Anti nuclear group at Olympic Dam, challenges BHP on uranium mining
Activists check in on Olympic Dam http://www.roxbydownssun.com.au/story/1408767/activists-check-in-on-olympic-dam/?cs=1503 By Ifereimi Nadore April 4, 2013, BHP Billiton has been told to take some responsibility by stopping the sale of uranium to other countries, especially those that have nuclear energy plants.
The message was relayed to a management team based at the Olympic Dam mine this week by a 30 member anti-nuclear resistance movement group, the Friends of the Earth (Australia) which had been touring all of the uranium mines in South Australia.
The group, which is represented by various nationalities from India, Vietnam, Europe and Australia shared its concerns to the BHP Billiton management team and requested it to discontinue selling uranium to safeguard the environment and its population.
A particular case of interest which the group highlighted was the Fukushima disaster in Japan, which the group said was plagued by safety breaches, scandals, cover-ups and inadequate regulations.
Group leader and national nuclear campaigner Doctor Jim Green said the educational trip also gave the group the chance to see the uranium deposits at Olympic Dam and other uranium mines in South Australia. He said BHP Billiton had maintained that the selling of uranium had received the approval of the federal government.
“We are asking [BHP] to stop selling it and take some responsibilities,” he said. He said the group’s request to also visit the tailing dams had been turned down. Dr Green said the trip also provided the members the opportunity to talk to the indigenous landowners about the effect of uranium mining and what it could do to the environment.
The group’s next stop will the uranium mine in Beverly South, Australia.
North Korea’s missiles not able to reach USA
Without specifying the type of missile, Kim said it is believed to be able to reach a “considerable distance,” though it is not able to strike the U.S. mainland.
“The missile does not seem to be aimed at the U.S. mainland,” Kim told lawmakers. “It could be aimed at test firing or military drills.” Although there is slim chance that Pyongyang’s harsh rhetoric could lead to a full-scale war, Kim said the North could launch other forms of provocations, including border clashes and cyber attacks.
“Our military has upgraded several systems and carried out drills under upgraded military readiness status,” Kim said.
According to intelligence analysis by South Korean and U.S. forces, it is believed to be a Musudan missile, which is estimated to have a range of 3,000-4,000 km, putting the U.S. base in Guam within striking….. http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2013/04/04/96/0301000000AEN20130404009251315F.HTML
Plans to evacuate Australians from North Korea
Evacuation plans for 7000 Australians living in South Korea as North prepares for nuclear strike against US, THE AUSTRALIAN BY:IAN MCPHEDRAN, DEFENCE WRITER April 05, 2013 AUSTRALIAN Defence officials are working on plans to evacuate thousands of Australians from South Korea, as Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Foreign Minister Bob Carr head to China tomorrow to urge Beijing to take stronger action against its close and unstable ally North Korea.…http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/evacuation-plans-for-7000-australians-living-in-south-korea/story-e6frg6n6-1226612720574
Wollongong’s revolutionary “solar renewal house”
A Photovoltaic Thermal Air System creates heat in winter while in summer the system creates cool air through the night. In winter the thermal storage allows the system to store heat during the day and then release this to the home at night. In summer the reverse occurs.
Solar renewal in the suburbs http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/solar-renewal-in-the-suburbs/story-e6frg8io-1226611687319 BY:STEPHEN BROOK :The Australian April 05,
A QUIET design revolution is taking place in the streets of Wollongong which, if successful, could change the shape of the construction industry and our suburban landscape at the same time.
A team of 30 students from the University of Wollongong and the adjacent TAFE Illawarra, schooled in the disciplines of engineering, architecture, creative design, construction and marketing, supported by a network from industry and academia, are close to realising their dream – the transformation of the humblest of domestic dwellings, the fibro home, into an energy- efficient house of world class.
Just how world class will become apparent in August when the project – dubbed the Illawarra Flame – is displayed on the world stage.
The Illawarra Flame has won a place in the finals of the Solar Decathlon, one of the world’s biggest renewable energy competitions, scheduled to take place in August in the city of Datong, in northern China. Continue reading
Western Australia’s asbestos town – a prelude to uranium towns?
WA GOVERNMENT TO MOVE LAST RESIDENTS FROM ASBESTOS TOWN ABC Radio National 3 April 2013 By:Catherine Van Extel The West Australian Government is looking to move a group of residents who continue to live in the deadly asbestos mining town of Wittenoom, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. But while there are moves to finally clean up the toxic site, many continue to face the legacy of their time spent growing up in or visiting the notorious town.
The 1990 Midnight Oil song ‘Blue Sky Mine’ was inspired by Wittenoom and its deadly mining industry. It’s estimated that more than 20,000 people lived at Wittenoom before the mine closed in 1966.
Asbestos-related diseases have killed more than 2000 former workers and family members of Wittenoom, a death toll that continues to rise.
