An Indian’s message to South Australia – leave uranium in the ground!
“Please leave the uranium underground” , Roxby Downs Sun April 4, 2013, Indian national Bhargavi Dilipkumar has a message for BHP Billiton; to leave uranium underground for it has done more than enough damage to the environment.
Bhargavi visited Roxby Downs this week with Friends of the Earth Australia to receive a first hand experience of what uranium mining was all about and be the voice of India protesting the uranium trade between the two countries.
She said she had been part of the people’s movement that is strongly opposing the building of an atomic power plant to be built at the southern part of India.
Bhargavi is an anti nuclear activitist from India who strongly believes that BHP Billiton should shelve its uranium export program and be responsible for the safety of the environment and million of lives back home.
She visited the Olympic Dam mine and tried to persuade BHP Billiton management to have a heart for the people of India who will suffer long term consequences if the atomic power plant was allowed to go ahead.
“Please leave the uranium underground,” she said.
“Don’t mine it because its destroying lives.”
Similar sentiments were expressed by German nationals Danda Petter and Miriam Ribbeck who had been part of a nation-wide protest to stop the construction of a nuclear plant at Freiburg.
Vietnamese national Hai Levan said having seen the damage caused in Japan he would “fight to the death” to stop the building of a nuclear energy plant in South Central Vietnam.
“We can’t continue chopping down trees because it will cause flooding and harm our environment,” he said .http://www.roxbydownssun.com.au/story/1408776/please-leave-the-uranium-underground/?cs=1503
North Korea’s declaration about a nuclear attack
With the world on alert, experts say North Korea does potentially have the capability of hitting Australia with a missile – but only if they’re very lucky.
University of NSW Professor of International Security Alan Dupont recently told defence correspondent Ian McPhedran that North Korea had only a “rudimentary” intercontinental ballistic missile system.
“The capability is pretty rudimentary and has more to do with pretence than substance,” he said.
North Korea declares it has given approval for a nuclear attack on the United States VIDEOSand GRAPHICS
- From: News Limited Network http://www.news.com.au/world-news/north-korea-gives-final-approval-for-nuclear-attack-on-united-states/story-fndir2ev-1226612136732
- April 04, 2013
- North Korean army says it has ‘final approval’ for nuclear attack
- United States to move anti-missile system to Guam
- Two advanced missile destroyers moved closer to North Korea
-
NORTH Korea says it has approved a nuclear attack on the United States in its latest threat as US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel warned Pyongyang to back down. Continue reading
Busting the nuclear lobby’s lies about global warming
Germany: Ending Nuclear Power has Contributed to Reducing Carbon Dioxide (CO2) http://www.globalresearch.ca/germany-ending-nuclear-power-has-contributed-to-reducing-carbon-dioxide-co2/5329583
By Washington’s Blog
Global Research, April 03, 2013 Nuclear Power INCREASES Carbon Dioxide
There has been a tremendous amount of voodoo science pushing the claim that radiation isn’t harmful. (It is.)
Similarly, a new report published by Environmental Science & Technology claims that nuclear power saves more lives than it cost, due to reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
However, none of the following words appear in the report:
Construction
Construct
Building
Build
Facility
Facilities
Fabrication
Steel
Metal
Concrete
Why is this important?
Because, as BBC notes:
Building the [nuclear] power station produces a lot of CO2 . An International Forum on Globalization report – written by environmental luminaries Ernest Callenback, Gar Smith and Jerry Mander – have slammed nuclear power as catastrophic for the environment:
Nuclear energy is not the “clean” energy its backers proclaim. For more than 50 years, nuclear energy has been quietly polluting our air, land, water and bodies—while alsocontributing to Global Warming through the CO2 emissions from its construction, mining, and manufacturing operations. Every aspect of the nuclear fuel cycle—mining, milling, shipping, processing, power generation, waste disposal and storage—releases greenhouse gases, radioactive particles and toxic materials that poison the air, water and land. Nuclear power plants routinely expel low-level radionuclides into the air in the course of daily operations. While exposure to high levels of radiation can kill within a matter of days or weeks, exposure to low levels on a prolonged basis can damage bones and tissue and result in genetic damage, crippling long-term injuries, disease and death.
See this excellent photographic depiction of the huge amounts of fossil fuel which goes into building and operating a nuclear power plant. Continue reading
Discontent in Malawi over Australian uranium company Paladin’s mining deal
There is growing belief among some sections of the society that Malawi is losing out on the Kayerekera mining and have since called on the government to renegotiate the deal.
Leader of Malawi’s opposition People’s Transformation Party (Petra) Kamuzu Chibambo — who is also a prominent lawyer— said unless the deal were renegotiated, Malawi would continue to lose out in the mining sector and called upon all Malawians to galvanise their voices to press government to enter into negotiation with the miners.
