In 2013 pro nuclear spin did not succeed in Australia
Despite Australia having two tacitly pro nuclear governments over the year. in fact the nuclear and uranium industries have gone backwards. Jim Green, National Anti Nuclear Campaigner for Friends of The Earth, has described this beautifully in his article The nuclear renaissance is stone cold dead .
Australia has seen the collapse of the grand dream of a massive new Olympic Dam uranium mine, the continuing crippling losses by Paladin Uranium, the end of Honeymoon uranium mine, the end of Marathon’s uranium exploration – and more -all in the context of uranium market pessimism.
However, there has been a more subtle success in the anti nuclear movement, and that is in the defeat of the nuclear spin about ionising radiation being “good for you”. South Australia’s little nest of nuclear spruikers went very quiet on this angle, as, internationally, world health bodies maintain the position of “no safe level”, and do predict cancers from Fukushima radiation.
In 2014, the nuclear spin to Australia is all about gee whiz new nuclear technology, A pity that Australia has a scientifically illiterate government, in the service of big corporations. And a (mostly) equally ignorant and subservient mainstream media. BUT – we do have a robust alternative media, with online publications , and with social media, challenging the lies of the nuclear lobby.
And – you gotta laugh at the push for impractical, super-expensive, (and non existent) Thorium nuclear reactors. For just one thing – if they ever did come about – that would ruin Australia’s uranium industry.
Olympic Dam uranium mine won’t replace Holden jobs
27 Dec 13 “The stalled Olympic Dam mine expansion is not the answer to job 
creation in South Australia, despite the Prime Minister’s vivid imagination”, according to Greens SA Parliamentary Leader, Mark Parnell MLC
“What the PM should be doing instead is focusing on how best to help South Australian industries create jobs in areas where we have a real competitive and natural advantage. 
If he opened his mind to the possibilities, he would see that SA is a leader in renewable energy and there is great potential for jobs growth in wind power, solar PV and in the emerging area of Solar Thermal, such as that proposed for Port Augusta to replace the existing dirty coal fired power stations. [See:http://bze.org.au/repower-port-augusta]
“That’s why the Prime Minister’s decision to axe the Clean Energy Finance Corporation is bad news for South Australia. It’s also why we should be very worried about his likely decision to water down the Renewable Energy Target. This target is the reason why so many energy companies chose to invest in South Australia over the last few years – because our abundant wind and solar resources give us the edge over other States in the grid.
“Liberal leader, Steven Marshall should be horrified at what his party is doing to South Australia’s future economic opportunities and he should be calling on the PM to change direction. Continue reading
In 2013 there were 13 huge breakthroughs in clean energy
13 Huge Clean Energy Breakthroughs Of 2013 Clean Technica 27 Dec 13. Originally published on ThinkProgress. By Kiley Kroh. While the news about climate change seems to get worse every day, the rapidly improving technology, declining costs, and increasing accessibility of clean energy is the true bright spot in the march toward a zero-carbon future. 2013 had more clean energy milestones than we could fit on one page, but here are thirteen of the key breakthroughs that happened this year.
1. Using salt to keep producing solar power even when the sun goes down. Helped along by the Department of Energy’s loan program, Solana’s massive 280 megawatt (MW) solar plant came online in Arizona this October, with one unique distinction: the plant will use a ‘salt battery’ that will allow it to keep generating electricity even when the sun isn’t shining. Not only is this a first for the United States in terms of thermal energy storage, the Solana plant is also the largest in the world to use to use parabolic trough mirrors to concentrate solar energy.
2. Electric vehicle batteries that can also power buildings.Nissan’s groundbreaking ‘Vehicle-To-Building‘ technology will enable companies to regulate their electricity needs by tapping into EVs plugged into their garages during times of peak demand. Then, when demand is low, electricity flows back to the vehicles, ensuring they’re charged for the drive home. With Nissan’s system, up to six electric vehicles can be plugged into a building at one time. As more forms renewable energy is added to the grid, storage innovations like this will help them all work together to provide reliable power.
3. The next generation of wind turbines is a game changer. May of 2013 brought the arrival of GE’s Brilliant line of wind turbines, which bring two technologies within the turbines to address storage and intermittency concerns. An “industrial internet” communicates with grid operators, to predict wind availability and power needs, and to optimally position the turbine. Grid-scale batteries built into the turbines store power when the wind is blowing but the electricity isn’t needed — then feed it into the grid as demand comes along, smoothing out fluctuations in electricity supply. It’s a more efficient solution to demand peaks than fossil fuel plants, making it attractive even from a purely business aspect. Fifty-nine of the turbines are headed for Michigan, and two more will arrive in Texas.