In 2007, the state government withdrew Wittenoom’s town status—disconnecting services like water and electricity—but a small group of residents stayed. Now the government wants them out in order to remediate the contaminated site. Continue reading
Tobacco industry’s secret knowledge of radioactivity in cigarettes
Nuclear insiders and Big Tobacco No.1 Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog http://www.uclahealth.org/body.cfm?id=561&action=detail&ref=1751 University of California Health System, Health and Medicine, Big Tobacco knew radioactive particles in cigarettes posed cancer risk but kept quiet Kim Irwin
Tobacco companies knew that cigarette smoke contained radioactive alpha particles for more than four decades and developed “deep and intimate” knowledge of these particles’ cancer-causing potential, but they deliberately kept their findings from the public, according to a new study by UCLA researchers.
The analysis of dozens of previously unexamined internal tobacco industry documents, made available in 1998 as the result of a legal settlement, reveals that the industry was aware of cigarette radioactivity some five years earlier than previously thought and that tobacco companies, concerned about the potential lung cancer risk, began in-depth investigations into the possible effects of radioactivity on smokers as early as the 1960s.
“The documents show that the industry was well aware of the presence of a radioactive substance in tobacco as early as 1959,” the authors write. “Furthermore, the industry was not only cognizant of the potential ‘cancerous growth’ in the lungs of regular smokers, but also did quantitative radiobiological calculations to estimate the long-term lung radiation absorption dose of ionizing alpha particles emitted from cigarette smoke.” Continue reading
Wiluna uranium mine’s threat to Western Australia’s tourist industry
Fears uranium mine threatens tourism ABC News Apr 4, 2013 The WA Nuclear Free Alliance says the development of a uranium mine near Wiluna will deter tourists. Toro Energy has this week received federal environmental approval to develop the mine near Wiluna.
The alliance’s Mia Pepper says access to internationally-recognised tourists sites near the town would be restricted if the project goes ahead.
She says Wiluna will miss out on an opportunity to capitalise on tourism if Toro goes ahead with its plans.
“I think people need to be informed to the right information and if they were informed and had access to the right information, then they would know that there are risks involved in being in areas with elevated radiation,” she said.
“I think it’s really a missed opportunity for Wiluna to be looking at becoming a centre for [a] uranium precinct in the Goldfields, rather than a precent … [for] tourism and celebrating the beauty of the culture and the country in that area.
“I think uranium mining in that region will really detract from what is a beautiful and special place and home to many people.”….. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-04/fears-uranium-mine-to-hurt-tourism/4609622
Climate denialist Andrew Bolt doesn’t seem to understand graphs
Latham: climate lunacy, or how Bolt can’t read a graph Crikey MARK LATHAM | APR 04 How can Andrew Bolt point to a graph as showing a “pause” in global warming, when it unequivocally shows the opposite? He’s a propagandist of the highest order. It’s official: Andrew Bolt has lost the plot. On his blog on Wednesday, he presented the following graph (using UAH satellite data) as evidence of how “the pause in global warming continues”.
No intelligent person could look at these figures and see anything but a trend toward global warming.- subscription only http://www.crikey.com.au/2013/04/04/latham-climate-lunacy-or-how-bolt-cant-read-a-graph/
Toro Energy’s uranium to be moved through Northern Territory and South Australia
New mine to ship uranium through NT, SAhttp://www.skynews.com.au/businessnews/article.aspx?id=860386 April 4, 2013 A new West Australian mine will likely ship uranium concentrate through two other states.
The federal government on Tuesday approved Toro Energy’s $269 million Wiluna uranium project, 30km south of the Wiluna township and about 960km northeast of Perth.
Toro managing director Vanessa Guthrie says shipping is likely to start from 2015 using existing rail lines between South Australia and the Northern Territory.
‘We would take it to Port Adelaide then rail through to Darwin as currently happens with the other co-shippers,’ she told ABC Radio.
The Wiluna mine will become Australia’s sixth producer of uranium and the first in Western Australia.
USA study into radioactivity from fracking for natural gas
among the substances to be tested for are Radium-226, Radium-228, Uranium-238, Uranium-235, Uranium-234, Thorium-232, Radon-220 and Radon-222.
a December 2011 U.S. Geological Survey report that found that millions of barrels of wastewater from unconventional wells in Pennsylvania and conventional wells in New York were 3,609 times more radioactive than the federal limit for drinking water and 300 times more radioactive than a Nuclear Regulatory Commission limit for nuclear plant discharges.
DEP begins fracking radiation tests Times Online, By Rachel Morgan Shalereporter.com 4 April 13 HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection this month will begin testing for radioactivity in waste products from natural gas well drilling.
