Nuclear Power ,Civil Liberties, Australia – theme for January 2014
We’re in an extraordinary climate of nuclear “spin”, as the powerful USA nuclear lobby works with some greedy Australians to get Australians to support tax-payer funded nuclear power.
The pack of lies surrounding nuclear costs, the new untried nuclear designs, the supposed need for nuclear submarines, the myth of nuclear fixing climate change, and especially the myths against renewable energy – all these form a nexus of deceit.
This deceit will be sold to the Australian public during 2014. To my mind, this pervasive deceit is a Number 1 offence against human rights – against the right to know the truth.
There are other civil liberties lost, in the context of nuclear power. Australia has a shameful history of violating civil rights – in the secrecy, and harm done to Aboriginals and other communities, and soldiers, of the nuclear bomb tests of the 1950s.
Even the less extensive radiation-heath problem of Hunter’s Hill, NSW, was covered up, and cancer victims never got recognition and justice. Similarly, with past uranium mining, where radiation monitoring was non existent, and cancer victims had no redress.
Today, Australia hosts the secret Pine Gap US military site, and is likely to increase its role in the USA’s military nuclear “umbrella”. With increasing nuclear facilities come increasing (and necessary) security, censorship, crackdown on dissent. Nuclear countries – USA, France, India, China, and Japan experience the crackdown on anti-nuclear protestors. Australians can expect increasing loss of civil liberties if we let the nuclear lie prevail in this country.
Nuclear notes for Australia this week
Small Modular (Nuclear) Reactors (SMRs) for Australia ? ( Notice how they leave out that unpopular word”Nuclear” ). The Liberal Coalition government put SMRs on their Christmas wish list, while mouthing pieties about “no plans for nuclear”.
However. SMRs exist only as (already expensive) blueprints. The USA government has just given only modest funding to a University-linked research group, for SMRs, instead of funding big coprporations Westinghouse/Ameren, as the nuclear lobby had expected. And SMRs are not all that they’re cracked up to be.
Uranium: At Ranger mine, the bursting of a leach tank spilled 1 million litres of highly acidic uranium slurry, and highlighted the dubious safety of this aging facility. Latest European research indicates that radioactive material gets dispersed through the filtration system more than previously thought. Thus the World Heritage Kakadu National Park could be endangered. Operations at Ranger are closed pending investigations.
Tony Abbott spruiks Olympic Dam uranium mine as job provider for the former Holden workers – BHP probably embarrassed, as they have recently rejected any expansion of the mine – due to the miserable market prospects.
Renewable Energy, Human Rights, Environmental Law – Tony Abbott’s Christmas anti-presents? I am speechless. How will Tony’s kids look back on Daddy’s legacy?
Ranger uranium mine not operating for an indefinite period
ERA’s Ranger uranium mine likely to stay offline this year SMH Peter Ker 20 Dec 13 guidance for 2014 remains elusive with the processing plant out of operation, and ERA indicated it was still some time before it would be ready to restart.
“It may be necessary to conduct additional reparation work on processing plant infrastructure,” the company said….. http://www.smh.com.au/business/mining-and-resources/eras-ranger-uranium-mine-likely-to-stay-offline-this-year-20131219-2zndg.html#ixzz2o2cTxYmh
99% of USA Congressmen have no idea how many nuclear weapons USA has
How Many Nuclear Weapons Does the U.S. Have? Don’t Ask 
Congress… Lisbeth Gronlund, physicist & co-director, Global Security, 17 Dec 13 A fascinating 2-minute video from Global Zero features short surprise interviews with members of Congress, who are asked the simple question: How many nuclear weapons does the U.S. have? Most couldn’t answer the question and resorted to responses like “I don’t have the exact number,” “It’s classified” and “It changes every day.” The two who provided numbers responded with “300” and “more than 15,000.” According to the Global Zero press release, the organization polled more than 70 members of Congress and “99% of then did not know—even roughly speaking—how many nuclear weapons the United States has.”
(How many does the U.S. have? According to the most authoritative account, by Hans Kristensen and Robert Norris, the U.S. deploys about 2,150 nuclear weapons on aircraft, and land-based and submarine-based missiles. It has an additional estimated 2,500 weapons in reserve storage, for a total arsenal of about 4,650. On top of that, there are some 3,000 weapons awaiting dismantlement, for a grand total of roughly 7,700.)
Perhaps not surprisingly, the American public is also fairly ignorant about the size of the U. S. nuclear arsenal……http://blog.ucsusa.org/how-many-nuclear-weapons-does-the-united-states-have-347
Queensland and Western Australia’s bizarre decisions against renewable energy
Why Tony Abbott may spark an Australian energy revolution REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson on 19 December 2013 “……….The Queensland and WA governments are the most vocal opponents of renewable energy and rooftop solar. Yet it is they who are managing what are quite possibly the most unsustainable fossil fuel grids in the world. Both states rely hugely on subsidies (totaling $1 billion a year) to deliver the fossil fuel to the socket, and the government-owned entities still make losses.
The fact that they are trying to stop the rollout of solar and storage, and extend the life of moribund assets, beggars belief. The bizarre decisions taken in WA, where the government proposes to extend the life of its main mis-firing coal-fired generator, to subsidise the construction of diesel-fuelled peaking plants that may never be switched on, to retrospectively change solar tariffs, and declare it is no longer interested in large-scale renewable energy development, is just a taste of the extraordinary decisions being made…….http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/why-tony-abbott-may-spark-an-australian-energy-revolution-64382
Abbott does not understand the role of renewable energy in reducing manufacturing costs
Coal power stations are suffering lower prices because of excess generating supply.