4. Solar electricity hits grid parity with coal
5. Advancing renewable energy from ocean waves.
6. Harnessing ocean waves to produce fresh water.
7. Ultra-thin solar cells that break efficiency records
8. Batteries that are safer, lighter, and store more power……
12. Innovative financing bringing clean energy to more people……… http://cleantechnica.com/2013/12/23/13-huge-clean-energy-breakthroughs-2013/#QgkaljPusEZXPxzm.99
Australian company Silex’s laser enrichment technology risks nuclear weapons proliferation
US uranium laser enrichment technology threatens Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Voice of Russia, 26 Dec 13, The uranium laser enrichment technology that has been given a new impetus in the US is capable of knocking the bottom out of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Continue reading
Pandora’s Nuclear Promise – just not realistic, says engineering Professor
He argues that nuclear power’s primary drawback — …. is that the amount of energy it requires is too high, from construction costs to waste disposal to the high volumes of water it requires. Kreith says we can’t afford to wait two decades — we need to 
accelerate the move to renewable energy before we run out of fossil fuels
the idea of nuclear solving our energy problems is “ridiculous” because the types of reactors that would be needed haven’t even been invented yet
CU prof: Don’t buy the promise of nuclear energy Pandora’s Promise is not realistic Boulder Weekly By Jefferson Dodge 26 Dec 13, A retired University of Colorado mechanical engineering professor is challenging a new documentary that espouses the virtues of nuclear power…….Kreith argues that the pro-nuclear stance outlined in Pandora’s Promise is not realistic, given that the technology needed to make it a viable source of energy is decades away. He says society should begin an aggressive transition to renewables like solar and wind now — while we still have the surplus energy needed to make that shift.
Kreith presented his views to a packed auditorium in CU’s Engineering Center on Dec. 12, showing clips from the film and countering its claims with his own charts and graphs. His central argument revolves a concept known as “energy return on energy investment,” or EROI, which compares the amount of energy that a given system, like a nuclear power plant, produces during its lifetime against the amount of energy that needs to be expended in its production. Dividing the amount of energy produced by the amount expended, both directly and indirectly, Kreith translates the EROI into a number. Continue reading
How South Africa showed the way to a nuclear-free world
Unfortunately, South Africa is still the only state that has ever voluntarily dismantled its entire nuclear weapons capability. Nuclear states continue to do lip service to the goal of nuclear disarmament, but little has been achieved in practice. South Africa has illustrated that long-term security can be far better assured by the abrogation of nuclear weapons than by their retention.
South Africa: Nation that gave up its nuclear arsenal The solution was not the acquisition of greater military power through the development of nuclear weapons but the abolition of apartheid Gulf Times, F.W. de Klerk Former president of South Africa December 25, 2013 It will be a mistake to think that the end of the Cold War also ended the threat posed by nuclear weapons. Nuclear-armed states continue to deploy huge arsenals of nuclear weapons, other states continue with their efforts to acquire nuclear weapons and there is the alarming possibility that such weapons may fall into the hands of terrorists. Accordingly, it may be helpful to consider the factors that led South Africa to develop nuclear weapons in the 1970s and the reasons why it decided to dismantle them in 1989…..
Soon after I became president in 1989, foreign minister Pik Botha urged me to take two key steps if we wished to improve South Africa’s relationship with the world: The first was to release Nelson Mandela and the second was to dismantle our nuclear weapons and accede to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). Continue reading
Australia’s Liberal Party wants “free speech” – for corporations, anyway
Let’s stop pretending the Liberal Party believes in free speech The Monthly, By RICHARD COOKE Friday, 20th December 2013 You’d need a heart of stone not to laugh at right-wing think-tanker Tim Wilson becoming a Human Rights Commissioner. Whatever the merits of his appointment, it’s an ace piece of industrial strength trolling by George Brandis, parachuting a culture warrior right behind enemy lines like that. As Twitter outrage reached DEFCON 1, you could almost write the Australian editorial yourself. “Noisy echo chamber… the squeals of the left… bien pensant… soy latte”… etc. But amid all the good times, there was a danger of the real punchline being lost. Because the midlife crisis-style reinvention of the Coalition as the standard bearer for ‘freedom of speech’ really does take the biscuit……….
until now, the Liberals have made zero effort to nourish the nation’s stunted legislative or cultural protections for free speech. If the Puritans are suddenly putting on libertarian party hats, we should be suspicious……… Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 