NUCLEAR LIES – theme for January 2012
In 2012 in their desperate struggle to keep the nuclear industry alive, corporations, governments, academia and media will trot out the same old lies, plus a few newer ones.
The new ones will be:
1. to downplay the prospects for renewable energy and energy efficiency – lies about costs, about “base load” power.
2. to tout the safety of new nuclear technology, such as “small modular thorium nuclear reactors”.
3. More subtly than lies – the nuclear lobby uses OMISSIONS – watch how in 2012 the topics of Fukushima, and nuclear waste, fade from mention in the media, even though they are still topics of critical importance.
Australia’s crappy response to peaceful Aboriginal protest
It makes me sick. Now the media is focused on some poor blighter in Canberra who let somebody know the whereabouts of Tony Abbott. Is that the biggest issue that they can come up with? Oh no – they’ve got another one – Julia’s shoe.
No wonder the media is moving hastily away from its first response – which was to blame Aboriginals for their (legitimate and peaceful) protest. After all, we all saw the TV footage – the only violence came , unprovoked, from the police. And then we get sanctimonious pronouncements from Warren Mundine and Tom Gooda – honorary whites if ever there were!
The real issue is the continued dispossession of Aboriginal land, in the interests of mining corporations, and especially the nuclear industry. The Northern Territory Intervention might indeed have done some good things. But forcing people off their homelands is a bad thing. The new draft Constitution has some good changes, respectful to Aboriginals, but also contains a cunningly worded permission for the land dispossession to continue.
Now very poor whiteys will be penalised, in the new Northern Territory Intervention too – that makes it look as if it’s not discriminating against Aboriginals.
Now why was the media so friendly to that “people’s protest” in Western Australia – some months back? Remember, when Gina Rinehart, (Australia’s richest woman) all in her pearls, came out in the streets along with wealthy socialites, to protest against the mining tax? Why was that protest not met with tough police, and media denunciation? - Christina Macpherson
Australian media distorts Aboriginals’ peaceful protest – what a load of anti-Aboriginal spin!
Gillard and Abbott were never really threatened by aboriginal protestors, Independent Australia, 26 Jan 2012 The official account portrays Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott as being attacked by violent aboriginal demonstrators today in Canberra. Present at the demonstrations was John Passant — who paints a rather different picture of events. Lunching at the appropriately named Porkbarrel Café for an awards ceremony, Gillard and Abbott became the target of a large crowd of demonstrators from the nearby Tent Embassy 40th year commemoration. Earlier that morning, 2,000 of us had gathered at the Australian National University for a welcome, some talks, rap and dancing before marching up to Parliament House and then on to the Tent Embassy at Old Parliament House….. Soon about 200 of the demonstrators moved from the Tent Embassy commemoration to the café to tell Abbott what they thought of him.
There was a bit of banging on the glass walls. The chants started as “Shame, shame!” and “Racists, racists” and then became a steady “Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.” This is a truth the one per cent and their paid mouthpieces, Gillard and Abbott, cannot acknowledge, let alone address.
The cops reacted as they always do when confronted by angry Aboriginal people. The riot squad and the Prime Minister’s protection unit brutalised the crowd to clear a path for Gillard and Abbott, ….
Then the cops tried to wreak their vengeance on the crowd – an Aboriginal crowd and their supporters – for having dared to protest against these two representatives of the mining companies that are stealing Aboriginal land. Together in a line, they walked slowly towards the protestors chanting ‘Move, move, move’ and in one case, shoved a pepper spray bottle into a demonstrators’ face….. The demonstration was a reminder that polite conversation isn’t going to shift entrenched capitalist interests and their representatives in the Parliament. It might give you fake constitutional changes but not land rights, not sovereignty, not a treaty…. http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/politics/gillard-and-abbott-were-never-really-threatened-by-aboriginal-protestors/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=IA+Newsletter
Tent Embassy spokesman Pal Coe made a point largely lost in the media coverage today, which is that Warren Mundine and Mick Gooda don’t speak for those involved, much less for Aboriginal Australia as a whole
The Mob Violence That Wasn’t New Matilda.com, By Ben Eltham , 28 Jan, 12, The media has framed it as violent but the tent embassy protest was basically peaceful. It’s this gross distortion – and the heavy-handed response of the AFP – that warrant criticism, writes Ben Eltham
Somehow, with the strange alchemy that the media seems to summon, the dominant angle of reporting about yesterday’s Australia Day kerfuffle involving the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition has been to condemn it as a violent protest.
