The past week in Australian nuclear news
Nuclear. Apart from one nuclear marketing pitch, today in THE AUSTRALIAN, from the veteran Australian nuclear physicist Leslie Kemeny, the nuclear push goes on in media silence.
As the Antinuclear and nuclear-news theme for February are all about WORDS, Kemeny’s article is likely to be a fine example of the best nuclear spin words in the business (I can’t read it- subscribers only) – ( Leslie Kemeny: More power to our nuclear renaissance “….THE arguments against uranium as a clean energy are political, not environmental. For far too long our Canberra decision-makers have been guided on the science and technology of clean energy policy by special interest group pressures, political spin and green pseudo-science. ..”)
Uranium Toro Energy’s Western Australia uranium project’s costs blow out, amid ever dwindling uranium prices. Meanwhilesubmissions about this project are due by Feb 14. Yet again, Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) lost money, and uranium production, in 2013, and uranium processing remains closed following radioactive spills.
Solar air conditioning, solar power the clean way to keep cool
Over one million Australian homes now have solar and our power pricing doesn’t handle them well either
under the status quo, those without air conditioning and with solar are being slugged unfairly.
Matthew Warren: The way we pay for electricity is out of date and urgently needs reform MATTHEW WARREN THE ADVERTISER FEBRUARY 03, 2014 THE recent intense heatwave across south-eastern Australia stretched many things to breaking point.Heatwaves provide a rare, but important examination of the power system.On a normal summer’s day in South Australia the peak load is around 1890 megawatts. In the heatwave it topped 3000 megawatts for almost three days straight. That put the network right at the edge of its capacity.
There is one key reason for these spikes in demand: increased deployment of airconditioners. On the hottest of days they are all turned on at once and this sends demand skyrocketing……
A large part of your household power bill is to pay for these infrequent events. It would make sense if those households with large air conditioners paid more than those who have only a small unit or none at all.
But they don’t. Continue reading
India’s resistance to Shinzo Abe’s marketing of nuclear reactors
Resisting Abe’s Sales Pitch Dianuke.org, 5 Feb 14 “…… the momentum cannot be all that great and the pace of movement on the agreement (to buy nuclear technology) is quite slow……
….Exports “of nuclear components and technology, as well as conventional arms” are said to be a key element in Prime Minister Abe economic program, dubbed “Abenomics” by many. This is somewhat reminiscent of the Soviet Union after the Chernobyl disaster, when the Soviet nuclear industry was desperate to improve its image and Soviet leaders were willing to sell nuclear reactors at concessional prices. Continue reading
Worrying silence on the radiation risks to Tokyo’s water supply
The question is, how far and how long will it take the radiation to spread underground? Scientists in Japan are not going to talk about this otherwise risk losing their careers for “scare mongering” and the “spreading of false rumors.” Since “science follows funding” it would probably not make for good public relations for hydrologists to be employed to build computer models predicting the worst case outcomes for the continuing leaks of radiation on the Tokyo water supply
Will Fukushima’s Leaking Radiation Contaminate Tokyo’s Water Supply?, Activist Post, Richard Wilcox, Ph.D 5 Feb 14, Anyone who has been following the ongoing nightmare of the Fukushima nuclear disaster will know that over the past months there have been a slew of news articles documenting the contamination of the land and water beneath the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant No. 1 (FNPP#1), also referred to as “Dai-ichi,” meaning “no. 1.” The radioactive contamination beneath the FNPP#1 is both highly radioactive and being found at great depths.
Situated on the edge of the ocean, FNPP#1 is built on soft and spongy “fill” soil and is nearly the opposite of Chernobyl where that power plant’s foundation was rock solid.
We can clearly detect a pattern here: the corium globs (melted fuel) from the three melted down reactors (numbers 1, 2, 3) are in unknown locations. That melted fuel could either be in the bottom of the reactor buildings where it is constantly being cooled by the coolant water that Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) is pumping onto it, or melted through the bottom of the buildings and undergoing a China Syndrome phenomenon. Either way not only is coolant water leaking out of the buildings before it is recycled into safer storage tanks, but also groundwater is seeping up into those buildings, becoming contaminated, then pouring out again. Continue reading
USA pro nuclear propaganda silent about the Fukushima catastrophe
Nuclear Diplomacy: the Great Charade, The Humiliation of Iran CounterPunch,by CARL BOGGS, 4 Feb 14 “……..A recent Foreign Affairs article (by Ernest Moniz ,USA Energy Secretary, pictured at left ) captures the mainstream Western obsession with the nuclear enterprise, under the heading “Why We Still Need Nuclear Power”. The predictably clear-cut answer: to fight the perils of climate change.
