Nuclear lobby gets to APEC
APEC Leaders Safe Use of Nuclear Energy Power Industry News 9 Sept 12, Asia-Pacific leaders wrapped up two days of their summit talks on Sunday with an agreement to ensure the safe use of nuclear energy and a renewed commitment to forestalling protectionism. Leaders of the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum adopted a joint declaration and related documents at their meeting in the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok….
Specifically, they agreed to “ensure the safe and secure use of nuclear energy as a clean energy source in interested economies.” Their accords also include the promotion of steady investment in energy infrastructure….
http://www.utilityproducts.com/news/2012/09/09/apec-leaders-safe-use-of-nuclear-energy.html
Ludwig Heinrich refutes the arguments of nuclear salesman Barry Brook
The heavy hidden costs of nuclear power http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/environment/the-heavy-hidden-costs-of-nuclear-power/ In part 2 of his rebuttal, Ludwig Heinrich says Professor Barry Brook predictably ignores nuclear power’s significant economic, social and moral costs while spruiking its benefits.
AUDIO: South Australia exported wind energy to Victoria
Wednesday morning, wind was generating so much power some of it was being exported to Victoria.
emissions from South Australia’s power sector have fallen every year since 2005, and have dropped 27 per cent over the past five years… no reason other states could not emulate the success.
Gales send turbines into overdrive ABC Radio AM By Timothy McDonald Sep 7, 2012 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-07/gales-fire-up-south-australian-wind-turbines/4247878 While gale-force winds kept emergency services busy across South Australia this week, they also fired up turbines on the state’s wind farms.
Figures from the Australian Energy Market Operator show while the winds were howling, more than half the state’s power came from wind farms. Roughly a quarter of South Australia’s power came from wind farms last year.
But the Clean Energy Council’s policy director, Russell Marsh, says when winds topped 90 kilometres per hour earlier this week, that figure was much higher. “What we’ve seen is over the last couple of days the amount of energy
generated from wind power in South Australia has gone through between 55 and 85 per cent since Monday as a result of the very strong winds we’re having at the moment,” he said. Continue reading
Aboriginal social justice group honours Julian Assange and Mamdoub Habib
By agreement we will be issuing both Julian Assange, via his father, and Mamdoub Habib, who will be present, an Aboriginal Nations Passport that will allow both to respectfully travel through the Aboriginal Nations of Australia. Mamdoub now and Julian on his return to Aboriginal Australia. Both these men were denied any assistance, firstly by the Howard Government and then by the Gillard Government respectively.
Indigenous Social Justice Association September 9, 2012 It is with a sense of pride and complete social justice that this Association has worked with the Sydney Support Assange and WikiLeaks Coalition to have the privilege of successfully arranging for Julian Assange to be able to be issued with an Aboriginal Nations Passport that his father, John Shipton,
will accept on his behalf at the Welcome to Aboriginal Land Passport Ceremony to be held at The Settlement, 17 Edward Street, Darlington from 11am to 4pm on Saturday 15 September, 2012.
We strongly endorse the words of Ms Linda Pearson of the Support Assange and WikiLeaks Coalition, see below, on the total lack of support by our Federal Government to assist Julian against being press-ganged to America to face corrupt charges against him for informing the world’s people of the absolute lies that all Governments continue to tell their people. Whilst it is true that all Governments lie, it is well known that America leads the pack in their eternal quest for American hegemony of the world’s resources. Continue reading
New South Wales’ dud renewable energy plan
O’Farrell’s Renewables Goal ‘Realistic, But Plan Is A Dud‘ http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3373 by Energy Matters, 9 Sept 12, Greens NSW MP John Kaye says a draft Renewable Energy Action Plan for New South Wales fails to call off the O’Farrell government’s war on rooftop solar and wind power.
Dr. Kaye believes the plan, if implemented in its current form, will lock NSW into a coal-fired future with jobs and investment “set to continue to haemorrhage out of the state”.
Unveiled on Friday, the Plan outlines 28 actions the Government says will help NSW meet its 20% renewables by 2020 target. Energy Minister Chris Hartcher says only the best value for money solutions will be adopted; delivering investment and jobs “at no cost to consumers”.
“The goal is realistic but the plan is a dud. Without a commitment to lowering the barriers that are stunting wind and solar investment, cuts to greenhouse gas emissions and the tens of thousands of new jobs will be nothing but a pipedream,” said Dr. Kaye
With regard to small scale solar, the only action listed under the plan is to “Annually request IPART to estimate a benchmark range for a fair price for small-scale generated solar energy.” The benchmark range recommended by IPARTfor 2012/13 is 7.7 – 12.9c per kilowatt hour – and is voluntary.
To support medium-scale solar power, the NSW Government will work with industry identify commercial sites where it will be cost effective and facilitate uptake for commercial buildings through the Renewable Energy Advocate.
“The failure to reverse the O’Farrell government’s policy hostility to wind and solar will turn the promised 6,000 new jobs into nothing more than a fantasy.”
