The week in nuclear news – Australia

The Australian Nuclear Free Alliance (ANFA) met in Alice Springs, with impressive representation from 14 Aboriginal nations, and 16 prominent community organisations from across the land. Their 2014 statement can be read at Beyond Nuclear Initiative . It covers Radioactive waste, Uranium mining, Mine rehabilitation, Women’s health, Men’s health, Weapons, Rare Earths, Land Councils, and the ANFA Netweork.

Australian National University (ANU) announcing it is divesting from fossil fuel investment. Credit to the students who lobbied so hard for this. Credit to ANU too, BUT – the university is keeping its investments in those unethical uranium mining companies BHP and Rio Tinto.

Australia’s Dr Helen Caldicott (– a prophet without honour in her own country?) is speaking publicly at a number of venues in USA – the National Press Club , in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and with Ralph Nader at October 25 – 26 – New York TEACH-IN: TECHNO-UTOPIANISM & THE FATE OF THE EARTH.

Abbott’s latest ?achievements – Squashing renewable energy development initiatives,. Also Abbott posed sentimentally with Aboriginal children, while his government erodes Aboriginal land rights with 99 year leases. Abbott government is ignoring the effect that climate change will have, is already having, on Aboriginal communities, disempowering remote communities, cutting funding to Aboriginal child and family centres, cutting funding to Indigenous legal aid, and a Budget plan to remove half a billion dollars from Indigenous programs administered by the Prime Minister and Cabinet and Health portfolios.

Meanwhile – off to war without any community consultation, no formal debate in Parliament, despite Greens’ efforts to initiate one.

Interesting digression. Have you been watching ABC TV’s “The Code” (ABC TV Sundays 8.30 pm)? Its story centres around a truck accident, in which uranium – some kind of radioactive gas was released Last night’s episode revealed that the fictional company Physanto was transporting uranium – in a secret bid to develop Laser Enrichment Technology..

Strange, as that technology has already been developed by Silex. with ANSTO’s support (or I think it was an offshoot of ANSTO)

Silex sold it, with great fanfare, to GE. GE subsequently abandoned it – for reasons of (a) cost, and (b) its potential for nuclear weapons proliferation.

October 13, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina reviews

No comments yet.

Antinuclear

Australian news, and some related international items