Deflating Barry Brook’s pro nuclear bubble
Solar and wind energy projects are going apace in the world right now. And that’s where private investment is going, too, not into nuclear power. I would say that hurdle No 1 would be in persuading people to invest in nuclear power – and that’s a big hurdle. Hurdle 1a would be in getting the government to subsidise nuclear power.
I suspect that even in Australia, solar and wind power systems, both centralised and small, will be well established by 2050, and nuclear power will be a forgotten dream.
Answering Barry Brook on Australia’s nuclear power future, Online Opinion, Noel Wauchope, 13 June 2012 Australia’s nuclear propagandists are at it again, although Ziggy Switkowski, the usual leader of the pack, has been very quiet lately. However, Professor Barry Brook, and his acolyte, Terry Krieg of Australian Nuclear Forum, seem to be taking up the torch now….
Costs Barry Brook claims that there would be “cost benefits” for Australia to adopt these generation 1V nuclear reactors. This is a bald statement. As far as I can tell, nobody at present is able to estimate the costs. Particularly when it comes to the small reactors. One thing is accepted: the only way that these could ever be commercially viable would be if they were to be manufactured and sold in large numbers. The likelihood of this happening, of a mass production and sale of small reactors is dubious.
For fast neutron reactors, large or small, Barry Brook himself admits that there are currently none in commercial operation.
David Biello comments: Fast-neutron reactors would not improve the economics of nuclear power
based on past experience, …. As far back as 1956, Adm. Hyman Rickover, who oversaw both the Navy’s nuclear-propulsion efforts as well as the dawn of the civilian nuclear power industry, cited such sodium-cooled fast-neutron reactors as
“expensive to build, complex to operate, susceptible to prolonged shutdown as a result of even minor malfunctions, and difficult and time-consuming to repair.” That judgment remains despite six decades and $100 billion of global effort, Continue reading
Tony Abbott pledges his troth to BHP Billiton and its uranium mine expansion
BHP Billiton has revealed it is unlikely to go ahead with all of its major resources projects
Tony Abbott vows to clear way for giant Olympic Dam mine, Courier Mail : By Mark Kenny The Advertiser June 13, 2012
FEDERAL Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has committed to removing all obstacles to the Olympic Dam mine’s expansion and making its success a priority of the Coalition if it wins government.
He also said that Prime Minister Julia Gillard must give BHP Billiton a written assurance that the Minerals Resource Rent Tax will never be imposed on copper, gold and uranium – which are central to the expanded mine’s operations. Continue reading
Minister’s fact-free resuscitation bid can’t save nuclear industry
June 13th, 2012 Labor’s nuclear cheerleader Martin Ferguson put on a rose-coloured blindfold before 
delivering his rote speech at the uranium conference in Adelaide today.
Greens nuclear policy spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam said the Minister’s enthusiasm for nuclear power flies in the face of the grim reality.
“On Monday we had the news Europe will decommission most of its nuclear power stations by 2030 – almost 150 nuclear power stations will be gone from Europe – and 48 hours later we have Federal Minister Martin Ferguson trying to pump life back into the industry.
“In the wake of the Fukushima disaster several European countries decided to completely phase out their nuclear sectors. Germany and Belgium aim to end production by 2030 and Switzerland by 2034. Canada will close 17 nuclear stations by 2030, and the US will close at least five. Yet the Minister relies on figures provided by self-interested industry groups to claim growth is just around the corner.
“In India – a country that has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty – there is a mass movement against nuclear power that is growing in size and momentum. In China we know next to nothing about the safety record of nuclear technology, but we do know the Government is undertaking the world’s biggest investment in expanding renewable energy.
“BHP is backing away from its plans to expand Olympic Dam. The Minister held up the proposed Wiluna uranium mine in WA as a sign of good times to come: that troubled project, run by an outfit that has never operated a mine, is being opposed on all fronts. Even the market has turned its back, with TOE stocks trading close to a four-year low.
Renewable energy investment $257 billion in 2011
$257 billion invested in renewable energy in 2011 SMH, FRANK JORDANS, June 12, 2012 Global investment in renewable energy reached a record of $257 billion last year, with solar attracting more than half the total spending, according to a U.N. report released Monday.
