Legal case drags on, as Aboriginals fight for their land, against radioactive trash dump
Court date marks eight-year NT nuke fight http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/court-date-marks-eight-year-nt-nuke-fight/story-fni0xqi4-1226679665473 16 July 13 FOR Dianne Stokes, it was fitting that the eight-year anniversary of a fight to stop a Northern Territory nuclear dump was marked by a brief and frustrating court appearance.
Ms Stokes, an elder with the Yapa Yapa people, is one of the traditional land owners taking action to stop the federal government dump proposal, which is earmarked for Muckaty Station. She was present on Monday when the Federal Court heard a delay in an anthropologist’s report may push back a 2014 trial date.
Ms Stokes says the traditional land owners’ complaints to the government had for years fallen on deaf ears. “It’s been a long struggle, many years of struggling to say we didn’t want the waste to come to our land when no one is listening,” she said outside court in Melbourne.
But she said new Resources Minister Gary Gray had agreed to visit the site and meet community members – a move she welcomes. “We’re going to try to hassle him until he comes down,” Ms Stokes said. “It’s a spiritual country, it’s a cultural land and it’s a very strong belief we have in that county.”
The waste dump was originally planned to be built in South Australia, but in the face of local opposition the federal government sought to relocate it to the NT. A site at Muckaty Station, about 110km north of Tennant Creek, was flagged as a possible site.
Australian Conservation Foundation spokesman Dave Sweeney said Mr Gray’s visit was a step forward in the conflict, but that it signalled a “change in tone, not necessarily a change in policy”.
Mr Gray declined to comment.
The parties will return to the Federal Court for another directions hearing in August.
Tony Abbott’s carbon theories seen as not intelligent
”He’s now mocked John Howard’s design of an emissions trading scheme,” she said. ”Imagine Tony Abbott at an international meeting talking to Barack Obama and David Cameron – both of whom believe in action on climate change – and telling them that, ‘Look, this is just about the non-delivery of an invisible substance to no one.”’…… Just one in 10 Australians supports the Coalition plan to pay companies to reduce carbon emissions, the survey of 1000 people by JWS Research found
Abbott hit by backlash, The Age, July 16, 2013 Heath Aston, Mark Kenn Tony Abbott’s insistence that Labor’s emissions trading scheme is an expensive exercise in buying and selling an ”invisible substance” has drawn derision from climate experts and industry.
As the Rudd government prepares to detail a path from the carbon tax to an ETS a year earlier than scheduled, the Opposition Leader faces claims he is treading his own path back to the ”politics of climate denial and scepticism”.
Mr Abbott’s assertion that an ETS – to be introduced on July 1, 2014, as the government will announce on Tuesday – was a ”so-called market in the non-delivery of an invisible substance to no one” sparked an immediate backlash, with critics pointing out that former Liberal prime minister John Howard designed a similar scheme. Professor Richard Dennis, an economist at the Australian National University, said Mr Abbott should make it clear whether he thinks radiation was harmful or not. Continue reading
Old men prefer nuclear power, women prefer solar power
Graph of the Day: Women prefer solar, old men like nuclear http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/graph-of-the-day-women-prefer-solar-old-men-like-nuclear-48452 By Giles Parkinson on 16 July 2013 Today’s graph of the day comes courtesy of The Climate Institute, and its new publication, Climate of the Nation. The results are from a poll of 1,009 Australians (over 18) taken in the first week of June.
Solar and wind are by far the most popular, and wind gained the most support from the previous year, jumping from 59 per cent to 67 per cent. Coal and nuclear were the least popular, with nuclear falling from 20 per cent to 13 per cent. No fossil fuel gained more than 28 per cent approval, and geothermal and ocean energy have yet to capture the imagination.
But while this graph is self explanatory, there were some interesting findings along gender lines….. Continue reading
The gap between nuclear rhetoric and nuclear reality – a dying industry
A status report released Thursday by independent consultants makes no bones about – not only the health risks associated with nuclear energy, but the economic impracticality of this kind of energy production as a whole. You don’t have to get very far into the report to find that facilities peaked in their output a decade ago, and have been in decline ever since
an increasingly redundant and dangerous industry.
The diminishing glow of nuclear energy Greenpeace International by Arin de Hoog – July 15, 2013 In France, Greenpeace activists got past security and climbed reactor structures at the Tricastin nuclear power plant. They unfurled a banner which read: ACCIDENT NUCLÉAIRE AU TRICASTIN FRANÇOIS HOLLANDE : PRÉSIDENT DE LA CATASTROPHE? (Nuclear Accident: François Hollande The President Of The Disaster?). Earlier this morning, other activists projected a crack onto the superstructure of the plant illustrating that French President, Hollande, needs to shut down 20 nuclear reactors in the country by 2020 in keeping with his promise to cut nuclear power from three-quarters to half by 2025.
