Shame on Saskatchewan!

[Oscar]

MISSION TO FRANCE FOCUSES ON VALUE ADDED RESOUCE DEVELOPMENT

http://www.gov.sk.ca/newsrel/releases/2 ... 3-500.html

Legislative Building - Regina, Canada S4S 0B3 - (306) 787-6281
News Release June 23, 2006 Industry and Resources - 500


Premier Lorne Calvert and Industry and Resources Minister Eric Cline head to France today to promote value added resource development in the province and to strengthen research and development links between France and Saskatchewan.

The June 23rd-29th mission includes meetings with the International Energy Agency, which sponsors the world-class enhanced oil recovery/carbon storage project in Weyburn; TOTAL, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies with investment interests in Canada; and AREVA Group, one of the two largest uranium-producing companies in the world with significant investment in Saskatchewan's uranium mines.

"Our vision for Saskatchewan is to expand on this province's natural
strengths. Oil and uranium are key natural resources for us and the global
demand for both is growing," Calvert said. "Now is the time for Saskatchewan to look for strong international partners to work with us to develop those resources further and to add as much value as possible to them here in the province."

Like Saskatchewan, France has a global reputation in key areas of scientific research and technology like energy, life sciences and the environment.

Calvert will promote enhanced collaboration in meetings with AREVA, the
national Minister of Industry, the SOLEIL Synchrotron facility and Europe's
leading agricultural research institute, INRA. Cline will also meet with
government officials from the Cherbourg/La Hague region, where AREVA's
value-added uranium facilities have been part of the region's economy for
decades.

The mission also includes meetings with BNP Paribas, which specializes in
financing energy investments; the OECD's Nuclear Energy Agency to discuss uranium exploration technologies; and a group of French Parliamentarians from the European Parliament and the National Assembly with an interest in agricultural and rural development issues.

Calvert, Cline and SaskTel president Robert Watson will meet with Alcatel, a world-leader in the telecom sector, regarding a Memorandum of Understanding to advance the prospects of a joint venture here in Saskatchewan.

-30-
For More Information, Contact:
Bob Ellis
Industry and Resources Regina
Phone: (306) 787-1691

[Oscar]

Globe and Mail June 23, 2006 P. B3

Calvert seeking uranium refinery: Saskatchewan Premier in France to lobby officials to build local facility


By PATRICK BRETHOUR

Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert heads to Paris today to woo France's nuclear industry, aiming to persuade state-owned Areva Group to build a uranium refinery and conversion facility in his province.

Although Saskatchewan is a major source of uranium, its production is processed outside of the province, a shortcoming that Mr. Calvert's New Democrat government is seeking to correct. Success would mean megaproject spending of $500-million to $1-billion, plus hundreds of engineering and skilled-trades jobs.

Areva already has stakes in two of Saskatchewan's three major uranium mines, but Mr. Calvert said he believes a face-to-face meeting -- with the chairwoman of Areva's executive board, Anne Lauvergeon -- is needed to press his case for investment. "You need to go to where decisions are being made, and in this case, they're being made in France," he said.

The Premier is not making any predictions, but he joked that shortly after a meeting last fall with Li Ka-shing -- the Hong Kong tycoon whose company controls Husky Energy Inc. -- the Canadian oil company announced an expansion of its refinery complex in Lloydminster.

Mr. Calvert's sales pitch to Areva will centre on the benefits of Saskatchewan's brightening business climate, rather than specially designed industrial subsidies.

The province is lowering its corporate income tax rates -- although Alberta's will still be lower even after the cuts are complete -- and is phasing out a tax on capital. (The tax has been eliminated for new investments.) Most important, he said, the uranium ore available in Saskatchewan is of the highest quality.

Uranium prices have been rising this decade, and with plans by China to build several reactors, there is a strong business case for building new uranium- processing capacity, he said.

Mr. Calvert hinted that Saskatchewan is not adamantly averse to contemplating some sort of special arrangement, although his initial emphasis will be on his government's broad-based tax cuts. "That said, we sit down with investors," he said.

The province also plans to meet with Cameco Corp. of Saskatoon, the other major uranium miner in Saskatchewan.

Cameco operates a uranium refinery and conversion facility in Chalk River, Ont., an operation that was supposed to have been built near Saskatoon, but which was relocated because of opposition from local residents.

By contrast, Mr. Calvert said, several communities are now clamouring to have a uranium refinery built in their area.

The Premier and the rest of the delegation are also scheduled to meet with International Energy Agency officials to discuss carbon-dioxide sequestration projects in the province, and with executives at Total SA, the French oil company.

[Oscar]

Sent for publishing June 24, 2006
==============================
Letter to the Editor, Star Phoenix:

Saskatchewan's Uranium Legacy

Re: Calvert now gung-ho on uranium (SP, June 23, 2006 - Murray Lyons' Commentary)

Uranium, the most dangerous material on this planet, is forever.

Uranium goes on mutilating and killing for hundreds of thousands of years after it is brought to the surface.

Premier Calvert, are you seriously willing to put some short-term money ahead of the health of your grandchildren and their children's children by caving in to this greed-driven madness??

Is this the legacy you plan to leave them?

This is NOT due diligence! This is NOT protecting our environmental and health rights!

Please say NO to the uranium industry's pressure, Premier Calvert, while you still have that option..


