WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2011-07-25 Time: 22:00:01 Posted By: News Poster
By Dr Sarah Lawley
Given the exploration plans of Uranex, it is likely that more discoveries will be made in the near future.
In exploration drilling at the Likuyu North Prospect, Uranex has recently made a significant discovery of uranium ore.
The economic effects of a strong and well regulated mining sector are now well understood by most governments and leaders. However, many people are not yet aware of how uranium itself is used, how the uses have changed with time and how the uses are now internationally monitored.
Uranium has many important uses throughout the world. Indeed all countries are now benefiting in numerous ways from technologies which use uranium for peaceful purposes.
There are more than 430 nuclear reactors operating in 30 countries, producing about 14 per cent of the world’s electricity. In addition to these, 62 reactors are under construction and more than 150 are planned.
Electricity production is the main use of uranium worldwide. The emergence of this modern energy source has significantly reduced the total pollution to the Earth’s atmosphere which would have otherwise occurred through the burning of coal, oil and gas.
According to the US Nuclear Energy Institute, our current usage of nuclear energy instead of fossil fuels avoids on average the emissions of about 2.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.Another very important use for uranium is in medical technologies. Hospitals, dentists and medical clinics in countries all over the world (including Tanzania) use these technologies to diagnose and to treat illnesses.
Some of the most common applications include X-rays and radiotherapy. Nuclear technologies are also used to sterilise medical equipment so that it is safe to use. In addition to electricity producing reactors, there are now 250 research reactors in 58 countries, providing radioactive pharmaceuticals for medical diagnosis and treatments and other radionuclide supplies for modern industry applications.
As an example, Canadian reactors now produce approximately 85 per cent of the world’s supply of Cobalt-60 and more than 50 per cent of the Cobalt-60 medical therapy devices and medical device sterilizers. They also produce most of the world’s supply of radioactive pharmaceuticals. Any person who has undergone medical tests involving imaging scans of the brain, bone, liver, spleen or kidney is a beneficiary of these often life-saving nuclear technologies.
Globally, there is a high demand for uranium. To fuel the existing nuclear reactors, the total uranium consumption in 2010 was about 180 million pounds. As the 62 new reactors (now under construction) are completed, global consumption will increase accordingly. With resources in excess of 100 million pounds, Tanzania has the potential to become a major supplier in the uranium market.
In the past, there was a concern that uranium could be misdirected or diverted for use in military applications such as weapons, instead of for peaceful uses. In 1961, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) introduced a global system to track and monitor the use of nuclear materials. Subsequently an international agreement, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), was put in place to ensure the peaceful and safe use of nuclear technologies and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
More than 180 countries have already signed the treaty, including Tanzania. Tanzania signed the Treaty in 1991 and the Tanzanian Nuclear Safeguards Agreement was ratified in 2004. Under the NPT, the IAEA has authority to monitor the production, import and export of uranium, to ensure that Tanzania’s uranium is only used for civilian purposes.
The IAEA cooperates closely with State authorities, such as the Tanzanian Atomic Energy Commission (TAEC), to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material and the absence of undeclared nuclear material. In practice, this means that the movement of uranium oxide is globally tracked.
It is accounted for at the point of export, where it has a declared destination (a country with a mutual safeguards agreement) and it is accounted for at the point of arrival. In this way any export or import of source material is reported to the IAEA under comprehensive safeguards agreements.
Therefore, the mining of uranium in Tanzania will ultimately lead to beneficial outcomes, including low-carbon electricity production, industrial technologies and life saving medical applications.
This is already the case for other uranium producing countries such as Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan, Malawi, Namibia and Niger. As a signatory to the NPT, Tanzania has also made a commitment to the international community to ensure that all Tanzanian uranium is used for peaceful purposes.
The author is the sustainability manager for Uranex NL, which has uranium mining interests in Tanzania
Original date published: 22 July 2011
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201107251230.html?viewall=1