Need to scrutinise need for radioactive materials
The Editor,The Advertiser. from
Dr Dennis Matthews (BSc Hon, PhD) 26 Feb 14 The article by Miles Kemp (The Advertiser, 26/2/14) strikes me as a bit of a beat-up, more about politics than about science. It contains little information that was not debated during the abortive attempt to set up a national nuclear waste dump in South Australia.
The only new information relates to naming the suburbs where radioactive materials are stored, that is, wherever there are tertiary institutions, medical facilities and mining companies.
The crux of the problem with radioactive waste is whether we need the original radioactive materials. Once we decide that they are indispensible then the organizations using them need a place to store the materials and their waste products. If the storage facilities are inadequate then the original radioactive materials shouldn’t be there.
The solution to minimizing the problems associated with radioactive wastes is to minimize the use of radioactive materials in medicine, industry and research.
South Australia’s low level radioactive waste spots
Environment Protection Agency reveals where ‘low level’ nuclear waste is stored in Adelaide suburbs http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/environment-protection-agency-reveals-where-low-level-nuclear-waste-is-stored-in-adelaide MILES KEMP THE ADVERTISER FEBRUARY 25, 2014 SOME of Adelaide’s most prominent residential suburbs are home to radioactive waste, the Environment Protection Authority has revealed.
Other than the CBD, the Adelaide Hills with 39 sites has the most number of small storages which include low and intermediate low-level radioactive waste.
The details are revealed in documents released under the Freedom of Information Act, even though this has previously been denied by the EPA.
An EPA spokeswoman said most of the sources were being stored or used in machines that required radiation, but could not say home many were waste.
The majority would be unsealed radioactive substances used in premises such as nuclear medicine departments and sealed radioactive sources in plant and equipment used in mining, industrial, medical and scientific applications,’’ she said.
“The majority of sealed radioactive sources and unsealed radioactive substances in premises within SA are currently being used or stored.
“Any waste would be very low-level to intermediate low-level waste.’’
Other Adelaide suburbs which have sites include: Thebarton 27 sites, Bedford Park 26, Mawson Lakes 23, Osborne 21, Urrbrae 19, Norwood 17, Keswick 14, Woodville 13, Black Forest 10, Wingfield 11, North Adelaide 7, Glenside 7, Export Park 5, Gillman 5, Bellevue Heights 3, Cheltenham 3, Glenelg 3, two each at Camden Park, Edwardstown, Elizabeth,
Ashford, Kent Town, Regency Park, and one each at Evanston Park, Blackwood, Burton, Gepps Cross, Golden Grove and Noarlunga.In total the EPA lists 928 sites, mostly at mine sites in remote locations.
Family First MLC Robert Brokenshire said he sought the information using the Freedom of Information Act because people had a right to know what was being stored in their suburb.
Support Independents in South Australian election
The Editor. The Advertiser from Dennis Matthews, 25 Feb 14 Now that the positions on the Legislative Council ballot paper have been chosen by lottery people are starting to become aware of something very odd.
Apparently by chance, all the independents are listed at the end of the ballot paper. This is not bad luck but a deliberate act of the Liberal-Labor duopoly.
This discriminatory act , like the large increases in nomination fees and large increases in nominators required for each independent nominee, appears designed to marginalize independents.
However the duopoly may have done the voters a favour because it is now easier to find the independents amongst the 25 groups listed from A to Y on the ballot paper. The independents are those listed at the end of the ballot paper from O to Y.
If you feel that the Liberal-Labor duopoly have abused their power through undemocratic changes, at very short notice, to the Electoral Act then you can show your disgust by voting for one of the independents listed in the columns O to Y.
Now that the positions on the Legislative Council ballot paper have been chosen by lottery people are starting to become aware of something very odd.
Apparently by chance, all the independents are listed at the end of the ballot paper. This is not bad luck but a deliberate act of the Liberal-Labor duopoly.
This discriminatory act , like the large increases in nomination fees and large increases in nominators required for each independent nominee, appears designed to marginalize independents.
However the duopoly may have done the voters a favour because it is now easier to find the independents amongst the 25 groups listed from A to Y on the ballot paper. The independents are those listed at the end of the ballot paper from O to Y.
If you feel that the Liberal-Labor duopoly have abused their power through undemocratic changes, at very short notice, to the Electoral Act then you can show your disgust by voting for one of the independents listed in the columns O to Y.
Support Mari Takenouchi and Radiation Protection
from Sean McGee,UK 25 Feb 14
“Perhaps because everyone believes people telling them on television that everything is fine, they don’t seem so worried,” 281 Antinuke told Reuters.“I hope by leaving my art I can remind people that we’re not safe at all … and that they will do something to protect themselves.”
“We don’t know what will happen in the future, whether children will get cancer or leukemia,” he said. “So I want to keep making noise and making a fuss.”
“The nuclear accident allowed us to realize that Japan had hidden a lot of things,” he said. “I want to make images that express doubts about what’s going on in politics – like a label that says ‘This is happening, pay attention’!”http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/30/1259294/-Masked-Artist-Forces-Japanese-to-Think-About-Fukushima
Why this is important!!
