Nuclear waste dump for Kimba, or Sally’s Flat?
Nuclear waste dump in Kimba goes ‘against the grain’ The Australian Australian Conservation Foundation national nuclear campaigner Dave Sweeney said the organisation would offer its support to any local communities concerned about the prospect of living near the facility. He welcomed Mr Frydenberg’s commitment to …(subscribers only)
Top tourist town in nuclear dump zone dailytelegraph.com.au A SMALL town 260km west of Sydney could become the dumping ground for two Olympic-size swimming pools of nuclear waste under a Federal Government proposal. Sally’s Flat in central west NSW is one of six towns short-listed to house a national ...(subscribers only)
‘Ethical investing’ surges as activists ramp up corporate campaigns
A surge in ethical investing is taking hold in Australia as investors try and stop companies from to engaging in controversial activities, analysts say …
Recent campaigns have also targeted environmental issues including coal mining near the Great Barrier Reef.
The Commonwealth Bank, Australia’s largest bank, has been targeted repeatedly by groups including 350.org for investing in coal mining.
Analysts say investor divestment from coal mining could be due to plummeting coal prices rather than ethics-based decisions.
“The interesting thing to be aware of is they are slowly but surely withdrawing [from coal mine investment],” Mr Lucas said.
“Now, whether or not it comes down to the protests you’re seeing physically or if whether or not it’s just their ethical investment is up for debate.”http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-12/ethical-investing-activists-target-controversial-companies/6927650
Nuclear news this week in Australia
Latest news is all about Lucas Heights nuclear wastes soon to arrive back from France. Many Australians do not realise that this is an exception to Australian law that makes it illegal to import nuclear waste. France took it to process, on condition that the resultant radioactive trash returns to Australia.
RADIOACTIVE TRASH:
- Govt releases 6 sites short-listed for Lucas Heights nuclear wastes returning from France.
- Scrutiny on the Australian govt’s plan for Lucas Heights nuclear waste.
- Govt announcement of South Australian sites for Lucas Heights wastes: is this a Trojan horse for international waste import plan?
- Yami Lester, victim of nuclear testing urges communities to fight nuclear waste dumping.
- Residents near Sally’s Flat, NSW, appalled at their area as potential radioactive trash site.
- Australian govt avoiding opposition from Aboriginals, as it selects nuclear waste dump sites.
- Why interim storage at Lucas Heights is the least worst solution for returning nuclear wastes.
- A Non-Reactor Future for Lucas Heights.
Nuclear fuel leasing – not economically viable for Australia.
University College London in Adelaide is key player/driver in South Australia nuclear push. Australia’s demonstrated incompetence on dealing with radioactive trash.
Uranium to India: Australian govt: slap in the face for its own Standing Committee, on uranium sales to India.
CLIMATE CHANGE. Malcolm Turnbull all tied up over Climate Change and Paris Conference. Australia’s obligations to Pacific climate migrants. Australia’s ’empty promises’ on phasing out fossil fuel subsidies. Pope’s climate cardinal to visit Australia.
Yami Lester, victim of nuclear testing urges communities to fight nuclear waste dumping
SA Government ‘open’ to nuclear waste dump proposal despite previous opposition: Weatherill, ABC News, 13 Nov 15, “…… Greens MP Mark Parnell said he wanted to see more detail on the proposal, but was suspicious of the agenda from Canberra. He was concerned accepting a site in South Australia could lead to the storage of high level radioactive waste.
“It’s no surprise that the Federal Government has its eyes on South Australia for its nuclear waste dump,” Mr Parnell said. “But what will worry people in this state is whether this is a precursor to a high level radioactive waste dump.”…
Indigenous man Yami Lester, from Mintabie in the APY Lands, said the state and federal governments should not mine uranium, let alone store it.
Mr Lester was blinded from a radiation fallout in 1953 when the British and Australian governments conducted uranium testing near his community, west of Coober Pedy.
“It was terrible. Some older people died, I went blind and my cousin went blind, skin rash, diarrhoea and all that sickness,” he said.
“We had no treatment at all, the hospital nearest the clinic was 160 kilometres [away] at Ernabella, and we were sitting here, no doctor nothing.
