TL: GREENPEACE CAMPAIGN AGAINST URANIUM MINING AND EXPORTS 
SO: Greenpeace Canada (GP)
DT: September 1987
Keywords: greenpeace canada nuclear power uranium mining
exports trade bc proliferation protection policy failures
gp pre90 /

Greenpeace demands that the Government of British Columbia
immediately reinstitute the Royal Commission of Inquiry, Uranium
Mining (Bates Inquiry), which was illegitimately cut short by
Cabinet fiat in 1980;

Greenpeace demands that all contracts for the export of uranium
to states which possess nuclear weapons be cancelled;

Greenpeace demands that the Uranium Export Review Panel (Marcel
Masse, Minister responsible) immediately make public the minutes
of its meetings and all documentation of export contracts
from 1974 to the present;

Greenpeace demands that all currently-approved contracts for the
export of uranium, and all future requests for export, be
subject to public hearings and that the Uranium Export Review
Panel be directed to carry this out;

Greenpeace demands that a ban be declared on any further
exploitation of uranium in Canada;

Greenpeace demands that the National Uranium Tailings Programme
be revitalized, funded, and mandated to carry out a national
inquiry into the ultimate containment method for radioactive
uranium tailings, and that the NUTP be instructed to hold public
hearings and implement a strategy which utilizes the Best
Available Technology (BAT).

Fondation Greenpeace Foundation
2623 West Fourth Avenue, 
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6K 1P8 
Phone: (604) 736-0321


Introduction

Uranium mining, milling, and conversion is the beginning of an
industrial process which effectively poisons millions of people
and destroys entire ecosystems. At nuclear facilities around the
world, whether military or civilian, radioactive pollution
condemns local populations to abnormally high cancer rates,
accelerated aging and early death, and the wholesale
contamination of their land, air, and water. No nuclear facility
in the world can avoid 'routine' contamination of the
surrounding ecosystem. Dr. Rosalie Bertell, an internationally-
respected expert on the effects of radiation, estimates that 13
million people have been sentenced to early death by the
operation of the 'nuclear fuel cycle'. Canada's willingness to
mine and export over 9,000 tonnes of uranium a year indicates a
willingness to approve of, and contribute to, the death of
innocents.


Furthermore, the steady spread of nuclear weapons to more and
more nations --- Pakistan, India, Israel --- is promoted and
masked by the so-called 'peaceful' nuclear industry. The use of
uranium as a fuel guarantees a ready source of weapons-grade
fissile material for centuries to come.

Greenpeace will campaign actively against the mining and
export of Canadian uranium, beginning with a lawsuit against the
British Columbia government, and extending to all exports to
states which possess nuclear weapons. Campaigning in Canada will
be co-ordinated with efforts in Australia and Europe. Greenpeace
seeks to end uranium exports to nuclear weapon states, as a
first step toward the organization's twin goals of disarmament
and the protection of human health and the environment from
radioactive pollution.

The demands of the Greenpeace campaign against uranium mining
and uranium export are:

1. That the Government of British Columbia immediately
reinstitute the Royal Commission of Inquiry, Uranium Mining
(Bates Inquiry), which was illegitimately cut short by Cabinet
fiat in 1980;

2. That all contracts for the export of uranium to states which
possess nuclear weapons be cancelled;

3. That the Uranium Export Review Panel (Marcel Masse, Minister
responsible) immediately make public the minutes of its meetings
and all documentation of export contracts from 1974 to the
present;

4. That all currently-approved contracts for the export of
uranium, and all future requests for export, be subject to
public hearings and that the Uranium Export Review Panel be
directed to carry this out;

5. That a ban be declared on any further exploitation of uranium
in Canada;

6. That the National Uranium Tailings Programme be revitalized,
funded, and mandated to carry out a national inquiry into the
ultimate containment method for radioactive uranium tailings,
and that the NUTP be instructed to hold public hearings and
implement a strategy which utilizes the Best Available
Technology (BAT).


