The week that was
Australia:
Muckaty nuclear waste dump: Aboriginal landowners legal case against it will continue. The Federal Court in Melbourne ruled that that it can, and that previously secret documents can be made public. Medical experts reiterate that this dump is not needed for nuclear medicine. Meanwhile South Australians are becoming concerned at plans to transport the radioactive wastes through their State. Renmark may make their area a nuclear free zone.
Julia Gillard at Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul. Australia’s claims of promoting nuclear security and non proliferation sound hollow, as Australia will flout the Non Proliferation Treaty by selling uranium to India, as well as being a major provider of uranium to a number of nuclear weapons states anyway. On the sidelines of the Summit, Julia discussed USA-Australia co-operation with Obama. Plans for Australia to host USA spy drone aircraft, and to host an increased number of USA nuclear attack submarines at Garden Island in Perth.
North Korea does remain a worry for the world, and its next missile launch is for the first time, expected to impact an area roughly between Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines,
Earthquakes in South Australia. A worrying series of earthquakes, the latest 3.9 magnitude at 10 km from Olympic Dam uranium mine, and all happening in areas of uranium ore and potential for mining.
Renewable energy: The Southern Cross Renewable Energy Fund will form part of the government’s $3.2 billion Australian Renewable Energy Agency when it starts on 1 July 2012. Exciting opening for Australian renewable energy businesses. Eco Whisper turbine, the world’s quietest 20kW wind turbine, is being installed and will be connected to the grid near Tullamarine in Melbourne. All not a moment too soon, with utility companies gearing up to fight, as Germany’s success in renewable energy becoming a clear example.
Victoria and NSW. The natives are getting restless about the two governments’ anti wind power regulations – Ballarat and Lake Macquarie pushing for solar and wind energy.
Xstrata in Queensland wins Land Court case over environmental objections by Friends of the Earth.to go ahead with gigantic coal mine north of Toowomba. A worrying precedent, as Xstrata merges with environmental vandal Glencore.
Uranium exploration in NSW: thousands petition against this, and environment groups call for an independent public review on uranium mining in NSW.
Bullying at Australian Nuclear and Scientific Organisation (ANSTO): a third employee takes legal action against ANSTO.
Aboriginal landowners in court – their case against Muckaty nuclear waste dump will continue
news today from the federal court in Melbourne re the Muckaty legal case – Dave Sweeney, 28 March 12
The judge did not accept moves by the Commonwealth and Northern Land Council (NLC) to have the Traditional Owners case struck out.
A wide range of previously secret documentation – including the nomination deed and key anthropological advice and evidence – will now become public and a trial date will be set sometime in the future.
A move by the NLC/Commonwealth to have proceedings re-located to Darwin was also rejected and proceedings will continue in Melbourne:
Fukushima’s nuclear reactors still in radiation crisis, with little cooling water cover
Very high radiation, little water in Japan reactor, Sydney Morning Herald, MARI YAMAGUCHI, March 28, 2012 One of Japan’s crippled nuclear reactors still has fatally high radiation levels and much less water to cool it than officials had estimated, according to an internal examination that renews doubts about the plant’s stability.
A tool equipped with a tiny video camera, a thermometer, a dosimeter and a water gauge was used to assess damage inside the No. 2 reactor’s containment chamber for the second time since the tsunami swept into the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant a year ago.
The data collected Tuesday showed the damage from the disaster is so severe, the plant operator will have to develop special equipment and technology to tolerate the harsh environment and decommission the plant, a process expected to last decades. The other two reactors that had meltdowns could be in even worse shape. The No. 2 reactor is the
only one officials have been able to closely examine so far.
Tuesday’s examination with an industrial endoscope detected radiation levels up to 10 times the fatal dose inside the chamber. Plant officials previously said more than half of the melted fuel has breached the core and dropped to the floor of the primary containment vessel, some of it splashing against the wall or the floor.
Particles from melted fuel have probably sent radiation levels up to a dangerously high 70 sieverts per hour inside the container, said Junichi Matsumoto, spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co. The figure far exceeds the highest level previously detected, 10 sieverts per hour, which was detected around an exhaust duct shared by No. 1 and 2 units last year.
“It’s extremely high,” he said, adding that an endoscope would last only 14 hours in those conditions. “We have to develop equipment that can tolerate high radiation” when locating and removing melted fuel during the decommissioning.
The probe also found that the containment vessel _ a beaker-shaped container enclosing the core _ had cooling water up to only 60 centimeters (2 feet) from the bottom, far below the 10 meters (yards) estimated when the government declared the plant stable in December.