“That’s why I’m scared of the government mining uranium. Better to leave it under the ground. Don’t touch it.”
Mr Lester urged the communities close to the proposed waste sites to fight against the dumps.
He said the state and federal government should learn from past mistakes.
“I don’t agree with [experts] at all. The Australian Government and the South Australian Government, people haven’t learnt from the mistakes that happened overseas, in Germany, Japan they haven’t learned from that,” he said…..http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-13/sa-govt-consider-nuclear-waste-proposal-royal-commission/6937530
NATIONAL NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP IN SA: TROJAN HORSE FOR AN INTERNATIONAL NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP?
13 Nov 15 The Federal Government has released the shortlist of six sites for the location of a national radioactive waste dump. Three of these sites are in South Australia.
Friends of the Earth Adelaide is cautious about the Federal Governments genuine commitment to a voluntary site nomination and selection process.
“The test will be how the government handles community opposition, how inclusive and transparent the site selection process will be, and how it will handle the issue of existing South Australian legislation banning the establishment of a nuclear waste dump,” said Nectaria Calan of Friends of the Earth Adelaide.
The National Radioactive Waste Management Act 2012, the Act governing the site selection process, over-rides existing state legislation prohibiting the establishment of a nuclear waste dump.
“Will the Federal Government impose a nuclear waste dump on states that have legislated against it, or communities that do not want it?” asked Ms Calan.
“The location of a waste dump cannot simply be decided through individual nominations,” said Ms Calan. “It affects the wider community, particularly those in close proximity to the site. Radioactive contamination knows no property boundaries. The principle of voluntarism extends beyond the individual where an action has wider ramifications,” continued Ms Calan.
“There is yet to be an independent inquiry into all our radioactive waste management options, so the nominations process is premature,” said Ms Calan.
Additionally, here in South Australia the Royal Commission into the Nuclear Fuel Cycle is considering the feasibility of an international nuclear waste dump. “Will a national nuclear waste repository in SA be the trojan horse for an international high level nuclear waste dump down the track?” asked Ms Calan.
“Rather than considering existing nuclear waste in Australia as an intractable problem, the SA government and some proponents of the nuclear industry seem to consider radioactive waste a business opportunity and want to import it, astounding given that so far globally there has been no success in establishing even one facility for the long term storage of high level waste.”
“ The one deep underground repository for intermediate level waste that does exist, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico, saw an incident in February last year where a waste barrel exploded, leading to an aboveground release of airborne radiation, after only 15 years in operation,” said Ms Calan. “According to the US Department of Energy, twenty-two workers tested positive to low-level radiation exposure.”
Friends of the Earth Adelaide has serious concerns regarding the regulatory framework that may be applied to a nuclear waste dump in South Australia, whether national or international.
“BHP Billiton, operator of the Olympic dam mine, is exempt from key regulating legislation in SA, including the Freedom of Information Act, and parts of the Radiation Protection and Control Act and the Environmental Protection Act. With such a precedent here in SA for the regulation of the nuclear industry, where is the guarantee that other nuclear projects such as a nuclear waste dump would not also be exempt from laws regulating radiation, environmental protection, and transparency?” asked Ms. Calan.
Scrutiny on the Australian govt’s plan for Lucas Heights nuclear waste
Community consent must be forthcoming and it must be informed consent. Defining the relevant affected community can be fraught. For example, people living on transport routes clearly have an interest but are rarely given a say. Several states and territories − indeed all four of the short-listed states and territories − have legislation banning the imposition of nuclear waste repositories. The nomination of sites in those jurisdictions suggests the federal government may be willing to ignore or override legislative bans.
An immediate problem is that visits to affected communities by government officials may not be illuminating or helpful. Government officials will insist the waste is safe and communities will wonder why it isn’t buried beneath Parliament House − or at a local landfill − if the waste is as safe as the government insists it is.
the government should go back to the drawing-board and ask whether a remote repository is needed at all. About 95 per cent of the waste is securely stored at two locations: the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation’s Lucas Heights site in southern Sydney, and Defence Department land near Woomera in SA. There is no obvious reason why that waste should be moved.
