Keeping it under wraps in South Australia’s nuclear (promotional) family
Media are definitely NOT welcome on Tuesday 9 – 10 The AusIMM International Uranium Conference in Adelaide. Speakers will be the nuclear lobby’s bigwigs –
Hon Jay Weatherill MP, Premier, South Australia
The Hon Ian Macfarlane Federal Minister for Industry and Science,
Professor Corey Bradshaw, The University of Adelaide
Dr Robert Ring, Manager, Business Development, ANSTO Minerals
Professor Pamela J Sykes, , Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer
Dr Ted Tyne, Executive Director Mineral Resources, Government of South Australia
Daniel Zavattiero, Executive Director, Minerals Council of Australia
They all presumably “Look towards the future of the reinvigorated uranium industry with excitement and optimism.”…….Technical Program Released
The full program for this conference has now been released.
Will South Australia’s Nuclear Royal Commission take up the UK idea of ‘beautifying nuclear’ facilities?
I just couldn’t resist publicising Britain’s latest pro nuclear tactic. The UK government is obviously getting a bit desperate about the political situation – with their new nuclear power programme bogged down in financial uncertainties (or rather – certainties that it’s unaffordable).
On another tack – the UK government is getting a lot of flak about its ugly (dirty, dangerous, super-expensive) nuclear facilities and plans for the Lake District , Cumbria.
Well – you can bet that South Australia’s Nuclear Fuel Chain Royal Commission will be listening intently to all the pro nuclear PR from UK – I wonder, will they take up the idea of prettying up nuclear facilities for South Australia?
Britain’s government to win hearts and minds with ‘pretty’ nuclear reactors?
‘Beautiful’ nuclear power stations can win over sceptics, says Energy Secretary Amber Rudd The Independent 7 June 15 Britain’s new nuclear power stations and other energy infrastructure projects must be designed to look beautiful to garner essential public support, the Energy Secretary, Amber Rudd, has said…..flood defences will need to be built to protect buildings, along with weather-resistant transport, waste and water services, as climate change makes weather conditions increasingly extreme.
Ann Robinson, of the uSwitch price comparison website, welcomed Ms Rudd’s call to visual arms. “I think she’s absolutely right. We’re a small island and it’s important to do things in a sensitive way. Public acceptability is important and the key to that is making the infrastructure as attractive as possible.”
Ms Robinson added: “A lot of these projects can be controversial and Amber Rudd is proposing to give people more say in local developments. Against this backdrop, it’s increasingly important that projects fit in with their surroundings.”……..http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/beautiful-nuclear-power-stations-can-win-over-sceptics-says-energy-secretary-amber-rudd-10301365.html
Order of Australia to nuclear physicist who turned to renewable energy
She has been appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia, for her long career and distinguished service to the renewable energy sector as a research scientist, through pioneering roles in solar photovoltaics and power generation, and to national and international organisations……
She spent 18 years focusing on renewable energy at utilities company ETSA.
Associate Professor Oliphant has spent more than 20 years on boards and energy associations, and counts her presidency of the International Solar Energy Society as among her career highlights….
- her current work —..included travelling to Beijing late last month to lead a team of scientists from Malaysia, Russia and China to undertake a feasibility study on renewable energy in China..
Bundaberg – Queensland’s solar capital.
Solar power: Queensland city Bundaberg has more solar energy systems installed than any other place DARYL PASSMORE THE SUNDAY MAIL (QLD) JUNE 07, 2015
Bundaberg now has a new claim to fame — as Queensland’s solar capital. The subtropical city has more rooftop photovoltaic solar energy systems installed than any other city or town in the state.
Data from the Clean Energy Regulator reveals that 9400 houses with the postcode 4670 — which includes Bundaberg and Bargara — now have solar systems with a combined output capacity of more than 28 megawatts. “There’s huge demand,’’ Bundaberg Solar managing director Ashley Clark said.
More than 330 days of sunshine a year makes the central Queensland city a perfect place for solar power. “I would put it down to the fact that this is an area with a lot more retirees who are a bit more cautious about where their money goes,’’ Mr Clark said.
