Kimba nuclear waste dump – a total mishandling of the truth from Australian government.
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IN DAILY – YOUR VIEWS – 25TH FEBRUARY 2020 Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste In The Flinders Ranges
 Leon Ashton, When will the Federal Government finally acknowledge publicly that their process to establish a nuclear waste dump has not worked.? All that they have done to date is to destroy the community bond which is the glue that holds any small community together.They have portrayed the dump to the key communities as a win-win for all.
This they can do easily because they have only told half the story. The good bits.
They have the money to do this as its taxpayers’ money. If the people of South Australia only delved a bit deeper into the nuclear issue, they would soon discover a total mishandling of the truth from our government.
A few unanswered concerns are:
1) Why won’t the department tell the people of Kimba what the CEO of Lucas Heights told the doctor from Hawker in May 2018 that we are lucky to now be receiving intermediate-level waste, because without it there are very little economic benefits to any community.
 2) The department will not tell the community how long the highly dangerous intermediate nuclear waste will be temporarily stored. There are no such plans in place at the present to permanently bury this waste as it is too cost prohibitive to do so. This could easily end up stranded for hundreds of years to come in the centre of Eyre Peninsula. If the government watchdog ARPANSA agrees that it is to remain at Lucas Heights, where does that leave the community.3) Why won’t Sam Chard (Your views, February 19) tell the communities that once legacy waste is collected and stored at the dump, then there will only be about two and a quarter containers annually of low-level waste delivered provided every one chooses to use the dump. This will never provide 45 jobs.
4. A parliamentary enquiry in 2004 in NSW acknowledged it was misleading to the public by ANSTO, rebadging the high-level waste being returned from France and England as intermediate waste.
If Australia has to have a single waste dump for our low and intermediate-level waste then all Australians need to be involved. Not just kept low key on the few hundred citizens that are at present bulldozed into the decision that needs a national answer. https://www.facebook.com/groups/941313402573199/
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The Kimba nuclear waste dump will take a huge toll on the Murray River’s water
Annette Ellen Skipworth No Nuclear Waste Dump Anywhere in South Australia, 25 Feb 20I spent some time as a remote road contractor and I learnt a little bit about roads and site works.
To take the weight of the truck load, a road has to be compacted to gain the strength to take the semi plus the load on the tray.
From asking questions and scouring internet sites, I have found out, the casks containing the high grade nuclear waste.. excuse me ..the intermediate nuclear waste are very very heavy.
It wasn’t advisable to use water that is very salty.. it rises to the top and makes the road slippery.
As Kimba’s only water supply comes from the precious Murray River, and the local underground water is salty and unusable.. where is the water needed coming from?
Whyalla urgently needs a policy to prevent becoming the radioactive trash port
“A question was asked to (Whyalla) council regarding potential use of the port for the transport of intermediate level waste. The response is on the council website under Council Meeting Minutes Monday 17/2/20. There is no current policy.
As a community we should have a policy. We should be standing up on behalf of the divided Kimba community and refuse the use of the port and surrounding roads and rail. It is the responsibility of the council to represent the community, not to bow down and take orders from the state government.” – Mr Andrew Williams.
Link source to Minutes: http://www.whyalla.sa.gov.au/…/council%20minutes%20-%20PUBL…
USA fails to stop G20 finance ministers and central bank governors warning on climate change
 G20 sounds alarm over climate emergency despite US objections,Group’s first ever reference to global heating signals growing economic concerns over climate change, Guardian, Richard Partington Economics correspondent @RJPartington, Mon 24 Feb 2020 The G20 group of the world’s wealthiest nations have agreed for the first time to collectively sound the alarm over the threat to the financial system posed by the climate emergency.Overcoming objections from Donald Trump’s US administration, G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Saudi Arabia over the weekend agreed to issue their first ever communique with references to climate change, according to reports from Reuters.
Sources told the news agency that the statement of priorities included the importance of examining the implications of global heating for financial stability, as part of the work of the G20’s Financial stability Board, the steering group for international banking industry rules. The language represented a compromise to overcome opposition from US officials at the first major meeting of Saudi Arabia’s year-long presidency of the G20, according to the sources. An attempt to include references to the downside risks for global growth posed by the climate crisis was dropped……. The International Monetary Fund included climate-related disasters in a list of the risks facing a highly fragile recovery in the global economy this year. However, the increasing focus comes as US officials resist naming global heating as an economic risk, following Trump’s move at the outset of his presidency to withdraw the world’s largest economy from the Paris climate accords. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/23/g20-sounds-alarm-over-climate-emergency |
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USA at G20 tried to stop any mention of climate change
US blocking mention of climate change in G20 statement, diplomats say Independent UK, ‘Oliver O’Connell, New York, 24 Feb 20,
1 day ago G20 diplomats say the US is against mentioning climate change in the communique of the world’s financial leaders.
