more on unintended consequences...

I'm fascinated by the global scale of 'unintended consequences'. Our choices are important. Here's an example:

The U.S. imports about 90% of the nuclear fuel we use in our nuclear-powered electrical generating plants. Some of that fuel...quite a lot in some years... comes from the Ranger Uranium Mines and Mills in Ranger, Australia. There is a publication, updated monthly, entitled 'Issues at Operating Uranium Mines and Mills in Ranger, Australia'. In the issue dated March 11, 2011, there are several very sobering headlines, including but not limited to:
Water level in Ranger tailings dam nears limit.
Processing at Ranger uranium mill suspended for 12 weeks due to high water levels in tailings impoundment after heavy rainfall.
Yellowcake truck gets stuck in Kakadu National Park (a World Heritage-listed nature reserve.
Traditional Owners of Ranger uranium mine site alarmed by new spills into Kakadu National Park, call into question mine expansion project.
Since this last one is particularly fascinating in an 'unintended consequences' sense, let's look at a quote:

"Millions of litres of radioactive water from the Ranger uranium mine have flowed into internationally acclaimed and World Heritage-listed wetlands in Kakadu National Park. Traditional owners say they will oppose plans for a huge expansion of the 30-year-old mine by Energy Resources of Australia, unless the company upgrades outdated environmental protection procedures.
The Rio Tinto-owned ERA has tried to play down an alarming and unexplained spike in contamination in water flowing from the mine into Kakadu's Magela Creek between April 9 and 11, 2010, The Age can reveal. About 40 Aborigines live downstream from a site where a measure probe recorded up to five times the warning level of electrical conductivity, which is a measure of contaminants including uranium, sulphate and radium. Environmental group Environment Center Northern Territory has been shown evidence showing the spike, which ERA representatives said had originated upstream from the mine and was not ERA's fault. But, asked about the contamination, ERA admitted the source "could not be determined and investigations are continuing". "It is possible that these have come from the Ranger operations," it said. ERA's handling of the spike and other environmental concerns about the mine have strained its relations with the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation, which represents the Mirarr traditional owners.
In another unreported mishap at the mine, in December 2009 a poorly-engineered dam collapsed, spilling 6 million litres of radioactive water into the Gulungul Creek, which flows into Kakadu."

So... does it matter? Does that population of 'traditional owners' matter? The report goes on and on, and includes a description of plans for an expansion of the mining operations to meet global demand for processed uranium yellowcake; those plans include "...a heap leaching plant, a tunnel under flood plains, a 1000-person accomodation village, 650 evaportation ponds and a one-square-kilometer tailings dam. The expansion would extend the mine's operation to at least 2021".

From a Buddhist perspective, there's only one possible reaction to news like this: Live off the grid! As long as we're sucking down electricity made from nuclear power plants, we're responsible for the degradation of the precious wetlands that sustain those natives in the national park. More later.

Namaste.

Kirk