Stichting Laka

Publicatie Laka-bibliotheek:
A Promise to move Mountains. The search for uranium at Deeside

Auteur	FOE Aberdeen
Datum	juni 1977
Classificatie	2.05.9.90/12 (GROOT-BRITTANNIË - REST INSTALLATIES)
Voorkant

SUMMARY OF MAIN POINTS IN THIS REPORT

1.Exploration for uranium cannot be considered separately from the issue of 
commercial extraction, as exploratory drilling is an extractive operation which 
is intended to lead to mining.

2.Uranium mining would bring only limited and temporary employment benefits to 
the Banchory area (cf. Table II). We consider that the benefit of these jobs would be 
outweighed by the likely destruction of jobs in existing industries eg. farming and 
tourism, and by the likelihood of permanent damage to local economic resources. 
We believe that there are other far better economic opportunities that should be 
considered in preference to uranium mining, and that the consequences of such 
extraction would be a profound threat to local prosperity and economic prospects.

3. Pollution from a uranium mine would arise from noise, dust, chemical agents,
radioactive substances, toxic metals, and contaminated groundwater. This would 
badly affect a much wider area than any mine site. It would cause severe permanent 
damage to soils, water resources, vegetation, wildlife, fish-stocks, farming, forestry 
and to land resources and ecology in general. There would also be the possibility of 
direct hazards to human health.

4. The very large scale of mine excavation and waste dumping, including toxic
limes behind tailings dams, would destroy the high agricultural, biological and 
scenic value of the local landscape and natural environment, without prospect of 
successful restoration (cf. Table I and Figures 4-6).

5. In view of all this, we consider that planning permission for exploratory drilling
should be refused in principle. If prospective drilling with a view to mining were 
permitted by any authority, then subsequent permission for mining would be very 
difficult to refuse, given the size of financial commitments made during drilling by 
the operators.

6. In view of the current national public debate on nuclear power and energy
strategy, we demand that all exploratory drilling programmes for uranium in 
Britain should be halted until the Government publicly states and justifies a 
policy for uranium extraction.

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