Water, health and Fukushima concerns on agenda at BHP Billiton AGM protest
Members of Uranium Free NSW and the Australian Nuclear Free Alliance (ANFA) will join a community protest outside BHP Billiton’s AGM today 10am at the Darling Harbour Convention Centre.
National and International environment groups are launching an alternative annual report for BHPB titled ‘Dirty Deeds’ which will be distributed to shareholders.
Peter Watts, an Arabana man who is co-chair of the Australian Nuclear Free Alliance has travelled from Adelaide to attend the AGM.
Mr Watts said, “Nowadays there is heightened awareness of the dangers of asbestos. People need to realise that devastating health effects are also occurring from the nuclear industry. We suffer intergenerational disruptions to family health, well-being and finances due to medical conditions and treatments related to the nuclear bomb tests. BHP and other mining companies do not take responsibility for the health of workers who leave their company, yet they have heightened risk of developing cancer from working in a uranium mine and being exposed to radioactive materials.” Continue reading
Greens motion to block Roxby uranium mine extension voted down
29 Nov 12, A motion in State Parliament moved by Mark Parnell MLC, Greens Parliamentary Leader, to block the four year extension to the controversial Olympic Dam Expansion Indenture has been defeated.
Ex-Treasurer Kevin Foley had also called publicly for the extension to be refused and former Premier, Mike Rann, said as recently as August:
‘We don’t believe there is a basis for an extension of the indenture arrangements’
“It’s not often I agree with Kevin Foley, but he is dead right on this one,” said Mark Parnell.
“We shouldn’t be extending the enormously generous concessions granted to the world’s richest resource company when it is abundantly clear BHP Billiton has no intention to start the Olympic Dam expansion for years.
“It’s in South Australia’s best interests to negotiate a better deal if and when the project gets resurrected,” he said.
In Parliament tonight, Labor combined with the Liberal party to defeat the Motion and ratify the 4 year extension.
On one of the most radioactive days in State Parliament for some time, the Greens also moved a motion calling on the Government to prevent the transport of uranium from Western Australia through our State. Adelaide-based Toro Energy Ltd is proposing to mine uranium in WA and ship the material to either Port Adelaide or Darwin through South Australia.
“It’s bad enough that SA uranium is being exported to facilities such as the crippled Fukushima reactor in Japan and hence into the broader environment through contamination. We shouldn’t be the conduit for WA uranium either. In both States, it’s best left in the ground”, concluded Mark Parnell
Uranium enthusiast Kloppers not top of the pops at BHP
Kloppers hot topic at BHP’s AGM, The Age, November 29, 2012 Peter Ker THE tenure of BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers is expected to dominate the company’s annual meeting with Australian shareholders in Sydney on Thursday.
Proxy advisers have given the company a clean bill of health while big shareholders are also much happier about the level of consultation with investors than they were a year ago, meaning Mr Kloppers’ future looms as the elephant in the room.
Environmental and social activists have flocked to Sydney ahead of the event, with social media suggesting some have travelled from South America and Papua New Guinea. PNG is home to the Ok Tedi copper mine that BHP handed over more than a decade ago after an environmental controversy.
Speaking in Canberra on Wednesday, PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said BHP was still influencing the fund that now controls Ok Tedi, and urged the company to keep its distance. ”There is no longer a valid reason for it to continue to exercise any control over the board appointments to that fund,” he said…. http://www.theage.com.au/business/kloppers-hot-topic-at-bhps-agm-20121128-2aeaw.html#ixzz2DdqSKbxG
UK follows Australia’s lead – will not vote against Palestine’s upgraded status in United Nations
UK may abstain in Palestinian vote ABC News, By Europe correspondent Rachael Brown, and wires, 29 Nov 12 Britain has signalled that it could join Australia in abstaining from the vote on upgraded diplomatic status for Palestinians at the United Nations. The vote on upgrading the Palestinians from their current permanent observer status is seen as a stepping stone in their ambition for statehood.
Australia will abstain from the vote after Prime Minister Julia Gillard reportedly caved in to pressure from her Cabinet earlier this week.