1. Royal Commission on Uranium Mining, British Columbia (see
Appendix One)

In the 1970's, public concern about the social and environmental
impact of possible uranium mining in the province led to the
Royal Commission of Inquiry, Uranium Mining, being set up under
the chairmanship of Dr. David Bates. A great deal of opposition
was heard by the Commission to any uranium development in
British Columbia. One-third completed, the Royal Commission was
summarily cut off and its members sent packing when the
Provincial Cabinet announced a 7-year moratorium on uranium
development to begin in early 1980. The Commission, under
protest, completed an interim report and made substantive
recommendations about health and safety, regulatory reform, and
employment policy.

Now, seven years later, the moratorium has expired. The
provincial government evidently believed that such a moratorium
would provide the crack for the opposition to fall through. In
other words, the gov't. hoped the anti-uranium movement would
simply die in the interim. Greenpeace --- along with co-
plaintiffs the Council of Cdn. Unions, the Union of B.C. Indian
Chiefs, and the Cdn. Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility ---
has launched a court action alleging that the short-circuiting
of the Royal Commission by the Cabinet was a contravention of
the Public Inquiries Act, which states that "the Commissioners
appointed to conduct any inquiry under this Act shall...proceed
to carry out and complete the inquiry entrusted to them".
Greenpeace believes that the Cabinet of Bill Bennett feared the
public debate about environmental consequences of uranium mining
which would have ensued if the Commission was allowed to
complete its work. The section of the Act quoted above is, in
the opinion of Greenpeace, intended to protect public inquiries
from exactly this sort of political interference.

Greenpeace and the co-plaintiffs have requested that the
Cabinet's Order-in-Council which terminated the Royal Commission
be found illegal, and that the Commission accordingly be
reinstated. Greenpeace has filed with the Supreme Court numerous
affidavits from those witnesses who, thanks to the Cabinet's
decision, were not enabled to provide their expert testimony on
the health, safety, and environmental impacts of uranium mining
and milling. These witnesses include Dr. Rosalie Bertell, Ph.D.,
Dr. Fred Knelman, Ph.D., Dr. Ruth Weiner, Ph.D., and Dr. Ian
Gummeson, M.D.

The suit is to be heard on Thursday, September 24th, before the
Supreme Court of British Columbia.

2. Cessation of Uranium Shipments to States which Possess
Nuclear Weapons (Appendices Two and Three)

Three of the largest uranium mines in the world operate year-
round deep in the sub-Arctic boreal forests of the Athabasca
region of northern Saskatchewan. At peak capacity, the Cluff
Lake, Key Lake, and Collins Bay mines can produce 10,000 tonnes
of uranium 'yellow cake' a year. If approval is given for the
proposed Cigar Lake mine, this figure could rise to 15,000
tonnes per year, making Saskatchewan alone the mining center for
about 40% of the uranium used in the world. Almost all of the
uranium mined and milled in Saskatchewan is for export; there
are currently over 50 contracts in force for the transfer of
Cdn. uranium to customers in over a dozen countries (Belgium,
Finland, France, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, South Korea, Spain,
Sweden, Turkey, U.K., U.S.A., and West Germany).

The government-industrial complex is especially noticeable in
the uranium sector: the Saskatchewan Mining Development Corp.,
wholly owned by the Province of Sask., itself owns slightly more
than half of the Key Lake and Cigar Lake projects; Eldorado
Resources Ltd., a Crown Corporation of the Cdn. government, owns
the entire Rabbit Lake project, of which Collins Bay is a part;
the Cluff Lake mine is owned by Amok, Ltd., a French company
whose managing director at Cluff Lake also served as France's
vice-consul to the province; Cogema, responsible for the French
nuclear bombs detonated in the South Pacific, are the developers
of the Waterbury Lake claim. Such interpenetration of the
industry with the governments who theoretically must regulate it
is not unusual in the nuclear business; it is in fact a major
factor in the continued existence of the economically question-
able nuclear industry. (Appendix Two)

