Antinuclear

Australian news, and some related international items

Nuclear weapons ban treaty is now international law — IPPNW peace and health blog

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons enters into force, three months after the 50th country, Honduras, ratified it. Nuclear weapons are now illegal under international law in every aspect. Possession is illegal; manufacture is illegal; use is illegal; threatening to use is illegal; transfer is illegal; aiding and abetting any of these things is illegal. But much remains in obscurity. Radioactive waste problems continue to fester. It seems appropriate to ask the states parties to the TPNW to set up a Global Truth Commission on Nuclear Weapons under the auspices of the United Nations.

Nuclear weapons ban treaty is now international law — IPPNW peace and health blog

January 26, 2021 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

January 26 Energy News — geoharvey

Opinion: ¶ “Poking The Wind Power Dragon In Ohio, One Factory At A Time” • The state of Ohio has been slow to move on the wind power revolution, and last year’s passage of the notorious HB 6 energy bill didn’t help matters much. But CleanTechnica came across One Energy, a wind company has figured […]

January 26 Energy News — geoharvey

January 26, 2021 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The aerospace industry – headed for military dominance

the Space Force will be given the task to create the technologies to “control and dominate” the pathway on and off our sacred Mother Earth.

Earlier this year, Trump was able to “stand up” his new high-tech legacy branch of the military, called the Space Force. Congress was overwhelmingly in favor – that means both parties supported it

The Real Missions of Space Force….

January 26, 2021 Posted by | General News | Leave a comment

Australian Capital Territory politicians join calls for Australia to sign nuclear ban treaty

January 25, 2021 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Australian companies involved in the uranium plunder of Greenland, and danger to sub-arctic environment

The plundering of Greenland,  Uranium and other resources the latest threat to precious sub-arctic ecosystems, Beyond Nuclear International. By Niels Henrik Hooge, 24 Jan 21, The governments of Greenland and Denmark are encouraging large-scale mining in Greenland, including what would be the second-largest open pit uranium mine in the world. Now groups are calling on those governments to halt such desecration and instead establish an Arctic sanctuary. Your organization can sign onto this petition. Read the petition here, then send your organization name (and logo, optional) to either Niels Henrik Hooge at nielshenrik@noah.dk or to Palle Bendsen at: pnb@ydun.net.

No or few World Heritage Sites probably have more or bigger mining projects in their vicinity than the Kujataa UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) in Southern Greenland. The property was inscribed on UNESCO’s world heritage list in 2017.

It comprises a sub-arctic farming landscape consisting of five components that represent key elements of the Norse Greenlandic and modern Inuit farming cultures.

On one hand they are distinct, on the other they are both pastoral farming cultures located on the climatic edges of viable agriculture, depending on a combination of farming, pastoralism and marine mammal hunting. The landscape constitutes the earliest introduction of farming to the Arctic.

Some of the world’s biggest mining projects are located near Kujataa

Kujaata is situated in Kommune Kujalleq, the southernmost and smallest municipality of Greenland with its rich mineral resources. These include zinc, copper, nickel, gold, diamonds and platinum group metals, but first and foremost substantial deposits of rare earth elements (REEs) and uranium. ……

Some of the biggest REEs mining projects in the world are located only a few kilometres from the Kujataa WHS. The biggest and most controversial is the Kvanefjeld REEs-uranium mining project, owned by the Australian company Greenland Minerals Ltd., GML. According to GML, in addition to containing the second biggest uranium and by far the largest thorium deposits, the Ilimaussaq Complex, of which Kvanefjeld is a part, possesses the second largest deposits of rare earth elements in the world.

The mine, which would be the world’s second largest open pit uranium mine, is located on top of a mountain, almost one kilometre above sea-level, and only six kilometres away from Narsaq, a town of approximately 1,500 inhabitants, and also near some of the parts of the Kujataa WHS.

A second major project close to Kujataa is the Kringlerne REEs mining project, which is described by its owner, the Australian mining company Tanbreez Mining Greenland A/S, as the probably largest deposit of REEs in the world. …………

Calls for enlargement of the Kujataa WHS

Especially in Southern Greenland, there has long existed a notion that the Kujataa World Heritage Site in its present form has been delineated to accommodate the Kvanefjeld mining project and that the potential impacts of the other mining projects surrounding the site have not been considered. ……………

Kujataa’s OUV under threat

It is also clear that Kujaata’s Outstanding Universal Value, i.e. its exceptional cultural and natural significance, will be under threat if the mining projects surrounding the site are implemented. There have already been calls to put Kujaata on the World Heritage Convention’s danger list. Kujataa’s unique farming traditions have been a determining factor in designating it as world heritage.

However, the Danish Risø National Laboratory has estimated that up to a thousand tons of radioactive dust might be released annually from just the Kvanefjeld open pit mine due to material handling, hauling and blasting and from the ore stock and waste rock piles.

