Drastic Australian National Radioactive Waste Management Bill to be sneaked through the Senate this week
Join the national Australian effort to stop this Bill – see Action Australia « Antinuclear
· This legislation should not be considered until Minister Ferguson has complied with the principal recommendation of the Senate Inquiry, that the Minister fully consult with all Aboriginal Traditional Owners and affected people beforehand.
· The bill should not be debated until the current federal court case involving Muckaty traditional owners contesting the nomination of their land by as a site for the waste dump is determined.
· The bill is highly contentious – it is opposed by the NT government, not one cross bench member supported the bill when it passed the House, and the entire liberal party abstained from voting on it when it passed the lower house, with Natasha Griggs crossing the floor.
Penny Wong speaks out for renewable energy, against nuclear power for Australia
“We have had an underinvestment in the energy sector.”
Senator Wong said setting a carbon price would give investors certainty. She said it would give an incentive to investors to look to cleaner energy.
Penny Wong rejects uranium push as key MPs back expansion of industry * By Christopher Russell , The Advertiser * March 22, 2011 , SENIOR federal South Australian minister Penny Wong has warned against the state becoming involved in the nuclear enrichment industry. Senator Wong, a former climate change minister, said on ABC radio that enriching uranium or even having nuclear power stations was “not the sort of vision I want for SA”. Continue reading
Current nuclear crisis obscures the even bigger problem of wastes
nuclear waste lasts forever. That’s the real horror of Fukushima – that the spread of radioactive material could make an entire chunk of Japan uninhabitable. We could afford to be smug if we knew how to deal with our nuclear waste. But we don’t.
Forget meltdowns. The real nuclear problem is waste, thestar.com Thomas Walkom , 21 March 11, For Canada, the danger of nuclear power lies not in a Japanese-style meltdown. When industry boosters say such an event is unlikely here, they are right.
But what the boosters don’t talk about is radioactive waste. That’s the main hazard, the part of the nuclear question that has never been properly addressed. No one knows what to do with nuclear fuel rods that remain highly radioactive for thousands of years. Continue reading
Uranium conference in Adelaide hears govt enthusiasm for nuclear power
Key MPs back expansion of nuclear industry in South Australia | Adelaide Now, Christopher Russell and Sarah Martin, March 22, 2011 TWO senior Rann Government ministers have backed the expansion of Australia’s nuclear industry.Former treasurer Kevin Foley yesterday said Australia should embrace nuclear power. Continue reading
Wide area around Fukushima contaminated for decades
“Given the weather, it is likely that contaminations have occurred beyond that, up to 100 kilometres or so.”…
Contamination at Fukushima nuclear plant for decades, says France’s Nuclear Safety Authority | Herald Sun, From: NewsCore March 22, 2011 LOCAL contamination from Japan’s quake-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant would be a problem that would last “for decades and decades”, France’s Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) said. Continue reading
Uranium miner Paladin blames the media for uranium shares crash
Uranium miner slams nuclear ‘media frenzy’, ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Elysse Morgan Mar 17, 2011 The chief executive of one of Australia’s biggest uranium miners, Paladin, has slammed the media and share traders for their treatment of nuclear focused businesses in the wake of the Japanese earthquake.Shares in the company plunged 33 per cent in trade over Monday and Tuesday, recovered a little on Wednesday and are now on the slide again, down 6.8 per cent to $3.45 by 3:25pm (AEDT).Paladin’s chief executive John Borshoff says uranium centred businesses have become a sideshow to the Japanese crisis….Uranium miner slams nuclear ‘media frenzy’ – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
South Australian govt wants to enrich uranium in S.A.
In a bullish speech to a uranium conference in Adelaide, Mr Koutsantonis dubbed the reaction to the Fukushima crisis as ”hysteria”, and said nuclear power remained “the path for the future”..
SA call for uranium enrichment at home, Sydney Morning Herald, Peter Ker, Adelaide, March 22, 2011A SPECULATION about the demise of the uranium industry has been fiercely challenged by the South Australian government, which yesterday suggested Australia should expand its relationship with uranium to include domestic enrichment Continue reading
Strong push to close Quebec’s nuclear reactor
The risk of a tsunami hitting Quebec is “very low,” he said.
But any other kind of accident, for example, a pipe break, he said, “could happen tomorrow” with dire consequences……..The PQ said it would immediately close the plant if it were elected.
Coalition fights Quebec’s nuclear plant – Montreal – CBC News, 21 March 11, A Quebec coalition of politicians and activists is calling for the permanent closure of the province’s lone nuclear facility in light of the crisis in Japan. Continue reading
Victoria was set to get nuclear power in 1980s
For Victoria, nuclear power was oh so close, crikey, 21 March 11, by Bill Birnbauer, As news of Japan’s nuclear radiation crisis hits our screens, it is apt to remind ourselves just how gung-ho some of our own senior bureaucrats and politicians were about building nuclear power stations in Victoria as recently as 1980.The former State Electricity Commission had assessed at least 10 coastal locations for their suitability as nuclear power station sites…..Nuclear power: For Victoria, nuclear power was oh so close | Crikey
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 