The UK says it will not oppose moves to upgrade the Palestinians to a non-member observer state, but foreign secretary William Hague says he wants a number of assurances first. Continue reading
Toro Energy has to work hard to get financing for Wiluna uranium project
Toro pushes back financing on Wiluna ninemsn 29 Nov 12Toro Energy has pushed back financing negotiations for its proposed Wiluna uranium mine in Western Australia, as it waits for the federal government to decide the fate of the project. The move comes a month after WA Environment Minister Bill Marmion granted final environmental approval
for the state’s first uranium mine, in the Mid-West region.
Development can go ahead if Mr Marmion’s federal counterpart, Tony Burke, gives it the nod and the company’s board makes a final decision to proceed.
Managing director Greg Hall said the company anticipated a decision from Mr Burke by the end of the year after the minister delayed his decision by 30 days. “We anticipate it will take longer to secure a financing arrangement and hence it will take longer to make that investment decision in late 2013, Continue reading
Yukiko Kada to head Japan’s new party – combining all no-nuclear groups
Japan anti-nuclear groups join forces ahead of poll http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012%5C11%5C29%5Cstory_29-11-2012_pg4_2 29 Nov * Three recently sprouted parties and several independents merge TOKYO: Anti-nuclear parties banded into a new political group on Wednesday, as Japan’s fragmented electoral landscape shifts ahead of next month’s national poll. Three recently-sprouted parties and several independents merged into Nippon Mirai No To (The Future of Japan Party) on a platform of ridding the Fukushima-scarred country of atomic power.
The party is headed by high-profile regional politician Yukiko Kada, and its formation comes as opinion polls show the December 16 election is likely to leave no political party with sufficient seats to govern alone. “We will create a new party, in response to people saying they don’t have any party to choose from at the moment,” Kada told a press conference near Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest, in a region with a number of ageing nuclear reactors.
Japan must “graduate from nuclear power”, the 62-year-old governor of Shiga prefecture in western Japan said. Continue reading
Lavish hospitality from nuclear lobby to UK government officials
Nuclear lobbyists wined and dined senior civil servants, documents show Office for Nuclear Development officials received hospitality from industry representatives at luxurious restaurants and clubs Leo Hickman guardian.co.uk, 28 November 2012 Senior civil servants responsible for ensuring the building of the UK’s new fleet of nuclear power stations have been extensively wined and dined by nuclear industry lobbyists, documents released under freedom of information reveal.
A hospitality register (.zip) released by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) show that the three most senior officials at the Office for Nuclear Development (OND) have received hospitality from nuclear industry representatives on dozens of occasions since the office’s formation in September 2009. Many of the meetings have taken place at some of London’s most luxurious restaurants, hotels and private members’ clubs……….
Craig Bennett, the director of policy and campaigns at Friends of the Earth, said: “It is the worst kept secret in Whitehall that the energy bill due out on Thursday is almost entirely being done to rig the market in favour of nuclear power. The so-called contracts for difference are all about providing not-so-hidden subsidies for nuclear. What the taxpayer should be asking is whether this succession of lavish hospitality has resulted in lavish subsidies for nuclear.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/nov/28/nuclear-lobbyists-senior-civil-servants
The past week in nuclear news Australia
Climate Change news is very worrying, with latest research showing that the Arctic permafrost is thawing, and that this is likely to cause runaway releases of Co2, and irreversible global warming.
Uranium mining It has been a week of Annual General meetings for Australia’s uranium mining companies. Their announcements have been classic cases of ambivalence. Paladin uranium exploration company is the latest companies, to announce a freeze on exploration, stopping its plan to explore at Valhalla in Queensland. Paladin’s losses, ERA’s losses – don’t sound good. But all the uranium company CEO’s faithfully repeat the mantra of the “long term fundamentals: being so good.
Senior independent researcher Claire Aitchison talked up the great future for the uranium industry, But she made a bit of a boo boo, warning that another disaster on the scale of Fukushima could have a significant impact on the nuclear industry. The nuclear lobby all think such a thought, but you never should say it publicly!