Government policy on the export of uranium is that it must not
be used for anything other than 'peaceful' purposes. (The
vagueness of this formulation became clear when the Minister of
National Defense announced he wanted to purchase nuclear-powered
naval submarines; his department then proceeded to repeatedly
contradict itself as to whether nuclear fuel for a military
vessel was 'peaceful' or not.) This position has been challenged
on a number of occasions, most recently when anti-nuclear
activists charged that depleted uranium 'tails' at American
enrichment plants were being reprocessed into 'green salts' for
use in bomb-casings to enhance the blast of nuclear warheads. It
appears, from research carried out by Greenpeace and the Inter-
Church Uranium Committee, that as much as 80% of the uranium ore
exported to the United States in 1986 may have been used in the
production of nuclear weapons. (Appendix Three)

The fundamental weakness of the Canadian policy is that the
'safeguards' are not in any way physical or material in nature.
Uranium shipped out of the country quickly becomes a number on
an accounting sheet, and this figure is supposedly tracked
throughout the conversion, enrichment, use and storage of the
material. This means, first of all, that nothing stops Cdn.
uranium from finding its way into the warheads of the U.S.,
France, the U.S.S.R., or the U.K. All nuclear weapons states
keep a stockpile of uranium which is not distinguished as
'peaceful' or 'military'. Secondly, the U.S. spot market for
uranium has been very active, involving increasingly complicated
swaps either amongst users, or between the users and the Dept.
of Energy; the DOE is in turn the military supplier.
Furthermore, if the protectionist mood of American uranium
miners gets an upper hand, the Department of Energy may find
itself trading its bomb-stockpile (U.S.-origin uranium) for
foreign material in the inventories of electrical utilities. Put
simply, the accounting system for uranium once it leaves Canada
is inadequate, and uranium, unlike shoes or lumber is a
commodity which is not amenable to being regulated by numbers-
games.

While the Canadian government maintains its faith in the present
system, Mr. Fred McGoldrick of the U.S. State Department admits
the inadequacies:

"[The State Department] is concerned by the current absence of
any regulatory review of substitutions of nuclear material
within the U.S. involving material subject to international
commitments by the U.S. These transactions...may in certain
circumstances raise questions regarding the U.S, compliance with
its int'l. undertakings to the countries of origin, particularly
those from which we have accepted the nuclear material subject
to an agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation." (Nuclear
Fuel, July 13th, 1987, p. 1)

Mr. McGoldrick, in the same document, also says that his fear
about the Americans' ability to carry out their intl. non-
proliferation obligations is especially heightened with regard
to "material from Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands".

There are problems of proliferation at the other end of the
'nuclear fuel cycle' as well. Once Canadian uranium has been
burned in a reactor to generate electricity, it ends up as high
level radioactive waste. This waste is identical to the feed
stock of military reprocessing plants which produce plutonium
for nuclear weapons. The difficulties of maintaining the
military reprocessing program me in the U.S. have led to calls
for the extraction of plutonium from civilian waste. In fact, it
is not explosive material that goes 'unaccounted for' that
threatens the security of the world, but 'material accounted
for' --- high level nuclear waste --- that will likely fuel the
bombs of the future. The nuclear industry in the U.S. is
currently seeking means to circumvent Congress' ban on the
extraction of plutonium (Appendix Three)

The difficulties of truly separating the 'peaceful' from the
'military' atom are so immense --- especially since the
industrial processes of each are substantially identical to the
other --that it is time for Canada to awaken from the slumber of
promises and immediately cancel all contracts for the export of
uranium to states which possess nuclear weapons.

The Cdn. government has often argued that its obligations under
the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)
(Appendix Three) demand that Canada make as much uranium as
possible available for the 'peaceful' nuclear programmes of the
other signatories to the Treaty. The government bases this
argument on Article IV of the NPT, which states that:

"All Parties to the Treaty undertake to facilitate... the
fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials, and
scientific and technological information for the peaceful uses
of nuclear energy."

