Nuclear lobby claims that Australia will hold Parliamentary Inquiry into nuclear power, especially small modular reactors
Australian parliament to launch nuclear energy inquiry. http://world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Australian-parliament-to-launch-nuclear-energy-inq, 02 August 2019
Australia’s Energy Minister Angus Taylor has asked the House Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy to investigate the nuclear fuel cycle, Committee Chairman Ted O’Brien announced today
“This will be the first inquiry into the use of nuclear energy in Australia in more than a decade and I believe it’s the first time the Australian Parliament has ever undertaken such an inquiry,” O’Brien, who is Member of Parliament for Fairfax in Queensland, said. He will be tasked with leading the inquiry after the ministerial request is considered and adopted by the committee.
In a letter to O’Brien, Taylor said the inquiry will consider the economic, environmental and safety implications of nuclear power. The minister has specifically asked the committee to inquire into and report on “the circumstances and prerequisites necessary for any future government’s consideration of nuclear energy generation including small modular reactor technologies in Australia”.
The terms of reference for the inquiry include: waste management, transport and storage; health and safety; environmental impacts; energy affordability and reliability; economic feasibility; community engagement; workforce capability; security implications; national consensus; and “any other relevant matter”.
“Australia’s energy systems are changing with new technologies, changing consumer demand patterns and changes in demand load from major industries,” the context for the inquiry notes. “At the same time the National Electricity Market is seeing a significant increase in capacity in intermittent low emissions generation technologies.” The country’s bipartisan moratorium on nuclear electricity generation – which has been maintained by successive Labor and Coalition governments – will remain in place, it said.
The inquiry will have regard to previous inquiries into the nuclear fuel cycle, including South Australia’s 2016 Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission and the 2006 Review of Uranium Mining Processing and Nuclear Energy in Australia, which is also known as the Switkowski report after its lead author Ziggy Switkowski.
The minister has requested that the committee completes the inquiry and delivers its report by the end of this year.
Letters to The Advertiser responding to pr nuclear article
Power grid strong
KYM Bray is wrong (“Need base power”, The Advertiser, 31/7/19).
We now have a firmer electricity grid without a supply of coal or nuclear power in this state compared to when the 2016 blackout occurred.
There is more competition from batteries and renewable generation achieved at lower cost than “new” coal, let alone nuclear generation. Neither of the latter are bankable.
Hopes nuclear may offer a significant, timely or cost-effective fix for climate change are false. Most experts say firming up an increasingly renewables-based grid, as the State Government is doing, is the way to achieve the trifecta of energy stability, affordability and emissions reduction.
JIM ALLEN, Panorama
Lighting the way
RENEWABLE power coupled with storage, such as big batteries, and pumped hydro are perfectly capable of keeping the lights on 24/7 despite suggestions otherwise.
Private businesses are getting on with the business of constructing them. It is not correct that the carbon tax was a disaster. It started achieving its aim of a significant reduction in carbon-dioxide emissions, and these emissions have now been rising since Tony Abbott axed the tax.
It looks like there is no way we will reach the Paris Agreement despite Scott Morrison’s insistence we will. Nuclear or coal power would not stop electricity failure such as the widespread South Australian blackout of 2016. That was caused by a storm knocking down powerlines.
No electricity can be conducted through broken power lines, whether it be coal, nuclear, wind or solar.
R. WOOD, Valley View
Energy focus shift
IT was a mere two or three years ago that a war of words was raging in these pages between advocates for renewable energy and defenders of coal.
Lately, it seems the coal apologists have turned their attention to nuclear energy.
What is it that makes them hate renewables so much?
I’ll tell you – ideology. They simply can’t support something that aligns with “green” values. Not even if it makes good economic sense. No matter. Renewable energy projects have taken off and will continue to soar because the business community knows how to recognise a winner.