In addition to analyzing wastewater from hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, the study also will analyze radioactivity in drill cuttings, drilling mud, drilling equipment, treatment solids and sediments at well pads, wastewater treatment and disposal facilities and landfill leachate, among others. The study also will test radiation levels for the equipment involved in the transportation, storage and disposal of drilling wastes. Continue reading
Third Canadian province imposes a moratorium on uranium minng
Quebec becomes third province to impose uranium moratorium Mining.com Vladimir Basov | April 4, 
2013 Quebec became the third Canadian province, after Nova Scotia and British Columbia, to establish a moratorium on uranium development.Environment minister Yves-Francois Blanchet announced last Thursday no permits for exploration or mining will be issued until an independent study on the environmental impact and social acceptance of extracting uranium has been completed…..
Rapid growth in Australia’s home solar systems
1,000,000+ Rooftop Solar Power Systems Installed In Australia http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3674 5 April 13 More than one million solar panel systems have been installed on the rooftops of homes and businesses throughout the nation. According to a Sydney Morning Herald article, the milestone was passed last month states an analysis by SunWiz Consulting; which found 1,011,478 systems had been installed by the end of March. This figure does not include solar hot water systems.
It wasn’t that long ago the 1 million mark seemed like a pipe dream – in 2001 only 118 Australian homes had solar panels installed. Continue reading
Australia’s big power retailers against renewable energy
Renewables future at mercy of big power retailers The Age, April 2, 2013 Peter Hannam Carbon economy editor A “buyer’s strike” by two of Australia’s biggest electricity retailers is potentially stalling growth in the renewable energy industry just two weeks after the government gave its backing for the sector, a big renewable energy supplier said.
Andrew Richards, executive manager of corporate affairs at Pacific Hydro, said EnergyAustralia and Origin Energy, which control more than half the national electricity market, had halted the signing of long-term power purchase agreements with wind and other renewable energy suppliers, in effect blocking developers from securing loans for new projects.
“For whatever reason, they’re just not contracting,” Mr Richards said. “Unless they start contracting, you just simply can’t get the finance – particularly non-recourse project finance – to build these projects.”
Last month, the government agreed to leave the renewable energy target largely unchanged after its latest biennial review. Under the policy, large-scale generators must supply 41,000 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy annually by 2020……http://www.businessday.com.au/business/carbon-economy/renewables-future-at-mercy-of-big-power-retailers-20130402-2h4ki.html
The nuclear/uranium week that was, in Australia
Western Australia. Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke, has given approval to Toro Energy to open WA’s first uranium mine, at Wiluna. An inexplicable decision, uranium mining on a flood-prone lake bed, home to a number of unique and endemic groundwater dependent plants and animals. Still – there’s many a slip .. Toro, a small company, inexperienced, under financial constraints, and casting around for investors. And, let’s not forget, the uranium price remains in continued slump. How does Toro solve these problems? Well, first step, put a woman, better, two women in charge. If Wiluna uranium mine does go belly up, which is on the cards – well it’ll be their fault, CEO Vanessa Guthrie and chair, Erica Smyth.
South Australia. The uranium State’s media suffered a lapse, when even the Roxby Downs Sun posted an anti uranium call from a visiting Indian, and Adelaide radio aired a compregensive criticism of nuclear power, by Dr David Palmer.
Australian uranium miner Paladin Energy in the news again, as they try to pacify the Malawians with a new, and complex bond. Among other things this deal obliges the company to sensitize people on the potential dangers associated with radioactive substances and prevention procedures. Many Malawians still unhappy with a general feeling that Africans are being ripped off by Western uranium mining companies. Shock horror, how could they think that!
Climate Change. Scientific evidence that Australia is already in the grip of climate change. But that hasn’t deterred Tony Abbott from promising to abolish the Climate Commission, and sack Prof Tim Flannery. He also says he’ll scrap the carbon tax, but this is pretty well impossible – would bring down a cloud of legal actions.
Meanwhile new information builds on the ever cheaper renewable energy, and developments in energy storage.
Stop the Bull – No to Toro uranium mining on a lake bed that floods!
Scott Ludlam, 4 April 13, The Environment Minister Tony Burke approved WA’s first uranium mine, proving once and for all that the Labor Party can’t be trusted to protect the environment, and that they are in fact just as bad as the Liberals.
Toro Energy Ltd was given the green light for a uranium mine on a lake bed that floods, despite having no experience in uranium mining and not enough cash to open and run the mine properly.
The project has been approved before major issues like extinction of species, protecting water resources, defining a transport route or isolating radioactive tailings from the environment properly have been resolved.
Instead they have been postponed to an Environmental Management Plan that will be negotiated in secret and only made public after the Minister has approved it. Toro gets to decide what will be measured and monitored, the location, frequency and timing of monitoring, the baseline studies that will be done, and the trigger levels for radiation exposure, surface and ground water.
Please write to Toro today, and let them know that you will be working to oppose their project. You might like to ask them how they plan to raise finance for the mine and look after the carcinogenic waste for several thousand years?
The Greens are with you on this, and we’re not giving up without a fight.
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 