“Indigenous leaders condemn ‘disgraceful’ protesters” is how the ABC has beendescribing it and much of the Fairfax press has carried similar stories. The television networks have, of course, reveled in the dramatic footage. Channel 9’s news report from last night, which carried the inside-the-restaurant footage of the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader conferring on whether to evacuate, repeatedly framed the protest in emotive terms like “violent”, “raging”, “angry mob”, under siege” and so on.
Few media outlets seem to have asked whether there was in fact any violence from protesters. The available video and eyewitness evidence suggests that the violence came mainly from police and security staff. Yes, there was chanting, Yes, there was banging on the windows of local restaurant The Lobby.
But were the protesters really “violent”? Read more »
Western Australian Labor’s new policy could lead to hasty, botched uranium mining applications
”A real concern and a real danger is that companies will try and short circuit what is already a very weak environmental impact assessment process, just to get something into the bank so that they’re through before a potential change of government,”
Has Labor’s shift on uranium mining started a race? ABC News, Rebecca Boteler, 28 Jan 12 The new Labor leader Mark McGowan has changed his party’s stance on uranium mining in Western Australia. But what does it mean for those companies in the race to mine uranium?
Mr McGowan announced the party’s backflip on uranium mining on his first day in the job. The new policy means any mines already operational by the time the Labor party next comes into power will not be shut down and any companies that already have approval can continue development.
However, Labor will not allow any new mines to be given the green light. Read more »
America’s Blue Ribbon Commission report – inadequate, and ignores nuclear weapons waste
The Commission has entirely ignored the immense evidence that DOE’s plans for disposal of several types of defense waste pose much greater threats to water resources, most especially at Hanford
“I am dismayed that the Commission saw fit to recommend that the Department of Energy (DOE) have a large upfront role in both the next steps for repository program, … DOE was in large part responsible for the mess the program is in now,
Radioactive Wastes From Nuclear Bomb Program Given Short Shrift In Blue Ribbon Commission Report EnEws Park Forest, TAKOMA PARK, MD–(ENEWSPF)–January 27, 2012. Arjun Makhijani, Ph.D., President of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, today commented on some of the recommendations of the final report of the Presidential Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC) on America’s Nuclear Future.
The commission was created to address U.S. nuclear waste issues after the Obama administration cancelled the
Yucca Mountain program….
….On wastes from the nuclear bomb program:
Makhijani: “It is tragic that the Commission did not substantively address the most pressing radioactive waste contamination threats to precious water resources – for instance hundreds of times the drinking water limit at Hanford, Washington on the banks of the Columbia River.
The Commission had a charter to conduct a ‘comprehensive’ review of the nuclear waste problem, including defense wastes from the nuclear bomb program. Yet, it simply said it did not have the resources to deal with all the problems and punted the nuclear weapons waste issue to Congress while focusing on commercial spent fuel at nuclear reactor sites.” Read more »
Time to expose the money that funds Australia’s climate denialist think tanks
“The public should know who is funding climate denial so they can properly judge the information put out by organisations like the Global Warming Policy Foundation,”
“In Australia, the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) is a leading source of climate disinformation, yet it retreats into secrecy whenever it is asked about the source of its funding. Environment groups are upfront about their funding, yet denialists claim privacy.”
The first available set of public accounts shows the foundation, which has declared Australia as one of its areas of operation to UK authorities, received £494,625 in donations in its first year.
Bid to out the money behind the voice against climate change, SMH Graham Readfearn January 27, 2012 - A British journalist’s court bid to unmask the financial backers of a group of climate change sceptics is being used to raise questions about how think-tanks are funded in Australia and whether they deserve tax exemptions.