A new draft of the joint statement shows the G20 considering including it as a risk factor to growth.
Finance ministers and central bankers from the world’s 20 largest economies are discussing the main challenges to the global economy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this weekend.
G20 sources told Reuters that the US was reluctant to accept language on climate change as a risk to the economy.
The US is represented at the meeting by treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin…….. G20 diplomats say the US is against mentioning climate change in the communique of the world’s financial leaders.
A new draft of the joint statement shows the G20 considering including it as a risk factor to growth. Finance ministers and central bankers from the world’s 20 largest economies are discussing the main challenges to the global economy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this weekend.
U.S. Pentagon toys with a plan to win a “limited nuclear war” against Russia
 US staged ‘limited’ nuclear battle against Russia in war game
The Pentagon has briefed about the simulated exchange in a move that could signal readiness to fight and win nuclear conflict, Guardian, Julian Borger in Washington, Tue 25 Feb 2020 The US conducted a military exercise last week which simulated a “limited” nuclear exchange with Russia, a senior Pentagon official has confirmed.The war game is notable because of the defence department’s highly unusual decision to brief journalists about the details and because it embodied the controversial notion that it might be possible to fight, and win, a battle with nuclear weapons, without the exchange leading to an all-out world-ending conflict. The exercise comes just weeks after the US deployed a new low-yield submarine-launched warhead commissioned by Donald Trump, as a counter to Russian tactical weapons and intended to deter their use. According to a transcript of a background briefing by senior Pentagon officials, the defence secretary, Mark Esper, took part in what was described as a “mini-exercise” at US Strategic Command in Nebraska. Esper played himself in the simulated crisis, in which Russia launched an attack on a US target in Europe…… The official said that “in the course of [the] exercise, we simulated responding with a nuclear weapon”, but described it as a “limited response”. The limited response could suggest the use of a small number of nuclear weapons, or an existing low-yield weapon, or the new W76-2 low-yield submarine-launched missile which was deployed in the Atlantic for the first time at the end of last year. The deployment only became public at the end of January…… The briefing was first reported by National Defense, a trade magazine of the National Defense Industrial Association. Hans Kristensen, the director of the nuclear information project at the Federation of American Scientists, pointed out that it was extremely rare for the Pentagon to give such detailed briefings about nuclear exercises and suggested it could have been a marketing exercise for the new weapons being added to the US arsenal. “Remember, it’s only a few weeks ago that we had the official confirmation that this new low-yield warhead had been deployed,” Kristensen said. “And we’re now moving into a new budget phase where they have to go to Congress and try to justify the next new nuclear weapon that has a low-yield capability which is a sea-launched cruise missile. So all of this has been played up to serve that process.”…… Arms control advocates are concerned that the leadership in both the US and Russia are developing a mindset in which their vast nuclear arsenals are not just the ultimate deterrent but weapons that could be used to win “limited” conflicts. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/24/limited-nuclear-war-game-us-russia |
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Celebrities urge ScottyFromMarketing to to shift from coal to renewable energies.
 Aussie celebrities appeal to Prime Minister on climate policies, https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2020/02/24/greenpeace-celebrities-climate-policies/ Australian celebrities are calling on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to take action on the nation’s energy policies in a campaign aimed at preventing new bushfires.Voices such as actor Simon Baker, musician Julia Stone and footy player Dyson Heppell have appeared in a Greenpeace video released on Monday, ask Scott Morrison to shift from coal to renewable energies.
The new campaign features bushfire survivors and Aussie personalities asking the Prime Minister “what sort of world” he wants his daughters to grow up in as a family man. Imploring Mr Morrison to act so Australia stops “falling behind the rest of world”, the video lists the “unprecedented fires”, “extreme drought” and “flash flooding” that have devastated communities in a “black summer”. The message from the Dear Scotty campaign claims to be directed to “both sides of politics” and calls for “change, unity, and leadership” to tackle the country’s future. “People have lost their lives, families have lost their homes, and koalas have burnt alive all over Australia,” Greenpeace Australia Pacific Senior Campaigner Nathaniel Pelle said. “Everyone is feeling the impacts of this coal-fueled bushfire crisis and we need Scott Morrison to act for their future and the future of all Australians.” |
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#ScottyFromMarketing dodges the question of how much “climate business as usual will cost the economy
Morrison admits there are climate costs, but won’t say what 3C heating would do to economy
Ahead of the release of its technology roadmap, the Coalition tries to ramp up pressure on Labor over its net zero emissions target, Guardian, Katharine Murphy Political editor, @murpharoo, Mon 24 Feb 2020 Scott Morrison has acknowledged there are “costs associated with climate change” but has declined to spell out what 3C heating would do to job creation and economic growth in Australia.