Canada couldn't restrict the export of uranium for peaceful
purposes even if it wanted to, the argument runs.

What this ignores is Article VI of the Treaty, which seeks to
address the 'vertical' proliferation of nuclear arms inside the
states already in possession of them. This Article commits the
nuclear weapon states to the "cessation of the nuclear arms
race" and "general and complete disarmament".

Greenpeace believes the NPT is a contractual arrangement which
says that Canada will supply material for 'peaceful' purposes if
the weapons states like the U.S. will pursue complete
disarmament. The unprecedented increase in the nuclear
stockpiles of the Treaty weapon states since the NPT came into
force negate any quasi-moral obligation Canada may feel to
export uranium. In short, since the NPT governs only the
'peaceful' atom, the leverage available within the Treaty is to
hold the 'peaceful' programmes of the weapon states hostage to
progress in reducing stockpiles of nuclear arms.

Greenpeace will advocate this position in Ottawa, and Greenpeace
will look to other Treaty nations for assistance. The goal is
the cessation of uranium exports to the nuclear weapon states.

3. The Secret Uranium Export Review Panel (Appendix Four)

The Canadian Federal Government approves the export of uranium
under policies and guidelines implemented by a body called the
Uranium Export Review Panel. This body operates under the
oversight of the Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, and
conducts its business in secret. Given the inability of even the
U.S. State Department to keep track of Canadian uranium in that
country, it is time for the Canadian public to demand its right
to know the exact details of the 'who, what, when, where, how'
of exported uranium. The Uranium Export Review Panel must
immediately release the minutes of its meetings and all
documentation of uranium exports requested by the public. The
suspicion which government secrecy generates is not conducive to
public policy debate, for it begs the question "what is being
hidden from the public?"

4. Public Hearings on all Export Contracts

But suppose the Canadian atom really is 'peaceful'? That means
that the policy of the Government of Canada is that all Cdn.
uranium being exported from the country must end up as toxic
radioactive waste, rather than as nuclear warheads. No means now
exists to segregate nuclear waste from the biosphere. Given the
Government's vested interest in the exploitation of uranium,
this policy virtually makes the export of nuclear waste a state
imperative.

Greenpeace will document examples of the environment a
destruction and human suffering brought by the 'peaceful' atom
to communities all over the world. Through research, writing,
photography, film, and the news media, Greenpeace will bring
home to Cdns. the true picture of the nuclear age. A partial
listing of these communities could include:

-the Cumbrian farmers who have been severely contaminated by
plutonium, caesium, and toxic heavy metals by the Sellafield
nuclear reprocessing plant in the U.K.;

-the Cherokee and non-natives in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma who
are apparently experiencing an elevated cancer rate due to the
routine pollution of the Arkansas River and the farmland
surrounding by the Kerr-McGee Corp.'s uranium conversion plant
there; (Appendix Five)

-the Ukrainian townspeople who were evacuated and told never to
return after the Chernobyl accident in 1986.

The U.N. body charged with monitoring the impact on the
environment and humans of the 'peaceful' atom (the Scientific
Ctte. on the Effects of Atomic Radiation) estimates that every
year of nuclear electricity generation in the U.S. at 1980
levels means more than 3,000 fatal cancers visited upon
unsuspecting citizens.

This body is very conservative. Dr. John Gofman, formerly of
Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, has placed the number of fatal
cancers at over 100,000. (Appendix Five)

Despite the veil of official secrecy that hangs over information
about the export of Canadian uranium, Greenpeace has determined
the details of a select few uranium export contracts. It is
these contracts, with their shipment routes, political
implications, environmental impacts, and human health effects,
that will be the objects of Greenpeace's attention. Greenpeace
will attempt to stop these shipments from occurring, and will
look to the people affected by the destructive effects of
Canadian uranium to help in this effort. (Appendix Five)

Whatever the efforts of Greenpeace and other public interest
organizations, it is the right of the Canadian people to
exercise judgement about the impact which their exports may have
on human beings in other countries. For this reason, the
Government of Canada must immediately instruct the Uranium
Export Review Panel to restructure itself as a public hearing
panel, and to submit all current and future contracts for the
export of uranium to a public review process.