“Parliamentary Secretary Rob Stokes worked hard to produce a new deal for renewables. It’s clear that he was badly undermined by his Minister Chris Hartcher and the fossil fuel lobby who want clean energy technology to remain a boutique industry that does not interfere with their profits.”
The Plan is available here and public comment is invited. Submissions will be accepted until 26 October 2012.
Benefits of Radiation Therapy and Ethics
John Gofman on medical x rays. http://nuclearhistory.wordpress.com/2012/09/10/john-gofman-on-medical-x-rays/ 10 Spt 12,
http://www.ratical.org/radiation/CNR/OHofJWGforDOE/
An Interview with John Gofman, “Benefits of Radiation Therapy and Ethics”.
GOURLEY: Now, one thing confuses me terribly about all this, and I’m not a scientist and I’m new on this: You, yourself, said that [there are] medical benefits in certain cases and certain specific cancers and that sort of thing. How does the line fall between where it can be therapeutic, [and] where it’s harmful?
GOFMAN: Line falls at one point. I have no difficulty with radiation therapy being beneficial in certain situations. I have no difficulty with diagnostic radiation, finding something important out [from] a diagnosis that can [save] a person’s life.
GOURLEY: Which diagnosis are you speaking of here?
GOFMAN: You can talk about the possibility of pneumonia that’s not appreciated or some mass in the abdomen or something like a cardiac lesion. I have never in my life said people should not have an x ray. I have never argued against radiation therapy. I talked to you earlier about some places where I participated in radiation therapy and I know people were benefited.
GOURLEY: Right.
GOFMAN: That is a world apart from what your problem is in this whole thing. Where I stand on it is, you voluntarily, you accept a risk for a benefit to you or your child or your mother or father if you discussed it with them. That’s not what I’m talking about. It’s when somebody says you shall be allowed to get x units of radiation as a member of the public without any benefit to you: “Society will benefit.”
That’s immoral, it’s illegal, and it’s being done every day. I just think it’s just illegal and it’s a violation of the Declaration of Independence. It’s a violation of Constitutional rights and none of the medical ethicists are saying a goddamn thing about. I’m very critical of medical ethicists for that.’ http://www.ratical.org/radiation/CNR/OHofJWGforDOE/
Russia to embark on particularly dangerous nuclear reprocessng
From Plutonium to Power, Spiegal Online 09/07/2012 Russia To Produce Electricity with Former Nukes By Kerstin Brandt Russia is planning to destroy plutonium used in thousands of soon to be decommissioned nuclear warheads by using it as fuel in a special new atomic power plant. The reactor is set to begin operating in one year, but time pressures and a vulnerable cooling system make the project a risky one.
A billboard with a picture of smiling children heralds the arrival of a new nuclear age. “Zarechny — Our Nuclear City” is the sign that greets drivers entering this town 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of the Russian city of Yekaterinburg along a country road through a wooded landscape….. Russia is proud of Beloyarsk. The plant’s third unit is a “fast reactor,” a reactor type that’s similar to the infamous “fast breeder reactor.”…..
Now a fourth unit is being built in Beloyarsk, also a fast reactor. It’s a facility with global political significance: Beloyarsk 4 is being built in the service of global peace. On July 13, 2011, a treaty between Russia and the United States came into effect, one that US President Barack Obama praised as a step toward making the world “safer and more secure.” Under the Plutonium Management and Disposition Treaty, the two nuclear superpowers resolved to destroy 68 metric tons of plutonium, enough to fill 17,000 nuclear warheads. Obama declared that the plutonium could be used to generate power for people in both countries.
Russia’s plan for disposing of its share of the plutonium involves a fast reactor, a variation on the fast breeder reactor design but without a breeding blanket.
This Is Going to Lead to Problems’
The Obama administration, on the other hand, prefers to fulfill its side of the disarmament treaty with a more time-tested method: The US share of 34 tons of weapons-grade plutonium will be used in traditional nuclear power plants. At the same time, though, the US will contribute at least $300 million (€240 million) to the construction of the new disarmament reactor at Beloyarsk.
“This is going to lead to problems!” says Yevgeny (name changed), who is involved in the construction of the new Beloyarsk reactor. “You shouldn’t build a nuclear reactor under time pressure, and certainly not such a complicated one!”
“A fast reactor is not your standard power plant,” he continues indignantly. “All it takes is one sloppily welded seam, and that’s that!” The reactor will be cooled not with water, but with liquid sodium, a liquid metal that ignites the moment it comes into contact with the air …… . http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/energy-from-the-bomb-russia-to-produce-electricity-with-former-nukes-a-854318.html
Some women at greater risk of breast cancer, after X rays, mammograms
X-ray, mammogram radiation may increase breast cancer risk for some
women http://www.myfoxphilly.com/story/19482704/x-ray-mammogram-radiation-may-increase-breast-cancer-risk-for-some-women Sep 07, 2012 Exposure to radiation is an established risk factor for breast cancer among all women, the study authors pointed out. — Women with certain gene mutations are more likely to develop breast cancer if they were exposed to radiation from chest X-rays or mammograms before age 30, compared with those who have the gene mutations and weren’t exposed to radiation, new research suggests. Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 