C. FAULKNER, Cheltenham
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad may allow Lynas to dispose of rare earths radioactive wastes in Malaysia
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Lynas prepares waste disposal plan at behest of Malaysian PM, Brisbane Times, By Colin Kruger, August 1, 2019 Lynas Corp said it is scouting locations for a permanent disposal facility (PDF) in Malaysia for its controversial radioactive waste the day after Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad suggested this is the compromise that will secure its licence to operate in the country beyond September 2.Dr Mahathir signalled on Thursday that his government has dropped its demand for Lynas to ship its radioactive waste out of the country in order for it to secure a licence renewal, but it is not clear whether his ruling coalition has formally agreed to the decision.
In a statement to the media on Thursday, Dr Mahathir said the government was waiting on the rare earths group’s plan to set up a permanent disposal facility in Malaysia for the 450,000 tonnes of low level radioactive waste ahead of a licence renewal deadline. The rare earths producer’s shares jumped 6.32 per cent to $2.69 on Friday. “We are giving this condition to Lynas that they should have a plan for dealing with the waste,” Dr Mahathir told reporters. “We are waiting for them to tell us how they will do that, whether they find a place where they can deposit the waste or not.” In a statement to the ASX on Friday, Lynas welcomed the comments, which indicate that export of its waste is no longer a condition of licence renewal……. https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/companies/lynas-prepares-waste-disposal-plans-at-behest-of-malaysian-pm-20190801-p52d3g.html |
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Australian govt ignored nomination panel, appointed uranium industry’s Vanessa Guthrie to ABC Board
Documents show Coalition government passed over some of Australia’s most eminent cultural figures to appoint Vanessa Guthrie, Guardian, Margaret Simons, Sat 3 Aug 2019 The government passed over some of Australia’s most eminent cultural figures in order to appoint a mining executive to the ABC board in 2017, despite the fact that she was not recommended by an independent selection process.Documents released under freedom of information legislation show that in February 2017, the government rejected singer, writer and director Robyn Archer, former managing director of SBS Shaun Brown, and Sandra Levy, former chief executive of the Australian Film, Television and Radio School.
They were on a list of eight names recommended by an independent nomination panel after an extensive application and vetting process. The then communications minister, Mitch Fifield, instead appointed the chair of the Minerals Council of Australia, Vanessa Guthrie.
Guthrie had no media experience. At the time, the ABC was facing constant government criticism over its reporting on the coalmining industry and energy security.
Guthrie had also been through the application process but was not recommended for appointment. Fifield’s press release at the time said that while Guthrie had not been recommended, she “was identified by the government as having the requisite skills”.
However, until now, we have not known who was passed over in Guthrie’s favour.
Robyn Archer – singer, writer, director and public advocate for the arts, as well as the former artistic director of the Adelaide and Melbourne international arts festivals.
• Shaun Brown – former managing director of SBS for four years from 2006. Before that, a reporter, presenter, producer and senior executive with Television New Zealand.
• Sandra Levy – former CEO of the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, former head of drama at Zapruder’s Other Films, former director of development at Channel Nine and, before that, director of television at the ABC.
• Emile Sherman – Academy award-winning film producer, known for his work on the films The Kings Speech, Lion and Shame. Co-founder and managing director of See-Saw Films.
• John M Green – publisher, novelist, former executive director of an investment bank, business writer and commentator, member of the governing council of the National Library of Australia.
Georgie Somerset was also on the list recommended by the board, and was appointed with Guthrie. She is a Queensland cattle farmer with board experience across the not-for-profit sector.
An eighth recommended person’s name has not been released at their request. …….
Out of the current nine-member ABC board, five were appointed by the government despite not being recommended through the independent process. As well as Buttrose and Guthrie, the others are company director Dr Kirstin Ferguson (appointed 2015), businesswoman Donny Walford (2015) and businessman Joseph Gersh (2018).
The revelation of the rejected February 2017 applicants is the result of a 22-month battle. The original freedom of information request was lodged in October 2017…….. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/aug/03/abc-board-secret-shortlist-of-candidates-ignored-in-favour-of-mining-executive-revealed?CMP=share_btn_tw
South Australian Labor – too pro environment ?
