“Paydirt” uranium conference in Adelaide – more like a funeral
Uranium industry more likely to bite the dust than hit Paydirt 29 April 2013. Today’s Paydirt Uranium Conference is a pre-emptive wake for the declining nuclear sector, Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam said.
“With nuclear power in a terminal condition it is no wonder this year’s Paydirt conference has been downgraded to a one-day event. The world uranium price has dived from almost $US140 a pound in 2007 to just over $US40 a pound today. 150 nuclear stations in Europe are scheduled for closure. All the spin in the world can’t polish the nuclear industry.
“Despite the mineral commodities boom uranium remains a dud, accounting for a mere 0.29 per cent of the nation’s export revenue between 2002 and 2011 and for only 0.015 per cent of jobs. It’s a high risk, no reward racket; Australia – and the world – would be better off without it.
“There was Australian uranium in all four reactors at Fukushima, and more than two years on 160,000 people remain evacuated as a result, but the nuclear mafia and their supporters in Parliament have learnt nothing.
“Nuclear power is in retreat in Europe, Japan and the United States, so the industry is pursuing India – a country that has nuclear weapons, refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and has an appalling track record on nuclear safety – as a customer.
“Another potential customer, China, is following the path of the former Soviet Union in building multiple reactor types in a huge hurry, with a poor safety culture and zero tolerance approach to whistleblowers and investigative journalists. The 27th anniversary of Chernobyl was last Friday, yet the lessons of history are lost on the nuclear cheer squad.
“It’s time to put an end to this deadly, moribund industry and focus on the future of power generation – renewable energy.”
Australian Uranium Association’s Paydirt Conference shortened to one day, in gloomy economic prospects
PAYDIRT URANIUM CONFERENCE IN ADELAIDE THIS MONDAY Uranium industry boosters will gather this Monday April 29 at the Adelaide Hilton for the annual Paydirt Uranium Conference. This year’s conference has been downgraded to a one-day event, reflecting industry stagnation in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.
Friends of the Earth national nuclear campaigner Dr Jim Green, co-author of a new report exposing the economic myths of the uranium industry, said: “The Australian Uranium Association’s Executive Director Michael Angwin claims that Australia “has enough reserves to be to uranium what Saudi Arabia is to oil”. However Australia’s uranium export revenue in 2011 was 466 times lower than Saudi oil revenue in the same year. Others to draw asinine comparisons between Australian uranium and Saudi oil include former SA politicians Mike Rann and Kevin Foley, and Adelaide-based academics Ian Plimer and Haydon Manning.”
“For decades the uranium industry has promised great economic benefits but it never delivers. Uranium accounted for just 0.29 per cent of Australia’s export revenue in the 10 years from 2002−2011. In the last financial year, uranium revenue was four times lower than Australia’s 20th biggest export earner, eight times lower than Australia’s 10th biggest export earner and 103 times lower than the biggest earner, iron ore. Even milk and cream generate nearly twice as much export revenue as uranium − and can’t be turned into Weapons of Mass Destruction. Uranium mining and exploration accounts for just 0.015% of all jobs in Australia.”
“Last year, BHP Billiton cancelled its planned expansion of Olympic Dam, disbanded its Uranium Division, and sold the Yeelirrie uranium lease in Western Australia for about 11% of the nominal value of the resource. Just months after first production at the Honeymoon mine in north-east SA in September 2011, project partner Mitsui announced its decision to withdraw as it ‘could not foresee sufficient economic return from the project.'”
“An independent inquiry is long overdue to objectively weigh the uranium industry’s economic benefits against its effects on environmental and public health, safety and security, particularly in the shadow of the unfolding Fukushima tragedy − a tragedy directly fuelled by Australian uranium,” Dr Green concluded.