The plant is continuing to pump water into the reactor……
The exact conditions of the other two reactors, where hydrogen explosions damaged their buildings, are still unknown. Simulations have indicated that more fuel inside No. 1 has breached the core than the other two, but radiation at No. 3 remains the highest.
The high radiation levels inside the No. 2 reactor’s chamber mean it’s inaccessible to the workers, but parts of the reactor building are accessible for a few minutes at a time _ with the workers wearing full protection…. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology/very-high-radiation-little-water-in-japan-reactor-20120328-1vxxz.html
Asian countries not so happy, as Australia to be base for US spy drones
US could fly spy drones from Australian territory, Google News, (AFP) 28 March 12, SYDNEY — Australia on Wednesday said it may allow Washington to use its territory to operate long-range spy drones, as part of an increased US presence in the Asia-Pacific that has rankled China.
The United States and Canberra are planning a major expansion of military ties, with the first of a 2,500-strong Marine deployment to northern Australia unveiled last November by President Barack Obama due to arrive next month.
The plan has irked China and worried some Asian countries who see it as a statement by Washington that it intends to stand up for its interests in the region amid concerns of increasing assertiveness by Beijing.
Australian media carried reports Wednesday citing a Washington Post story that the United States was considering using the Cocos Islands, an atoll in the Indian Ocean off northwest Australia, to launch unmanned surveillance aircraft.
They said the Cocos would replace the present US Indian Ocean base of Diego Garcia, which America leases from Britain and is due to be mothballed in 2016.
Aircraft carriers and nuclear-powered attack submarines could also be based in Perth as part of efforts to refocus American defence resources in the region, the reports added. Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith said the use of the Cocos Islands was a longer-term option for closer Australia-US engagement and its airstrip would need to be upgraded before it could be used….. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gLfEBJS3cyp9DztcZ-7U6oTHIzJQ?docId=CNG.78ebb96f24b87291c30fc84ff624c48a.381
Western Australia’s Premier complacent about increasing number of nuclear submarines to Perth
Barnett relaxed over nuclear subs 9 News Mar 28 2012 West Australian Premier Colin Barnett says he has no objection to more American nuclear submarine visits to Perth’s Garden Island naval base if US-Australian defence co-operation is boosted.
The two nations are planning an expansion of military ties including the rotation of US Marines through the Northern Territory and more access to HMAS Stirling at Garden Island in Perth’s south. Mr Barnett told ABC radio on Wednesday he would accept a boosted American presence….. Mr Barnett said the ANZUS defence treaty was the centre of Australia’s
defence policy and Garden Island was a strategic base on the Indian
Ocean which was becoming more central to world affairs. … http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8442686
Aboriginal landowners’ legal battle against nuclear waste dump
At its most basic, advancing the Muckaty site is a case of politicians in Canberra dumping the most dangerous and poisonous radioactive waste we produce on one of Australia’s poorest and least resourced Indigenous communities.
It has happened without transparent or democratic processes and in clear contravention of international obligations, including under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Minister Ferguson argues that the dump is needed for nuclear medicine – untrue. He argues that it is needed urgently – untrue. And he argues that it is supported by traditional owners – untrue.
Muckaty dumps advances in reconcilation, ABC News, DAVE SWEENEY, 28 March 12, “…… This week Maurice Blackburn lawyers, with special assistance from Ron Merkel QC and Julian Burnside QC, will be representing Northern
Territory Indigenous elders in a Melbourne courtroom in a move aimed at stopping the Federal government’s plan for Australia’s first purpose-built national nuclear waste dump at Muckaty, 120 kilometres north of Tennant Creek. Continue reading
Uranium exploration in New South Wales? – call for inquiry into govt OK to this
Since Premier O’Farrell announced his intention to open up uranium exploration in this state, thousands of people have signed a petition calling on the government to maintain the uranium ban.
Inquiry should probe O’Farrell’s okay to uranium search – ecology groups, Cowra Community News,
http://cowracommunitynews.com/viewnews.php?newsid=142&id=4 28 March 12, STATE and national environment groups have called for an independent public review into uranium mining in New South Wales as legislation to allow exploration is due to be debated in parliament today (Wednesday).
Premier Barry O’Farrell has no mandate to change a long-standing and popular policy banning uranium projects in the state, the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Beyond Nuclear Initiative say in a joint statement. The groups have criticised the lifting of the ban on uranium exploration, urging the State Government to set up a public inquiry into the uranium industry. Continue reading
Renmark Council concerned about radioactive waste transport – may declare nulcear-free zone
Council considers nuclear-free declaration, ABC News, March 28, 2012 The Renmark Paringa Council says it is worried about the possible transport of nuclear waste through South Australia’s Riverland. Federal Parliament recently passed legislation to set up a nuclear waste dump in the Northern Territory. The council decided at last night’s meeting to write to the federal Resources and Energy Minister, Martin Ferguson, seeking more information about transport arrangements.