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Our own base rejected us”: Labor warned on ‘pro-environment’ agenda, InDaily, Tom Richardson @tomrichardson, 2 Aug 19
The ALP’s recent caucus strategy meeting in the Barossa – colloquially known as the ‘Labor Love-In’ – was given detailed analysis of the federal election results in SA, with a breakdown of booths relevant to state seats. Results in the key Liberal-held marginal of Boothby, obtained by InDaily, show strong swings to Labor in more affluent areas, including Hills districts such as Belair and Blackwood, with swings away from the party in more traditional working class booths such as Edwardstown, Ascot Park and South Plympton. Boothby was retained by Nicolle Flint on a 1.4 margin, despite a 1.3 per cent swing against her after a federal boundary redistribution. A Labor insider says the Boothby booth result is indicative of a broader trend seen “in every seat in the country” – which they insist dispels the popular election post-mortem that Labor’s financial reform policies cost them the poll. “The principal conclusion you come to from that data is that there are mild swings in the wealthiest parts of the seat to Labor, and big swings in the working class areas against Labor – that would rather suggest it wasn’t the franking credits that lost us the election,” the source said. “It was something more fundamental – it was our own base that rejected us. “Did they reject us on the franking credits [or a] scare campaign on negative gearing policy? Maybe. “Or did they get the sense that we were more pro-environment than pro-jobs?” That conclusion is one being impressed on Peter Malinauskas’s state caucus, with insiders insisting Boothby “doesn’t augur well for a state result”…….. But ALP insiders aren’t universally convinced that the lesson from the federal result is to eschew a strong climate change agenda, which was a hallmark of Labor’s 16 years in government. …… https://indaily.com.au/news/politics/2019/08/02/our-own-base-rejected-us-labor-warned-on-pro-environment-agenda/ |
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Andrew Bolt’s media attack on Greta Thunberg – Greta’s answer
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Teen activist Greta Thunberg hits back at ‘deeply disturbed’ jibe from Andrew Bolt, SBS News, 2 Aug 19 Sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg has responded to an op-ed written by columnist Andrew Bolt which describes the teenager as ‘deeply disturbed’.
Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg has derided criticism levied at her by conservative commentator Andrew Bolt. Her response follows an opinion piece by the News Corp columnist, labelling the 16-year-old a ‘deeply disturbed’ messiah. In a tweet, Greta returned fire, saying “hate and conspiracy campaigns” around climate change had prompted her strident advocacy action. “I am indeed ‘deeply disturbed’ about the fact that these hate and conspiracy campaigns are allowed to go on,” she tweeted.
“Just because we children communicate and act on the science. Where are the adults?” The Swedish activist’s School Strike for Climate initiative has sparked a worldwide movement calling for greater government action on climate change. She has been nominated for a Nobel peace prize for her campaigning, which has emphasised the need for urgent human action against global warming. But in his opinion piece, Mr Bolt questioned why so many are listening to her “climate panic”. “No teenager is more freakishly influential than Greta Thunberg,” Mr Bolt wrote in his op-ed…… Mr Bolt targeted this unwillingness to “compromise” in his opinion piece. “This allows followers who are tormented with doubt and burden of freedom to relax into her totalitarian certainty,” Mr Bolt wrote. “What is so fascinating about this Thunberg cult is not just that she’s believed so fervently even though she’s wrong.”….. He said it was troubling to him that this “wrong” view was being accepted. …….https://www.sbs.com.au/news/teen-activist-greta-thunberg-hits-back-at-deeply-disturbed-jibe-from-andrew-bolt |
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5 Unknown Nuclear Disasters: Chernobyl Is Far from the Only One
Chernobyl is not the world’s only nuclear disaster, there are plenty of others to keep you up at night., Interesting Engineering, By Marcia Wendorf, 2 Aug 19
The Kyshtym Disaster
In September 1957, Ozyorsk, Russia was a closed city, built around the Mayak plant which produced plutonium for both nuclear weapons and fuel.
After scrambling to build the Mayak plant between 1945 and 1948, all six of its reactors initially dumped high-level radioactive waste directly into Lake Kyzyltash. When it became contaminated, they moved on to dumping into Lake Karachay, which also became contaminated.