‘Yellowcake Fever: Exposing the Uranium Industry’s Economic Myths’, a report released by the Australian Conservation Foundation last Friday, is posted at:
Now Tony Abbott is over- hyping Olympic Dam uranium mine expansion
Tony Abbott vows the Coalition would give Olympic Dam a chance to succeed BRAD CROUCH :adelaidenow April 27, 2013 FEDERAL Opposition Leader Tony Abbott today vowed to create economic conditions to help the stalled Olympic Dam mine proceed after blaming the State and Federal governments for it being put it on hold by BHP Billiton.
However, Mineral Resources Minister Tom Koutsantonis accused Mr Abbott of “over-spruiking” by suggesting the Coalition could get Olympic Dam expanded, saying Mr Abbott would have to change international conditions.
Mr Abbott said he could not guarantee the project would proceed under the Coalition but said: “I can promise there will be no obstacles from government that will impede its progress.”
“I want to give the Olympic Dam expansion a chance,” Mr Abbott said. “It is not on hold because of the quality of the ore body, lack of dynamism in South Australia or a lack of work ethic, it is on hold essentially because State and Commonwealth Labor governments have not created a climate in which this kind of investment can go ahead.”He also repeated promises to dump the carbon and mining taxes, put the budget “back in the black” and restore border security in a speech heavy on hope but light on specifics, such as how to fund the changes.
Mr Koutsantonis responded, saying: “He needs to change business conditions internationally, not just in Australia – what will get Olympic Dam over the line is not conditions in Australia or South Australia, it is the price of copper and uranium and the development of new technology to reach one of the most difficult ore bodies in the world.
“Who is over-spruiking now?”…… http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/tony-abbott-vows-the-coalition-would-give-olympic-dam-a-chance-to-succeed/story-e6frg6n6-1226630615659
Sutherland Council doesn’t want Lucas Heights nuclear wastes – “The local community would not support that”
the only sensible thing to do is to shut down the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor. Nuclear medicine is just a sideshow there anyway. All nuclear medicine’s pharmacueticals can be made in other ways, by non nuclera cyclotrons.
Lucas Heights real purpose is to keep a foot in the door for the nuclear fuel cycle in Australia
A Sydney council’s nuclear waste warning, BYVIKKI CAMPION The Daily Telegraph April 29, 2013 A SYDNEY council has warned it does not want to be the dumping ground for Australia’s nuclear waste.
It comes as a massive expansion of the nuclear medicine operations at Lucas Heights triples the amount of nuclear waste generated.
The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation plans to build a state of the art nuclear waste treatment facility – to safely store it – but could end up keeping it there for up to 10 years.
Sutherland mayor Kent Johns said the council’s biggest concern was making sure Lucas Heights did not become the permanent home of nuclear waste storage……..
A spokesman for ANSTO said it supported setting up a long term storage facility for nuclear waste, but not at Lucas Heights……. “By law ANSTO cannot be used as a national waste repository. The local community would not support that….. ( just like the Muckaty Aboriginal community C.M)
Senator Ludlam calls on Australian government to press Britain to compensate Maralinga veterans
British Government fails test on Australian nuclear victims, but fight continues 29 April 2013. Efforts to secure Act Of Grace payments for the victims of British nuclear testing will be stepped up after the British Government’s disappointing response, Senator Scott Ludlam said today.
“I call on Foreign Minister Bob Carr to raise this proposal directly with his UK counterparts.
“Because of difficulties victims of the British nuclear testing were facing in the courts, I wrote to British Foreign Secretary William Hague twice making the case for ex gratia payments to Australians exposed to British nuclear testing in the 1950s and ‘60s.
“The British Minister for Defence Personnel Welfare and Veterans Mark Francois has now responded by washing his hands of the deadly legacy his government left in Australia, paradoxically arguing that because the victims of nuclear testing could not prove in court their higher rate of radiation-related illness was caused by the nuclear testing, they would not receive Act Of Grace payments.
“The point of Act of Grace payments would be to circumvent the inappropriate burden of proof of causation being imposed on the victims – yet Minister Francois applies the same utterly unreasonable standard that has hampered attempts to secure justice through the courts.