Elaine Hughes
Archerwill, SK

[Oscar]

Notes on Saskatchewan’s Nuclear Future
CBC Radio Network News - August 22, 2006 - Saskatchewan’s Nuclear Future - Notes by by Elaine Hughes – text of article not available online

Early morning CBC broadcast News Report:

…(News report in progress)….considering the province’s nuclear future.

There are no nuclear power plants in Saskatchewan but the province is a major uranium producer. Some people argue that it’s time to do more than just mine the ore.

CBC’s Dan Kerslake reports: More than 20 years ago, people stopped a uranium refinery from being built near Saskatoon. They made it clear to environmental officials that the community did not want the refinery.

But, recent nuclear industry surveys (see NOTE below) suggest there’s now strong public support for that sort of project. That’s a significant shift – one that Saskatchewan’s NDP government accepts whole-heartedly.

Eric Cline, Industry and Resources Minister: “I have absolutely no doubt that the public is strongly in support, not only of uranium mining but the concept which we’re endorsing of refining and processing uranium in Saskatchewan.”

That’s why the government is asking the nuclear industry to expand. There’s already a refinery in Ontario that helps turn uranium ore into fuel. But, with global demand on the rise, there may soon be a need for more refineries.

Environmentalist Ann Coxworth admits support for the industry appears high right now. She believes that’s because activists have failed to speak out about their concerns. “Our difficulty is with being caught up with all the other issues we’re trying to deal with and freeing up the resources and people power to do the job that needs to be done.”

But environmentalists will have to do a lot more than just re-energize the activists. They’ll have to convince struggling rural communities there’s an alternative to the billions of dollars and hundreds of jobs that refineries would bring.
- Dan Kerslake, CBC News.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Transcript of same article heard, in progress, at 7:00 a.m. August 22, 2006

…..he thinks Cameco is welcome in Saskatchewan, that people are ready for more nuclear. If (Kyle?) Krahn is correct, it marks a significant change in public opinion in Saskatchewan.

About 20 years ago, people successfully protested against a refinery near Saskatoon. But, based on surveys, the uranium industry believes that wouldn’t happen again. So, the industry is considering building refineries to help turn uranium ore into fuel.

Environmentalist Ann Coxworth admits support for the nuclear industry appears high and says activists are partly to blame because they’ve been too quiet on the issue. “We have not been doing the job that’s needed in keeping the issue in front of people.” Coxworth thinks that anti-nuclear forces can be re-energized but they won’t be joined in opposition by the Saskatchewan NDP government.

The province’s Eric Cline says that, if the industry expands, it must happen here. “That’s an expectation that the people have. I have no doubt about that and it’s an expectation that the government has as well.” Cline says the government is doing all it can to make nuclear expansion a reality. New refineries could mean billions invested and hundreds of new jobs.

- Dan Kerslake, CBC News

----------------------------------------------------

NOTE: In speaking to Dan Kerslake later in the day, he informed me that the ‘recent nuclear industry survey’ referred to in the report was conducted by Fast Consulting for Cameco and Areva in June 2006.

I have sent a query to Cameco, asking for more details about the survey:

To: Cameco Media Gateway
Date: August 22, 2006 - 1110 hrs.

I'm interested in learning about the recent survey your company had done regarding expansion of uranium mining and refining, as well as nuclear power plants: what were the questions asked, how many people were asked, where do they live, how many responded to the questions, how many of those responses were in favour, how many were opposed. Is this survey and the results on your website, please? Thank you for your time on this.

Elaine Hughes

------------------------------------------

On August 23, 2006, I received permission to share the Survey with others but am now awaiting permission to post the results on this website..... EH

As of November 15, I have not received permission to post the results of Cameco's Survey. EH

[Oscar]

Sask NDP turns page on uranium

http://www.saskndp.com/cw/66.4/article_ ... anium.html

Commonwealth Journal – September-October 2006

by Fraser Needham

When Premier Lorne Calvert and Minister of Industry and Resources Eric Cline traveled to France in June, they were making history of sorts.

This was because after more than a decade of Saskatchewan NDP governments avoiding the issue of a uranium refinery, not only did Calvert and Cline meet with Areva officials to discuss uranium refining, they actively sought out such a facility for this province.

There is no doubt the uranium industry has been a thorny issue within some Saskatchewan circles.

Some environmentalists have historically complained that because refined uranium could ultimately be used to make nuclear weapons around the world, it should not be mined at all. Others have said that the safety risks and potential exposure to radioactive material when mining and refining uranium are simply not worth it. Yet other environmentalists argue that if Saskatchewan moves from mining to refining uranium, the next step will be a nuclear reactor in the province and is this really something that people want?

"People want opportunities . . . they want economic development and they believe these types of facilities (uranium refinery) should be located in Saskatchewan." - Minister of Industry and Resources Eric Cline

On the flip side, there is no denying the uranium industry brings major economic benefits to Saskatchewan. Uranium mining companies Cameco and Areva, formerly Cogema, bring in millions of dollars in revenues to the province every year. They are also major employers in northern Saskatchewan providing well paying jobs to this part of the province's largely Aboriginal population.

The Saskatchewan NDP is also fully aware how divisive an issue uranium mining can be. Opposition within and without the party led to the scuttling of plans by the NDP government of Allan Blakeney to build a uranium refinery near Warman in the late 1970's. Not surprisingly, for years after, NDP governments have been a little bit hesitant to discuss the potential of building such a facility in the province in spite of the economic benefits it might bring.