5. Ban on Further Uranium Development in Canada             

The British Columbia government is ready to allow uranium mining
in this province without allowing the public to voice its
opinion about provincial regulatory standards. The Saskatchewan
government is poised to approve underground development at Cigar
Lake without any public hearings. These moves made by
governments without recourse to citizen input on such a highly
dangerous matter, are completely lacking in any sensitivity to
the international debate which continues over the effects of low
level radiation, the use of 'peaceful' uranium to build nuclear
weapons, and the environmental impact of uranium tailings. These
two projects pose a substantial health risk to the miners and a
serious threat to the people living within the vicinity.

Saskatchewan and B.C., in collusion with the Federal Government,
want to expand uranium production in Canada, despite:

-130 million tonnes of radioactive uranium tailings already in
existence, and no disposal solution in sight;

-the fact that according to Federal government figures, woodland
caribou of the Wallaston Lake area will be consuming over 500
mg/day of toxic and radioactive uranium, due to mining
operations at Rabbit Lake;

-the fact that the so-called 'state-of-the-art' Key Lake mine
emits an astounding 16,000 Curies (600 quadrillion Bq) of radon
gas per year;

-the statement of Dr. Eric Young of the B.C.M.A. that a doubling
of the lung cancer rate among present uranium miners will occur
even if radiation exposure limits for radon are reduced by 70%.

The Cigar Lake project is especially dangerous, because the ore
is of extremely high grade and the mine will likely be of the
underground shaft type. This means that worker exposure to the
highly carcinogenic radon 'daughters' will exceed an other
uranium mine in Canada. Because radiation-protection standards
for uranium miners are far in excess of levels which will induce
fatal cancer, further uranium mining in Canada is tantamount to
sanctioned killing.

Greenpeace calls for an immediate cessation of operations
at Cigar Lake, and a ban on all further development of uranium
in Canada.

6. The National Uranium Tailings Programme: Victim of Politics

In 1982 the Federal government established the National Uranium
Tailings Programme to develop computer modelling of tailings
management techniques, a data-base of all current information on
existing tailings sites, and demonstrations of innovative
technology which could help to solve the problem of storing
radioactive wastes.

The Saskatchewan government (facing up to 30 million tonnes of
uranium tailings) and the Ontario government (100 million
tonnes) refused to contribute the 2/3 of the $9.5 million budget
as requested. The Federal government continued to support the
research effort, until early 1986 when budget-slashing
bureaucrats at Energy, Mines & Resources severely maimed one of
the few truly valuable government environment programmes of the
decade.

What remains is a data-base on tailings sites which is now in
the hands of the Atomic Energy Control Board; two demonstrator
projects which the NUTP carried out in spite of budget cuts; and
between 70 and 90 research papers on the massive problem of
dealing with radioactive tailings.

No means has been developed by private industry to adequately
contain uranium tailings and prevent their ultimate deposition
in surface water, ground water, and spread for miles around on
wind. The radioactive half-life of uranium tailings is thousands
of centuries. The problem of dealing with uranium tailings and
protecting both the public and the environment from
contamination is an extremely pressing one. Greenpeace therefore
calls on the Federal government to 

-revitalize the NUTP by placing it under the direction of the
Minister of Environment (NUTP was under EM&R); 

-fund the NUTP adequately; 

-mandate the NUTP to carry out a nationwide inquiry into the
possible means of long-term storage of radioactive mine wastes,
and direct it to carry out public hearings; 

-empower the NUTP to carry out its decided preference, and order
the implementation of the Best Available Technology (BAT). 

(Further information on the NUTP is available from Mr. Roy John,
Director, Nat'l. Uranium Tailings Programme, 613-995-4183.)