Northerners to oppose relicensing Cameco’s uranium operation

[Oscar]

Northerners to oppose relicensing Cameco’s uranium operations

[ http://committeeforfuturegenerations.wo ... perations/ ]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 1, 2013

LA RONGE, Sask. —Northern Saskatchewan residents will formally express their opposition to license renewals for uranium mining and milling projects at Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) hearings in La Ronge this week.

“The world is waking up to the fact that this is a failed industry, environmentally and economically,” says Debbie Mihalicz, a Beauval resident and co-founder of the Committee for Future Generations. “Every day that one of Cameco’s uranium mines is in operation, an even greater volume of extremely hazardous nuclear waste is created that will remain radioactive for a million years. It’s time to put a stop to the destruction of the lands and waters we call home.”

The Committee for Future Generations and individual members of English River First Nation and Lac La Ronge Indian Band are among a host of intervenors scheduled to present oral submissions to the federal regulator regarding the relicensing of Cameco’s Key Lake, McArthur River and Rabbit Lake operations.

“It’s worth noting that the agenda also includes English River First Nation, Des Nedhe Development, Pinehouse Business North and Kineepik, an alleged Métis local whose validity has been contested in a Statement of Claim filed in court. But they are all tied to the recent collaboration agreements Cameco and Areva made with English River First Nation and Pinehouse, mandating support for existing operations,” says Candyce Paul, an English River First Nation band member.

“Formal opposition to a license at these hearings would breach the agreements, jeopardizing contracts, jobs and funds. Our communities are being railroaded into becoming cheerleaders for industry,” says Paul.

“The effect of uranium mines on Indigenous rights is undeniable,” says Kirstin Scansen, a member of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band and graduate student of the University of Victoria’s Indigenous Governance program. “Cameco’s operations – and the licensing and relicensing processes themselves – are taking place within a larger context of Canadian settler-colonialism, exploitative resource extraction, and dispossession of Indigenous territory.”

Scansen, Paul, Mihalicz and Committee for Future Generations members from English River First Nation and the northern village of Pinehouse will also be present at a press conference on October 2 at 7pm at the Anglican Parish Hall, where the Sierra Club will present its findings of massive excess emissions from Cameco mining operations.

CONTACT:

(English) Candyce Paul, 306-288-3157; Kirstin Scansen, 604-839-1302; Debbie Mihalicz, 306-288-7933

(Cree) Dale Smith, 306-884-7718

(Dene) Marius Paul, 306-288-3157

[Oscar]

WATCH: Nuclear safety dispute

[ http://globalnews.ca/video/879333/nucle ... -dispute-2 ]

October 2 2013 8:47pm 01:43 min.

Wed, Oct 2 – Communities in northern Saskatchewan express concern over nuclear safety and the renewal of Cameco mining licenses.

Shallima Maharaj reports.

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Group wants to see testing on three northern Cameco mines

[ http://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/group-wants ... -1.1480677 ]

CTV Saskatoon
Published Wednesday, October 2, 2013 2:16PM CST

An environmental group is standing up against Cameco’s application to renew its license for three northern mines.

The Sierra Club held a news conference in Saskatoon on Wednesday where they announced they want to see an environmental assessment done on the mines before the application is approved. According to the club, the levels of cadmium and uranium in one of Cameco’s tailing facilities exceed Saskatchewan’s standards.

“We would like to see an environmental impact assessment before any new licenses are issued and also a health impact study,” Sierra Club Canada’s executive director, John Bennett said.

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[Oscar]

Environment concern at licence hearings

[ http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/ ... story.html ]

By Scott Larson, The Starphoenix October 3, 2013

Environmental concerns were at the top of the list at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission public hearings on Cameco's licence renewals applications for three uranium mines in northern Saskatchewan.

"That seems to be the No. 1 concern that has been mentioned throughout the day," said Chief Tammy Cook-Searson of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band (LLRIB), who made a presentation to the commission Wednesday, "making sure that we have the best environmental standards in the world."

