Toxic spill report critical for Ranger uranium mine
Kirsten Blair, 22 Oct 14 Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation was disappointed to learn that Ministers Ian MacFarlane and Willem Westra van Holthe had released a summary report of the investigation into the collapse of a leach tank at the Ranger uranium mine within the bounds of Kakadu National Park late last year without consulting all members of the investigation taskforce.
Gundjeihmi, which represents the Mirarr Traditional Owners of the Ranger mine site, has a position on the taskforce which was established to investigate last year’s radiological accident but was not informed of the intention to release the report yesterday.
Justin O’Brien CEO of Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation said “We are bitterly disappointed that the investigation taskforce process has broken down, not for any want of trying on our part. It is critical that the recommendations of this report are fully implemented with highest priority given to a comprehensive review of the regulatory framework at Ranger, a point which the ministers have acknowledged but up to this point have not committed to act on.
“The tank collapse which sent over a million litres of radioactive acid spilling across the mine site was yet another example of the poor management and failed systems at Ranger. For Traditional Owners to gain have any confidence in the capacity of the Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) and the regulators to manage this mine the recommendations of this report must be acted on swiftly and completely.
“ERA wants to expand the Ranger mine underground. Without a comprehensive regulatory review and implementation of the remaining recommendations it would be ludicrous for the Federal Government to even consider such a proposal.” Mr O’Brien concluded
Labor says NO to 40% reduction in Renewable Energy target
VIDEO: Labor rejects forty per cent reduction in RET Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Broadcast: 22/10/2014
Reporter: Tom Iggulden
A government proposal to substantially reduce the Renewable Energy Target has been rejected by the Labor Party. http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2014/s4112677.htm
Fukushima nuclear radiation – 4 times as much cesium-137 as was released from Chernobyl
Gov’t report reveals Fukushima radioactive release much larger than Chernobyl — Japan reactors could have emitted nearly four times as much cesium-137 http://enenews.com/govt-report-reveals-fukushima-radioactive-release-larger-chernobyl-japan-reactors-could-emitted-four-times-cesium-137?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, funded by the Korean government, July 2014:- The Fukushima accident [led to a] release of huge radioactivity
- It is reported… 4 times more radioactivity was released to the sea than to the atmosphere
- Best-estimate source term of 137Cs… released into the atmosphere, is about 4%
- Best-estimate release fraction of the 137Cs inventory that flowed into the sea…about 16%
- Of the 4% inventory of 137Cs released into the atmosphere, only 0.8% was deposited in the Japanese land and the other 3.2% was transported to the sea or other areas
- The inventory… available for release in the units 1-3… the time of accident [was] 7.6 – 8.2 x 10^17 [760 – 820 quadrillion] Bq for 137Cs
- Because of the geographic location of the nuclear power plant — at the beach of the Pacific Ocean… more than 80% of the radioactivity released from the crippled reactors flowed into the sea
To determine the best estimate of the total 137Cs that was released into the environment from Fukushima, the 137Cs release fraction (4% atmosphere, 16% ocean) is multiplied by the 137Cs inventory for the 3 melted reactor cores (760 to 820 quadrillion Bq):
- Ocean Release of 137Cs from Fukushima: 121.6 to 131.2 quadrillion Bq (16% x 760 to 820 quadrillion Bq)
- Atmospheric Release of 137Cs from Fukushima: 30.4 to 32.8 quadrillion Bq (4% x 760 to 820 quadrillion Bq)
- Total Release of 137Cs into the Environment from Fukushima: 152 to 164 quadrillion Bq
- Total Release of 137Cs into the Environment from Chernobyl: 70 to 85 quadrillion Bq
However, the 137Cs inventory of 760 to 820 quadrillion Bq used by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute is significantly lower than the U.S. Department of Energy calculated:
- DOE’s Total 137Cs Inventory in Reactors 1-3: 1.3E+18 Bq (1,300 quadrillion Bq)
- Ocean 137Cs Release from Fukushima: 208 quadrillion Bq (16% x 1,300 quadrillion)
- Atmospheric 137Cs Release from Fukushima: 52 quadrillion Bq (4% x 1,300 quadrillion)
- Total 137Cs Release into the Environment from Fukushima: 260 quadrillion Bq
- Total 137Cs Release into the Environment from Chernobyl: 70 to 85 quadrillion Bq
Report on extraordinary level of sickness and death among Fukushima evacuees
“Never heard of so much sickness & death in such a short period” says Fukushima evacuee — Writes about strange diseases in young people, deadly tumors and hemorrhages, pets missing hair, child losing all their fingernails, polydactyl baby — Doctor: My friends are dying of cancer, one after another http://enenews.com/never-heard-sickness-death-short-period-fukushima-evacuee-writes-about-strange-diseases-young-people-deadly-tumors-hemorrhages-pets-missing-hair-child-losing-all-fingernails-polydactyl-baby?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
Excerpts from message by a Fukushima evacuee, translated by World Network for Saving Children from Radiation, Oct. 15, 2014: Mrs. Junko Honda… was a successful beauty salon owner who ran two salons… She recently [compiled the] unusual symptoms that she had heard about over the past three years… whose veracity she has been able to ascertain.
