Italian Green Activists Oppose Uranium Plan

Italian Green Activists Oppose Uranium Plan

PlanetArk ITALY

21st September 2006

MILAN - Italian environmentalists vowed on Wednesday to oppose a project to extract uranium in the northern region of Lombardy, saying it could cause radioactive contamination of the area.

Australia-listed exploration company Metex Resources Ltd. said earlier this week it wanted to explore 300 hectares in the mountains some 85 km northeast of Milan.

Global demand for uranium has been growing with 28 new nuclear reactors under construction, on top of an existing 442. Spot uranium prices have nearly doubled over the last 12 months to US$52 per pound.

Metex has started a process to gain the necessary permits in Italy which has a notoriously lengthy authorisation procedure for any big industrial project. Local activists earlier this year blocked construction of a high-speed railway connecting the north of Italy with France.

Andrea Poggio, head of the Legambiente environmental action group for the Lombardy region told Reuters: "We are very angry that they have not informed local people...We are strongly opposed to it." Legambiente planned to discuss the project soon with local authorities and residents of the Seriana valley where Metex plans to develop its US$150 million project to extract uranium.

Lombardy's regional government is evaluating the project, a regional government spokesman said.

Poggio said the project presented two main threats: possible radioactive contamination of the valley through rain and mountain springs which can spread radioactive elements from ore once it is extracted, and the radioactive gas radon which accompanies mine works.

Uranium was first discovered in the region in the 1960s, but has never been commercially exploited. But the ore has been making a comeback on the back of high oil prices and growing concerns over pollution from coal-fired plants.

Story by Svetlana Kovalyova

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE