New Future Fund acting chair should close loophole on nuclear weapon investments
18 December 2013 Following today’s announcement that former federal treasurer Peter Costello will become acting chair of the government-owned Future Fund, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) has called on the fund to broaden its policy against investments in controversial weapons.
In 2011 the Future Fund barred all investments in companies that manufacture anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions, but a loophole remains in the policy allowing the fund to continue investing in nuclear weapon companies. Although these stocks represent a small portion of the fund’s overall holdings, they pose a significant reputational risk. Continue reading
Australian govt coyly supporting new (untested, uneconomic) Small Modular Nuclear Reactors
Australian Government Invokes N Word In Energy Issues Paper Renewable Energy News 18 Dec 13 Perhaps like children hinting for Xmas gifts they know they have little hope of receiving, Australia’s government has referred to the N word (nuclear) in its Energy White Paper Issue Paper in quite glowing terms.
Nuclear is generally The Energy Option That Shall Not Be Named in terms of powering the country – however, the government appears to have attempted to plant the seeds of a future nuclear nation. Continue reading
Abbott’s claims on new South Australian uranium mining jobs is a “cruel hoax”
South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill is calling Abbott’s comments “a cruel hoax” as Weatherill claims to have spoken with BHP management last week and there was no indication of any plans to resume expansion of the mine.
Australia’s promise to assist BHP with its Olympic Dam expansion a “cruel hoax” Resource Clips, by Cecilia Jamasmie | December 16, 2013 | Reprinted by permission of MINING.com The Australian government has vowed to help BHP Billiton NYE:BHP, the world’s largest mining company, go ahead with an estimated $33-billion expansion of its Olympic Dam copper-uranium mine, shelved last year as metal prices sank and costs rose.
“I want to ensure that as far as is humanly possible everything that government does is directed towards making it easier, not harder, for this iconic project to go ahead,” Bloomberg quotes Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Continue reading
Climate scepticism behind Abbott’s idea to scrap Renewable Energy Target
According to the Australian Energy Market Commission, the RET makes up less than 1% of the average household electricity bill.
Renewable energy: Tony Abbott signals he could wind back or scrap targetsPM says while Coalition supports ‘sensible use’ of renewable energy, scheme is ‘causing pretty significant price pressure’ Lenore Taylor, political editor theguardian.com, Wednesday 18 December 2013
Tony Abbott has signalled next year’s review of the renewable energy target could wind back, or even scrap, the scheme, saying lower power prices are the government’s primary goal and the rationale for the RET no longer exists.
Announcing modest government assistance for Holden, the prime minister also revealed he would chair a new taskforce to find ways to make industry more competitive, with reducing the cost of energy a primary aim.
Asked whether that could involve scaling back the RET, which was set up by the Howard government and requires energy retailers and large customers to source a proportion of their energy from renewable sources, Abbott said: “We support sensible use of renewable energy, and as you know it was former Howard government which initially gave us the RET and at the time it was important because we made very little use of renewable energy.”
But times had changed, he said. “We have to accept that in the changed circumstances of today, the renewable energy target is causing pretty significant price pressure in the system and we ought to be an affordable energy superpower … cheap energy ought to be one of our comparative advantages … what we will be looking at is what we need to do to get power prices down significantly,” he said.
Abbott said he would also “consult closely” with his Business Advisory Council, chaired by Maurice Newman, as the taskforce looked for ways to increase industry competitiveness.
Newman has previously called for the RET to be scrapped because he believes the scientific evidence for global warming and the economic case for renewable energy no longer stack up. Continue reading
Australia’s uranium industry on its last legs?
Is time up for Australia’s uranium industry? ABC , DAVE SWEENEY , 18 Dec 13, Times are tough for Australia’s yellow-cake industry. It is best to put the whole thing out of its misery? “………The Australian uranium industry has long been a source of trouble. Now it is increasingly in trouble. The commodity price has collapsed, projects across the country have been stalled, deferred or scrapped and the recent Kakadu spill has again raised community attention and concern.
Business as usual in a most unusual business is not an option and there is an urgent need for an independent review. For those who make judgements on the basis of evidence rather than enthusiasm the alarm bells have been ringing loud for a number of years. Continue reading
Australian government insists that it says NO to nuclear power
Government rules out nuclear power for Australia by Trish Murphy The Guardian Oliver Milman December 18, 2013 The government has insisted it has no intention of introducing nuclear power to Australia after releasing a paper that states the technology continues to be an option for “future reliable energy”.