The UK’s Charity Commission, which regulates charities in the UK, is being asked to release a document that would show the start-up funders of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, chaired by former UK chancellor Lord Nigel Lawson.
Launched in November 2009, the foundation has consistently challenged the mainstream scientific view that human emissions of greenhouse gases represent a significant risk to the planet and societies.
Later today, freelance journalist Brendan Montague will appeal to the UK’s Information Rights Tribunal for the release of a bank statement provided to the Charity Commission by Lord Lawson, which Mr Montague believes will identify the source of a $50,000 seed donation.
The case has raised the issue of how think-tanks engaged in public policy debates are funded and whether potential conflicts of interest should be declared. None are required by law to publicly disclose their funders. Read more »
America’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission will keep the industry running no matter what
Nuclear Power is Clean — as Long as you Ignore ‘Safety’!, Ace Hoffman Salem-News.com, 27 Jan 12,”……On March 10, 2011, the day before Fukushima, the NRC revealed to the media that Vermont Yankee, a poorly-designed old reactor in America, would be granted a license extension in a few days. After an earthquake and tsunami in Japan the next day, a slew of nearly identical reactors began melting down and exploding before our eyes.
Did the NRC change their minds and delay their decision? NO! Did they want to find out if what went wrong in Japan was applicable to Vermont? NO! The NRC does not lack in hubris, or in skill in manipulating the media to its advantage. Every accident — even Fukushima — is an “opportunity to learn,” and so in their macabre way of thinking, every accident, no matter how severe, can be considered a GOOD thing!
Five politically-appointed commissioners make all the “big” decisions at the NRC, and so just three commissioners constitute a majority. There are about 320 million citizens in America, so in a sense, these three people — who are not elected — control the fate of more than one hundred million Americans each. That’s what we call “democracy”?
And it gets worse: They have very finely-crafted laws to protect their power, such that over the past half century, thousands of local, state, and federal judges, as well as commissioners and other officials at all levels, have all deferred to the NRC, and thus, to these three individuals, whose identities change over time, but whose basic philosophy — “keep the nuclear industry running, ignore the dangers” — remains the same.
In addition to being lobbied constantly, politicians (who pick the commissioners) are given huge campaign contributions by the nuclear industry — hundreds of millions of dollars every decade. Often, campaign contributions are given to BOTH candidates in a close election, so regardless of who wins, the winner is beholden to the nuclear industry.
In Vermont recently, a Federal judge threw out the state’s attempt to get Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant shut down permanently after 40 years of constant leaks, piling waste, and random outages, because the judge was convinced the “real” reason Vermonters want the plant shut down is safety concerns — regardless of the OTHER legal rationalities brought forth by the state’s attorneys, such as: A prior agreement by the utility to shut the plant down if requested by the state; Lies
told repeatedly by the utility to the state’s citizens, and: Overpriced electricity the utility was offering the state.
But sooner or later, it always comes down to “safety”. And as long as the NRC says the plants are safe, everyone else says they’re safe too. http://www.salem-news.com/articles/january262012/nuclear-power-ah.php
Nuclear money is a drug of dependence for Japanese towns
“After having received money related to the nuclear power plant like a form of drugs, this region’s capability to nurture its economy independently and actively has declined
Japanese town’s dependence on nuclear plant hushes criticism, By Yoko Kubota, OHI, Japan Jan 26, 2012 (Reuters) - Japan’s nuclear disaster has eroded trust in utilities and shown residents of the rural, mountainous region of Fukui the risk of radiation, but a dependence on atomic plants for jobs and funds means speaking out against them is taboo. Read more »
Australia’s Professor Martin Green spells it out on solar cell technology
Solar guru receives Australia Day honour , 26 January 2012, Anna Salleh ABC Science, http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/01/26/3415244.htm Australia needs to look to Germany if it is to realise the potential of solar cell technology, says an expert who is being honoured today. Professor Martin Green of the University of New South Wales has been made a Member of the Order of Australia(AM) for his work on photovoltaics.