Ahead of the release of its technology roadmap, the federal government is attempting to ramp up political pressure on Labor over its commitment to a net zero target by 2050, blasting the opposition for adopting a target without a fleshed-out strategy to meet it, and pointing out that CSIRO research cited positively by Labor assumes a carbon price of more than $200 to drive the transition.
But the government is also having to fend off sustained questions about basic contradictions in its own messaging…….
While keeping all its options open, the government has been signalling for some days it is unlikely to adopt a 2050 target. …… https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/feb/24/morrison-admits-there-are-climate-costs-but-wont-say-what-3c-heating-would-do-to-economy
New tech takes radiation out of cancer screening
New tech takes radiation out of cancer screening, Science Daily, February 24, 2020, University of Waterloo
- Summary:
- Researchers have developed a new, inexpensive technology that could save lives and money by routinely screening women for breast cancer without exposure to radiation. The system uses harmless microwaves and artificial intelligence (AI) software to detect even small, early-stage tumors within minutes.
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Researchers have developed a new, inexpensive technology that could save lives and money by routinely screening women for breast cancer without exposure to radiation.
The system, developed by researchers at the University of Waterloo, uses harmless microwaves and artificial intelligence (AI) software to detect even small, early-stage tumors within minutes.
“Our top priorities were to make this detection-based modality fast and inexpensive,” said Omar Ramahi, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Waterloo. “We have incredibly encouraging results and we believe that is because of its simplicity.”
A prototype device — the culmination of 15 years of work on the use of microwaves for tumor detection, not imaging — cost less than $5,000 to build.
It consists of a small sensor in an adjustable box about 15 centimetres square that is situated under an opening in a padded examination table………
- In addition to reducing patient wait times and enabling earlier diagnosis, Ramahi said, the device would eliminate radiation exposure, improve patient comfort and work on particularly dense breasts, a problem with mammograms.
It would also save health-care systems enormous amounts of money and, because of its low cost and ease of use, dramatically increase access to screening in the developing world.
Researchers have applied for a patent and started a company, Wave Intelligence Inc. of Waterloo, to commercialize the system and hope to begin trials on patients within six months. Three rounds of preliminary testing included the use of artificial human torsos known as phantoms. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200224111415.htm
February 24 Energy News — geoharvey
Opinion: ¶ “Is Gothenburg Europe’s Greenest City?” • In the mid-1980s, Sweden’s minister of the environment, Birgitta Dahl, toured Gothenburg and declared the decaying and dirty blue-collar city “a courtyard to hell.” Properly chastened, political and business leaders vowed to transform the gritty 17th-Century city into a beacon of urban sustainability. And they did. [BBC] […]
Australia already has a net zero emissions target, only the Morrison governemnt denies it — RenewEconomy
Taylor claims Paris Agreement doesnt require Australia to decarbonise, as Morrison governemntos increasingly isolated in opposing net zero goals. The post Australia already has a net zero emissions target, only the Morrison governemnt denies it appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Why an Australian mining giant chose wind and solar over gas for $1 billion project — RenewEconomy
Oz Minerals reveals why it chose wind, solar and batteries over gas for its new $1 billion mining project. The post Why an Australian mining giant chose wind and solar over gas for $1 billion project appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Why an Australian mining giant chose wind and solar over gas for $1 billion project — RenewEconomy
Yallourn owner says technology exists for low-cost, low-carbon grid — RenewEconomy
EnergyAustralia reports big slump in earnings but says technologies needed for reliable, low cost and low carbon grid – wind, solar, batteries, demand management – exists. The post Yallourn owner says technology exists for low-cost, low-carbon grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Yallourn owner says technology exists for low-cost, low-carbon grid — RenewEconomy
Greens seek laws to block Adani, Clive Palmer’s Galilee coal mines — RenewEconomy
Senate debates Greens legislation that would ban new coal mines in Galilee basin, as Albanese says Australia could still be exporting coal in 2050. The post Greens seek laws to block Adani, Clive Palmer’s Galilee coal mines appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Greens seek laws to block Adani, Clive Palmer’s Galilee coal mines — RenewEconomy
The toxic political culture that makes good policy impossible in Australia — RenewEconomy
Nothing will end the climate and energy policy crisis in Australia unless you change the toxic culture of its main political parties. The post The toxic political culture that makes good policy impossible in Australia appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via The toxic political culture that makes good policy impossible in Australia — RenewEconomy
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 