“Australian nuclear veterans are pursuing the matter through the Human Rights Commission and strongly support this action, but they should not have expend this ongoing time and effort to get what is rightfully theirs.
“The Australian Government must bring diplomatic pressure to bear on the British Government to do their duty and compensate the people exposed to radiation; to make amends and to ensure they and their families can afford medical care.”
Despite their high cancer rates, Australia’s Maralinga veterans get rejection from British govt
No compensation for Maralinga radiation victims, SMH, April 29, 2013 Bianca Hall The British government has ruled out paying ”act of grace” compensation to Australian soldiers deliberately exposed to nuclear bomb testing at Maralinga in South Australia 61 years ago.
Greens senator Scott Ludlam wrote to Foreign Secretary William Hague in January seeking an undertaking that Britain would pay compensation to victims of its nuclear testing program.
”Of the British and Australian veterans who were involved in the testing, and the Aboriginal people in the area at the time of the blasts, only 29 Aboriginal people have ever received compensation from the Australian government and veterans continue to struggle to obtain the medical support they need,” Senator Ludlam said.
A 2006 report commissioned by the Australian government showed the Australians at the Maralinga and Emu Field sites were 23 per cent more likely than the general population to develop cancer, and 18 per cent more likely to die from cancer. But it found it was impossible to conclude whether that was due to radiation…….http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/no-compensation-for-maralinga-radiation-victims-20130428-2imrw.html#ixzz2RteYnZ00
Letter from UK Ministry of Defense http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/18059953/1363946993/name/maralinga.pdf
India now becoming a world leader in nuclear weaponry
Australia’s uranium helps India to develop its fearsome nuclear weaponry. Let’s hope it never gets to the point of 1942 – when Australia’s iron to Japan came back to us in bombs – the days of Pig Iron Bob Menzies
The elite nuclear race, Khaleej Times, Eric S. Margolis (America Angle) / 28 April 2013 While the United States beats the war drums over North Korea and Iran’s long-ranged nuclear armed missiles –which they don’t even possess – Washington remains curiously silent about the arrival of the world’s newest member of the big nuke club – India.
In January, Delhi revealed a new, 800km-ranged submarine launched missile (SLBM) designated K-15. Twelve of these strategic, nuclear-armed missiles will be carried by India’s first of a class of domestically built nuclear-powered submarine, “Arihant.” India is also working on another SLBM, K-5, with a range of some 2, 800km.
These new nuclear subs and their SLBM’s will give India the capability to strike many high-value targets around the globe. Equally important, they complete India’s nuclear triad of nuclear weapons delivered by aircraft, missiles, and now sea that will be invulnerable to a decapitating first strike from either Pakistan or China.
Last February, it was revealed that India is fast developing a new, long-ranged, three-stage ballistic missile, Agni-VI. This powerful missile is said to be able to carry up to ten independently targetable nuclear warheads, known as MIRV’s.
Agni-VI’s range is believed to be at least 10,000km, putting all of China, Japan, Australia, and Russia in its range. A new 15,000km missile capable of hitting North America is also in the works under cover of India’s civilian space programme. India is also developing accurate cruise missiles and miniaturised nuclear warheads to fit into their small diameter. Continue reading
After Fukushima – gradual global radiation contamination continues
Fukushima’s Catastrophic Aftermath: The Dangers of Worldwide Nuclear Radiation, Global Research, By Stephen Lendman 28 April 13, In her book titled “No Immediate Danger: Prognosis for a Radioactive Earth,” nuclear power/environmental health expert Rosalie Bertell (1929 – 2012) said:
“Should the public discover the true health cost(s) of nuclear pollution, a cry would rise from all parts of the world and people would refuse to cooperate passively with their own death.”
In her article titled “Radioactivity: No Immediate Danger,” she coined a new word. “Omnicide” describes the ultimate human rejection of life. It’s “difficult to comprehend,” but it’s happening, she said.
