Australia dodged a bullet in not getting nuclear power – Ian Lowe.
An obvious conclusion flows from the Fox Report’s 1976 comment about a lack of objectivity. We are not objective observers of the world: we all see reality through the lenses of our values and our experience. We all have a tendency to see what we would like to see…….
The probability that any person will be favourably disposed to the idea of nuclear power can be predicted from their values and from their view of the sort of future they would like to see. Fellows of the Academy of Technology and Engineering tend to favour a high-tech future, while conservationists are much more likely to favour small-scale local supply systems.
This is a reminder that the future is not somewhere we are going, but something we are creating. From my perspective, nuclear power now looks like an intractable problem we were just lucky to avoid. Most developed nations have nuclear power stations with mountains of accumulated waste, for which there is no effective permanent solution. The urgent task of moving to clean energy supply, mostly from solar and wind, is made more difficult when resources have been sunk into the nuclear power industry. I believe we dodged a bullet.
Griffith Review,by Ian Lowe, March 21, ON MY DESK there sits a well-thumbed copy of the 1976 Fox Report, the first report of the Ranger Uranium Environmental Inquiry. I grew up in New South Wales, where most electricity came from coal-fired power stations, but miners were often killed or injured and the air pollution from burning coal was obvious. So as a young scientist I was attracted to the idea of replacing our dirty and dangerous coal-fired electricity with nuclear power.
Transnational Memory and the Fukushima Disaster: Memories of Japan in Australian Anti-nuclear Activism
Transnational Memory and the Fukushima Disaster: Memories of Japan in Australian Anti-nuclear Activism https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/index.php/portal/article/view/7094
Alexander Brown https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3582-9658, Jan 28, 2021
Abstract
This paper argues for the importance of transnational memories in framing Australian anti-nuclear activism after the Fukushima disaster. Japan looms large in the transnational nuclear imaginary.
Commemorating Hiroshima as the site of the first wartime use of nuclear weapons has been a long-standing practice in the Australian anti-nuclear movement and the day has been linked to a variety of issues including weapons and uranium mining.
As Australia began exporting uranium to Japan in the 1970s, Australia-Japan relations took on a new meaning for the Indigenous Traditional Owners from whose land uranium was extracted.
After Fukushima, these complex transnational memories formed the basis for an orientation towards Japan by Indigenous land rights activists and for the anti-nuclear movement as a whole.
This paper argues that despite tenuous organizational links between the two countries, transnational memories drove Australian anti-nuclear activists to seek connections with Japan after the Fukushima disaster. The mobilisation of these collective memories helps us to understand how transnational social movements evolve and how they construct globalisation from below in the Asia-Pacific region.fic region.
Nuclear Power’s Prospects Cool a Decade After Fukushima Meltdowns
Nuclear Power’s Prospects Cool a Decade After Fukushima Meltdowns
Disaster at the Japanese reactors marked a turning point for an industry that once promised to give the world a nearly unlimited source of energy WSJ, By Peter Landers, March 3, 2021
OMAEZAKI, Japan—At a seaside nuclear-power plant here, a concrete wall stretching a mile along the coast and towering 73 feet above sea level offers protection against almost any conceivable tsunami. Two reactors are ready to start splitting atoms again to heat water into steam and generate power, the operator has told regulators.
Yet despite safety measures set to cost nearly $4 billion, the Hamaoka plant hasn’t produced a single kilowatt since May 2011, and it has no target date to restart. The paint on billboards is fading and an old “no trespassing” sign outside the barbed wire lies on the ground—signs of creeping neglect.
Even a local antinuclear leader, Katsushi Hayashi, said he spent more time these days fighting an unrelated rail line in the mountains, confident that regulators and public opinion wouldn’t let the plant open any time soon. “Fukushima gave us all the proof we need. It’s dangerous,” Mr. Hayashi said.
The triple meltdowns at Japanese nuclear reactors in Fukushima after the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami marked a turning point in an industry that once dreamed of providing the world with nearly unlimited power.