Council CEO Tony Siviour says it is also considering declaring its district nuclear-free.
“The only understanding that we have is that the proposed route is through the Riverland instead of going through the Blue Mountains, so that concerns us,” he said….. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-28/council-considers-nuclear-free-declaration/3917592
Queensland’s Land Court’s decision for Xstrata – a devastating blow for the environment
Green group attacks Xstrata mine nod Yahoo Finance By Annie Guest and Sam Burgess | ABC –28 March 12 The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) has criticised the Land Court over its ruling on the Wandoan mining project in the Surat Basin on southern Queensland’s Western Downs.
Yesterday, the state’s Land Court gave the final go-ahead for the Xstrata mining company to develop Australia’s biggest open-cut coal mine near Wandoan, north-west of Toowoomba.
The Land Court recommended the Queensland Government approve the project and new Liberal National Party (LNP) Premier Campbell Newman says he is excited at the prospect.
Lobby group Friends of the Earth and seven local landholders had tried to halt the project on environmental grounds and say they are devastated with the court’s decision. Farmers say the development will consume prime food-production land and destroy lifestyles….. Continue reading
Glencore and Xstrata: an anti environment monster rears its ugly head
From THE Australian 28 March 12 –on the merger of Glencore and Xstrata “Xstrata-Glencore will be worth $86bn, still less than BHP Billiton or Rio Tinto, but it promises to be a shark among whales. Glencore’s trading skills will be allied to Xstrata’s global production … Glencore was a company with a dubious past — it was founded by Marc Rich, the sanctions-busting oil trader who received a presidential pardon from Bill Clinton — and a reputation as a group of smart, influential and wealthy traders.”
from Wikipedia: ” Glencore “has been accused of illegal dealings with rogue states: apartheid South Africa, USSR, Iran, and Iraq under Saddam Hussein“, and has a “history of busting UN embargoes to profit from corrupt or despotic regimes”. Specifically, Glencore was reported to have been named by the CIA to have paid $3,222,780 in illegal kickbacks to obtain oil in the course of the UN oil-for-food programme for Iraq.” – and that’s only a minor part of Glencore’s dubious dealings – Christina Macpherson
Commercial Eco Whisper wind turbine installed near Tullamarine, melbourne
The Eco Whisper Turbine is set to revolutionise delivery of renewable electricity supply to midsize commercial, manufacturing or industrial facilities, particularly in rural or remote locations that rely on diesel replacement.
Queensland renewable energy company Eco Whisper installs first commercial turbine, NewsMaker, , March 28, 2012 – The first commercial application of the Eco Whisper turbine, the world’s quietest 20kW wind turbine, is being installed and will be connected to the grid near Tullamarine in Melbourne. Produced and developed by Queensland-based Renewable Energy Solutions Australia (RESA), the 30 blade Eco Whisper turbine delivers virtually silent operation and produces up to 30 percent more power than conventional 3-bladed turbine designs.
Ideal for mid-sized facilities and perfect to replace diesel generation facilities, the Eco Whisper collects wind more efficiently and can operate in both high and low wind conditions. One turbine can produce enough power for around three average homes. Continue reading
Lake Macquarie Council not happy with NSW’s restrictions on wind farms
Concerns over wind farm guidelines, ABC News, Newcastle, March 28, 2012 Lake Macquarie Council will write to the state Planning Department outlining its concerns over the Government’s Draft Wind Farm Guidelines. The Planning Minister Brad Hazzard has described the draft document as the “toughest wind farm guidelines in Australia and possibly the world”.
But the guidelines have been criticised by environmentalists and renewable energy lobbyists as unnecessarily restrictive. Greens Councillor Hannah Gissane agrees. “We’ve endorsed a submission to the draft guidelines exhibition which would pick apart the bits and pieces of it that make the process too onerous,” she said.
“We’ve also endorsed wind farms as a key mechanism in achieving 20 per cent renewable energy by 2020. “And that any guidelines should be part of a strategic facilitative approach to renewable energy.”
Councillor Gissane says the guidelines are too tough and criticism of wind turbines is not warranted.
“Our beautiful Lake Macquarie has ash dams, has coal-fired power stations, has coal mines, has subsidence all from non-renewable energy sources,” she said.
“I’d like to see future for the city where the glint of a solar panel and the whirl of a wind turbine were actually features of the city.” http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-28/concerns-over-wind-farm-guidelines/3916620/?site=newcastle
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 