Paladin has MK3.9bn environmental bond for Malawi uranium mine -Walker, Nyasa Times, 3 April 13, Australian Miner Paladin Energy Limited, operators of the Kayerekera Uranium Mine in Karonga district have a US$10 million Environmental Performance Bond with two commercial banks in Malawi to among other things cater for rehabilitation costs for signs of default during and after mine life.
“Paladin has a MWK 3.9 Billion (US$10 Million) Performance Bond in place to satisfy the environmental obligations of Clause 18.14(a). This comprises a US$ 5 Million Performance Bond with Standard Bank Limited and US$ 5 Million Performance Bond with Nedbank Malawi Limited,” Paladin General Manager for International Affairs Greg Walker toldNyasa Times in an email response.
The bond, in the form of irrevocable letters of credit, will deal with issues like water and environment contamination and the eventual clean up.
A letter of credit is a letter from a bank guaranteeing that a buyer’s payment to a seller will be received on time and for the correct amount. In the event that the buyer is unable to make payment on the purchase, the bank will be required to cover the full or remaining amount of the purchase.
The bond further obliges the company to sensitize people on the potential dangers associated with radioactive substances and prevention procedures. Continue reading
Western uranium mining companies not liked by some Malawians
Paladin has MK3.9bn environmental bond for Malawi uranium mine -Walker Nyasa Times
April 3, 2013 “…... Nach Sale Says: Ngoma, you cannot take away the fact that western investors are highly exploitative and their governments hypocritical. They talk about the the mathematics and accounts of investment but at the end of the day they benefit more and their governments take that same money and give us as aid.
Impossible job of Western Australian uranium mine – given to Vanessa Guthrie?
Women call shots at U-miner Nick Butterly Canberra, The West Australian April 3, 2013,
Dr Guthrie is managing director of Toro and Dr Smyth is its non-executive chairman.
Dr Guthrie acknowledged it was unusual for a miner to have both a female chief executive and a chairman…..
Dr Smyth said the fact a mining company headed by two women was succeeding showed how the resources industry was changing and stereotypes were being broken down. http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/16515070/women-call-shots-at-u-miner/
Christina’s comment – “Oh yeah! – more like the stereotype of giving the impossible jobs to women!”
Tony Abbott would abolish the Climate Commission, sack Professor Tim Flannery
A Climate Commission report released on Wednesday examined links between Australia’s extreme weather and human-induced climate change. It found natural events were being influenced by climate change, because greenhouse gases are accumulating and trapping extra energy in the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans.”When the carbon tax goes, all of those bureaucracies will go and I suspect we might find that the particular position you refer to goes with them,” Mr Abbott told Macquarie Radio on Wednesday. Continue reading
Australia now in a state of permanent climate change, say scientists
Top scientists agree climate has changed for good The nation’s top climate scientists and science bodies have for the first time endorsed a major report that says Australia’s climate has shifted permanently in some cases.
The peer-reviewed assessment notes that there is “strong consensus” around this central finding, and in some cases the weather has changed for good.http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-03/scientist-endorse-report-that-says-climate-has-shifted/4606372
(Link provided to the Climate Commission’s latest report: The Critical Decade: Extreme Weather)
UK soldier dying, due to depleted uranium contamination?
Soldier dying after being exposed to uranium in Iraq must raise £110,000 for treatment because the NHS can’t help her Mail Online 4 Apr 13,
- Katrina Brown, 30, was exposed to radioactive material in Basra
- Diagnosed with rare systemic sclerosis which is slowly attacking her organs
- She believes the illness is linked to exposure to depleted uranium
- Says her only hope is having stem-cell transplant to regenerate her organs A soldier who developed a deadly illness after being exposed to uranium in Iraq is facing a race against time to raise the money she needs for potentially life-saving treatment.Katrina Brown, 30, was exposed to radioactive material while serving as a medic at a 600-bed military clinic in Basra in 2003.
She was diagnosed with rare systemic sclerosis in 2008 which is slowly attacking her major organs – and will eventually lead to her death if left untreated.
Mrs Brown, who joined the Army at the age of 17, believes the illness is linked to exposure to depleted uranium.
She was handed a card before flying home from her 2003 tour warning her she had been in contact with radioactive materials. Continue reading
Sea lions’ epidemic illness and death – caused by Fukushima radiation?
Unfortunately, the nuclear accident is nowhere near contained. Japanese experts say that Fukushima is currently releasing up to 93 billion becquerels of radioactive cesium into the ocean each day, the reactors have lost containment, and groundwater is flooding into the stricken reactors(delaying clean-up).
And things may get worse for California, instead of better .
Is Fukushima Radiation Causing the Epidemic of Dead and Starving Sea Lions In California? http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-03-31/fukushima-radiation-causing-epidemic-dead-and-starving-sea-lions-california by George Washington on 03/31/2013 Associated Press reports:
It’s gotten so bad in the past two weeks that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared an “unusual mortality event.” That will allow more scientists to join the search for the cause, Melin said.