“Germany has been the only country that’s had a sensible long-term program in place to promote the use of renewables,” says Green.
Some argue solar cells are not a competitive option for reducing carbon emissions, and are limited by the fact that they don’t generate energy unless the Sun is shining.
But according to Green, the “stars are aligning for conventional roof mounted solar” and it is ripe for a new kick start from governments. Read more »
Australian rare earths company Lynas has not solved its Malaysian radioactive waste problem
Locals say market won’t buy Lynas’ recycled waste, Malaysia, By Shannon Teoh, January 26, 2012 KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 — Lynas Corp’s plans to recycle waste from its controversial RM2.5 billion rare earth plant in Kuantan into a commercial product will not be accepted by the market, local residents opposed to the refinery said today.
The Stop Lynas Coalition (SLC) and Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) groups said in a joint submission to the government that the synthetic gypsum the Australian miner hopes to produces from its waste is the subject of an international safety campaign due to radiation fears. The use of phospho-gypsum plaster-board and plaster cement in buildings as a substitute for natural gypsum may constitute an additional source of radiation exposure to both workers and members of the public,” the document quoted from Internet-based environmental organisation Zero Waste America. Read more »
With good management, electric cars could mean cheaper and more efficient infrastructure
How EVs could save the grid – and lower energy bills , Reneweconomy By Giles Parkinson 27 January 2012 The world’s electricity grids are facing a dramatic makeover in coming decades as the rapid expansion of renewable energy, distributed generation, battery storage and smart technology takes hold. It’s going to be a challenge to the energy industry’s operations and to their business models – as big as the challenge that hit the world’s telecom networks more than a decade ago with the success of the mobile phone.
It may be, however, that the introduction of the electric vehicle in great quantities could be a saviour to much of the established infrastructure, protecting assets that could otherwise be stranded and leading to an overall reduction in electricity costs.
The Australian Energy Markets Commission, which is responsible for setting the electricity market rules, released an issues paper this month to help prepare for the sort of changes that might need to be implemented if the uptake of EVs takes off.
It came to two initial conclusions: Badly managed, the rollout of EVs could have a severe impact on electricity costs if battery charging times were not controlled and this resulted in large addition to peak demand.
However, if managed properly, the rollout of EVS could lead to a noticeable reduction in energy costs because it would increase load factors at night time and spread the fixed cost of the network over a larger consumer base. And its storage capacity has the potential to put energy back into the grid at times of peak demand and help reduce wild fluctuations in pricing.
The paper includes work done by the consultancy group AECOM, which finds that the difference in costs to the grid between controlled and uncontrolled charging could be as much as $12 billion if the take up of EVs is high, described as 47 per cent of new vehicles sales by 2020 and 54 per cent by 2030…..
The AECOM is broadly consistent with other studies on the rollout of EVs, including those by AGL Energy, and the Australian Energy Market Operator, although these analyses do inevitably differ on predicting the extent of the uptake of the EV – and in the case of AEMO, the impact on peak demand. The study by AGL, which has a commitment to provide renewable energy to support the rollout of the Better Place network due to begin in Canberra this year, also found that a broad uptake of EVs would have a relatively minimal impact on the nation’s electricity market.
It did conclude, however, that “the correct mix of pricing, policy and regulatory settings should ensure a smooth transition to the decarbonisation of the transport fleet.” And key amongst this is the issue of time of use pricing, among others, which the utility says is essential if the country is to take advantage of smart meters, EVs and distributed generation.
AGL agreed with AECOM in concluding that there should be more than sufficient existing generation, transmission and distribution network capacity to manage the demands of the EV, “provided that the combination of smart meters and critical peak pricing form part of the energy market policy fabric for EV owners.”
