The nuclear industry – just one part in our trashing of Planet Earth – theme for September 14
The nuclear industry is the epitome of the whole process of human society destroying its own essential environment. While so-called “primitive” societies function on a culture of spirituality, and respect for the land, unfortunately the “developed” society has the upper hand in this sad world, and seems bent on mindless destruction.
I do single out nuclear power and nuclear weaponry, because this toxic industry has special features that do not apply in anything like the same degree, to our other toxic industries. These features are: secrecy, deception, false propaganda, invisible cancer-causing radiation, dangerous wastes lasting for thousands of years, weaponry that could quickly annihilate millions, astronomic costs to be paid by present and future generations.
This nuclear nastiness is symptomatic of the malaise affecting the world. The dominant culture of endless growth and endless consumption has now brought about global warming, and frightening climate change with extreme weather, sea level rise, and acidification of the oceans. The focus is now on climate change – but it is not the only disaster befalling our planet.
And all these disasters are related to each other – and to the race for to grow, consume, and sell. Where to start? – over-population, chemical pollution, deforestation, over-fishing, scarcity of clean water , destruction of habitats – loss of biodiversity, loss of arable soil, – just a few aspects of our truly disastrous world culture.
An alien space traveller might be bemused – observing how the world’s technocrats come up with “solutions”. Things like geo-engineering – an example of yet again trying out grand chemical fixes, which would make an awful lot of money for a few, and an awful lot of misery for many.
The trashing of our world is the background to the distrust between ethnic and religious groups, and to violent and criminal clashes. That in turn, feeds the greedy weapons industry, which, while making a few people rich, sets the scene for military destruction of the world environment.
My favourite silly solution is the push to set up a colony on Mars. Never mind that Mars average temperature is 51F, but can reach – 184F on cold nights, that there’s not enough oxygen, that there’s no magnetic field to protect us from cosmic radiation, there’s intolerably low atmospheric pressure …..etc. Never mind that the astronauts would probably die on the way there anyway.
There IS NO PLANET B.
Central Australia’s Aboriginal leaders proclaim that their land is not a nuclear waste dump
Our country ‘not a dump’ Centralian Advocate- Alice Springs NT – by Sasha Petrova – 05/09/2014, AUDIO: Injustices to black and white Australians – guinea pigs in Maralinga nuclear bomb tests
AUDIO: Maralinga: Australia’s experience of nuclear testing ABC Radio p.m Mark Colvin reported this story on Friday, September 5, 2014 DAVID MARK: It happened in the 1950s. But the truth about a series of nuclear tests in which Britain let off atomic bombs at Maralinga in the South Australian desert only started to emerge in the ’70s.
Even now, there are still survivors demanding justice. Many are now dead, but there are still fears about the effects of the big doses of radiation they absorbed having on their children and even their grandchildren.
The journalist Frank Walker has written a book about Maralinga and he told Mark Colvin about what Australian servicemen actually experienced at the test site. ………… Continue reading
Serious security implications in Australia’s sale of uranium to India
Old mistakes in New Delhi: Australian irresponsibility and Indian uranium sales, Online opinion By Dave Sweeney, 5 Sept 14, Before jetting off to India today to sign a controversial uranium export deal set in motion seven years ago by John Howard, Prime Minister Tony Abbott made an extraordinary admission. “If we are prepared to sell uranium to Russia, and we’ve been prepared to do that in the past, surely we ought to be prepared to provide uranium to India under suitable safeguards,” he told ABC television last night.
Despite assurances of ‘peaceful purposes’, this sales deal has serious nuclear security implications. Even if all goes well, and in the shadow of Fukushima that is a big assumption, it will free up India’s domestic uranium stocks for military use and do nothing to advance Indian non-proliferation or reduce the continuing tension with nuclear rival Pakistan.Yes, Mr Abbott, Australia has unwisely provided uranium to Russia in the past. But instead of this becoming a justification for opening up new uranium sales in increasingly insecure and conflict-prone regions we should instead be drawing a lesson about the need to tread more carefully with our uranium supplies in the future.
Uranium is not just another mineral. It fuels nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons and it all becomes nuclear waste. As home to around a third of the worlds’ uranium supply Australia’s decisions matter and this is an important moment to comprehensively re-consider the domestic and international costs and consequences of our uranium sales.
Tony Abbott has no excuse or mandate to put the promise of small time corporate profit ahead of the reality of severe and sustained human and environmental radioactive risk. http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=16656
Pacific nations, including Marshall Islands, call on Australia to adopt a policy on climate change
Marshall Islands calls on Australia to rethink climate change stance Marshall Islands has joined other Pacific nations in calling on Australia to reconsider its position on climate change. ABC News
The issue has dominated a UN conference on small islands developing states (SIDS) in Samoa which wrapped up on Thursday.