Investment in solar energy surged to $147 billion in 2011, a year-on-year increase of 52 percent thanks to strong demand for rooftop photovoltaic installations in Germany, Italy, China and Britain.
Large-scale solar thermal installations in Spain and the United States also contributed to growth during a fiercely competitive year for the solar industry. Continue reading
Call for criminal prosecution of nuclear officials in Fukushima
Fukushima residents call for criminal charges against nuclear officials http://articles.cnn.com/2012-06-11/asia/world_asia_japan-nuclear-complaint_1_fukushima-daiichi-nuclear-plant-fukushima-residents-tepco?_s=PM:ASIA June 11, 2012|By Kyung Lah, CNN The executives of the Japanese utility that owns the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and a number of the country’s government officials should go to jail, according to a complaint filed by more than 1,000 local residents on Monday.
A total of 1,324 people lodged the unusual criminal complaint with the Fukushima prosecutor’s office, naming Tsunehisa Katsumata, the chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) and 32 others.
The complaint argues that the 33 TEPCO executives and government officials are responsible for causing the nuclear disaster that followed the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and exposing the people of Fukushima to radiation.
Martin Ferguson urges Queensland to go for uranium mining
Martin Ferguson calls on Newman to reverse uranium ban vow, BY: SID MAHER The Australian June 13, 2012 RESOURCES Minister Martin Ferguson will today call on Queensland’s new conservative government to lift its ban on uranium mining, arguing it already allows exploration and that Australia is on track to triple its exports by 2030.
In a speech to an international uranium conference in Adelaide this morning, Mr Ferguson will ask Premier Campbell Newman to overturn his pre-election promise to ban uranium mining, arguing the state already has an estimated resource base of at least 37,000 tonnes.
…. Mr Ferguson will argue that uranium exports present a major opportunity for the nation. His call to the Queensland government comes after former Labor premier Anna Bligh resisted calls for uranium mining to be allowed in her state……
Australian uranium to Russia
First_shipment_of_Australian_enriched_uranium_to_be_delivered_to_Russia, Steel Guru, 12 June 2012, Itar Tass reported that the first shipment of Australian natural uranium will be delivered to Russia for enrichment this year. It was announced after Technosnabexport belonging to the ROSATOM State Nuclear Energy Corporation and Australia’s Rio Tinto Company signed an agreement within the framework of the ATOMEXPO 2012 forum.
Australia’s ERA Company, incorporated in the Ria Tinto Group will be the contractor from the Australian side.
According to Rosatom, the first delivery is scheduled for the third quarter of 2012 via the maritime sea port of St Petersburg. Australian natural uranium will be processed at the Siberian Chemical Works owned by the TVEL fuel company in Seversk. After that, Technosnabexport will supply the low enriched uranium to one of the foreign companies.
The ATOMEXPORT 2012 international forum opened in Moscow last Monday. It drew together over 1,300 experts from 53 countries. In recent years, the forum has turned into a world’s leading platform for discussion of nuclear energy themes. The state of atomic industry two years after the Fukushima accident was the key topic this year.
Electricity network upgrades, not renewable energy, are causing cost rises
Smart meters, time-of-use tariffs, cutting demand at the peak and localised power generation – for example, from rooftop solar panels – can help cut this network spending. The problem is the network companies have no financial incentive to make this happen
High power rates: it’s a poles and wires story, SMH, Paddy Manning, Brian Robins June 12, 2012 Poor demand management means consumers could be paying for infrastructure that isn’t really needed. Electricity prices have been rising fast and, from July 1, they are set to go higher.
Green schemes such as the renewable energy target and feed-in-tariffs – as well as the coming carbon tax – are often
blamed for pushing up prices, but the reality is they are responsible for only a small part of the increases approved by the Australian Energy Regulator.
By far the largest driver of the price increases is increased spending on electricity transmission and distribution networks (the ”poles and wires”), which is passed on to residential and commercial customers alike. These network costs account for 57 per cent of the average residential electricity bill around the country, the Australian Energy Market Commission says Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 