In 1968, the Soviet government disguised the EURT area by creating East Ural Nature Reserve, with access allowed to only authorized personnel. Documents describing the disaster were only declassified in 1989.
On the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES), Kyshtym is rated a 6, making it the third-most serious nuclear accident behind only the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and the Chernobyl disaster, which are both Level 7
In 1953, workers built a storage facility for liquid nuclear waste, but that waste was being heated by residual decay heat from the nuclear reaction. The coolers around one of the tanks failed, and on September 29, 1957, that tank exploded with the force of between 70 to 100 tons of TNT.
While there were no immediate casualties, the explosion released an estimated 20 MCi (800 PBq) of radioactivity into the air. A plume containing 2 MCi (80 PBq) of radionuclides, primarily caesium-137 and strontium-90, moved toward the northeast and contaminated an area of more than 52,000 square kilometers (20,000 sq miles).
At least 270,000 people lived in that area, which is referred to as the East-Ural Radioactive Trace (EURT).
In an attempt to maintain secrecy, no evacuation was ordered, but a week later, on October 6, 1957, 10,000 people were removed from their homes.
Estimates of the death toll caused by the accident go from 200 to more than 8,000, depending on the study. A 2001 work stated that the accident caused 66 diagnosed cases of chronic radiation syndrome.
Amazingly, it wasn’t until 18 years later, in 1976, that the full scope of the disaster was disclosed by Zhores Medvedev in the publication the New Scientist.
In 1968, the Soviet government disguised the EURT area by creating East Ural Nature Reserve, with access allowed to only authorized personnel. Documents describing the disaster were only declassified in 1989.
On the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES), Kyshtym is rated a 6, making it the third-most serious nuclear accident behind only the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and the Chernobyl disaster, which are both Level 7.
The Windscale Fire……
Soviet Submarine K-19……
The Goiânia Accident…… One https://interestingengineering.com/5-unknown-nuclear-disasters-chernobyl-is-far-from-the-only-one
Drought-stricken NSW braces for an early bushfire season with not enough water to take them on
Drought-stricken NSW braces for an early bushfire season with not enough water to take them on ABC New England By Jennifer Ingall 2 Aug 19, Firefighters in parched New South Wales face the unenviable predicament of preparing for the impending fire season in a state where 98 per cent is in drought or short on water.
Key points:
- Firefighters brace for a hot summer with depleted water resources
- BOM’s August to October climate outlook suggests a drier than average three months for large parts of Australia
- RFS assures farmers it will replace water used to fight fires
“When you’ve got a drought like that, particularly in bush areas, the fuel is so dry it doesn’t take a lot to get it to burn and burn hot,” acting Rural Fire Service (RFS) deputy commissioner Rob Rogers said.
August was traditionally a cool but windy month, but add to that the dry fuel load and it could be a recipe for disaster.
“So you’ve got the dry fuel and the strong winds — if you add a high temperature, and if we don’t get an easing of the drought through rainfall, then that’s quite concerning going into summer proper,” he said.
Resources already depleted
In the state’s north, the community of Tenterfield does not have enough water to supply the townsfolk, let alone an allocation of the precious resource to fight fires.
The drought has left the town supply with less than 200 days of water, requiring the Tenterfield Council to take the drastic measure of bringing in a temporary desalination plant.
In February this year, the region depleted a lot of its water resources fighting fires.
The RFS pulled water from private dams and even household tanks which then had to be replenished……. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-01/nsw-braces-for-early-bushfires-season-and-lack-of-water/11371540
What Exactly Is Nuclear Weapons ‘No First Use’?
What Exactly Is Nuclear ‘No First Use’? Jalopnik, Kyle Mizokami 2 Aug 19, During the Democratic presidential debates this week, candidates wrestledwith a particularly thorny national security issue: whether they would forsake the use of nuclear weapons first in a conflict. This policy, known as No First Use, is the policy of just a handful of the declared nuclear powers.
Letters to The Advertiser – Store the power
Store the power, MARK SCHUBERT, Glynde, 3 Aug 19
KYM Bray does not believe renewables can supply all our electricity needs, presumably because there are times when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind blow (“Need base power”, The Advertiser, 31/7/19).