Government must learn from past mistakes on nuclear waste Anica Niepraschk & Jim Green, 13 Nov 2015, Climate Spectator www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2015/11/13/policy-politics/government-must-learn-past-mistakes-nuclear-waste
After failed attempts to impose a national nuclear waste repository in South Australia and the Northern Territory, the federal government has embarked on its latest attempt to find a site.
To its credit, the government has learnt from past mistakes. Instead of attempting to impose a repository (to be precise, a repository for low-level waste and an above-ground store for intermediate-level waste), the government called for land-owners to nominate potential sites. The two-month nomination period ended in May. That was followed by a desk-top study to evaluate the sites’ suitability according to a number of social, environmental and economic factors. Twenty-eight sites were put forward and six made the short-list: three in SA and one each in NSW, Queensland and the NT.
The announcement of the short-list will now be followed by a public consultation period, then detailed site characterisation studies to further assess the suitability of the sites. An announcement of a preferred (but not yet selected) site will be made in mid-2016 at the earliest.
A community compensation package of up to $10 million is on offer − a pittance considering the repository would be operational for around 300 years and hazardous for thousands of years beyond that.
Two of the SA sites are near Kimba, 150 km west of Port Augusta. It is agricultural land and there is overwhelming opposition from local farmers. The South Australian debate also feeds into a debate as to whether the state might offer itself up as the world’s nuclear waste dump, accepting high-level nuclear waste from power reactors around the world. Despite extravagant claims about the potential revenue stream from high-level nuclear waste, less than one in six South Australians support the proposal.
A strong coalition of Aboriginal communities and civil society organisations in South Australia has already clearly announced its opposition to hosting a nuclear waste repository and is prepared to follow in the footsteps of the Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta, senior Aboriginal women who successfully prevented a repository being foisted on their land from 1998−2004. Continue reading
A Non-Reactor Future for Lucas Heights
The Australian govt continues to hype the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor, as though
it were some grand asset to this nation. Well, it’s not. It’s major function is ceretainly not medical, as the government would have you believe.
Indeed, is its major function an excuse to justify the toxic nuclear fuel chain?.
Friends of The Earth, Jim Green, 1. Summary
* most of the work at ANSTO’s Lucas Heights facility does not depend on the operation of a reactor.
* a good case can be made for greater investment in non-reactor technologies/programs at Lucas Heights.
* pursuit of a non-reactor future for ANSTO offers several advantages, including a large reduction in the generation of radioactive waste……
4. Research reactors are yesterday’s technology:
“The future direction of nuclear medicine lies with cyclotron produced products and accelerators. …
Over half of all research reactors ever built have been closed and the number in operation continues to decline…. the number of cyclotrons in operation continues to increase. Some multipurpose research reactors are being replaced by reactors, but most are not being replaced or are being replaced by non-reactor technologies..
6. Alternatives to a domestic reactor for medical isotope supply:
Ongoing reliance on existing cyclotrons in Australia, plus a greater reliance on imports, is a perfectly viable alternative to a domestic reactor.. http://www.foe.org.au/anti-nuclear/issues/oz/lh
Residents near Sally’s Flat, NSW, appalled at their area as potential radioactive trash site
Locals frightened by ‘appalling’ prospect of living near nuclear waste dump http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2015/s4351066.htm Michael Edwards reported this story on Friday, November 13, 2015 Earlier this year landholders were invited to nominate land for the facility that will house almost all of Australia’s nuclear waste material. Sally’s Flat, north of Bathurst in central west New South Wales, is one of the areas that has been short-listed. Locals say they’re appalled at the prospect of living near a nuclear dump.
Michael Edwards reports.
MICHAEL EDWARDS: Twenty-eight landowners nominated their properties as a potential site for a nuclear waste dump. The Federal Government has whittled that list down to six potential areas – three in South Australia, one in the Northern Territory, one in Queensland and one in New South Wales.
Sally’s Flat, in the western New South Wales, is one of the places. It’s an area renowned for producing world-class wool.
LINO ALVAREZ: It’s a very fine place. There’s no industries here as such. Everybody works on the land.
MICHAEL EDWARDS: Lino Alvarez lives in Hill End, the nearest town to Sally’s Flat which is about ten kilometres away. The suggestion the area could be home to a nuclear waste dump scares him.