Even the pups that are making it are markedly underweight …. Continue reading
Solar energy plant for Broken Hill approved by New South Wales govt
$200m Broken Hill solar plant approved ABC News By Eugene Boisvert Apr 2, 2013 A $200 million solar power station for the far west has been recommended for approval by the NSW Government.
Electricity company AGL is planning to build the plant at Rob Day Station south-west of Broken Hill.AGL has indicated there will be 150 jobs in construction and four ongoing positions once the solar power plant is operational at the end of 2015.
The company has agreed to environmental conditions the state has imposed in approving the solar power station….. AGL is also planning to build a wind farm near Silverton. It has not yet been approved for construction.
Both have been named major projects by the NSW Government. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-02/24200m-solar-plant-approved-by-state-government/4604438
Busting the nuclear lobby’s spin about bananas
When you eat a banana, your body’s level of Potassium-40 doesn’t increase. You just get rid of some excess Potassium-40. The net dose of a banana is zero.
And that’s the difference between a useful educational tool and propaganda.
Fake Science Alert: Fukushima Radiation Can’t Be Compared to Bananas or X-Rays , Zero Hedge, George Washington 04/01/2013 Nuclear apologists pretend that people are exposed to more radiation from bananas than from Fukushima.
But the EPA explains:
The human body is born with potassium-40 [the type of radiation found in bananas] in its tissues and it is the most common radionuclide in human tissues and in food. We evolved in the presence of potassium-40 and our bodies have well-developed repair mechanisms to respond to its effects. The concentration of potassium-40 in the human body is constant and not affected by concentrations in the environment.
Wikipedia notes:
The amount of potassium (and therefore of 40K) in the human body is fairly constant because of homeostatsis, so that any excess absorbed from food is quickly compensated by the elimination of an equal amount.It follows that the additional radiation exposure due to eating a banana lasts only for a few hours after ingestion, namely the time it takes for the normal potassium contents of the body to be restored by the kidneys. Continue reading
Fully renewable energy is a practical option for Australia
Switch to fully renewable energy within reach: report, SMH, 3 April 13, 2013 – Peter Hannam Carbon economy editor Australia’s main electricity market could source all of its electricity from renewable energy with the help of a carbon price of as low as $50 a tonne, according to research at the University of NSW.
The researchers found currently available renewable energy technologies such as wind and concentrated solar thermal power could displace all fossil-fuelled power plants in the National Electricity Market, according to a peer-reviewed paper published in the international Energy Policy journal.
It would cost us a bit but it would be quite affordable Continue reading
Abbott’s carbon tax policy doesn’t make sense – report finds
Report says Coalition carbon tax policy doesn’t add up http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/news/report-says-coalition-carbon-tax-policy-doesn-t-ad 3 April, 2013 Matt McDonald According to modelling by research group RepuTex, scrapping the carbon tax without implementing other industry changes would put a stop to investment in Australia’s renewable energy sector.
As SMH reports, if the Coalition wins the next election it plans to cut the carbon tax and retain the renewable energy target (RET).RepuTex’s associate director of research, Bret Harper says that the existence of the carbon tax is what makes renewable energy a viable investment option.
Without the tax $23 per tonne carbon price and the renewable energy certificate of about $32 per megawatt-hour, renewable energy is just not a realistic investment option.
“The carbon price is linked to the renewable energy target. For those who support the RET but not the carbon price, there’s a gap in the logic there,” Harper said.
Harper says that, given that the federal government has left the RET at 41,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity each year from 2020, between 2014 and 2020 the nation will need to increase its renewable energy capacity by about three times as much as it has in the past ten years.
So, if a future coalition government were to repeal the carbon tax it would also need to substantially increase the value of the renewable energy certificate to meet this ambitious RET. But as it stands, Coalition policy is to repeal the tax but leave other market conditions unchanged. “The existing scheme has a penalty price, which is effectively a price cap. If you remove the support of the carbon price but you don’t adjust the cap, then you will not see the renewable projects being built,” Harper said.
If Abbott scrapped carbon tax – a minefield of court action would follow!
Scrapping green bank would incur ‘huge cost’April 3, 2013 The Age Heath Aston Political reporter Tony Abbott’s ”pledge in blood” to scrap the carbon tax and dismantle the agency ploughing billions of dollars into renewable energy projects will cost taxpayers more in compensation and legal costs than the financial benefit of abolishing the system, it is claimed.
A report by law firm Norton Rose has highlighted the minefield of court action that would result from any move to wind up the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. The corporation, which has $10 billion to spend on renewables and energy efficiency programs over five years, is preparing to sign off on a first tranche of multi-year contracts to begin on July 1.
The Coalition has promised to abolish the corporation and tear up the contracts if it wins power in September.
The report found an Abbott government would be forced to retain the corporation or replace it with a new agency to oversee contracts it could not break. The opposition has not revealed exactly how it will abolish the clean energy contracts but has warned the industry that it intends to do so.
…… A spokeswoman for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation said it was obliged under legislation to push ahead with making investment decisions.
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 