Why Abbott has got it all wrong on green energy, Crikey, by Tristan Edis 18 Dec 13, In a press conference yesterday about improving prospects for manufacturing, Prime Minister Tony Abbott made a statement that appears ominous for the renewable energy industry:
“And the RET [Renewable Energy Target], well look again, we support sensible use of renewable energy and as you know it was the former Howard government which initially gave us the RET, and at the time it was important because we made very little if any use of renewable energy. We’ve got to accept though, 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 … Let’s make the most of the comparative advantages we’ve got and cheap energy — affordable energy — ought to be one of our comparable advantages.”
However, there’s a silver lining because the funny thing is the RET is actually reducing energy costs for energy-intensive manufacturers.
This is completely counter-intuitive and it’s understandable that those outside the electricity sector find it hard to understand, including the Prime Minister and probably many of those people he trusts and respects — like Maurice Newman, the man who will be advising the manufacturing taskforce Abbott is establishing.
In my conversation with Newman in July, he was convinced the RET and the carbon trading scheme were almost entirely to blame for the doubling of power prices since 2007, even though the Australian Energy Market Commission and every state government utility regulator had provided information that shows this is not accurate.
For this group, the logic is that renewables must require a price higher than what existing power generators charge, otherwise why would you need the subsidy from the RET?
Now, this is true for that portion of power we get from large-scale new renewables (currently about 7% of electricity and rising to around 16% in 2020). But by adding extra supply with near-zero operating costs to an already oversupplied power market, it also acts to depress the price received by the remaining, far larger portion of our power coming from fossil fuel generators. Continue reading
More than 40% of Scotland’s energy demand is now met by renewables
19 Dec 13, Scotland’s renewable electricity output has reached record-high levels, according to official statistics released today. The figures, published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, show that renewables met a record-breaking 40.3 per cent of gross electricity consumption in 2012, confirming that Scotland is on track to meet its interim target of 50% by 2015. http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/46805
USA Nuclear Regulatory Commission ignored effect of sea level, storm surges
CCCL also argued that the discussion of sea level rise was insufficient. The DGEIS relied on dated sources that did not account for uncertainty in sea level rise projections and may underestimate risk. Also, the DGEIS merely looks at static sea level rise, which ignores risks due to more frequent and severe flooding. CCCL pointed to data showing that a number of coastal nuclear power plants potentially subject to sea level rise and storm surge, are located in highly populated areas of the countryCenter For Climate Change Law December 19th, 2013 by Ethan Strell The Columbia Center for Climate Change Law (CCCL) submitted comments today on the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s “Waste Confidence Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement” (DGEIS), which concerns the storage of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel at individual 
power plants beyond the duration of each plant’s operating license. CCCL’s comments focus on the DGEIS’s lack of analysis of how future climate conditions could affect the safety of these high level nuclear waste storage facilities.
“Waste Confidence” refers to the Commission’s confidence that permanent disposal of nuclear waste can be accomplished when it is needed.
Currently, spent nuclear fuel is stored on-site at nuclear reactors beyond the duration of plants’ operating licenses. The Waste Confidence Rule stems from a 1976 petition by NRDC to halt the licensing of nuclear plants until the Commission could guarantee the permanent, safe disposal of spent nuclear fuel. Continue reading
Tony Abbott risks causing a renewable energy revolt
Studies such as that conducted by the CSIRO suggest that nearly half of Australia’s households could cut themselves off from the grid if the networks and their government owners get too greedy and resist, rather than adopt, new technologies and new ways of doing business.
Why Tony Abbott may spark an Australian energy revolution REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson on 19 December 2013 The conservative campaign against Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) reached the highest echelons of public office this week, when Prime Minister Tony Abbott joined the throng blaming renewable energy for rising electricity bills.
We’ve got to accept … that in the changed circumstances of today, the renewable energy target is causing pretty significant price pressures in the system,” the Guardian quoted him as saying. “Cheap energy ought to be one of our comparative advantages …. I mean, this country ought to be an affordable-energy superpower.”http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/why-tony-abbott-may-spark-an-australian-energy-revolution-64382
I hate to break the news to you, great leader, but there is no longer any such thing as cheap fossil fuel energy in Australia – the gas export boom and greedy network operators have put paid to that. Continue reading
Australia now the anti science country?
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten calls for more focus on science Canberra Times, December 20, 2013 Larissa Nicholson Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says he recognises the need to develop a sustainable and strategic long-term plan for supporting research in Australia, accusing the federal government of failing to make science a priority.
Some of Australia’s leading scientists have criticised successive governments for failing to develop a cohesive policy for funding science……….
He said that when Labor was in government it increased science and research funding to record levels, but by failing to appoint a dedicated science minister, the Abbott government had indicated science was not a high priority.
Mr Shorten said it was also important to train and pay science teachers adequately and to promote an awareness of science within the community……http://www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/opposition-leader-bill-shorten-calls-for-more-focus-on-science-20131219-2zobj.html
Gullen Range Wind Farm now sending energy into the National Electricity Market.
Gullen Range wind farm starts producing renewable energy Crookwell Gazette Dec. 19, 2013, GOLDWIND Australia has celebrated a significant milestone with the first renewable energy generation from Gullen Range Wind Farm. Continue reading
A call to Aboriginals to use their power and influence
Taking the wheel, Deadly Vibe, December 13, 2013 An old Native American proverb states “Only when the last tree has been cut down; only when the last river has been poisoned; only when the last fish has been caught; only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.” This statement is beginning to hit home in today’s society, and in the spirit of sustaining land, 50 Indigenous leaders flocked to Griffith for a historic forum. Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 