LINO ALVAREZ: It’s a disgusting proposition that in a lovely part of the world in which people come and enjoy from cities like Sydney, it will be a danger to everything. Continue reading
Govt releases 6 sites short-listed for Lucas Heights nuclear wastes returning from France etc
Six sites shortlisted for Australia’s first permanent nuclear waste dump revealed, SMH November 13, 2015 James Massola Political correspondent
The Turnbull government has finally released a shortlist of six sites that are in the running to host Australia’s first permanent nuclear waste dump for low-level and intermediate waste.
The six sites have been chosen from 28 voluntarily nominated sites around Australia and are at Sallys Flat in NSW, Hale in the Northern Territory, Cortlinye, Pinkawillinie and Barndioota in South Australia and Oman Ama in Queensland.
Following release of the much-anticipated shortlist, locals who live in the six locations will now be consulted over the next four months about what will eventually be a remote, 100-hectare site.
Resources Minister Josh Frydenberg said Australians should embrace the eventual construction of a permanent facility as it would allow Australian to continue to enjoy the benefits of nuclear medicine, for example………
“This is completely independent from the nuclear fuel cycle royal commission process underway in South Australia.”
Australia has the equivalent of about two Olympic-sized swimming pools of low-level nuclear waste at 100 sites across the country and the facility will store this waste, as well as low and intermediate-level radioactive waste from the Lucas Heights facility in Sydney.
The waste includes laboratory items such as paper, plastic and glassware, material from medical treatment and even radioactive soil………
Mr Frydenberg cautioned that under current legislation, “Australia can’t take another country’s waste” and thus, the possible expansion of the industry was not at this stage possible.
Australian-produced waste that had been sent to France, the US and Britain between 1996 and 2009 is due to be returned to Australia under international agreement, with a load from France currently enroute back to Australia and due to arrive at Port Kembla later this month. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/six-sites-shortlisted-for-australias-first-permanent-nuclear-waste-dump-revealed-20151112-gkx8mo.html
Trans Pacific Partnership will overrule climate action laws
Trans-Pacific Partnership deal “an act of climate 
denial” http://www.nationalobserver.com/2015/11/10/news/trans-pacific-partnership-deal-act-climate-denial By Charles Mandel If a climate change policy interferes with a corporation’s business, under the terms of the recently signed, secretive TPP deal, the corporation could sue a state government.
“The TPP is an act of climate denial,” said Jason Kowalski, the U.S. policy director at 350.org.
“It denies the scientific imperative to leave fossil fuels in the ground by granting corporations incredible powers over the sovereign right of countries to fight climate change on their own.”
At issue is the investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism included in the trade deal. ISDS’s allow foreign investors to use a secret tribunal to launch a lawsuit if they believe government actions might affect their future profits.
The TPP could limit a country’s ability to put in place any agreement it reaches at the Paris climate change summit because of concerns over lawsuits, according to Pierre-Yves Serinet, coordinator of the Quebec Network on Continental Integration.
“It creates a chill effect on the state to even create those policies,” he told National Observer, noting that 70 per cent of all the cases in trade deals involve ISDS attacks on environmental policies. Continue reading
South Australia to face nuclear dump threat again
13 November 2015 Conservation SA today expressed its concern about the short-listing of three sites in SA for a national nuclear waste repository.
Chief Executive Craig Wilkins said: “South Australians clearly rejected earlier plans to host a national nuclear waste dump and that widespread community opposition is expressed in state legislation − the Nuclear Waste Storage Facility (Prohibition) Act.
“Conservation SA is concerned that affected communities will have insufficient time and resources to engage in the public consultation process. Just because a landowner has offered their property doesn’t mean the wider region, including those places along transport routes, are in favour.
“The SA Government has an obligation to support those communities who oppose a waste dump being imposed on them.
“The hosting of a national nuclear waste dump raises serious risks well beyond the dump-site. For example, when this idea was previously proposed, the then Howard government acknowledged a 23% risk of one truck accident moving the entire national waste inventory to SA.
“There are credible alternative options for radioactive waste management. That includes the option of ongoing waste storage at the Lucas Heights site, south of Sydney.
“Conservation SA is concerned that hosting a national nuclear waste dump will open the door for vastly more hazardous high-level nuclear waste from nuclear power reactors around the world.