She called industrial radioactive pollution “cumulatively greater than Chernobyl. We are now in a no-win situation with radioactive materials, where (it’s) acceptable to have cancer deaths, deformed children and miscarriages.”
Industry propaganda falsely claims nuclear power is clean and green. The nuclear fuel cycle discharges significant amounts of greenhouse gases.
It’s also responsible for hundreds of thousands of curies of deadly radioactive gases and elements in the environment annually.
“Claiming nuclear production of energy is ‘clean,’ ” said Bertell, “is like dieting but stuffing yourself with food between meals.”
Separately, she said:
“There is no such thing as a radiation exposure that will not do damage. There is a hundred per cent possibility that there will be damage to cells. The next question is: which damage do you care about?”
All toxic hazards are serious, she explained. Nuclear radiation is worst of all. It threatens all human life. “Our present path is headed toward species death – whether fast with nuclear war or technological disaster, or slow, by poison.”
Global suicide is certain. Continued nuclear proliferation and Fukushima accelerated it.
March 11 marked its second anniversary. It’s perhaps the worst ever environmental disaster. Reliable experts call large parts of Japan unsafe. They’re too hazardous to live in.
According to Professor Hiroaki Koide, Tokyo’s as contaminated as Fukushima. Thousands of city residents protested. They oppose nuclear power. They want safe energy sources replacing it.
Radiation contamination is widespread. East Asia, North America, Europe and other areas are affected.
Hazardous air, water and land readings across many areas globally are many multiples too high. Future epidemic cancer levels are certain. It occurs when body cells divide and spread uncontrollably. If untreated, it metastasizes and kills.
Michel Chossudovsky calls Fukushima “a nuclear war without a war.” It’s an “unspoken crisis of worldwide nuclear contamination.”
Tens of thousands of children have confirmed thyroid abnormalities. They reflect the tip of the iceberg. Children are especially vulnerable. No radiation dose is safe.
Karl Grossman wants planet earth made a “nuclear free zone.” We barely made it through the last century without a “major nuclear weapons exchange,” he said.
Nuclear energy in all forms is unsafe. Safe, clean, renewable solar, wind, geothermal, and other energy sources are readily available……
Australia’s Climate Commission reports China as world leader in action against climate change
China leading in fight against climate change, argues report http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2264526/china-leading-in-fight-against-climate-change-argues-report 29 Apr 2013 As United Nations leaders today gather in Bonn to again discuss global efforts to tackle climate change, a new report has revealed that while China remains the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter it is also taking some of the most ambitious strides to curb environmental impacts.
The Australian government’s independent advisor, the Climate Commission, has today launched a report showing how global action to tackle carbon emissions progressed during the last nine months.Analysis by Australian government’s Climate Commission warns other countries from using Chinese emissions as an excuse for inaction
The report shows that in 2012 China reduced the carbon intensity of its economy more than expected and almost halved the rate of growth for electricity demand. China remains heavily dependent on coal and other fossil fuels, making it the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, but the report found that the rate of growth in coal use has flatlined.
Last year, China also cemented its position as a renewable energy powerhouse, expanding solar power capacity by 75 per cent, and investing more that $65bn in clean energy – 20 per cent more than in 2011 and far more than any other nation.
The report predicts China could see its emissions peak sooner than expected if investment continues to accelerate, driven by new initiatives such as the planned carbon markets that are due to launch from June in a number of cities.
The CC’s chief commissioner, Professor Tim Flannery, said the report showed other countries such as Australia could no longer use China’s vast carbon footprint as an excuse for inaction on climate change.
“China is vulnerable to a changing climate, but they are also motivated by reducing their air and water pollution and wanting to position themselves as the world’s renewable energy leader,” he said in a statement.
“Whatever the reason, the results speak for themselves. China is quickly moving to the top of the leader board on climate change.”
The report also noted that 98 countries have now committed to limit their greenhouse gas emissions, and that there are now 35 national emissions trading schemes in place around the world.
