Introduction
Updated 14 March 2008

What is Uranium?
First discovered in the 18th century, uranium is a dense, heavy metal found nearly everywhere on Earth, although mainly in trace quantities. It is an unstable material which gradually breaks apart or "decays" at the atomic level. Any such material is said to be "radioactive".

What is radiation?
Uranium is a radioactive element - it is this property which makes it useful to the nuclear industry. Uranium atoms are unstable and occasionally disintergrate into smaller pieces with a burst of energy, which can be extremely dangerous to people and the environment. Some forms of radiation can travel right through your body and even through protective materials.

How is uranium mined?
Uranium is taken from the earth like any other metal, blasted and dug from open pit or underground mines. In some places, it is leached out of the ground by injecting strong acid or alkaline solutions into the groundwater, a process known as In-Situ Leach (ISL) or solution mining. Uranium needs to go through a complex milling process to extract it from the host rock before it can be sold in a form known as yellowcake, chemical symbol U3O8.

Does our Government support this industry?
Despite the fact that Australia has no nuclear power stations or nuclear weapons of its own, the Australian Government supports increased exports of uranium. There is now very little difference between the two major Federal parties where uranium exports are concerned, although internal dissent still exists within the Federal ALP and the Queensland and Western Australian state governments do not support expanded uranium mining. The Democrats and Greens have been outspoken opponents of uranium mining, nuclear energy and nuclear weapons.