However, a lot has changed in the past 12 months.

In early 2005, the provincial government hosted an economic summit where one of the recommendations that came forward was a desire to have more value added manufacturing in Saskatchewan. The desire to see more value added processing in the province extended to the uranium mining industry and the potential of pursuing refining options here.

In late 2005, the government released an economic action plan which stated the province would be open to the potential of refining uranium in the province. This led to the presentation of resolutions at the Saskatchewan NDP Convention in November that would have both the party and the government rule out the possibility of building a uranium refinery in the province. All resolutions of this nature were defeated on the convention floor.

"I am discouraged that governments are simply only looking at the dollars and cents of this issue . . . " - Bill Adamson, member of the Interchurch Uranium Committee Educational Cooperative

Minister of Industry and Resources Eric Cline says the government's pursuit of a uranium refinery for the province is a natural progression of where both the public and the NDP as a whole now stands on the issue in terms of economic development.

"What we have been hearing is that we should be pursuing this (uranium refinery) in the province and as we have explored the option the response has been overwhelmingly positive and this includes within the NDP," he says. "People want opportunities for young people, they want economic development and they believe these types of facilities should be located in Saskatchewan. I think both the public and the party have moved on regarding this issue."

Cline is quick to point out that Saskatchewan is only interested in refining uranium for power generation purposes and will not export to any country that has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Agreement. However, he adds that if Saskatchewan plans to continue to have a uranium mining industry, which it most certainly does, it only makes sense that the government would pursue a uranium refinery.

"We know that the world is going to continue to use nuclear power and therefore uranium is going to be used. Even if all the uranium mines in Saskatchewan were shut down, this would continue to happen. Saskatchewan has the best occupational, health and safety standards in terms of uranium mining in the world, the best system of decommissioning mines in the world, and the mining sector pays amongst the highest wages in Saskatchewan and has significant Aboriginal involvement. So, if uranium is to be mined, where should it be refined? Right here in Saskatchewan where we know it will be done right."

Cline says the possibility of seeing a uranium refinery in Saskatchewan is still likely five to 10 years away. World refining capacity is still meeting existing demand and there is also a considerable capital outlay to build a refinery.

"I don't think we should be an investor and I don't think people want us to be an investor generally," - Minister of Industry and Resources Eric Cline

He also says the chances of seeing a nuclear reactor in the province are remote mainly because of Saskatchewan's proximity in terms of world power demand and the fact that the provincial power grid is not built to handle such a facility. Lastly, Cline says the government sees itself at this point as a promoter of the province as a potential uranium refinery site and has no intention of signing on as an investor.

"I don't think we should be an investor and I don't think people want us to be an investor generally," he says. "What we do think is the province's people should benefit if a facility were to be located here."

Don Ching is the president and CEO of Areva Saskatchewan. He says there are currently only about five uranium conversion, or refining, facilities in the world that will likely need upgrading in the next few years. While it would be unlikely for one of the existing world uranium refineries to be shut down in favour of opening a facility in Saskatchewan, what is likely is seeing the province as a potential site for a new uranium refinery as the need for expanded capacity increases.

"Saskatchewan shouldn't get its hopes up that a refinery will be shut down and built here," he says. "However, over the next few decades, capacity will be expanded and having a facility close to where it (uranium) is mined makes sense. Saskatchewan has a legitimate right to say that it would be able to do this business (uranium refinery)."

Bill Adamson is a member of the Interchurch Uranium Committee Educational Cooperative. He says politicians are getting too hung up on the economic benefits of locating a uranium refinery in the province and not spending enough time focusing on the health, safety and community concerns.

Adamson points to the recent rejection by some citizens in Port Hope, Ontario of expanding the uranium refinery there as one reason why Saskatchewan might want to think twice about having its own facility. Furthermore, he says with countries such as the United States currently choosing not to follow the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, how can Saskatchewan be assured that refined uranium being exported from the province would not be used to make nuclear weapons.

"I am discouraged that governments are simply only looking at the dollars and cents of this issue and not the numerous safety concerns," he says.

[Oscar]

Published February 3, 2007 in Saskatoon Star Phoenix

Dear Editor

. . . let’s not be coy about uranium!

If the Saskatchewan government follows the advice given by Mr. Percy in his frenzied article, “It’s a make-or-break year for Sask.” (SP Jan.06.07), they should just stop “being coy about supporting expanded uranium development…”.

They must knowingly ignore the wisdom of those who understand uranium - the price for uranium is high and getting higher – we don’t want to miss making all that money!

The threat, from radiation or bullets, to the entire planet posed by removing uranium from its protected location under the earth, hauling it many miles to mills for processing, then on to Saskatoon for shipment to the US and out into the world market, is enormous.

In its many forms, uranium is a killer – inevitable – contaminating everything it touches: water, soil, plants, animals and residents: fishermen, mothers, even babies.

To those of us who know and love northern Saskatchewan, and wish to visit it one more time - go now, before it’s too late!

Elaine Hughes

Archerwill, SK

[Oscar]

TUNNEL VISION

Star Phoenix, January 18, 2007

The article “It is a make or break year for Sask” (S/PJan6) by Dwight Percy is very questionable.