It also says that the combination of EVs and time of use pricing could maximize the use of network and generation infrastructure, and this in turn could lower unit costs for all consumers. http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/how-evs-could-save-the-grid-and-lower-energy-bills
Australia’s newest uranium customer celebrates its nuclear weapons
India flexes nuclear muscle on R-Day Times of India TNN | Jan 27, 2012, “….. on display for the first time in the parade were the nuclear-capable Agni IV intermediate range surface-to-surface ballistic missile and the Hercules C-130-J aircraft recently acquired from the US. …. The crowd got excited as an array of weapons and armaments was rolled out on the Rajpath. The first to come were the mechanized columns led by the T-72 tanks. The SMERCH multiple launch rocket system, Pinaka multi-barrel rocket system, and the Advanced Light Helicopter ‘Dhruv’ came later. Then the Agni-IV missile rolled past, much to the cheer of the crowd. It was successfully flight tested last November and DRDO paraded it on Thursday. It got a thunderous welcome. The missile is nuclear capable and can carry a warhead up to 3,500 km. Also for the first time, the 150-km range Prahaar Tactical Battlefield Support Missile and the Rustom-1 unmanned aerial vehicle were part of the parade and proved to be eye-catchers. …
Australia: Constitutional change will entrench dispossession of Aborigines
Settler colonialism is an ongoing process. The maintenance of the Australian nation as it exists today relies on the ongoing displacement and dispossession of aboriginal people from their lands and their cultures…..
The proposed constitutional amendments will not solve this. By continuing to reiterate the idea that aboriginal culture is “ancient”, “traditional” and “part of our national heritage”, the proposed amendments help non-aboriginal Australians to forget not only the genocidal violence perpetrated by early settlers but also their own implication, as settlers on unceded land, in producing the conditions under which most aboriginal Australians live today. By constitutionalising aboriginal Australia in the past tense, this prosperous settler colony may simply take another step towards a future in which tribal dance ceremonies and ancient rituals are all anyone can remember….
Aboriginal Australians are part of the country’s present – not just its past, Guardian UK, 26 Jan 12, It’s Australia Day, but proposed constitutional changes stressing ‘ancient’ aboriginal culture will not unite the country Australia celebrates Australia Day today, marking 224 years since the declaration of British sovereignty and the arrival of the first fleet of convict ships. Australia remains the only Commonwealth country not to have a treaty with its original owners, and although a treaty may have made little difference to the lives of aboriginal Australians, the celebration of Australia Day on unceded land makes many non-aboriginal Australians, myself included, feel highly uncomfortable….. Read more »
Preserving country and culture- Laurie Baymarrwangga – Senior Australian of the year
Protecting Australia – Senior ANinety-five-year-old Laurie Baymarrwangga from the Crocodile Islands in East Arnhem land is the senior Australian of the year. ABC Rural, By Liz Trevaskis , 26 January 2012 The Aboriginal elder has dedicated her life to the preservation of environment, culture and ecological knowledge, and has donated $400,0000 of her own money to establish projects including a local ranger program and a turtle sanctuary.ustralian of the Year fights for environment and culture…
. She has worked in enormously wonderful ways to create homelands, to put together dictionary projects, to aid livelihood projects like the Crocodile Islands rangers, and she’s worked to help bilingual education and help children learn their own
language on their own country. ….http://www.abc.net.au/rural/content/2012/s3416266.htm?site=darwin
Western Australia ideal for “solar energy chimney”
Video: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/intelligent-energy/video-worlds-tallest-building-could-be-a-247-australian-solar-chimney/12558 World’s tallest building could be a 24/7 Australian solar chimney Smart Planet, By Mark Halper | January 26, 2012, “…..Perth-based Hyperion Energy wants to build a kilometer-high “solar chimney” in the Western Australian outback, in partnership with German engineering firm Shlalch Bergermann. …. The monumental scheme rests on the principle that hot air rises. A ground level canopy less than a millimeter thin and covering 3600 hectares would heat air that would escape up the .62-mile high shoot. Along the way, it would drive 32 turbines, with a total capacity of 200 megawatts – roughly the same as is often proposed for small modular nuclear reactors.
“The taller the tower and the bigger the collector, the more electricity is generated,” proclaims the Australian narrator in a Hyperion video promoting the CO2-free energy scheme (see below).
Hyperion believes the so-called “solar updraft tower” would provide much needed power to mining operations in western Australia, and could also connect to the grid. It hopes to go live by 2014. Recharge News says the company is currently seeking approval for the $1.7 billion plan.