“A nuclear waste dump is illegal in South Australia. There are huge reputational risks for our state. It is essential that the South Australian community is given a genuine opportunity to say no if we decide we don’t want one here,” he said.
India’s nukes: liability for foreign suppliers may now be entirely removed, not just diluted
liability for foreign suppliers may now be entirely removed, not just diluted.
In his one and a half year in office, Modi hasn’t demonstrated any particular penchant for consistency, but this would be his most dangerous U-turn, imperilling millions of innocent Indian lives.
Who will be liable for an Indian Fukushima? Nobody, it seems, Catch 
News, KUMAR SUNDARAM@pksundaram|10 November 2015
- India to entirely exempt foreign nuclear suppliers from liability – AEC said last week
- Who will be responsible in case of an accident then?
What breakthrough!
- There was a Indo-US breakthrough on N-liability – Modi last week
- Can a complete exemption from liability be called a breakthrough? Continue reading
Podcast: ‘Renewables not Radioactive ‘ forum Port Augusta, South Australia
Tune in to powerful speeches from members of ANFA on Rad Show this week!
Podcast from www.3cr.org.au, under ‘Radioactive Show’
Featuring recordings taken at the ‘Renewables not Radioactive ‘ forum held in the Port Augusta, South Australia, on 19th October 2015. Listen to an eloquent summary of Australia’s history of struggle against remote radioactive waste dumping, up to the present push, as outlined by Dave Sweeney from the Australian Conservation Foundation. Hear Gillian and Enice Marsh, both Adnyamathanha women, dissect misleading ‘community engagment’ approaches taken by corporations and government when consulting with Indigenous peoples. Plus passionate comments made from audience members at the forum.
Australian govt avoiding opposition from Aboriginals, as it selects nuclear waste dump sites
Is the Australian government in a hurry to reassure Sydney residents about the nuclear waste dump, and also scared of the potential powerful opposition by Aboriginal people? Australia is contractually bound to take back these wastes from France.
Native titles extinguished Significantly, native title has been extinguished on all the shortlisted sites.
Six areas make shortlist for nuclear waste storage, AFR, by Laura Tingle, 13 Nov 15, South Australia appears to be the most likely home for nuclear waste storage after the Turnbull government shortlisted six sites for a facility to store low-level radioactive waste.
Resources Minister Josh Frydenberg unveiled the list of six sites arising from a process in which landowners voluntarily nominated their land. A final decision is expected by the end of next year after long community consultations.
The six shortlisted sites are at locations near Sally’s Flat in NSW; Hale in the Northern Territory; Cortlinye, Pinkawillinie and Barndioota in South Australia; and Oman Ama in Queensland….
The federal low-level waste storage proposal is separate from the [South Australia Nuclear Fuel Chain Royal Commission] scheme originally raised by a nuclear energy inquiry commissioned by the Howard government – and recently canvassed by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull – that would see Australian uranium exported and ultimately brought back as high-level waste…….. Continue reading
Australian govt: slap in the face for its own Standing Committee, on uranium sales to India
Australia Ignores Red Light On Uranium Exports To India, http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/dave-sweeney/government-fails-india-ur_b_8547542.html?utm_hp_ref=australia Huffington Post, Dave Sweeney 13/11/2015, The federal government has delivered a stiff slap in the face to due process and evidence-based policy development by ignoring an unambiguous red light on planned uranium sales to India.
It was only two months ago that the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties delivered a well-considered report into the controversial plan to sell Australian uranium to India. The government-controlled Committee identified a number of practical steps needed to address safety, security and legal uncertainty around the deal.
Importantly the committee’s report clearly recommended against uranium sales at this time or under the current terms of the Australia-India Nuclear Co-operation Agreement, and outlined a series of pre-conditions required before any future sales to India.
These include the full separation of military and civil nuclear facilities, the establishment of an independent nuclear regulatory authority, a review of the adequacy and independence of the regulatory framework, IAEA verification that inspections of nuclear facilities are of best practice standard, improved decommissioning and radioactive waste planning and more.
But, earlier this week, the government chose to ignore these recommendations — emphatically stating that “the Government does not accept the Committee’s recommendation that exports of uranium to India should be deferred.” Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 