Furthermore, if the tailings by some unforeseen cause such as leakages, technical problems, etc. would turn dry, massive amounts of radioactive and toxic dust would be blown away. The dust from the aforementioned sources will be carried by heavy arctic sea winds across the region, where it will affect among others agricultural activities. The predominant wind direction and the direction for the strongest winds are east- and north- eastwards, where the Kujataa WHS is located. The area, its people, domestic animals and wildlife would be chronically exposed to radioactive and other toxic species via drinking water, food and air1.

Furthermore, most if not all the planned mining projects in the area are open pit mines. Perpetual blasting with explosives on the mountain tops in the open pit mines surrounding the world heritage site and the excavation and transport by dump trucks to the mills, where the rocks are crushed, could cause considerable noise disturbance during the entire operation of the mines.

According to the EIA draft reports for the Kvanefjeld project, a dilution factor in the order of 2000 for the waste water would be required to be rendered safe for the most critical parameters. This would mean that the discharges of waste water during just one year would have to be diluted into 7 km3 of seawater in the Fiord system, which is part of the Kujataa World Heritage Site, and into 260 km3 of seawater during the planned operational lifetime of the Kvanefjeld mine.

Furthermore, seepage, leaks and spills of liquids form the tailings will cause contamination of groundwater and rivers by radioactive and non-radioactive toxic chemical species. Seafood would become contaminated as well, due to the substantial discharges of wastes into the Fiords and the coastal sea.

Large-scale mining and particularly uranium mining are incompatible with the development of three of the four sectors of the farming landscape, namely fishing and hunting, tourism and food production. It is relevant to ask how the entire character of the landscape would change in the development from a rural to an industrial area in the wake of both the big mining projects. This also pertains to the question of urban development, when among others new ports, port facilities and accommodation villages have to be built and corresponding support infrastructure implemented.

No real plans to protect Kujataa…………

in its description of the impacts of the nearby mining activities, the management plan relies on a draft of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Kringlerne mining project, which was rejected by Greenland’s Environmental Agency for Mineral Resources Activities (EAMRA), because it did not contain enough relevant information.

EAMRA has also rejected the four latest EIA draft reports on the Kvanefjeld project because of lack of information. Among other things, Kvanefjeld’s owner, GML, is criticised for not providing a comprehensive assessment of the earthquake risk in the region, final results of tests of toxic elements during extraction and processing, final radiological estimates and results of investigations of impacts of radioactive minerals, and for failing to describe the alternatives regarding management of tailings and the shutdown of the tailings facility.

In September 2019, the CEO of GML was also formally reproached by Greenland’s Prime Minister and the Department of Nature and Environment’s Permanent Secretary for lobbying high-ranking civil servants and ministers who had no competence within the EIA review process in order to undermine EAMRA’s authority.

A Heritage Impact Assessment is not enough

…….. it could be argued that there is already enough reason for the Greenlandic and Danish States Parties to involve UNESCO and – considering that environmental issues are at the core of the problems and Kujataa’s management plan is based on rejected EIA draft reports – to include IUCN in the process.

However, the biggest problem for not only Kujataa, but all Greenland’s three world heritage sites could be the fact that Greenland’s environmental legislation does not mandate strategic environmental impact assessments for minerals exploration areas, which means that the public is not kept informed in advance on what areas could be designated. Thus, implementation of the Aarhus Convention in Greenland should have high priority in order to reinforce Greenland’s environmental legislation.

Niels Henrik Hooge is member of NOAH Friends of the Earth Denmark’s uranium group.   https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/72759838/posts/3144708883

January 25, 2021 Posted by | General News | Leave a comment

Nuclear waste dump plan – ruining the name of the town of Kimba

Paul Waldon Fight to stop a nuclesar waste dump in South Australia, 25 Jan 21 Kimba has already been tagged as an Australian “Shit Town.” Kimba may not tick every box for what criteria defines a shit town, but it ticks enough . We do know it doesn’t have enough people to man a radioactive dump, which is good as the unemployment rate goes, and information of economic hardship isn’t forthcoming as to make any judgement there. Yet the boxes it does tick, would be the elevated prospects of becoming a contaminated environment, a study found that clean environments attract people and businesses, while the closure of the towns hardware store sends a message that other businesses could be struggling, locals shopping outside the community conveys a message that things aren’t right and this is a reduction of sales for the towns remaining businesses and could promote the erosion of existing services.

Oh yeah what about the forever real impact on people’s health, we know it and the government knows it, they have even sanctioned the belief that mental health is an issue with their promise of future grants to try and mitigate the problem, which most people blame on the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science and their proposed radioactive dump. Moreover the once united strong community is now divided, people cross the road to avoid their own neighbours and once friends. This is not a environment that is destined to attract new blood to the region
However enough boxes have been ticked to declare Kimba is a shit town.