An issues paper released by the Department of Industry, which will inform an upcoming energy white paper, states that the need for low-carbon fuels means that nuclear is an option that can be “readily dispatched into the market”.http://fssalerts.wordpress.com/2013/12/18/government-rules-out-nuclear-power-for-australia/
AUDIO: new findings on problems in uranium mining clean-up
AUDIO Uranium clean-up strategies challenged by new study A European study indicates that the clean-up and decontamination process after uranium mining might be more complicated than previously thought. French and German scientists examined a wetland in France that had been impacted by mining, and discovered that uranium can be highly mobile, and easily spread. They say mining companies must learn to check and test for this mobile form of uranium more thoroughly…….
LUCY CARTER: Dr Gavin Mudd, an environmental engineer at Monash University, says this study disproves some key information that mining companies have relied on when cleaning up and restoring sites.
LUCY CARTER: Is this something that we should be concerned about?
GAVIN MUDD: I think it’s something we should definitely take a lot of note of, because some of the same sort of technologies have been used at uranium mines in Australia. There’s certainly active discussion in Ranger and so on about wetlands should be part of a final rehabilitated land form at Ranger. So I think it has very big relevance for Australia and globally.
LUCY CARTER: Would you like to see Australian mining companies have a close look at this study?
GAVIN MUDD: Absolutely. I think it’s very, very important research that raises a lot of questions about our common approach to mine rehabilitation for uranium.
GAVIN MUDD: There’s some basic assumptions we’ve always made about the behaviour of uranium in the environment and so we’ve used that to design rehabilitation and remediation strategies at uranium mines and former nuclear sites. And so they’ve basically shown that sometimes those strategies are clearly not viable……http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-18/uranium-clean-up-strategies-challenged-by-new-study/5163462
Fukushima damage – an unprecedented pollution disaster
Japan Professor: Damage from Fukushima is unprecedented, a disaster never before experienced in human history; Some say it could affect whole northern hemisphere — Experts: “Very likely the largest nuclear accident which mankind experienced” http://enenews.com/japan-professor-damage-fukushima-unprecedented-disaster-never-before-experienced-human-history-could-affect-northern-hemisphere-experts-ver
The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster : One of the World’s Worst-Ever Cases of Pollution,, Professor Fumikazu Yoshida of Hokkaido University’s Graduate School of Economics, Economic Journal of Hokkaido University, March 2013: The Fukushima nuclear disaster, however, has been responsible for the largest and worst case of pollution to have occurred during the postwar era […] its complexities and scale are greater than anything that has gone before. […] So severe are [the myriad of problems] that we can characterize this disaster as a “second war defeat” since its impact on the nation questions the whole basis of Japan’s postwar society […] [There are] immense dangers that the ‘accident’ still poses […] Rather than simply being a local problem, it has been from the beginning a nationwide and potentially international issue (some say that it has the potential to affect the whole of the northern hemisphere).
If we consider the nature of the devastation and the number of victims […] as well as the extent of affected area […] then we understand that the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident has been the cause of injury to human society and the natural environment on a scale that is unprecedentedly wide-spread and lifethreatening in its effects. […] The nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is a “multiple disaster” never before experienced in human history […]
Estimate of Consequences from the Fukushima Disaster, Nordic PSA Conference (nuclear utilities in Finland and Sweden), September 2011: Comparison of results for the Fukushima best estimate and Chernobyl source terms used for the Fukushima site shows that the Fukushima accident, as a whole, is very likely the largest nuclear accident which mankind experienced because estimates of long term fatalities, risks of death and other societal impact based on Chernobyl source terms in Fukushima show lower potential of consequences than Fukushima source terms.
See also: Experts: Fukushima cesium release could be more than triple Chernobyl
Coalition government’s somewhat hypocritical statement on “no nuclear power”
Government rules out nuclear power for Australia Coalition insists it will not adopt the technology despite industry department paper calling it an option for ‘future reliable energy’ Oliver Milman theguardian.com, Tuesday 17 December 2013 The government has insisted it has no intention of introducing nuclear power to Australia after releasing a paper that states the technology continues to be an option for “future reliable energy”. Continue reading
Now on the endangered list- the critically important South Australian Environmental Defenders Office
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDERS OFFICE (EDO) FACES CLOSURE AFTER FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FUNDING CUTS 18 December 2013 The Federal government yesterday cut $10 million in funding for across Australia. EDOs specialise in public interest environmental and planning laws. A further $810,000 in funding will cease from mid-2014, reducing Federal support to zero.