This same message was focus of a 2013 CNN documentary, Pandora’s Promise, in which critics of nuclear power like Helen 
Caldicott and Ralph Nader are depicted as marginal, out-of-touch crazies. Paradoxically, some proponents of nuclear energy argue that Iran should abandon its (irrational) nuclear hopes and generate more electricity from its massive reserves of fossil fuels. The Iranians, for their part, proclaim an understandable desire for more diversified sources of electricity in a society that has seen energy consumption grow six times over the past two decades.
When it comes to Fukushima, Obama and other elites – falling in line with the extremely profitable (and highly-subsidized) nuclear industry – have been mostly silent about the catastrophe and its repercussions for future atomic-energy projects. While nuclear reactors currently provide less than ten percent of electricity worldwide, the realistic industry hope is for a doubling or even tripling of that level within the next decade……..http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/02/04/nuclear-diplomacy-the-great-charade/
CARL BOGGS is author of The Crimes of Empire (Pluto) and Ecology and Revolution (Macmillan), among his most recent books.
Tony Abbott a bad representative for Australia
At Davos, Tony Abbott ignored the main focus of this global meeting, which was about climate change
Tony Abbott: Bad Prime Minister, New Politics, FEBRUARY 3, 
2014 by EDDY JOKOVICH “……. on another new level of arrogance was the speech Abbott made at the Word Economic Forum in Davos. I mean, just who was that speech aimed at? For a domestic audience? Surely, there aren’t enough stupid people in Australia to be receptive to that type of economic simplicity. It was dreadful. It was woeful. The small business shopkeeper mentality came to the fore. And it would be no way to manage a country’s economy.
Yet, the mainstream media reported this as some kind of economic revelation, bravery, and setting the course for a brilliant economic future. A more critical and accurate assessment of Abbott’s performance comes from Mike Seccombe at The Global Mail (‘Abbott’s Davos Moment’)……..http://www.newpolitics.com.au/tony-abbott-bad-prime-ministerhttp://www.newpolitics.com.au/tony-abbott-bad-prime-minister
Ionising radiation included as one of world’s major cancer-causers
The list continues with radiation exposure, which includes excessive sunlight and excessive use of medical diagnostic procedures such as CAT scans, particularly in children
Prevention Is Crucial to Stem ‘Tidal Wave of Cancer’ , Medscape, Zosia Chustecka February 04, 2014 Prevention of cancer is key, say experts speaking out today on World Cancer Day.
Cancer as a single entity is now the world’s leading cause of death, with 8.2 million deaths a year, according to the Union for International Cancer Control. Prevention has a crucial role to play in stemming the “tidal wave of cancer that we are facing,” said Dr. Bernard Stewart, from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, and coeditor of the World Cancer Report 2014, issued by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
“It’s untenable to think that we can treat our way out of the cancer problem. Speaking at a press briefing in London, Dr. Wild said that he has been working in cancer research for more than 30 years, and when people hear that, the first thing they always ask is, “Have you found the cure yet?” Nobody ever asks about prevention, and yet this is key, he said……….Top of the list is tobacco control, which is thought to cause about 20% of all cancers globally…….The list continues with radiation exposure, which includes excessive sunlight and excessive use of medical diagnostic procedures such as CAT scans, particularly in children…….
Australia has its own particular cancer problem — that of melanoma — which results from the “Aussie lifestyle of lying on golden sands until you are cooked evenly on both side,” commented Dr. Stewart…..http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/820166
Australia’s outdoor workers most at risk of skin cancer
Tradies and farmers most at risk from sun 7 News 5 Feb14 Farmers, tradies and professional drivers are the workers most at risk from skin cancer, research has confirmed.
A major study by the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, affiliated with the University of Western Australia, looked at the extent of sun exposure among workers in a cross-section of industries.
The research found that overall, more than one-third of male workers but just eight per cent of female workers – two million people in Australia – were exposed to solar radiation at work.
The workers at particular risk of skin cancer were farmers, trades and construction workers and drivers…..https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm#inbox?compose=143ff06c388d6238
1 This month
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