A revised AUKUS agreement. Dunno what it means yet
#Breaking. The White House has just revealed #AUKUS Govts have settled a new agreement to supersede the original AUKUS treaty. Significantly there is also an “understanding” including “additional related political commitments”. No details yet. 1/2
Letter to the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate on the Agreement Among the Government of the United States of America, the Government of Australia, and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for Cooperation Related to Naval Nuclear Propulsion
“………………………………………………….The Agreement, which would supersede the ENNPIA, would permit the continued communication and exchange of NNPI, including certain RD, and would also expand on the cooperation between the governments by enabling the transfer of naval nuclear propulsion plants of conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines, including component parts and spare parts thereof, and other related equipment. The Agreement also enables the sale of special nuclear material contained in complete, welded power units, and other material as needed for such naval nuclear propulsion plants. Equipment transferred in accordance with the Agreement could include equipment needed for the research, development, or design of naval nuclear propulsion plants, including their manufacture, operation, maintenance, regulation, and disposal, and could also include training, services, and program support associated with such equipment.
…………………………….The trilateral partners also concluded a non-legally binding Understanding Among the Government of the United States of America, the Government of Australia, and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Understanding), which reflects the governments’ intended approach to certain articles of the Agreement and provides additional related political commitments. The Understanding would become operative on the date on which the Agreement enters into force
…………………………………Accordingly, I have approved the Agreement, authorized its execution, and urge that the Congress give it favorable consideration.
Sincerely,
UK’s Astute nuclear submarines stuck in port waiting for maintenance
No Astute-class boat — the Royal Navy’s largest and most powerful — has completed an operational voyage this year
Britain’s “hunter-killer” submarines have been stuck in port for up
to two years because of a shortage of maintenance docks. The Astute-class
submarines, the newest in the Royal Navy’s fleet, were designed to hunt
Russian submarines and torpedo targets from up to 14 miles away. They are
the largest and most powerful attack submarines the navy has operated.
However, none of the class has completed an operational voyage so far this
year, while one has been stuck in Faslane — HMNB Clyde — for two years,
The Sun reported.
Times 5th Aug 2024
Now is not the time for nuclear energy
Ian Thistlethwayte, Wyong, August 5, 2024, https://coastcommunitynews.com.au/central-coast/news/2024/08/now-is-not-the-time-for-nuclear-energy/
I agree with Gaye Clark (CCN 449) that “technology has advanced significantly” in the field of nuclear energy and have no doubt that it could, and maybe should, be in the energy mix in the future.
I contend, however, that now is not the time for this.
Many of us are unwittingly lending weight to the imbroglio which is “post truth politics”.
Hopefully, the advice of experts with backgrounds in science, engineering and thermo-nuclear energy production is of far greater value than what we are told by some politicians, the mainstream media and social media.
This advice includes observations that if Australia was to plan for nuclear power in 2025, we’d be unlikely to see any production from its source before 2040.
Further, what is being proposed so far will meet no better than seven per cent of the nation’s energy needs in 2040.
It has been widely agreed that an average 1.5-degree-Celsius rise in global temperatures since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution is the upper limit of what can be quite realistically managed.
The current trajectory of warming could lead to runaway climate change.
It’s likely the 1.5-degree rise has either been reached, or will be very soon.
While greenhouse emissions continue almost unabated, we now have renewables.
They work, are working, and are already helping.
Investment diverted from renewables towards nuclear power now and into the near future will result in greater rates of environmental destruction.
We still don’t know whether nuclear power will be affordable.
In Germany, nuclear has effectively been abandoned and renewables now produce more electricity than all forms of fossil fuel combined – 57 per cent at the beginning of 2024, up from 45 per cent in 2019.
The UK is not far behind this trajectory.
We’re at 35 per cent renewables, aiming for 82 per cent by the end of 2030.
In 2030, there won’t be a single nuclear power reactor on Australia’s horizon even if we start planning for one today.
The USA is at 22 per cent renewables, while each year, to pay for secure storage of radioactive waste, its citizens are taxed a total of $6B US and rising.
Clean? Yeah… nah! Eventually, yes?
Technology keeps advancing, but for governments worldwide to provide for the future safety and wellbeing of their citizens, the phrase “time is of the essence” seems most apt.
My final thoughts about Australia’s immediate future with nuclear: unclear.
Furphies being advanced by some people seeking to hamper the adoption of renewable energy.
Ultimately, they would undermine (pun intended) Australia’s clean energy sovereignty and exacerbate damage to our environment.
Nuclear energy as dead as dinosaurs
Dave Horsfall, North Gosford, August 6, 2024, https://coastcommunitynews.com.au/central-coast/news/2024/08/nuclear-energy-as-dead-as-dinosaurs/
Those in the anti-renewables lobby don’t give up, do they?
One could be excused for thinking that they have shares in the fossil-energy industry (and for the record, I do not have shares in the renewables industry, nor indeed any shares at all, as I do not believe in gambling upon the fortunes of a nation).
The latest offering is presented in CCN 449 (Time to rethink nuclear power), where not only is the since-discredited myth that wind turbines affect whales promulgated – which they do not, but I guess that alleged dangers to whales always make for a good story.
Apparently we are expected to believe that said turbines can suddenly uproot themselves and go cruising around of their own accord; either that, or ships’ captains are stupid or something.
Of course, no mention is made of how to safely dispose of the highly dangerous waste, nor indeed the reactor vessel itself once it’s reached its commercial end of life; then again, I guess these are just inconvenient truths.
Do these individuals really believe that they are more qualified than Australia’s peak scientific body – viz the CSIRO – which found that nuclear energy is the most expensive of all sources, and renewables the cheapest?
Nuclear energy is as dead as the dinosaurs; get used to it.
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 