Unlike many solar projects, this one would keep the generators humming day and night, as the ground continues to give off captured heat from dusk to dawn, Hyperion says. See for yourself: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/intelligent-energy/video-worlds-tallest-building-could-be-a-247-australian-solar-chimney/12558
Australia Day – the good and the not so good
The good. Well, there is a lot of good will between the Aboriginal First Australians, the slightly less new European ancestry Australians, and the newer New Australians from all over the place. And it’s all nicely mixed up with Chinese New Year, celebrated by Chinese Australians and by a lot of the rest of us.
It’s good that amongst the celebrities of all kinds, a couple of Australai Day Awards really do stand out. There’s James Durie, awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia. Since 1996 he has been an ambassador for Planet Ark and since 2008 he has been climate change presenter for the Australian Conservation Foundation.
And it’s extra good that Jeffrey Lee is awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia. Jeffrey Lee astonished our materialistic Australian culture by refusing to accept $millions for his traditional land in the Northern Territory in exchange for allowing uranium mining there. Instead, Lee donated his land to Kakadu National Park, and fought for it to be a World Heritage Area.
The not so good. Well – the Day recalls the original day in the process of dispossessing Aboriginal people of their country. It’s not surprising that many call this day Invasion Day, or Survival Day. So it would be a healing move to change the national day to a date that held a less tragic meaning .
Also not so good. The move to change the Australian Constitution – supposedly to remove discrimination against Aboriginals. A great idea, supported by just about everybody. But not so great, if it manages to sneak in those loopholes that will entrench the process of dispossessing Aboriginals of their land – especially in the interests of the uranium/nuclear industry.
This month
For international news, go to nuclear-news
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/telegraph/content/2012/s3413587.htm Rural acceptance of wind farms,
http://yes2renewables.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/nogozones-2.jpg Map shows Victoria – areas where a wind farm is not permitted under Victoria’s Liberal National government policies.
http://beyondnuclearinitiative.com/ Mark Lane Jangala speaks about Muckaty and planned nuc lear waste dump
http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=2995 Energy Matters Video News – Episode 54 – January 18, 2012
Anti nuclear action below: - more info at Action Australia « Antinuclear and at Event details « Antinuclear
EVENTS
- January 17-28 Sydney Photos from Manuwangku, Under the Nuclear Cloud exhibition
- February 13 Adelaide Fukushima and the Future of Nuclear Power
- February 23 - Adelaide Nicole Foss – a Mentor For Turbulent Times. Nicole Foss speaks on Energy and the Economy http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=FqRGVNUK5x0
LATEST AUDIO & VIDEO ITEMS. arrive – so fast and so good – go to our audiovisual page Audiovisual « Antinuclear for information on these websites
NUCLEAR LIES - theme for January 2012
No industry can compare with nuclear for the lies and coverups. In the early 1940s the USA government perverted research into the medical uses of ionising radiation into a plan for radiation mass killing : the original aim of the atomic bomb was to kill people, and leave property undamaged. After World War 2, Germany’s Nazi scientists suddenly became respectable USA citizens, working on USA’s nuclear weapons.
From its murky past in weapons of mass murder, the nuclear industry emerged with its promiseof energy “too cheap to meter”. That was a lie, and the industry has been lying ever since. Unfortunately, as advertising has shown over the 20th Century, if you keep repeating a lie, people start to believe it.
Image above from Nuclear Disaster- Don’t Believe Their Lies - Gaia Health http://www.gaia-health.com/articles401/000421-nuclear-disaster.shtml
A current nuclear lie is the “nuclear renaissance” – a rebirth of this outdated and failing industry.
The nuclear lobby will actually USE the Fukushima nuclear disaster to promote nuclear power
The nuclear lobby will actually USE the danger of nuclear weapons to promote nuclear power
The nuclear lobby will pretend that nuclear power is clean, green, renewable, and combats climate change
Like the tobacco and asbestos industries, the nuclear industry will ignore, dismiss, and lie about its role in causing cancer
