Antinuclear

Australia very much involved in nuclear deterrence, and nuclear weapons worldwide

ICAN AUSTRALIA SHOWS THE WAY TO ABOLISH NUKES BY NEENA BHANDARI | IDN-INDEPTH NEWSANALYSIS, 28 AUG 13,  SYDNEY (IDN) 

“……..Doctrine of extended nuclear deterrence While Australia doesn’t have any nuclear weapons, it subscribes to the doctrine of extended nuclear deterrence under the United States alliance. The supposed protection afforded by the US nuclear weapons is seen as key to Australia’s national security. It also has almost 40 per cent of the world’s known uranium reserves and supplies 19 per cent of the world market.

All of Australia’s uranium is exported, including to countries who continue to produce nuclear weapons. TheAustralian Conservation Fund has consistently opposed uranium mining and worked to highlight the threats it poses to the environment, sensitive ecosystems, Indigenous cultures and local communities.

In May this year, ICAN Australia launched a booklet entitled Disarmament Double-Speak assessing Australia’s record on nuclear weapons, its continuing support for the United States extended nuclear deterrence, its resistance to a global ban on nuclear weapons, the inadequacy of safeguards on uranium exports and investments in nuclear arms companies.

Today, there are at least 20,000 nuclear weapons worldwide, around 3,000 of them on launch-ready alert. The potential power of these would roughly equate to 150,000 Hiroshima bombs. Sixty- eight years on since the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the need to develop a legally binding tool to prohibit and ultimately eliminate nuclear weapons is more than ever before. [IDN-InDepthNews – August 27, 2013] The writer’s previous articles on IDN:  http://www.indepthnews.info/index.php/search?searchword=Neena%20Bhandari&ordering=newest&searchphrase=all

2013 IDN-InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters http://www.indepthnews.info/index.php/global-issues/1742-ican-australia-shows-the-way-to-abolish-nukes

August 28, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, weapons and war