He does not do his homework, and ends up with tunnel vision. He promotes dollars and jobs of uranium development, but does not consider, or care about, the by-products or hazards.

Uranium ore contains considerable radium, screened out in tailings to the JEB pit, now amounting to 830,800 tonnes. Surrounding pumps inhibit water flow, but can we keep the pumps running for a 1000 years?

Radium gives off radon gas which causes lung cancer. Dr. Geoffrey Howe updated (March 2006) the epidemiological research for uranium miners from Beaverlodge, and found they experienced a 30% higher risk than normal, with the delayed action of 15-20 years after exposure.

Reactors burn fuel pellets producing heat, plus 200 toxic chemicals, including deadly plutonium with a half-life of 24,400 years. Reactors do not give off carbon dioxide emissions, but they produce tritium gas with a half-life of 13 years, and carbon-14 with a half- life of 24,400 years, plus iodine 129 and uranium 235.

After 60 years scientists have not found a satisfactory way of disposing of these wastes, but simply pile them up, 260,000 tonnes at 442 sites in the world, waiting for an accident to happen. Radioactivity is carried on wind currents of the globe. After Chernobyl a radioactive cloud passed over Finland and Britain, the next day over Germany and France, the next day over Turkey and Iran,
(See internet map: http://service.spiegel.de/cache/interna ... 776.00.htm)

After the “Shock and Awe” bombardment of Baghdad with 1700 tons of depleted uranium bombs and ammunition, in 7 days extra radiation was detected by special equipment in Aldermaston, England.

We are all in this together. We keep building up the “value added” radioactivity to affect the gonads, lungs, and livers . . .of our youth.

Bill Adamson
805 Acadia Dr.,
Saskatoon, SK.
374-1417

[Oscar]

Spreading cancer DU

by Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services

June 29, 2006

The unending game of "pretend" that the U.S. media allow George Bush to play on the global stage, so often letting his lying utterances hang suspended, unchallenged, in the middle of the story, as though they were plausible - as though a class of third-graders couldn't demolish them with a few innocent questions - feels like the journalistic equivalent of waterboarding. Gasp! Some truth, please!

I suggest the prez has forfeited the right to command a headline, or half a story, or an uninterrupted quote: ". . . we'll defend ourselves, but at the same time we're actively working with our partners to spread peace and democracy," he said last week in Austria.

Surely "spreading democracy" should no longer be allowed to appear in print, between now and 2008, unless accompanied by a parenthetical clarification ("not true," stated as profanely as local standards allow). And that, of course, would only be the media's first step back into integrity with the public.

The occupation of Iraq, the occupation of Afghanistan, the entire war (to promote) terror . . . please, please, can these no longer be trotted out in consequence-free abstraction, but as the high-tech malevolence they are, actively continuing the incalculable devastation of countries and their populations?

The bodies keep piling up, the toxic horrors spread. Hasn't anyone in this place ever heard of depleted uranium? Is the health crisis in Iraq and, indeed, throughout the Middle East and Central Asia, not to mention Kosovo and among returning vets for the last four American wars, somehow irrelevant to "the course" we're asked to stay?

"Two strange phenomena have come about in Basra which I have never seen before. The first is double and triple cancers in one patient. For example, leukemia and cancer of the stomach. We had one patient with two cancers - one in his stomach and kidney. Months later, primary cancer was developing in his other kidney - he had three different cancer types. The second is the clustering of cancer in families. We have 58 families here with more than one person affected by cancer. . . . My wife has nine members of her family with cancer."

This is Dr. Jawad Al-Ali, director of the oncology center at the largest hospital in Basra, speaking in 2003 at a peace conference in Japan. Why is it that only peace activists are able to hear people like this? Why hasn't he been asked to testify before Congress as its members debate the future of this war and the next?

"Children in particular are susceptible to DU poisoning," he went on. "They have a much higher absorption rate as their blood is being used to build and nourish their bones and they have a lot of soft tissues. Bone cancer and leukemia used to be diseases affecting them the most. However, cancer of the lymph system, which can develop anywhere on the body and has rarely been seen before the age of 12, is now also common."

Depleted uranium - DU - is the Defense Establishment euphemism for U-238, a byproduct of the uranium enrichment process and the ultimate dirty weapon material. It's almost twice as dense as lead, catches fire when launched and explodes on impact into microscopically fine particles, or "nano-particles," which are easily inhaled or absorbed through the skin; it's also radioactive, with a half-life of 4.468 billion years.

And we make bombs and bullets out of it - it's the ultimate penetrating weapon. We dropped at least 300 tons of it on Iraq during Gulf War I (the first time it was used in combat) and created Gulf War Syndrome. This time around, the estimated DU use on defenseless Iraq is 1,700 tons, far more of it in major population centers. Remember shock and awe? We were pounding Baghdad, in those triumphant early days, with low-grade nuclear weapons, raining down cancer, neurological disorders, birth defects and much, much more on the people we claimed to be liberating. We weren't spreading democracy, we were altering the human genome.

As we "protected ourselves," in the words of the president, from Iraq's non-existent weapons of mass destruction, we opened our own arsenal of WMD on them, contaminating the country's soil and polluting its air - indeed, unleashing a nuclear dust into the troposphere and contaminating the whole world.