Federal government and international politics. Well, Australia looks likely to obediently sign up to the Trans Pacific Partenership (TPP) – an American initiative to promote USA corporate and military power in South East Asia. Australia abstained from voting on a UN resolution on the dangers of depleted uranium. Julia Gillard, ever devoted to USA, was all for saying “No” to Palestine having a seat at a United Nations forum. To their credit, 10 Federal Ministers stood up for Palestine, and the result was that Australia abstained from voting. A small step, but one that heartens me that we are not yet ready to become the 51st State of USA.
Western Australia Rio Tinto and Paladin tried to scuttle Cameco’s uranium mining plans using their submissions to the Foreign Investment Review Board. As I write, Toro Energy is having its AGM, with a spirited anti-nuclear presence there, in Perth. Anti uranium demonstrations will follow in Darwin, Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne.
Renewable energy – all sorts of ups and downs here, with the Victorian, NSW and Queensland State governments still impeding development. But good news, too, as renewable energy continues to go ahead, especially with initiatives in rural areas – e.g Whyalla, Port Augusta and Broken Hill.
Western Australia’s uranium hopeful Toro Energy’s office locked down
There are currently people locked inside uranium miners, Toro Energy Ltd, West Perth office calling for a ban on uranium mining.
Aboriginal run anti uranium organisation, from the bush to Toro Energy’s board room
A delegate from the West Australia Nuclear Free Alliance* will attend the Toro Annual General Meeting today in Adelaide to raise local concerns about their proposed Wiluna uranium mine in WA.
Vicki McCabe from Leonora and the WANFA committee said “We have fought against uranium mining in WA for a long time. We don’t want uranium mining on our country and want no part in the nuclear industry, not now not ever.”
“This country is far away from Perth or Adelaide, but it is our home. The Government say uranium is too dangerous to go through Fremantle, or Geraldton – Toro want to truck uranium right past my house in Leonora. If uranium is not good enough for Fremantle then it’s not good enough for the Goldfields.
Kado Muir, WANFA chairperson and Ngalia man from south of Wiluna said “When we’ve asked for assurance from Toro Energy that there won’t be any damage to the country they can’t provide it. Toro say to the Traditional Owners that if things go wrong they can sue them. That is no assurance that is a slap in the face.”
“Communities are stuck between a rock and a hard place – Native Title doesn’t allow you to stop an unwanted development on your country but it forces people into consultation. Companies like Toro are interested in ticking boxes and looking good but what they’re really doing is dividing and rail roading” concluded Mr Muir.
*WANFA is an Aboriginal run organisation representing communities across WA who are concerned about uranium mining. www.wanfa.org.au
Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, and Canberra unite against nuclear industry
28 Nov 2012 Demonstrations will be held in Perth, Adelaide, and Darwin today to mark the Annual General Meeting of the company pursuing Western Australia’s first uranium mine.
In the Senate, the Australian Greens will move a motion calling on 
Environment Minister Tony Burke to stop the clock on the project.
Greens spokesperson for nuclear policy Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam said Toro Energy’s Wiluna proposal united people across the country in opposition.
“This dangerous plan ignores the question of water supply for half the life of the mine, has virtually no provision for rehabilitation after the mine closes, and will expose a range of species to the risk of extinction.
“This plan also involves mining within a lake bed that floods periodically. The Western Australian Government has set a dangerously low standard for uranium mining.
“Australian uranium was in the four reactors of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan when the disaster began – and tens of thousands of people remain evacuated from their homes and their land 21 months on. It is time we got out of this industry.
“With the world uranium price plummeting by 65 per cent since its peak in 2007, this project makes no economic sense. The WA Government is placing our environment at huge risk for precious little prospective reward.”
The motion: http://scott-ludlam.greensmps.org.au/content/motions/senate-motion-toro-…
Why Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs) are not economic and not safe
More backup systems, he pointed out, would drive up the cost of small reactors, which already have a sizable economic disadvantage compared with large reactors. Because of economies of scale, the capital cost per kilowatt for a small reactor would be approximately 250 percent more than that for a large conventional reactor.