Mari is facing charges stemming from speaking out on radiation in Japan and advocacy for families relocating children out of the areas contaminated by radioactivity from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi reactor site, operated by TEPCO. Radioactivity continues to leave that site. It is well established that while lower levels of exposure to radioactivity lowers risk, the greatest hazard from radiation comes when children are exposed, raising the risk of cancer manifold over their entire lives.
The group ETHOS in Japan supports the decision by some to stay and live in contaminated areas. Sadly, some of these families feel they have no choice due to economics and other factors. Certainly young children have no choice. ETHOS advocates monitoring radioactivity, but well established science supports Mari’s views thatthere is no safe dose of radiation and that children need to be protected. We support open discussion, access to information and free choice. We ask the Prosecutor to agree that writing and speaking about these issues are not a crime.
Please Stand With Mari as she stands for precaution, protection and the rights of children to a healthy future. THANK YOU.
A new wind energy problem – hypochondria
Tory Shepherd: Latest health faddism is related to wind turbines but it’s an old complaint – hypochondria The Advertiser, 25 Feb 14,THE evidence is mounting that wind turbines cause a very specific malaise known as hypochondria, which can be a debilitating anxiety about one’s health, despite the absence of any actual disease.
Professor Yasmin Haskell, the chief investigator at the University of WA’s ARC Centre for the History of Emotions unearthed a gem of medical history from a 17th century doctor, Malachias Geiger. He wrote:
“Lots of common and country folk, of both sexes, come to me very frequently seeking advice and cures for murmurings and motions, continual and extraordinary, persuading themselves most stubbornly that they have accidentally swallowed the spawn of frogs or other beasts in drinking water, from which, in their bodies, those beasts have thereafter hatched and been nourished … Since I have to agree with them, whether I like it or not, in deference to their most fixed melancholic impressions, I prescribe either vomitives or cathartic medicines, and I expel these imaginary beasts with their melancholy feces, not without ample incantations, to the great relief of the sick.”
Bring on the vomitives and the cathartic medicines, because we have an epidemic in Australia of people who need their imaginary beasts with their melancholy faeces expelled.
Yet another report into wind farms and human health has found scant evidence that those big graceful turbines do anything more than reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.
The National Health and Medical Research Council, our top health research mob, has looked at all the evidence. Again. Because some of the people who live near wind farms are convinced that something terrible is going on…..
Annoyance. I myself suffer severe annoyance at the money wasted looking into this mythical syndrome.http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/tory-shepherd-latest-health-faddism-is-related-to-wind-turbines-but-its-an-old-complaint-hypochondria/story-fni6unxq-1226837538479
Leaving the Renewable Energy Target as it is makes good business sense.
It’s in Australia’s interests not to be left behind in the growth industries of the future – and those include renewable energy.
How to save business billions, without cutting renewable jobs Suzanne Benn Chair in Sustainable Enterprise, UTS Business School at University of Technology, Sydney Patrick Crittenden Researcher and PhD Student at University of Technology, Sydney The Conversation 26 February 2014 The debate about the future of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) has largely focused on the issue of immediate costs to business. But if we’re thinking about Australia’s long-term economic interests, there are a number of reasons why leaving the target as it is makes good business sense.
Instead of trying to reduce power bills by undercutting investment and jobs in one growing industry, there are other ways for big and small businesses to cut their power bills – starting with the cost savings available from using energy more efficiently.
Billions in opportunities
A 2012 report for the federal government found that Australian industry could cut its energy use by 11% without adversely affecting business activity, saving A$3.3 billion in the process. Doing so would also cut 15 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
Looking at medium to large industrial businesses across mining, manufacturing and transport, the study found that many of those savings could be made with a payback period of less than two years.
It is important to note that the study also found that there are often multiple barriers in the way of making those investments and savings. But there are plenty of examples of why it’s worth the effort to overcome those barriers, as case studies published last year by the Department of Industry highlight…..The possibility of Australia’s main renewable energy scheme being watered down or scrapped sends a negative message to investors in wind, solar and other renewable generation options. For example, Meridian Energy has already stated it will not invest further in renewable energy in Australia if the RET is scrapped.
Australia needs to build a more innovative industry and manufacturing base for the future, including creating more jobs in nanotechnology and biotechnology. It’s in Australia’s interests not to be left behind in the growth industries of the future – and those include renewable energy. http://theconversation.com/how-to-save-business-billions-without-cutting-renewable-jobs-23528
Climate Change Authority commissions research on reducing greenhouse gas emissions
Climate authority puts RET review on ice Herald Sun NICK PERRY AAP
FEBRUARY 26, 2014 THE Climate Change Authority has quietly commissioned research it hopes will prove “useful” should it need to proceed with its review of the renewable energy target (RET).
The climate advisory body will conduct a study into ways of reducing emissions in the electricity sector, including in relation to both the RET and the Abbott government’s climate change policy. Continue reading
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