"We used to think (DU) traveled up to a hundred miles," Chris Busby told me. Busby, a chemical physicist and member of the British government's radiation risk committee, as well as the founder of the European Committee of Radiation Risk, has monitored the air quality in Great Britain. Based on his findings, "It looks like it goes quite around the planet," he said.

While Bush mouths ironic whoppers - "We will be standing with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq until their hopes for freedom and liberty are fulfilled," he told the U.N. General Assembly a while back - his actions pass, in the words of former Livermore Labs scientist Leuren Moret, "a death sentence on the Middle East and Central Asia."

A war crime of unprecedented dimension is unfolding as we avert our eyes. Perhaps it's simply too big to see, or to grasp, so we lull ourselves into the half-belief that the powers that be know what they're doing and it will all turn out for the best. Meanwhile, the contagion spreads, the children die, the planet becomes uninhabitable.

---
Robert Koehler, an award-winning, Chicago-based journalist, is an editor at Tribune Media Services and nationally syndicated writer. You can respond to this column at bkoehler@tribune.com or visit his Web site at commonwonders.com. © 2006 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

(posted with permission from author - Oscar)

[Oscar]

----- Original Message -----

From: Elaine Hughes

To: Nilson,J. Min.Env. ; Ambrose, R. Min. Envir ; Clements, T. Min.Health ; Cline,E.Min.IR

Cc: Brad Wall Sask Party ; Borgerson, L. MLA ; Forbes,D. Min. Water ; G.Breitkreuz, MP ; J. Layton, MP ; Karwaki,D.SK Lib. ; Krawetz,K.MLA ; Nature Sask ; Premier Calvert ; Peter Prebble, MLA ; Sask Eco Network ; Sask Environmental Society ; Taylor, L. Min. Health ; Skelton, C. Min. WD

Sent: Wednesday, October 04, 2006 11:39 AM

Subject: NUCLEAR: Saskatchewan Uranium Used in DU weaponry

Dear Minister Cline

I understand that Cameco's license permits them to produce up to 2,000 tonnes of depleted uranium a year in the metals facility in Port Hope.

Given that the Saskatchewan Government has a 10% interest in Cameco, I would like to know who is buying this depleted uranium.

Also, would you please tell me how much of this depleted uranium is being used in bullets and other weaponry or armaments.

Thank you for your anticipated response.

Elaine Hughes
Box 23, Archerwill, SK S0E 0B0
Telephone: (306) 323-4938
Email: tybach@sasktel.net

[Oscar]

typed from the original by Elaine Hughes)

October 13, 2006

Ms Elaine Hughes
Box 23
Archerwill, SK S0E 0B0

Dear Ms. Hughes

Thank you for your e-mail of October 4, 2006, expressing your concerns with the production and use of depleted uranium.

Depleted uranium is a byproduct of the enriching of natural uranium for use in nuclear reactors. Canadian reactors use natural uranium, rather than enriched uranium, and thus avoid the creation or use of significant amounts of depeleted uranium. Depleted uranium stocks worldwide are being used to blend-down highly enriched uranium from dismantled nuclear warheads which is then turned into fuel for nuclear reactors. Depleted uranium is less radioactive than uranium ore. Because of its high density, depleted uranium is used in a number of peaceful applications apart from the military applications such as armour piercing that have received media attention.

The Government of Saskatchewan no longer holds any ownership interest in Cameco Corporation, divesting the last 10 per cent interest in February 2002.

According to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's (CNSC) website, the Port Hope facility is licensed to produce up to 2,000 tonnes of uranium as natural uranium or depeted uranium metal per year. The oversight of the Port Hope facility is the responsibility of the CNSC and we encourage you to contact them or the federal government regarding current production and use of dcepleted uranmium.

Sincerely

(Original signed by)
Eric Cline, Q.C.

cc: The Honourable Lorne Calvert, Premier of Saskatchewan

[Oscar]

Depleted Uranium Risk "Ignored"

----- Original Message -----
From: Elaine Hughes
To: Nilson,J. Min.Env. ; Cline, Eric, Min. IR ; Taylor, L. Min. Health ; Ambrose, R. Min. Envir ; Borgerson, L. MLA ; Premier Calvert ; Peter Prebble, MLA ; Clements, T. Min.Health

Cc: Sandra Finley, Sk Green ; Sask Environmental Society ; Sask Eco Network ; Nature Sask ; Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives ; Cdn. Health Coalition ; CSMonitor Environment ; David Suzuki Foundation ; Council of Canadians ; Greenpeace Canada ; Sierra Club - Can. ; Brad Wall Sask Party ; J. Layton, MP ; Karwaki,D.SK Lib. ; Krawetz,K.MLA

Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2006 8:29 PM

Subject: NUCLEAR: Depleted Uranium Risk "Ignored"

Minister Cline and Minister Nilson:

There is NO way to guarantee that uranium mined in Saskatchewan isn’t being used in DU bullets to kill and to disable and mutilate soldiers, civilians, even babies!

We know what uranium is and we know what uranium does – we cannot plead ignorance on this! To continue dragging this killer out of the ground and make more of it available to the planet is irresponsible and simply wrong-headed.

We must have a moratorium on the expansion of uranium mining in this province – NOW!

Elaine Hughes

Archerwill, SK

==================================

Depleted Uranium Risk "Ignored"

BBC News Wednesday 01 November 2006

UK and US forces have continued to use depleted uranium weapons despite warnings they pose a cancer risk, a BBC investigation has found.