“I had never heard of so much sickness and death in such a short period of time” -Honda
Babies, Children, Young Adults
Sep ’11: Child… had nosebleeds very often… many others at school who had nose bleeding
Jun ’12: Child had headaches and nausea since the accident
Apr ’13: Friend of an evacuee gave birth to a polydactyl child [birth defect, extra fingers/toes]
Jul ’13: Younger friend of an evacuee… got ill with cancer
Mar ’14: Relative [in] middle school… got ill with rheumatism [and] medicine doesn’t work
Lymph, Thymus, Thyroid Gland Problems
Apr ’11: I felt strange feeling in my lymph nodes… salon staff also felt the same
Sep ’11: My friend’s father died with a tumor in the lymph glands
Sep ’11: Gynecologist mentioned there was an increase of lymph tumors
Jan ’13: Child of an evacuee [had] unsubsidized thyroid exam… thymus gland was swollen
Jan ’13: Several children… from Fukushima [also diagnosed with swollen] thymus gland
Sep ’13: Child of an evacuee had an unsubsidized thyroid examination… they found many cysts
Oct ’13: Friend, an evacuee age 35, developed thyroid cancer
Mar ’14: Friend of an evacuee, in her 30s, had thyroid surgery
Unusual Skin, Hair, Nail Problems
Apr ’11: Hair of our pets [dog & cat] become uneven because of hair loss to an unusual degree
Apr ’11: Reddish eczema on my daughter’s face [which] stayed until we evacuated
Sep ’11: Hairdresser friend and her sister have suffered dermatologic eczema since the accident
Jun ’12: [Child’s mother] experienced hair loss and… had sparser hair
Jun ’12: All the fingernails of a child evacuee from Sugakawa fell off after the accident
Adults Under Retirement Age
Sep ’11: Customer in her 40s got ill with a disease that cannot renew blood
Sep ’11: Woman in her 30s died from cardiac arrest
Aug ’12: My relative died suddenly of subarachnoid hemorrhage… in his 30s
Dec ’12: Resident in his 30s developed a tumor
Dec ’12: Resident in her 40s developed a tumor and died
Jan ’13: Doctor [said] his friends have been dying with cancer one after another
Mar ’13: Man in his 30s died suddenly
Mar ’13: 5 customers… had funerals of close family in very short period… 3 were in their 50s
Oct ’13: Male friend who was doing decontamination work died suddenly
See Video: ‘Hell of Fukushima in the immediate vicinity of the children’ (only in Japanese)
Jim Green responds to critics on Australia’s export of uranium to India
Jim Green: Safeguarding uranium exports Responding to my OnLine Opinion article about inadequate safeguards provisions in the Australia−India uranium sales agreement, Geoff Russell begins: “Jim Green’s recent OnLine Opinion piece about Australia’s export of uranium to India reports on concerns about “safeguards” by the Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office (ANSO). This Government office is concerned with nuclear safety.”
In fact, the safeguards office is concerned with safeguards − preventing the diversion of nuclear materials for weapons production − not safety. ….http://onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=16792
Students’ climate action campaign is having its effect on Australian politics
Louis Klee: Students put the Coalition on notice over climate change
Climate change hypocrisy has drawn the ire of business leaders and former Liberal party leaders.
Since the moment of his ascendency to office, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been determined to keep climate change off the national agenda. He was carried to victory on his pledge to repeal Australia’s carbon pricing, his first act as Prime Minister was to abolish the Climate Commission, he has vowed to leave aside climate change in G20 talks and he was conspicuously absent at the New York climate summit to the opprobrium of those present.
Yet, Mr Abbott has, in the past week, been drawn into a confrontation over the future of the fossil fuel industry in Australia, declaring: “Coal is good for humanity.” The fascinating thing is that this debate – one that is fast becoming a “bellwether moment in Australia,” as Greens leader Christine Milne put it – was started by the humble efforts of a grassroots student campaign at the Australian National University……http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/students-put-the-coalition-on-notice-over-climate-change-20141022-119sn7.html
Macquarie Bank invests in uranium
Going nuclear: Australia’s Macquarie buys Deutsche uranium book -source By David Sheppard LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) – Australian investment bank Macquarie Group has bought Deutsche Bank’s uranium book, a source familiar with the matter said, as the increasingly commodities-focused lender pushes deeper into global energy trading.
The deal includes Deutsche’s long-term trading contracts and stockpiles of low-grade uranium yellowcake, which were valued at the end of last year at around $200 million.
Industry experts say they comprise enough uranium to fuel around 10 average-sized nuclear power plants for 12-18 months………
Trading firms hold uranium stockpiles in warehouses specially licensed to store the fuel, like U.S. conglomerate Honeywell International Inc’s ConverDyn facility in Illinois; Cameco’s Port Hope facility in Ontario; and Areva SA’s facility in France. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/22/macquarie-uranium-commodities-idUSL6N0SH3PN20141022
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 