers of uranium, need to replenish stocks which have been depleted as the number of nuclear power stations in the world rises, despite anti-nuclear policies in a small number of countries like Germany and Sweden.Uranium reserves, on land and at sea, are believed to be sufficient to meet demand for tens, or even hundreds, of years.- Nampa-AFPHigh prices for the radioactive heavy metal used to produce nuclear energy have prompted fresh spending on exploration, after investment dried up a decade ago.The world’s main uranium producers are Australia, South Africa, Namibia, Niger and Canada.After reaching an all-time low of seven dollars (about N$45) per pound in 2001, uranium prices have rebounded to 40 dollars (about N$250) a pound in March, a level not seen in more than 25 years, making exploration in smaller producer countries viable.Like neighbouring Sweden, Finland is witnessing a rush for several metals and minerals, including gold, diamonds, zinc, iron, copper, and most recently, uranium.In 2005, mining companies invested some 35 million euros (about N$262 million) in Finland.”In terms of investment, Finland and Sweden are number one in Europe,” said Krister Soederholm, the Finnish government’s chief mining inspector.French nuclear conglomerate Cogema last November staked a claim on 174 kilometres square in the Askola region, an hour’s drive from Helsinki, and also reserved areas in Lappland and northern Karelia, near the border with Russia.But the local community in Askola says it will resist attempts to mine uranium in its backyard, fearing for tourism, housing prices and the purity of their drinking water.”Exploration will happen in a densely-populated area where housing prices are already falling,” said Per-Haakan Slotte, general secretary at the townhall of Borgaa, a tourist destination with 48 000 inhabitants situated 50 km from the capital.”People fear for their environment,” he said.Environmentalists focus on the danger of soil and ground water contamination from waste produced by the mining of uranium, which is highly toxic.Some are afraid that agricultural land, forests and areas currently earmarked for housing construction will be cut off from clean water.”We are obviously worried.We have three children.If they dig a mine here we will have to leave,” said Reija-Riikka Stenbaeck, a veterinary nurse in Askola.Soothing comments by Cogema, a subsidiary of Areva which is building Finland’s fifth nuclear reactor, that research and exploration “have no significant impact on the population” and that local communities would be consulted on further plans, don’t cut any ice with the locals and environmental organisations.”Why would they explore if the aim is not to open a mine?” asked Tapio Reinikainen, a member of protest organisation “uraaniton.org”, predicting that Cogema would have to withdraw in the face of future protests.But there are no signs of this, as international mining companies feel the pressure from rising worldwide demand.Electricity companies, the main consumers of uranium, need to replenish stocks which have been depleted as the number of nuclear power stations in the world rises, despite anti-nuclear policies in a small number of countries like Germany and Sweden.Uranium reserves, on land and at sea, are believed to be sufficient to meet demand for tens, or even hundreds, of years.- Nampa-AFP