Scientists have pointed to health statistics in Iraq, where the weapons were used in the 1991 and 2003 wars.


FULL STORY: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6105726.stm

[Oscar]

(typed from the original by Elaine Hughes)

November 13, 2006

Ms Elaine Hughes
Box 23
Archerwill, SK S0E 0Bo

Dear Ms Hughes:

Thank you for your email of November 2, 2006, expressing your concerns with uranium production and the use of depleted uranium. The Honourable Eric cline, Q.C, Minister, Industry and Resources has forwarded your email to my office for a reply.

The Government of Saskatchewan is highly supportive of its uranium industry and continues to support the responsible development of the province's uranium resources. Uranium companies continue to meet all environmental goals, strongly support northern and aboriginal employment, and are good corporate citizens to the residents of the province.

Nationally and internationally, nuclear energy is increasingly seen as a clean solution to meet the public’s demand for more power and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Saskatchewan, as the world’s largest producer of uranium, has an opportunity to fuel this movement.

Depleted uranium is used in a number of peaceful applications other than just the military applications that receive media attention. Depleted uranium stocks worldwide are being used to blend-down highly enriched uranium from dismantled nuclear warhead which is then turned into fuel for nuclear reactors. This use is contributing to the reduction of nuclear warheads worldwide. There are also many studies that conflict with information in the report that you have provided. The Government of Saskatchewan continues to monitor all studies related to uranium and the nuclear fuel cycle.

I once again encourage you to contact the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission regarding the use of depleted uranium.

Sincerely,

(Original signed by Glen Veikle (sp?) for

Bruce Wilson

Cc: The Honourable Eric Cline, Q.C. Minister, Industry and Resources
The Honourable John Nilson, Minister Environment

[Oscar]

----- Original Message -----
From: Elaine Hughes
To: Breitkreuz, Garry - M.P. ; Krawetz,K.MLA ; Brad Wall Sask Party ; SK Party Caucus ; Prime Minister Harper ; NDP Caucus

Cc: Sask Liberal ; Karwaki,D.SK Lib. ; Sask. Wildlife Fed. ; Sask Environmental Society ; Sask Eco Network ; Safe Drinking Water Foundation ; Nature Sask ; Nature Canada ; Greenpeace Canada ; Elizabeth May ; Dion, S. LIB ; CSMonitor Environment ; Cdn. Health Coalition ; David Suzuki Foundation ; Sierra Club - US ; Sierra Club - Can. ; Sandra Finley, Sk Green

Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2007 7:06 AM

Subject: WATCH THIS! Poison DUst

Poison DUst

Click on: http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/805/59/

Promo by Jacob Rempel, Vancouver ::::

This great American documentary deserves its full hour and 25 minutes of your attention.

I hope that each of you receiving this from me will pass it forward to every person on your contact lists.
Canadians like Americans need this information.

The important issue missing is our Canadian complicity in supplying Saskatchewan uranium which becomes the poison DUst of radioactive uranium isotopes being exposed to hundreds of thousands of people in many countries.

As well, we are complicit in that we are accessory to the crime before, during, and after the crime of killing and injuring so many thousands of innocents by allying our military forces with the USA forces which have been and continue to use these criminal weapons in Yugoslavia, in Afghanistan, and even in Irag with Canadian sea patrols and logistical support in the Persian Gulf region.

As well, we are complicit in a crime against the earth, poisoning areas of soil, water and air with radioactive poison DUst that will remain there for many generations, sickening and killing many thousands for many years,
even our very own grand children. Our precious Canadian universal medicare will help no one.

...Jacob Rempel
Vancouver, BC

[Oscar]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Elaine Hughes" <tybach@sasktel.net>
To: "NDP Caucus" <caucus@ndpcaucus.sk.ca>; "Premier Calvert" <premier@gov.sk.ca>; "Prime Minister Harper" <Harper.S@parl.gc.ca>
Cc: "Breitkreuz, Garry - M.P." <Breitkreuz.G@parl.gc.ca>; "Cdn. Health Coalition" <medicare@duplisea.ca>; "Cdn. Wildlife Federation" <info@cwf-fcf.org>; "Cdn.ActionParty" <info@canadianactionparty.ca>; "Brad Wall Sask Party" <bwall@mla.legassembly.sk.ca>; "CSMonitor Environment" <support@csmonitor.com>; "David Suzuki Foundation" <contact@davidsuzuki.org>; "Dion, S. LIB" <dions@parl.gc.ca>; "Dr. David Schindler" <d.schindler@ualberta.ca>; "Ducks Unlimited Canada" <webfoot@ducks.ca>; "Earthcare" <info@earthcare.ca>; "Ecologist" <editorial@theecologist.org>; "Elizabeth May" <emay@magma.ca>; "GlobalResearch.ca" <crgeditor@yahoo.com>; "Greenpeace Canada" <ems@thindataworks.com>; "J. Layton, MP" <Laytonj@parl.gc.ca>; "Karwaki,D.SK Lib." <contact@davidkarwacki.ca>; "Nature Canada" <info@naturecanada.ca>; "Nature Sask" <mskeel@naturesask.ca>; "NBEN" <nben@nbnet.nb.ca>; "Parkland Institute" <parkland@ualberta.ca>; "Safe Drinking Water Foundation" <admin@safewater.org>; "Sandra Finley, Sk Green" <sabest1@sasktel.net>; "Sask Eco Network" <sen@link.ca>; "Sask Environmental Society" <info@environmentalsociety.ca>; "Sask. Wildlife Fed." <sask.wildlife@sasktel.net>; "Sierra Club - Can." <scc-green-gazette@list.sierraclub.ca>; "Sierra Club - US" <information@sierraclub.org>; "SK Party Caucus" <info@skcaucus.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2007 11:04 AM
Subject: Poison DUst [new film exposes horrors of DU contamination from US led wars]