The four-day meeting comes ahead of the UN secretary general’s climate summit later this month, aimed at mobilising global action on climate change.
Marshall Islands’ foreign minister Tony de Brum said Australia and other polluting nations like China, India and the United States need to “deal with the problem now”.
“In our countries we have immediate need for urgent action,” he told Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat. “And for the biggest emitters to keep pushing us back as if it’s a problem for the future and not a current problem is very frustrating………Mr de Brum urged the Australian Government to reconsider its stance on climate change for the sake of the atoll nations of the Pacific……..http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-04/marshall-islands-calls-on-australia-to-rethink-climate-change-s/5720990
Human activity is causing global warming – just about 100% a certainty
CSIRO almost 100% sure humans causing temperatures to rise http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/csiro-almost-100-sure-humans-causing-temperatures-to-rise-20140904-10c7y4.html September 4, 2014 Peter Hannam Environment Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald What are the chances the world could clock up 353 consecutive months with average temperatures higher than the norm of the 20th century without humans being responsible?
CSIRO’s now-defunct climate adaptation flagship crunched the numbers and found the chances were less than one in 100,000.
In other words, there’s a 99.999 per cent certainty that human activities – from burning fossil fuels to land-clearing – are responsible for the warming conditions.
“Everyone since February 1985 has lived in a warm world,” said Mark Howden, a CSIRO chief research scientist and author of the peer-reviewed report published on Thursday in the Climate Risk Management journal. “In my view, that’s pretty extraordinary.” Greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise in most countries. Figures out this week show Australia’s largest contributor – the power sector – had its fastest growth of emissions in the two months since the end of the carbon price in almost eight years.
The researchers’ model included other potential causes of unusual temperatures – solar radiation, volcanic activity, El Nino Southern Oscillation weather patterns in the Pacific – to tease out the human contribution.
The paper said periods of slowing growth or even drops in temperatures had been taken up by climate sceptics to raise doubts about the link between rising concentrations of greenhouse gases and warming.
In fact, the model found “one would expect a far greater number of short periods of falling temperatures (as observed since 1998) if climate change was not occurring”. Continue reading
World leaders call for new effort on nuclear disarmament
New push needed to stop nukes: leaders http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/new-push-needed-to-stop-nukes-leaders/story-fni0xqi4-1227048054634 4 Sept 14 FORMER prime ministers, foreign and defence ministers have urged all nations to put new effort into nuclear disarmament.
THE call comes as Prime Minister Tony Abbott prepares to sign a nuclear co-operation deal with India despite that country not having signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Twenty-nine political, diplomatic, military and scientific leaders from 14 Asia-Pacific countries have signed what has been called the Jakarta Declaration on Nuclear Weapons.The declaration urges all nuclear-armed states, and allies such as Australia who rely on their nuclear protection, to commit to “no first use” of nuclear weapons.It also calls for a convention to be negotiated making the “no first use” a binding commitment by the US, Russia, China, India, North Korea and Pakistan.
As Asia is the only region in the world where nuclear stockpiles are growing, the group urged at least a freeze on present arsenals, and their reduction over time to the lowest levels “consistent with maintaining minimum effective retaliatory capability”.All nuclear-armed states should also take their nuclear weapons off high operational alert and separate warheads from land and air-based delivery vehicles.
Group convenor, former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans, said a renewed sense of urgency was needed to deal with the risks posed by the world’s 16,000 remaining nuclear weapons.”It’s time for leaders to listen, and act,” he said.The Asia Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament was formed in 2011.The declaration text was agreed in Jakarta on August 18 and released on Thursday.Signatories include former NZ prime ministers Geoffrey Palmer and James Bolger, former Australian PM Malcolm Fraser, former Pakistan joint chiefs of staff chairman Jehangir Karamat and former Indian foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh.
In Russia a general calls for pre-emptive nuclear strike policy (like USA has)
Note: USA already has a pre-emptive nuclear strike policy
Russian General Seeks Nuclear First-Strike Option Against US NEWSMAX,, 04 Sep 2014 By Sean Piccoli A Russian defense minister wants his country’s official military doctrine rewritten to allow for a pre-emptive nuclear attack against the United States and NATO, the Russian-language news agency Interfax reports.
Yakubov, who is from the defense ministry’s inspector general’s office, also said it is time “to hash out the conditions under which Russia could carry out a pre-emptive strike with the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces,” according to a translation of the general’s remarks by the English-language Moscow Times.
Russia categorizes its nuclear arsenal as a defensive measure to be used in the event of an imminent attack that threatens the country’s existence, Interfax reported.