For renewables to work full-time, energy needs to be stored.
Present viable energy storage systems are rechargeable batteries; hydrogen, from electrolysis of water; heat (eg hot-water tanks and concentrated solar thermal), and pumped hydro – still the most economical, reliable, long lasting, and efficient bulk-energy storage.
With pumped hydro, water is reused by pumping it uphill using excess power, and then letting it flow back to generate power in times of shortage, as is done now in the Snowy Mountains Scheme in southeast Australia.
Costs of these storage systems are reducing as research continues and mass production ramps up.
I believe we can soon use renewables backed with storage to supply all our electrical power, reliably, economically, and with minimal CO2 emissions. I believe in physics, not fairies, Kym.
US flags new missile test as arms treaty with Russia ends
US flags new missile test as arms treaty with Russia ends, The Age, 3 Aug 19 Washington: With the scrapping of a landmark arms control agreement Friday, the US announced plans to test a new missile amid growing concerns about emerging threats and new weapons. US officials said they are no longer hamstrung and could now develop weapons systems previously banned under the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty with Russia, a Cold War-era agreement that both sides repeatedly accused the other of violating. The treaty was also criticised because it did not cover China or missile technology that did not exist a generation ago.
The end of the treaty comes amid rising doubts about whether the two countries will extend an agreement on long-range nuclear weapons scheduled to expire in 2021. President Donald Trump said he has been discussing a new agreement to reduce nuclear weapons with China and Russia………
Chinese UN Ambassador Zhang Jun on Friday challenged what he said were efforts to make his country “an excuse” for the demise of the treaty: “You know, the United States is saying China should be a party in this disarmament agreement, but I think everybody knows that China is not at the same level with the United States and the Russian Federation.”
The central issue with the INF was that both Russia and the US had long accused the other of cheating on the treaty, which banned land-based missiles of ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometres……..
New START imposes limits on the number of US and Russian long-range nuclear warheads and launchers. The deal was made in 2010, but the limits didn’t take effect until 2018.
Trump has called New START “just another bad deal” made by the Obama administration, and Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, said in June it is unlikely the administration will agree to the five-year extension to New START that the treaty allows and which can be done without legislative action in either capital.
David Wright, co-director of the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said if Trump doesn’t extend or replace New START it will be first time since 1972 that the US and Russia will be “operating without any mutual constraints on their nuclear forces.” ……. https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/us-flags-new-missile-test-as-arms-treaty-with-russia-ends-20190803-p52dih.html
New Zealand shows Australia how it’s done on emissions policy, climate — RenewEconomy
New Zealand to wind back free carbon permits to industrial emitters as Ardern ramps up climate action in preparation for zero-carbon goal. The post New Zealand shows Australia how it’s done on emissions policy, climate appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via New Zealand shows Australia how it’s done on emissions policy, climate — RenewEconomy
Work begins to topple dangerous exhaust stack at Fukushima plant — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs
Dismantling work begins Aug. 1 to slice a highly contaminated exhaust stack into parts at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant complex. A crane hoists a dismantling mechanism to the top of an exhaust stack at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant site. Work begins Aug. 1 to dismantle an […]
via Work begins to topple dangerous exhaust stack at Fukushima plant — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs
“Oops”: Manipulated childhood cancer data hides radiation impact, harms public health protection — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs
It is morally wrong to conceal or manipulate data! Doing so can and will “enshrine the withholding of life-enhancing or life-saving treatment for victims of radiation exposure.” It will also hinder current and future studies into the effects of radiation. July 19, 2019 This article relies heavily on postings at Fukushima Voice version 2e. Revelations […]
August 2 Energy News — geoharvey
Science and Technology: ¶ “Aerosol Emissions May Not Cool The Planet As Much As We Thought” • While humans have been overheating our planet for the last couple of centuries, other forms of our pollution have been quietly offsetting a bit of the damage, helping to cool the climate. But the extent of the cooling […]
Antinuclear 