Premier Calvert: as long as Saskatchewan continues to mine uranium, we not only contaminate Saskatchewan forests, lakes, rivers, air, animals, fish, birds, residents, tourists, and most specifically, uranium mine workers, we are contaminating millions of people, soldiers and civilians alike in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and beyond!

Do you want your grandchildren and their children's children to grow up and live in a society that it's okay to kill and mutilate innocent babies! ?

We have the ability to change our uranium-related activities in this province - why are we not doing so?

Please call a halt to uranium mining and help put an end to this obscenity!

Elaine Hughes
Archerwill, SK

=======================================

----- Original Message -----
From: "Janet M Eaton" <jmeaton@ns.sympatico.ca>
Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2007 1:21 AM
Subject: Poison DUst [new film exposes horrors of DU contamination from US led wars]

During the current Iraq War the U.S. use of radioactive DU weapons increased from 375 tons used in 1991 to 2200 tons. Geiger counter readings at sites in downtown Baghdad record radiation levels 1,000 and 2,000 times higher than background radiation. The Pentagon has bombed, occupied, tortured and contaminated Iraq. Millions of Iraqis are affected.

Over one million U.S. soldiers have rotated into Iraq.

Today, half of the 697,000 U.S. Gulf War troops from the 1991 war have reported serious medical problems and a significant increase in birth defects among their newborn children.

The effects on the Iraqi population are far greater.

Poison DUst mixes interviews with soldiers with experts such as Dr. Helen Caldicott, Dr. Michio Kaku, and Dr. Rosalie Bertell explaining how DU contamination spreads and how residue from exploded DU shells radiates people.

A growing global resistance is expressed by former Attorney General
Ramsey Clark, scientists and activists from Vieques, Puerto Rico, by New York Daily News reporter Juan Gonzalez, Sara Flounders of the International Action Center's DU Education Project and Major Doug Rokke - the former U.S. Army DU Project head.

Poison DUst is an important educational tool in building the movement to stop this horror.

Janet Eaton,
Council of Canadians

==========================

http://www.poisondust.com:80/

[please visit the URL above for relevant links]

A NEW LOOK AT U.S. RADIOACTIVE WEAPONS

During the current Iraq War the U.S. use of radioactive DU weapons increased from 375 tons used in 1991 to 2200 tons. Geiger counter readings at sites in downtown Baghdad record radiation levels 1,000 and 2,000 times higher than background radiation. The Pentagon has bombed, occupied, tortured and contaminated Iraq. Millions of Iraqis are affected.

Over one million U.S. soldiers have rotated into Iraq.

Today, half of the 697,000 U.S. Gulf War troops from the 1991 war have reported serious medical problems and a significant increase in birth defects among their newborn children.

The effects on the Iraqi population are far greater. Many other countries and U.S. communities near DU weapons plants, testing facilities, bases and arsenals have also been exposed to this radioactive material which has a half-life of 4.4 billions years

(c) 2005, DVD 84 min. (with modular chapters): $20; Call 212-633-6646 or order online at leftbooks.com New Lightyear Entertainment 2006
release includes details of a panel about Vieques, Puerto Rico, and a
DVD-ROM display of further DU reports. This version available at
leftbooks.com, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Borders; also
available on Netflix. One hour version with Spanish subtitles will be available soon.

You thought they came home safely from the war. They didn't. Poison DUst tells the story of three young men from New York who could not get answers for their mysterious ailments after their National Guard unit's 2003 tour of duty in Iraq. A mother reveals her fears about the extent of her child's birth defects and the growing disability of her young husband - a vet.

Filmmaker Sue Harris skillfully weaves, through interviews, their journey from personal trauma, to 'positive' test results for uranium poisoning, to learning the truth about radioactive Depleted Uranium weapons. Their frustrations in dealing with the Veterans Administration's silence becomes outrage as they realize that thousands of other GI's have the same symptoms. Veterans, anti-war organizers, environmentalists and health care providers will find this wake-up call to today's GIs invaluable.

Today more than 1/3 of all 1991 Gulf war vets are on VA Disability Benefits. Meanwhile U.S. use of radioactive DU weapons has increased six-fold from 1991 to Gulf War II!

Scientists expose the Pentagon Cover-Up!

Poison DUst includes a powerful indictment of past U.S. use of radioactive weapons....

The U.S. military now admits that it deliberately radiated its own soldiers, known as the "Atomic Veterans," during the Cold War. This documentary exposes U.S. use of radioactive weapons on peoples in not only Iraq, but the Marshall Islands; Vieques, Puerto Rico; Meihyang-Ri, South Korea; and Yugoslavia.