Lyman warned about allowing the industry to site small modular reactors in remote areas or developing countries that have no nuclear experience or emergency planning infrastructure. “UCS believes that [small modular reactors] are only suitable for deployment where there is an established infrastructure to cope with emergencies, and if sufficient numbers of trained operator and security staff can be provided
Nuclear Expert Dispels Myths about Small Modular Nuclear Reactors in Senate Testimony http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/nuclear-expert-dispels-myths.html WASHINGTON (July 14, 2011) –– A physicist from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) today testified before a Senate subcommittee that small modular nuclear reactors are not necessarily any safer or more secure than conventional size reactors and could be more dangerous. Companies vying to sell small reactors, he said, are overstating their benefits and downplaying their potential pitfalls. Continue reading
Australia’s renewable energy development being sabotaged by Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland govts
“South Australia’s wind energy per capita is higher than any major country in the world and wind is now contributing approximately 26% of the state’s total electricity production,” the report said.
“At the state level, we have seen Victoria, NSW and Queensland putting in place policies to hold back renewable energy. In Victoria, it’s now almost impossible to build a new wind farm, so severe are the restrictions on siting,” he said.
“NSW has followed Victoria’s unfortunate lead to some degree and all three states have cut back on feed-in tariffs for residential renewable energy.”
Renewable energy sector grows but barriers remain http://theconversation.edu.au/renewable-energy-sector-grows-but-barriers-remain-10986 Sunanda Creagh, 28 Nov 12 Energy production must shift from fossil fuels to renewable sources within four decades to avoid the most damaging consequences of climate change, a government report has found.
The Climate Commission’s report on the state of the sustainable energy market, titled The Critical Decade: Generating a renewable Australia, was released as world leaders gathered forglobal climate talks in Doha this week. Continue reading
Toro’s WA uranium plan under the spotlight and under pressure
Protestors will attend the Toro AGM and launch an alternative annual report at a highly visual presence outside the company’s meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Hindmarsh Square, Adelaide, from 9:15 am (Adelaide time).
The company is out of step with the fundamentals of the uranium sector, post-Fukushima. Toro wants a blank cheque but is heading for an abrupt reality check.
28 Nov 12, Junior uranium hopeful Toro Energy will be the focus of protest outside and questioning inside at the company’s annual meeting in Adelaide today. Toro hopes to develop Western Australia’s first uranium mine near Wiluna in the Murchison region. The project is currently undergoing federal assessment, requires a range of further state approvals and is actively contested.
“The Toro project is far from a done deal,” said Conservation Council WA nuclear free campaigner Mia Pepper. “There are serious flaws in the state assessment process and the studies Toro provided to the State Government. The project is a long way from being approved and the company faces serious financing constraints.
“Under new mine closure guidelines Toro has to find 100% of the mine closure costs in order to get approval to mine. So Toro needs $150 million to close a mine even before it has raised the $300 million to open it. The combination of a uranium price in free-fall and rising mine costs make this project increasingly unviable.”
Toro Energy’s uranium mining push comes as proven miners, including BHP Billiton and Cameco, defer or get out of planned uranium projects in WA. Continue reading
Did you think that Chernobyl was safe now? Think again
One particular concern is dismantling the plant’s chimney, which must be taken down before the shelter is put in place. The chimney is lined with radioactive residue that could break up and enter the atmosphere as it is taken apart.
Even when the shelter is in place, the area around the reactor building will remain hazardous. The shelter is aimed only at blocking radioactive material from escaping when the reactor is being dismantled; it won’t block radiation itself.
officials on Tuesday allowed themselves to envision a happier Chernobyl a century from now
Workers raise 1st section of new Chernobyl shelter The Telegraph, November 27, 2012 By JIM HEINTZ — Associated Press CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER STATION, UKRAINE — Workers have raised the first section of a colossal arch-shaped structure that eventually will cover the exploded nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl power station…….
Officials who showed reporters around the construction site Tuesday were clearly delighted at the colossus taking shape before them, but concerned about the challenges ahead. The shelter is to be moved over the reactor building by the end of 2015 – a deadline that no one wants to miss given that the so-called sarcophagus hastily built over the
reactor building after the 1986 explosion has an estimated service life of about 30 years. Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 