Fourteen presentations were scheduled to be made to the commission on Wednesday.

Another 12 submissions are expected today from interested parties, including the Athabasca Basin Development Limited Partnership and the Committee for Future Generations.

The company is requesting a longer licence period - an increase to 10 years from the current five years - for all three sites.

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The Saskatchewan Environmental Society said it opposed the 10-year licences for the Rabbit Lake uranium site because it might mean less scrutiny if Cameco expands or changes plans before the next renewal hearings.

Key Lake, located 570 kilometres north of Saskatoon, opened in 1983 and is the world's largest high-grade uranium mill, according to Cameco's website. The mill processes ore from the McArthur River mine, about 80 kilometres northeast of the site.

The hearings finish today and are being webcast on www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca.

© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix

[Oscar]

Mining licence decision expected in weeks

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By Scott Larson, The Starphoenix October 4, 2013

Despite opposing the licensing renewal of Cameco's three uranium facilities in northern Saskatchewan, John Bennett says he has little doubt it will be renewed.

"I think they are going to rubber stamp this, like they do all the time," said Bennett, executive director of Sierra Club Canada and an intervener at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) public hearing that took place in La Ronge.

The company is requesting a longer licence period - an increase to 10 years from the current five years - for all three of its sites at Key Lake, McArthur River and Rabbit Lake. The commission is expected make a decision on the licences in the next few weeks.

Bennett said the CNSC should hold an environment assessment on Cameco's operations in northern Saskatchewan before it renews its licence.

"The main point we wanted to get across is the panel really has an obligation to hold an environmental assessment," Bennett said. "If not only for the facts that we unearthed in our research in terms of the radioactive pollution and heavy metals, but also because Canada has international agreements in terms of protecting the Arctic," he said.

But he was disappointed with the response from the panel.

"They out-of-hand rejected that," he said of the commission. "I don't think they gave it much serious attention at all."

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[Oscar]

CNSC renews Cameco's mine licences

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Decision draws praise and criticism

By Scott Larson, The Starphoenix October 30, 2013

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) announced it is renewing its uranium mine and mill operating licences for Cameco's Key Lake, McArthur River and Rabbit Lake operations located in northern Saskatchewan. The 10-year licences will be valid from Nov. 1, 2013, until Oct. 31, 2023.

Cameco president and CEO Tim Gitzel said the length of the licence is exactly what the company was looking to achieve.

"Ten years gives us some certainty that were not perpetually in the licensing process," Gitzel said.

The Commission heard from parties for and against the licence renewal at a public hearing held in La Ronge earlier this month. During the public hearing, the Commission received and considered submissions from Cameco and 27 interveners, both for and against, as well as CNSC staff recommendations.

Gitzel said the hearings allowed everyone to say their piece and he was happy they were led in northern Saskatchewan. "I think their decision shows that the nuclear regulator has confidence in our ability to operate in a safe and responsible manner."

"That was a real confirmation that we are running the operations very safely, very well (and), looking after the health and safety of the people and the environment. I think that was what was behind the 10-year licence this time."

Peter Prebble, environmental policy director at the Saskatchewan Env i ronmental Society (SEC) and one of the interveners at the hearing, said they are disappointed with the CNSC decision.

The SEC wanted to see a shorter renewal term of between two to five years for the operations.

"We have major concerns about the tailing management facility area (at Key Lake)," Prebble said, adding there is still a provincial environmental review on that expansion that has yet to be completed.

Prebble said other areas of concern include not having the Hatchett Lake First Nation at Wollaston Lake be given a formal say in the way the Rabbit Lake site is reclaimed and ultimately decommissioned.

"The First Nation and the Wollaston Lake community in general will live with those decisions for centuries into the future, long after Cameco has left the site."

Prebble also said with this renewal uranium sales to India essentially get a green light and "we fundamentally disagree with this."

"Cameco essentially now has approval to sell to a country that has not signed the United Nations Non-Proliferation Treaty and that is precedent setting in Canada."

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