However, the report also warns that despite increased investment in clean technologies and the development of more ambitious climate policies, emissions continue to rise around the world, showing more action is needed to address the risk of rising temperatures.
Nuclear armed States remain in a Cold War myth that nuclear deterrence means safety
The Nuclear Illusion, Project Syndicate, Gareth Evans, 26 April 13 “……the US refuses to de-alert its own nuclear missiles if Russia will not. So nearly 2,000 weapons of mass destruction still face each other on high alert, maximizing the prospect of a catastrophe through human or system error or cyber sabotage.
This deterrence logic produces a snowball effect. With Russia and the US holding 18,000 of the world’s current stockpile of 19,000 nuclear weapons, it is proving impossible to persuade any of the other nuclear-armed states to reduce their own (much smaller) arsenals until the Big Two make further drastic cuts to theirs.
China shares Russia’s concerns about US conventional and missile-defense superiority, and is increasing and modernizing its estimated 240-weapon stockpile. With China taking that course, India – outside the NPT but with 100 weapons of its own – feels the need to add to its own arsenal. And Pakistan then becomes even more determined to try to keep ahead of India.
The truth is that none of the nuclear-armed states, inside or outside the NPT, pays anything more than lip service to the ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons. The continued seductive power of the Cold War logic and language of nuclear deterrence is the primary reason, though for some states it is clear that the testosterone factor – perceived status and prestige – also plays a role.
The uplifting pro-disarmament rhetoric of US President Barack Obama remains just that. No nuclear-armed state will set a timetable for a major reduction in the number of nuclear weapons, let alone their abolition. The size of their arsenals, their fissile material stocks, their force-modernization plans, their stated doctrine, and their known deployment practices all point in the same direction. All foresee indefinite retention of their nuclear weapons, and a continuing role for them in their security policies.
The implications of this stance are profoundly troubling. Concern about states in the Middle East and Northeast Asia joining the nuclear club is as high as it has ever been. But the foot-dragging by the nuclear states on disarmament is making it increasingly difficult to add necessary new muscle to the global non-proliferation regime……..
Progress toward achieving a safer and saner world requires all of the nuclear-armed states to break out of their Cold War mindset, rethink the strategic utility of nuclear deterrence in current conditions, and recalibrate the huge risks implied by retaining their arsenals. It is time for them to recognize that in today’s world, nuclear weapons are the problem, not the solution.
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/foot-dragging-at-the-npt-review-conference-by-gareth-evans#2BMXAx4LDS5Qy1xS.99
USA’s military industrial complex needs to drum up a war with China
America’s War Games, How the Obama administration is redefining the US military’s strategic priorities with far-reaching consequences, Aljazeera, 27 April 13 “……….. Concerns about China were reflected in the Obama administration’s announcement last year that it is re-positioning US military resources to the Asia-Pacific region after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is estimated that China spends about one-fifth to one-quarter as much on its military as the US. Spinney and others see warnings about China and the administration’s so-called Asia-Pacific “pivot” as a way to bolster defence spending in the face of pressure for cuts.”We need a threat,” Spinney Chuck Spinney, who worked as an analyst in the US secretary of defence’s office for 26 yearssays, “Al-Qaeda has sort of run out of strength and we have to have a new threat to justify continued spending.” Spinney believes that there is little chance of a peace dividend after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “We are going to pivot to Asia and increase the defence budget,” he says.
There are signs he could be right.
This month, President Obama released a 2014 federal budget proposal that called for $526.6bn in funding for the department of defense. It was widely expected that the defence total would be at least $50bn less.
The White House and the Pentagon chose to ignore the statutory requirement for a $50bn reduction mandated by sequestration. They apparently hope that sequestration can be overturned, and defence budget cuts already agreed to, reversed. Instead of laying the groundwork for a peace dividend by putting the Pentagon on a glide path to smaller budgets, the administration’s proposal projects increases in America’s base defence budget over the next five years. http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2013/04/2013424113558268754.html
1 This month
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