Nuclear war talk has crept back into official Russian discourse amid the fighting in Ukraine, where pro-Russia separatists are being armed by Moscow and supported with Russian ground troops.
The United States and the European Union have jointly condemned Russia’s actions in Ukraine and imposed successively harsher economic sanctions. The rhetoric from Moscow has followed suit…….The Russian general’s remarks came ahead of joint military exercises between NATO and Ukrainian forces that are scheduled to begin on Sept. 16 and “likely to further fuel suspicions between Moscow and the West,” the Toronto Globe and Mail reported. http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Russian-pre-emptive-nuclear-strike/2014/09/04/id/592739/
In USA voters turning to renewable energy and energy efficiency
Energy efficiency, renewable energy rules favored by voters, poll finds, Cleveland.com By John Funk, The Plain Dealer on September 05, 2014 COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio voters favor the state’s renewable energy and energy efficiency mandates that Republican lawmakers just put on ice for two years, a new poll suggests.
Commissioned by a coalition of environmental groups and conducted jointly by two national polling companies, one which works for Republican candidates and the other for Democratic candidates, the poll interviewed 405 registered Ohio voters and has a margin of error of 4.9 percent.
The survey found that voters would favor political candidates by a two-to-one margin who favor more wind and solar energy development over those who think the state’s reliance on coal, gas and nuclear power is adequate. A total of 64 percent favored the green candidates while only 31 percent said they would be more likely to vote for candidates supporting traditional energy production. Continue reading
Utah residents guinea pigs, as atomic bombs were tested
The Day We Bombed Utah This is my father’s side of a phone conversation. I asked him about the nuclear tests that occurred in the 1950’s just a few miles from his home, specifically timed while the wind was blowing away from Las Vegas – and towards St. George, Utah. kateful.blogspot.com.au SEPTEMBER 5, 2014
“My boss, Art Crosby, was out looking for uranium [that day], he thought he’d get rich quick. Wave of the future.
“He left his Geiger counter sitting on his desk [at the gas station]. I set it to its lowest setting and the needle just slammed against the stop. I thought I’d broken it. And that was inside. The government came around and gave news conferences telling everyone not to worry…but they also offered to wash everybody’s car. I stayed inside. I didn’t go out much those days. The president of Dixie college in those days had been a biology teacher and an outdoors guy, best teacher I ever had, and he took his family out on some mountains like 40 miles closer to ground zero to watch the explosions, get up at 3 o’clock in the morning.
“He died of some type of leukemia, his daughter wrote a book about her family’s problems with various kinds of radioactive related diseases…she tried to have kids and had weird miscarriages. The dad died really young. Her mom died fairly young. Her sister died too. And she could never have a child.
“And then there’s the sheep. Sheep out in the hills eating the grass, it’s fallout. Literally radioactive particles. The sheep would lie down in the dirt, and all over southwestern Utah there were all stories of sheep born with 3 legs and 2 heads, miscarried lambs,
“That was ’54. ’57 through ’59 I was on my mission. When I came back I was in school, driving the truck, on the radio. But from ’59 on I was in school in northern Utah. Moved to California in ’68.
“There were studies that indicated the leukemia was some number of times greater.
“They waited until the wind wasn’t blowing towards Las Vegas. The population of all of Washington County might have been only 10,000 people, Cedar City even less. Kanab was a town of 2 or 3 thousand people…there’s just nothing. I remember when the state hit a million population. …..
“So…guinea pigs.” http://kateful.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/the-day-we-bombed-utah-oral-history-of.html
Nuclear deal between Australia and India – video link
Video lnk India-Australia seal nuclear deal 05 Sep 2014 http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/et-now/daily/india-australia-seal-nuclear-deal/videoshow/41810657.cms
Uranium deal brings Australia closer to India and Japan, but not China
Bringing India into Australia’s nuclear family, SMH, Mark Kenny 5 Sept 14
“………Energy policy is another great challenge, which brings us back to Abbott’s visit. The tangible – yet officially unconfirmed – mission here is commercial – to sign an inter-country safe-guards agreement removing the last impediments to Australian uranium sales to India. Insiders say it could also to facilitate direct Indian investment in what might otherwise be marginal uranium mines in Australia.
The trade is something John Howard wanted and Julia Gillard got moving on decisively in 2012. And it is a circle the pro-nuclear Abbott is more than happy to square notwithstanding India’s refusal to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
For Abbott and Modi, whose popularity is also tied up in nationalism, the uranium agreement fits a broader narrative. Modi just returned from a five-day visit to Japan for talks with Abbott’s close ally, Shinzo Abe…….
When he nominated Japan as Australia’s best friend in Asia, it was on the basis of its westernised liberal-democratic values – the contradistinction with China was left unsaid.