The projection of the crack, by the way, is not foreshadowing an eminent condition. Cracks have been found in the reactor vessels of several plants in France, and throughout the world. Continue reading
Kevin Rudd’s Emissions Trading Scheme is far from satisfactory
Five reasons why Rudd’s ETS move should make us wince CRIKEY.COM GILES PARKINSON | JUL 15, 2013 Scrapping the carbon tax might push household costs higher rather than lower. That and other problems await the Labor Party as it seeks to wedge Tony Abbott with emissions trading……There are reasons why the manner of Rudd’s move on the carbon price should make us wince. Here are five of them …
The cost to households……
It’s about politics rather than policy……
A low price is useless for Australia……
A policy without ambition
There is no evidence that Labor is going to aim for a more ambitious emission reduction target……
And what of the opposition?…... http://www.crikey.com.au/2013/07/15/five-reasons-why-rudds-ets-move-should-make-us-wince/
Anti nuclear activists break in to French nuclear power plant
Break in at French nuclear plant Sky News, July 15, 2013 Around two dozen Greenpeace campaigners have broken into a nuclear plant in southern France, in the latest such break-in by the environmental group.
The activists managed to enter the grounds of the Tricastin plant, some 200 kilometres north of Marseille, at around 5am (1300 AEST), Greenpeace and police said.
They hung banners reading ‘Tricastin: a nuclear accident’ and ‘Francois Hollande: president of a catastrophe?’ in reference to the French leader, according to Isabelle Philippe, a Greenpeace spokeswoman.
Twelve of the activists were arrested more than two hours later, according to the EDF energy giant that runs the country’s atomic power plants……
Members of the environmental anti-nuclear group have staged several break-ins at French nuclear plants in recent years in an effort to highlight what they say are dangers of atomic power and to expose security problems at the power stations.http://www.skynews.com.au/world/article.aspx?id=888225
Greens launch energy policy to help farmers
Greens pledge to help farmers save energy http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/climate/greens-pledge-to-help-farmers-save-energy/story-e6frg6xf-1226679846791 BY:SUE NEALES, RURAL REPORTER The Australian July 16, 2013 THE Australian Greens have strengthened their grab for the rural vote at this year’s federal election, pledging $100 million in grants for farmers to save electricity and install solar and wind power.
Greens leader Christine Milne will release the Greens’ new farm energy policy in a speech to the NSW Farmers annual conference in Sydney today, building on her claim that the Greens are the political party most in tune with the interests of farmers and regional Australia.
Senator Milne said yesterday the $100m farm energy program would become a policy priority pushed by the Greens after this year’s federal election, regardless of who wins power.
She claimed only the Greens were prepared to help farmers switch to cleaner energy sources and cut their power bills.
“That’s because Tony Abbott doesn’t believe in climate change, and Kevin Rudd has to find billions to fund his backflip on carbon pricing,” she said. Continue reading
Ignorance among Australians, even doctors, on the radiation hazard of CT scan
“It’s easier to administer, so it’s used more frequently – and is performed more often on children.
” we were astonished to find that many GPs incorrectly believe that CT scans deliver only a low-to-medium dose of radiation, and that MRIs and ultrasound scans also deliver radiation – they don’t.”
Radiating good health? Health Canal, Karen Green 15 July 13 CT scanning technologies have been simplified, but there are complex issues associated with the procedure, including its unnecessary use and the potential risk to the patient…….
“Australians are very keen to use new technologies. Current generations have different expectations of health care and thehealth system,” says Associate Professor Rachael Moorin, from Curtin’s Centre for Population Health Research……
Although most of us are keen to try medical innovations, Moorin is concerned about our lack of knowledge on some of the technologies we embrace – especially computed tomography, or CT, scanning. Continue reading
USA nuclear reactors in terminal decline?
NUCLEAR PLANTS, OLD AND UNCOMPETITIVE, ARE CLOSING EARLIER THAN EXPECTED Sustainable Transport COalition of Western Australia When does a nuclear plant become too old? The nuclear industry is wrestling with that question as it tries to determine whether problems at reactors, all designed in the 1960s and 1970s, are middle-aged aches and pains or end-of-life crises….. This is a turnaround because until recently, the life expectancy of reactors was growing. When the Nuclear Regulatory Commission began routinely authorizing reactors to run 20 years beyond their initial 40-year licenses, people in the electricity business began thinking that 60 was the new 40. But after the last few weeks, 40 is looking old again, at least in reactor years, with implications for the power plants still running, and for several new ones being built.