Poison DUst mixes interviews with soldiers with experts such as Dr. Helen Caldicott, Dr. Michio Kaku, and Dr. Rosalie Bertell explaining how DU contamination spreads and how residue from exploded DU shells radiates people.

A growing global resistance is expressed by former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, scientists and activists from Vieques, Puerto Rico, by New York Daily News reporter Juan Gonzalez, Sara Flounders of the International Action Center's DU Education Project and Major Doug Rokke - the former U.S. Army DU Project head.

Poison DUst is an important educational tool in building the movement to stop this horror.

Full: See link above

International Action Center 5C - Solidarity Center 55 West 17th
Street New York, NY 10011 email: iacenter@action-mail.org En Espanol:

iac-cai@action-mail.org Web: http://www.iacenter.org Support Mumia
Abu-Jamal: http://www.millions4mumia.org/ phone: 212 633-6646 fax:
212 633-2889 Make a donation to the IAC and its projects

The International Action Center
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/gpc-shad ... serv?hl=en
-~-

[Oscar]

Depleted Uranium Saskatchewan's Gift to the Afghan people

http://www.actupinsask.org:80/index.php ... d=387&Item

Contributed by John W. Warnock
Sunday, 30 September 2007

Six years ago on October 7 the U.S. government launched a war against the government of Afghanistan. Air power was the key. Two B-2 Stealth bombers flew from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, each carrying sixteen 2,0000-lb satellite directed bombs. Five B-1B and 10 B-52 heavy bombers flew from Diego Garcia, the U.S. island-base guarding the Persian Gulf. Twenty-five strike aircraft attacked from two U.S. aircraft carriers in the Arabian Sea. U.S. Navy F-18 Hornets and F-14 Tomcats dropped 500-lb guided bombs and 2,000-lb earth penetrators. Fifty Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched from U.S. and British ships and submarines. The targets for the first few days were military facilities, both those of the Taliban government and those used by Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda.

For the Tora Bora bunkers the U.S. Air Force allotted 32 individual GBU-31, 2,000-lb bombs, carried by the B-1 Lancer bombers, launched from the USA and from Diego Garcia. A single aircraft can carry up to 24 tons of bombs. The 5,000-lb bunker busters and the earth penetrator weapons were dropped by B-2 bombers. Within a few days the U.S. government announced that they had destroyed the main targets.

Supporting the Northern Alliance

By October 29, 70% of U.S. air strikes were in support of the Northern Alliance armed forces, most guided by the U.S. Special Forces on the ground. The MQ-1 Predator drone with Hellfire missiles was operating over Taliban forces, directing air attacks and launching missiles. By the fifth of November the number of individual air missions was up to 120 per day, adding F-16 and F-15 fighter-bombers out of U.S. bases in Kuwait.
The turning point in the war to oust the Taliban government came on November 6 at Mazar-e Sharif, a key city in the northern plains. Attack aircraft rained down hundreds of MK82 500-lb bombs. B-52 bombers used carpet bombing to kill thousand of Taliban forces. It was here that U.S. forces dropped the first BLU-82 Daisy Cutter bomb, each weighing 15,000 lbs, producing devastation over a 600-yard radius. All the weapons used by the U.S. air attack included depleted uranium shielding.

Depleted uranium

Depleted uranium (DU) is produced during the uranium enrichment process. The U-235 used to produce fuel for reactors generating electricity is removed, leaving the U-238 isotope. The material is extremely dense and increases the penetration ability of weapons; it is used to coat shells and warheads on missiles and bombs. On impact the shell, with its uranium and traces of americium and plutonium, vaporizes and becomes very tiny particles of radioactive dust. When it is inhaled it can stay in the body, emitting radiation. The DU used in U.S. weapons comes from the uranium mines in Saskatchewan.

In the 1991 Gulf war DU was delivered almost exclusively with shells from tanks and ammunition used by aircraft. It is used in all armour piercing ordnance. In the wars in Bosnia in 1995 and Kosovo in 1999, NATO allies added DU missiles and bunker busting bombs. Thousands of DU bombs and missiles have been used by U.S. forces in the Afghan and Iraq wars. A typical bunker bomb contains 1.5 tonnes of depleted uranium.

In August 2003 Scott Peterson of the Christian Science Monitor used a Geiger counter to test several sites in Bagdad near where bunker buster bombs and missiles had fallen. He found radiation readings which were between 1,000 and 1,900 times higher than normal background radiation readings. DU weapons are still being extensively used in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Gulf War Syndrome

After the 1991 Gulf War, birth defects and leukemia rose dramatically in the areas around Basra where these weapons were used. By 2003 the U.S. Defense Department admitted that over 200,000 Gulf War veterans had filed for compensation for death, illness or disabilities. The veterans refer to this as “Gulf War Syndrome.” In the first Gulf War, the U.S.-led coalition suffered 148 deaths. Since then 8,000 veterans of this war have experienced early death.

In 1996 the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring that DU weapons were illegal “weapons of mass destruction.” In 2002 the U.N. Human Rights Convention passed a resolution urging a ban on the use of any DU weapons. We will have to wait to find out the impact of these weapons on the people of Afghanistan and the men and women in the U.S., Canadian and NATO armed forces.

John W. Warnock is a Regina political economist and author. This is an extract from his forthcoming book, Afghanistan: The Creation of a Failed State, to be published by Fernwood in 2008.