One imagines the same logic is underpinning the new bilateral relationship Abbott wants to forge with India. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/bringing-india-into-australias-nuclear-family-20140904-10c655.html#ixzz3CZNGY23g
Northern Territory Aboriginal leaders want clear answers on compulsory land acquisition
Northern Land Council Chief Executive Joe Morrison said the Government needed to explain where it stood on the issue.
“Surely if there’s going to be any suggestions about compulsorily acquiring lands gained under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act then they need to make that public,” he said.
Northern Australia report: Aboriginal land compulsory acquisition paragraph withdrawn from NT Government Response, ABC News, By Felicity James , 5 Sept 14, A paragraph calling for powers to compulsorily acquire Aboriginal land was withdrawn from the NT Government’s Response to the Green Paper on Developing Northern Australia, it has emerged.
The Federal Government tabled its recommendations on the Pivot North: Inquiry into the development of Northern Australia in Parliament on Thursday.
The Northern Territory Government Response was released to the media the same day and included a section on land tenure in the NT.
It said: “Given the Australian Government’s primacy in the area of Northern Territory Indigenous land tenure, the Northern Territory Government urges the Australian Government to expedite discussions with the Northern Territory Government and other stakeholders on the following in the interest of the development of northern Australia and its residents, particularly those in remote communities.”
It then had a list of requests for the Federal Government, and the first request called for the capacity to compulsorily acquire land held under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act.
In a version sent to the ABC by a Government media adviser it contained the following paragraph that did not appear in the final document.
“At the very least there needs to be capacity to compulsorily acquire ALRA land for Government/strategic purposes (Territory government including independent agencies and authorities, and local government).”
But the Government says the ABC was sent the wrong version and compulsory acquisition was not mentioned in the final version sent to the Federal Government. “What was written in the paper that you’ve got a copy of, came out of the department. I was the person who removed it before it got to Cabinet,” Chief Minister Adam Giles said today.
“This isn’t a mistake. There’s a draft paper that’s come up from the department. I encourage all employees of Government to think outside the square.”
Mr Giles said the Government does not have a stance on compulsory acquisition.
“We don’t have a position, it’s never come up as requiring a position.”
The Aboriginal Land Rights Act is a piece of federal legislation that establishes collective freehold title for traditional owners, with land councils empowered to act on their behalf.
About 50 per cent of the land, and 85 per cent of the coastline, in the Northern Territory is Aboriginal land.
Chief Minister Adam Giles has previously suggested the legislation should be put under the control of the Northern Territory Government.
Gaining access to land for development is a major theme of the NT Government’s submission.
The submission said development projects on land held under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act have become “too hard”.
“To provide an example of the challenge posed to development under current arrangements, often as many as 70 per cent of outstanding mineral exploration licence applications fall under the ALRA negotiation process,” it said.
NLC: Come clean about intentions
Northern Land Council Chief Executive Joe Morrison said the Government needed to explain where it stood on the issue.
“Surely if there’s going to be any suggestions about compulsorily acquiring lands gained under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act then they need to make that public,” he said.
“They need to articulate what their policy position is and how they intend to go about engaging with the Aboriginal community and particularly traditional owners.
“We’ve got a Government that’s made its intentions clear about the Aboriginal Land Rights Act.
“It’s clear that it sees it and sees the Native Title Act also as an impediment to development.
He said the Giles Government had not made a serious approach to the NLC about dealing with land tenure.
“This underhandedness is not doing anyone any good at a time when there’s enormous disparity between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people and we need to get on with the business.”
Audit of all NT Crown land…….http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-05/hold-nt-government-wants-power-to-take-land/5723336
Rare Earths mining in Central Australia
Note: We mightn’t like mining, and it will be good when eventually product design is such that recycling of rare earths will pretty much eliminate this. Still, rare earths are needed in 21st Century technologies, especially in renewables. At least this company is not involved in the difficult and hazardous rare earths processing. I understand that processing is to be done in China, – where, after their disastrous history, they now do have the most advanced methods
Mining company Arafura Resources says plans to mine rare earth minerals in central Australia remain ‘on track’, despite uncertainty over future funding for the project, ABC Rural News 3 Sept 14, NT Country Hour By Carmen Brown
The company hopes to extract up to 20,000 tonnes of rare earth oxide per year from the Nolan’s Bore deposit, 135 kilometres north-east of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.
A comprehensive project report released this week, indicates mining could begin at the site in 2019, six years later than previously expected. General manager of exploration and business development, Richard Brescianini, says while there has been strong interest in the project from investors, the company is yet to secure full financial backing for the mine……http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-03/rare-earth-mine-on-track-for-central-australia/5715100
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 