It is a trait Bundaberg shares with Hervey Bay and Caloundra, which fill the second and third spots on the list. Mr Clark said demand was now so strong that residents were having trouble getting approval from Ergon to connect to the electricity network….
- The regional feed-in tariff is now 6.5¢ , while householders in the Energex area have to negotiate a rate with power companies. The Palaszczuk Government says a new Queensland Productivity Commission will set a fair feed-in rate……
Australian Greens Senator for Queensland Larissa Waters said the state’s residents were collectively saving $214 million on electricity bills a year by embracing solar.
Queensland leads the country with 433,770 of the 1,393,526 solar installations nationwide. A quarter of houses in the state now have rooftop solar panels. Queensland Energy Minister Mark Bailey says the state has a target of one million homes having rooftop solar panels by 2020. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/solar-power-queensland-city-bundaberg-has-more-solar-energy-systems-installed-than-any-other-place/story-fnn8dlfs-1227386107531
Nuclear waste warning to Idaho could be a warning to South Australia
Virtually everyone involved in trying to solve this country’s nuclear waste problem recognizes a key impediment: No one trusts the federal government’s ability, or even its intention, to live up to its commitments. The current situation is a perfect illustration. The government gave the go-ahead to practices that might make nuclear waste even more difficult to handle.
Beatrice Brailsford: Nuclear waste deal wrong for Idaho http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/jun/07/beatrice-brailsford–nuclear-waste-deal-wrong-for/
At the beginning of 2015, the U.S. Department of Energy succeeded in wresting a preliminary agreement from Idaho’s governor and attorney general to allow two shipments of “research quantities” of commercial-spent nuclear fuel into Idaho. The proposal, if implemented, will almost certainly open the state to substantially more nuclear waste in the near future.
Imports of commercial-spent fuel are banned by the 1995 Settlement Agreement, which was reached after decades of nuclear waste shipments into Idaho raised opposition throughout the state. The framework for research quantities of spent fuel was set in a 2011 memorandum of agreement between the Idaho National Laboratory and the state.
The new deal – two 25-rod shipments within the year – immediately raised concerns about lowering Idaho’s shield against more nuclear waste. But the DOE and contractor Battelle countered with the assurance that the quantities involved were oh-so-small: about 100 pounds per shipment. Even so, former Idaho Govs. Cecil Andrus and Phil Batt spoke out against the new move. As Batt said, “You take an ounce of the waste from the federal government, they want to give you 10,000 pounds. And they always say they’ll move it out, but they won’t.”
In round numbers, Batt’s words were both a statement of fact and a prophecy undoubtedly already known to key players in Idaho. Continue reading
Australia Mass Surveillance ‘Among Most Aggressive’
5 June 2015
Mr Greenwald said he was planning reports based on documents on Australian intelligence operations
Australia conducts one of the world’s most aggressive mass surveillance programmes, US journalist Glenn Greenwald has said.
Mr Greenwald was one of the reporters who broke the 2013 story on internet surveillance by the UK and US.
He told broadcaster ABC that Australia was “probably the country that has got away with things the most” following those revelations.
But he said “we intend to change” that, implying there could be further leaks.
Mr Greenwald was speaking on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Lateline programme on Thursday night via videolink from Rio de Janeiro.
He said Australia was “one of the most aggressive countries that engage in mass surveillance as a member of the Five Eyes Partnership”, a reference to the intelligence network established by Australia, US, UK, New Zealand and Canada.
“There are…
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Australia trashes its international reputation, in its adoration of coal
Australia stands out as a major recipient of overseas public finance for coal and coal seam gas projects, grabbing some $3.96 billion of public financing from overseas governments.
Through Australia’s own Export Finance and Investment Corporation, the country financed some $1.39billion between 2009 and 2014 for coal industry projects.
But as Paris draws nearer, is Australia willing to sacrifice its international reputation and the future state of its own climate on the alter of coal?