A decade after Fukushima, just nine reactors in Japan are authorized to operate, down from 54 a decade ago, and five of those are currently offline owing to legal and other issues. All of Fukushima prefecture’s reactors are closed permanently or set to do so. Chubu Electric Power Co. , owner of the Hamaoka plant, declined to make an executive available for comment. It has formally applied to reopen two reactors at the plant and told regulators that new measures such as the wall, mainly completed in 2015, make them safe to operate…… (subscribers only) https://www.wsj.com/articles/nuclear-powers-prospects-cool-a-decade-after-fukushima-meltdowns-11614767406
Fukushima’s Olympic makeover: Will the ‘cursed’ area be safe from radioactivity in time for Games?
 Fukushima’s Olympic makeover: Will the ‘cursed’ area be safe from radioactivity in time for Games? VIDEO, https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20200626-fukushima-s-olympic-makeover-will-the-cursed-area-be-safe-from-radioactivity-in-time 26/6/ 20
The Olympic Games, dubbed the “reconstruction Olympics”, should allow Japan to move on from the Fukushima tragedy. The region, a symbol of the 2011 disaster, has officially been cleaned up but many problems remain, such as radioactivity and “forbidden cities”. Over the course of several months, our reporters followed the daily lives of the inhabitants of this “cursed” region.
In recent months, Japanese authorities have been working hard to finish rebuilding the Fukushima region in time for the Summer Games. This huge reconstruction and decontamination project is never-ending and is expected to cost nearly €250 billion. Although the work undertaken over the past 10 years is colossal and the region is partly rebuilt, it’s still not free from radioactivity. The NGO Greenpeace has detected radioactive hotspots near the Olympic facilities. And at the Fukushima power plant, Tepco engineers continue to battle against radioactive leaks. They also face new issues such as contaminated water, which is accumulating at the site and poses a new-fangled problem for Japan. Our reporters were able to visit the notorious nuclear power plant. They bring us a chronicle of daily life in Fukushima, with residents determined to revive their stricken region. |
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Switch to 100 pct renewables will drive economic growth, but watch for green bubbles: AXA — RenewEconomy
Australia must transition to net zero as fast as possible to ensure economic growth. But investment giant AXA says there is a risk of green bubbles forming. The post Switch to 100 pct renewables will drive economic growth, but watch for green bubbles: AXA appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Switch to 100 pct renewables will drive economic growth, but watch for green bubbles: AXA — RenewEconomy
Software billionaire urges Australia to follow Norway’s lead and switch to electric ferries — RenewEconomy
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Software billionaire urges Australia to follow Norway’s lead and switch to electric ferries — RenewEconomy
Origin to offer electric car fleets to business as it seeks a ride on energy transition — RenewEconomy
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Origin to offer electric car fleets to business as it seeks a ride on energy transition — RenewEconomy
“Get on with it:” Regulator urged to approve SA-NSW interconnector, as coal lobby objects — RenewEconomy
South Australia urges regulator to get on with approving new NSW-SA interconnector, after AEMO finds it will deliver net benefits in an accelerating energy transition. The post “Get on with it:” Regulator urged to approve SA-NSW interconnector, as coal lobby objects appeared first on RenewEconomy.
“Get on with it:” Regulator urged to approve SA-NSW interconnector, as coal lobby objects — RenewEconomy
UN chief demands Australia ends “deadly addiction” to coal by 2030 — RenewEconomy
Pressure on coal heavy countries like Australia and the US to commit to a coal phase out, as UN chief calls for an accelerated end to coal. The post UN chief demands Australia ends “deadly addiction” to coal by 2030 appeared first on RenewEconomy.
UN chief demands Australia ends “deadly addiction” to coal by 2030 — RenewEconomy
March 3 Energy News — geoharvey
Opinion: ¶ “House Democrats’ Climate Bill Fails to Meet Urgent Crisis” • House Energy and Commerce Democrats introduced revamped legislation today that aims for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. But it fails to set adequate measures to meet those goals, as it does not include any binding mechanisms to achieve its targets. [Center for […]
March 3 Energy News — geoharvey
Antinuclear 