“They were intended to last for as long as they were commercially feasible,” said Robert E. Curry Jr., who was a member of the New York Public Service Commission from 2006 to 2012. But with low gas prices, additional costs imposed after the Fukushima Daiichi accident of March 2011, and “the general mistrust of nuclear by anyone who saw ‘The China Syndrome,’ ” commercial feasibility now is evidently shorter, he said……The difference is that gas plants continue to be built, and so do a few coal plants……. http://www.stcwa.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5229&Itemid=134
Clean Energy Future helping New South Wales’ farmers
A $1 million energy boost for NSW Farmers The Rural, July 15, 2013, NSW Farmers has received funding of $1 million from the Australian Government to deliver an energy innovation program to farmers across the state. Fiona Simson, President of NSW Farmers, said farmers urgently needed support in reducing their energy costs and in making decisions around their investment in energy related equipment.
“Over the past five years energy costs in NSW have risen approximately 60 percent for small to medium sized farming enterprises. Our own surveys and work by our partners in the program showed that farmers can readily achieve savings, but they also need the right advice and technical support,” she said.
Our farm energy innovation program will provide practical tools and advice to help farmers analyse their energy use and identify solutions. In addition, it will conduct pilots across 20 representative farms, involving the development of detailed strategies for intensive and broad acre operations. Continue reading
Deformed vegetables harvested from Fukushima
Fukushima Vegetables Have Bizarre Tumor-Like Growths And Deformities: Is Nuclear Meltdown To Blame For Freaky Produce? [PHOTOS] International Science Times, By Philip Ross on July 15, 2013 Photos of what look like malformed vegetables from Fukushima, Japan, have surfaced on Imgur.
Thestrange produce have deformities, bumps and lumps all over them, and look like mutant cabbage patch kids beamed to Earth after having been harvested on an alien planet…… This isn’t the first time the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster has sparked fears that radiation was causing deformities in nature. In August 2012, researchers in Japan discovered evidence of mutant butterflies.
IScience Times reported that researchers collected 144 specimens of the pale grass blue butterfly, a common species in Japan, two months after the disaster. They found that 12 percent of the butterflies showed signs of mutation and abnormalities, including antennae disfigurement, small wings and a change in color patterns……To see more photos of the Fukushima vegetables, click here. http://www.isciencetimes.com/articles/5641/20130715/fukushima-vegetables-fukushima-disaster-nuclear-meltdown.htm
Australia must adopt an independent policy on Iran
Will Australia erode or build trust with Iran? Guardian UK, NAJ Taylor, 15 July 13 The way forward is clear: Australia must adopt an independent foreign policy towards Iran on the nuclear question, as well as commit to dialogue Iranians now comprise the largest cohort of those seeking asylum in Australia each year. The tendency to dehumanise and securitise them is not only deeply disturbing, it is also beset, in part, by a paradox of our parliament’s own making: Australia has imposed sanctions on Iran since 2008. Continue reading
Aborigines’ 8 year battle against nuclear waste dumping
“We’ve been arguing for a long time that the Northern Territory was targeted because it was a politically weaker jurisdiction.
“Obviously it was easier for the Commonwealth to override any local opposition to the plan, which is what they’ve done.
“We want the Territorian Senators to actually stand up for the interests of the community, and not just roll over and say that we’ll accept Canberra’s waste dump plan.”
Dust-up over nuclear waste dump hits eight years http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-15/opposition-grinds-on-over-muckaty-nuclear-waste-dump-plans/4820806 Jul 15, 2013 A Northern Territory traditional owner has vowed to keep fighting federal government plans for a radioactive waste dump on her land.
Dianne Stokes is in Melbourne today for a scheduled Federal Court directions hearing on the Muckaty waste dump.
Today also marks eight years since the Federal Government announced a plan to dump nuclear waste in the Territory. Continue reading
Australian science adds to knowledge on radiation risks of CT scans
Another recent study from Australia by John Matthews and colleagues, published in BMJ, helps give us a bit more perspective….The peril was greater for children exposed at younger ages and was linked to many different types of malignancies — including cancers of the brain, skin, blood and gut…….
Dr. Dustin Ballard: Examining the trade-offs with CT scans marinij.com By Dr. Dustin Ballard 07/15/2013 IN MEDICINE, like in life, there are almost always trade-offs. Most treatments, even unassuming ones like oxygen, have side effects. And most medical tests hold the potential of unintended consequences.
Consider the recent evidence about the long-term effects of CAT Scan (CT) radiation in children. But, before we get there — please don’t flip out — CTs can be valuable tools, so please don’t decide that you will boycott them entirely.
That said, it’s undeniable that there’s been an explosion in the use of CTs, and that this is a concerning trend. Mounting evidence shows that CT exposure in childhood results in a small but real increased risk of cancer later in life……. Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 