Will Australia continue to sacrifice its international reputation on the altar of coal?, Guardian 7 June 15 Graham Readfearn Arguments that coal is the answer to poverty are based on “implausible economics with unsubstantiated evidence” says report led by Kofi Annan. We’re now well passed the halfway point on the long road to Paris and a new global climate agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Australia took its turn to defend its domestic policies and targets during United Nations talks in Germany yesterday,
You can hear the whole exchange on the UN website but in short, Australian representatives insisted that it had the policies in place to meet its “not credible” target to cut emissions by five per cent by 2020 from 2000 levels.
Just to be clear, the Australian delegation didn’t describe the target as “not credible” – that came from the government’s own Climate Change Authority back in 2013.
Australia also talked-up its Direct Action climate policy – a measure that asks taxpapers to pay for emissions reductions and leaves fossil fuel companies unaffected.
Australia’s real self-interest Continue reading
Australian MPs allowed to see top-secret trade deal text but can’t reveal contents for four years
Lenore Taylor
2nd June 2015
Exclusive: Politicians told they could view the current Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiating text if they signed a four-year confidentiality provision
Demonstrators protest against the legislation to give US President Barack Obama fast-track authority to advance trade deals, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), during a protest march on Capitol Hill in Washington on 21 May.
Demonstrators protest against the legislation to give US President Barack Obama fast-track authority to advance the Trans-Pacific Partnership during a protest march in Washington on 21 May. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Australian politicians have been told they can view the current confidential negotiating text for the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, but only if they agree not to divulge anything they see for four years, despite expectations the deal could be finalised within months.
As 10 years of highly secret negotiations over the 12-nation trade and investment pact draw to a close and…
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Maurice Newman – a dangerous and deluded adviser to Australia’s Prime Minister?
Maurice Newman: Sleepwalking into sovereignty loss
If the green zealots of the UN get their way, we will be governed from Geneva.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/cartoons/sleepwalking-into-a-loss-of-national-sovereignty/story-e6frg6zx-1227387305726
Australia’s economy will benefit from citting emissions – Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger tells Australia cutting emissions is good economics, Guardian 6 June 15 Actor and former governor of California describes claims that climate action hurts the economy as ‘a bunch of nonsense’ and urges all countries to cooperate Arnold Schwarzenegger is apparently on a mission to terminate the myth that protecting the environment hurts the economy.The actor and former politician is in Australia to promote his new film Terminator Genisys, the first a planned new trilogy for the popular movie franchise.
During his stint as governor of California between 2003 and 2011, Schwarzenegger passed the first emissions trading scheme in the United States.He has said all countries, including Australia, need to lift their game when it comes to tackling climate change.
“In order for us to be successful the whole world has to work together … Australia, Austria, the US – everybody has to work together,” Schwarzenegger told Channel Ten’s The Project on Friday night. “So I am on a mission, I’m on an environmental crusade to go and motivate everyone to go in that direction.”
Schwarzenegger said after California introduced tough new environmental laws the state’s economic growth well outpaced the national rate.
“The thing that you always hear when you do that is ‘this will hurt the economy’,” he said.“Going green and protecting the environment did not hurt the economy, it’s a bunch of nonsense.”……http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jun/06/arnold-schwarzenegger-tells-australia-cutting-emissions-is-good-economics
The radiation-caused cancer toll that hit Hollywood and the ‘Downwinders’
Hollywood and the downwinders still grapple with nuclear fallout, Guardian, Rory Carroll , 6 June 15 The US turned swathes of desert radioactive during the cold war and denied it, bequeathing a medical mystery that still haunts Hollywood and rural Mormon communities and raises the question: how much do you trust the government? “…………….Last week, half a century later, Rebecca Barlow, a nurse practitioner at theRadiation Exposure Screening and Education Program (RESEP), which operates from the Dixie Regional Medical Center in St George, now a prosperous little city with an airport, leafed through her patient records. “More than 60% of this year’s patients are new,” she said. “Mostly breast and thyroid, also some leukaemia, colon, lung.”
This is a story about cancer. About how the United States turned swathes of the desert radioactive during the cold war and denied it, bequeathing a medical mystery which to this day haunts Hollywood and rural Mormon communities and raises a thorny question: how much should you trust the government? Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 