The shock funding cuts will result in an immediate significant decline in services and the likely closure of the South Australian EDO office by June 2014. The EDO provides numerous individuals and community groups across the state with free legal advice on environmental and planning laws relating to building or mining developments, water issues, pollution, and heritage issues. Clients are provided with advice and assistance on how decisions are made and potential ways to challenge those decisions. The EDO also has an integral role in providing responses to proposed changes to environmental law and policy.
The SA EDO has run a number of high profile cases including in relation to the proposed expansion of the Olympic Dam mine, a project likely to have significant impacts on the Great Artesian Basin and the Upper Spencer Gulf marine environment.
“This is an extremely disappointing decision for many South Australians whose access to expert legal advice to help them protect their environment will be severely curtailed. The community should be alarmed about the very real threat to the survival of the EDO – we are now on the endangered list. We call on the Federal Government to restore the funding otherwise defending property rights, community amenity and the environment could become unaffordable for many South Australians.” said Melissa Ballantyne, Coordinator and Principal Solicitor of the EDO.
Why the Abbott govt is embarrassed about its secret support for nuclear industry
Government rules out nuclear power for Australia OliverMilman theguardian.com, Tuesday 17 December 2013 “…….The risks of the processes involved in nuclear energy have been highlighted recently by the spill at the Ranger uranium mine in Kakadu. The incident, anti-nuclear activists claim, is a stark reminder of why Australia should remain nuclear-free.
“I think the Coalition is trying to keep the door open to the option of nuclear, although it can see politically and economically it doesn’t add up,” said Dave Sweeney, nuclear free campaigner at the Australian Conservation Foundation.
“There’s no doubt there are people within the Coalition who would want to embrace nuclear. We are aware of that and that sort of ideology concerns us, so we aren’t complacent. But it’s quite unthinkable that any private company would want to fund nuclear in Australia due to the huge start-up cost.
“The government doesn’t want to critique nuclear because it raises the question ‘why then are we digging it up and having spills in the Kakadu?’. But there are huge political and economic hurdles to bringing in nuclear power. The numbers just don’t stack up, in dollars or votes.” http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/17/government-rules-out-nuclear-power-for-australia
USA’s Nuclear Energy Institute sulking about renewable energy
The Nuclear Energy Institute has expressed its dismay with a recent order from the White House that requires all executive branch agencies to obtain 20 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020 but neglects to acknowledge the role of nuclear energy in reducing the country’s carbon emissions.
“It is extremely disappointing that the mandate to federal agencies did not include instructions to procure electricity from nuclear power plants as part of the federal government’s initiative to reduce carbon emissions……http://generationhub.com/2013/12/17/nei-wants-nuclear-in-white-house-climate-order
The Realistic Threat Of North Korea: a different approach
Paul Wolf, February 8, 2013 Tonight once again, once again the same old discussion. The discussion being heard so many times but so little effective action being taken.
The discussion about the pending and increasing dilemmas as to how to deal with North Korea. North Korea perceived as an increasing threat, – North Kore a being an increasing threat…..
.North Korea in 2001 still the country remaining communist, closely spied by its Government, cut off from almost all outside contacts and over and over armed…….
It is one of those countries who perceive in their isolation threats from the outside world, – perceive their family neighbour from the south as an enemy, – perceive the US as an enemy. And in all this are preparing for conflict, – being both irrational and pointless……. Continue reading
Australia’s new “Freedom Commissioner”, Tim Wilson – what a (bad) joke!
He made clear on Monday he supported repealing the section of the Racial Discrimination Act that made it illegal to insult or offend people on the basis of their race.
Tim Wilson: Freedom Commissioner, The Age, Tony Wright, Dan Harrison December 18, 2013 The Abbott government has sent shockwaves through the anti-discrimination and political establishments by appointing one of the nation’s most vociferous critics to the Human Rights Commission. Continue reading
Abbott’s new energy white paper spruiks Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs)
nuclear is pricing itself out of most markets..
Abbott’s new energy white paper to consider nuclear power REneweconomy By Giles Parkinson on 17 December 2013 The Abbott government is to consider the possibility of introducing nuclear power into Australia, in particular small modular reactors, as part of its new energy white paper. Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 