Disposal of nuclear waste has always been a problem, but compared with yesteryears the problem is diminishing.
Nevertheless, it is bizarre and somewhat inconsistent to read of the dangers to the climate occasioned by coal-burning power generation when it is well recognised that nuclear power generation is atmospherically among the cleanest available.
With the upcoming climate change talkfest in Copenhagen already uppermost in minds such as those of Kevin Rudd, Al Gore and Penny Wong, wouldn't it be somewhat ironic if that conference voted strongly in favour of nuclear power generation over coal burning to save the planet?
Within 10 years this would probably make deep inroads into carbon emissions also a long-lasting and cost-effective infrastructure base benefitting all the human race.
N.Bailey, Murrumbateman
Minister for the Environment Peter Garret has approved the opening of a new in situ leaching uranium mine that risks leaching liquid excursions beyond the uranium deposits and possible contamination of ground water with unpredictable effects on the host rocks.
This type of uranium mining pouring sulphuric acid into the ground makes it impossible to restore a mined area back to natural conditions when the operation is finished.
My (internet) sources say that after leaching is completed,''ground water restoration is a very protracted and troublesome process, which is not yet completely understood''. In other words it is still impossible to establish pre-leach levels for all parameters.
Like Senator Fielding, I am unconvinced that our Environment Minister has enough scientific evidence to approve another risky uranium mine.
David Cavill, Kambah
Lone bushwalkers
I am glad about the survival of Jamie Neale after being lost for 12 days in the Blue Mountains. But I am utterly dismayed at the frequency with which people go bushwalking on their own and have to be rescued.
When I was a Boy Scout (many years ago) it was drummed into me that the number one safety rule for hiking in the bush is never, never do it alone. Yet we regularly hear news of people who really should know better going off on their own and getting into difficulty.
To describe Jamie as an experienced bushwalker when he had not only gone off alone but had gone without many of the basics required for a safe expedition is simply a contradiction in terms.
One should not depend on your mobile phone for help. After a fall at the bottom of a ravine in rugged country a mobile phone is of no use at all.
Roger Quarterman, Campbell
Drawing conclusions
Pope's cartoon of 16 July belittles Senator Fielding for many wrong reasons. Chiefly, Pope is claiming that Fielding has no right to exercise his responsibility as a legislator, and that Fielding is foolish to question global warming, though tens of thousands of qualified scientists do so.
Pope clearly subscribes to the theory of man-made global warming and to its unproven potential effects as articles of faith. He has apparently closed his mind as firmly as have many others (like Al Gore) who are satisfied that climate science has ceased precisely at the point where its conclusions are those they favour for their pecuniary benefit or reputations or jobs.
So virulent have believers in the theology of catastrophic global warming become that non-believers are pilloried as apostates, for no other reason than that they question doubtful scientific conclusions.
Greg O'Regan ,Farrer
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