January 25, 2021 Posted by | General News | Leave a comment

Morrison and Taylor continue to stack government bodies with fossil fuel allies — RenewEconomy

Another key federal government body, in this case responsible for overseeing emissions reduction projects, is stacked with Morrison government allies. The post Morrison and Taylor continue to stack government bodies with fossil fuel allies appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Morrison and Taylor continue to stack government bodies with fossil fuel allies — RenewEconomy

January 25, 2021 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

5 nuclear activities that are now Illegal under international law

January 25, 2021 Posted by | General News | Leave a comment

January 24 Energy News — geoharvey

Opinion: ¶ “US Offshore Wind Is Off To The Races (At Last!)” • The first two weeks of 2021 had big news for offshore windpower, and the inauguration of President Joe Biden will put a stiff wind into the industry’s sails. By the end of 2021, the Biden administration will likely have approved two projects […]

January 24 Energy News — geoharvey

January 25, 2021 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Red Cross celebrates Nuclear Ban Treaty- an incremental process towards elimination of nuclear weapons

January 23, 2021 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics international, religion and ethics, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Australia could sign the Nuclear Ban Treaty and still keep its military co=operation with America

The nuclear weapons ban treaty is groundbreaking, even if the nuclear powers haven’t signed The Conversation 22, 2021  Tilman RuffHonorary Principal Fellow, School of Population anobal Health, University of Melbourne, 

The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was adopted at the United Nations in 2017 and finally reached the milestone of 50 ratifications in October. The countries that have signed and ratified include Austria, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Nigeria and Thailand.

The treaty completes the suite of international bans on all major weapons considered unacceptable because of their indiscriminate and inhumane effects, including anti-personnel landminescluster munitionsbiological and chemical weapons………

The TPNW strengthens the current nuclear safeguards found in the 1970 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons by requiring all states that join to have comprehensive provisions in place and not allowing states to weaken their existing safeguards.

The treaty provides the first legally binding multilateral framework for a process by which all nations can work toward eliminating nuclear weapons………

Further, the TPNW is the first treaty to commit member nations to provide long-neglected assistance for the victims of atomic bombs and weapon testing. It also calls for nations to clean up environments contaminated by nuclear weapons use and testing, where feasible.

Nuclear-armed states have been put on notice

Currently, 86 nations have signed the TPNW, and 51 have ratified it (meaning they are bound by its provisions). The treaty now becomes part of international law, and the number of signatories and ratifications will continue to grow……..

While any treaty is technically only binding on the states that join it, the TPNW establishes a new international legal standard against which all nuclear policies will now be judged.

The treaty, in short, is a game-changer, and the nuclear-armed and dependent countries have been put on notice. They know the treaty jeopardises their claimed right to continue to threaten the planet with their weapons, as well as their plans to modernise and maintain their nuclear arsenals indefinitely…………

The strength of the opposition is a measure of the treaty’s importance. It will have implications for everything from defence policies and military plans to weapons manufacturing to financial investments in the companies that profit from making now illegal nuclear weapons………….

January 22, 2021 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Resignation of Dr Adi Paterson from Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation- Australian government keeps mum.

Kazzi Jai  What was I thinking? Fight to Stop a Nuclear Waste Dump in South Australia, 22 Jan 21,
Have been waiting AGES for the Answers to Questions from the Senate Budget Estimates October 2020 regarding ANSTO and more importantly questions regarding Adi Paterson’s sudden resignation…..
Well – finally the Answers have been tabled. They are in a rather odd format to access (ie not easily user friendly), but finally the Answers I was specifically after were to Questions 85 to 90 inclusive.
And what do we get? ONE LINE ANSWERS EFFECTIVELY WITH NO CONTENT!
In hindsight, should I have been surprised? No.
Here is the link to the page for those interested anyway…..Toggle the Question number then Select the Question or Multiple Questions on the side of the page close to the bottom….. and then press download to view.

2020-2021 Budget estimates – Parliament of Australia  more https://www.facebook.com/groups/344452605899556

                            **************************************************
  1. Some examples of government answers to Senators’questions.

 Sen Kim Carr” (Question No 85) :  “Did Dr Paterson resign or was he asked to resign by the ANSTO board?

ANSWER. “There was no correspondence between the ANSTO Board and the Minister about Dr Paterson’s performance.”

Sen Kim Carr  (Question no. 87)  asked about correspondence between the board and Dr Adi Paterson.
ANSWER: “There is no written correspondence between the Board and Dr Paterson.

January 22, 2021 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, Federal nuclear waste dump, politics, secrets and lies | Leave a comment

The nuclear dump for Kimba propaganda continues in 2021, (and jobs for the boys)

Kazzi Jai, Fight to Stop A Nuclear Waste Dump in South Australia, 22 Jan 21,
Seems trying to keep an “impression” that “things are still going ahead” when in fact THE SITE HAS NOT EVEN BEEN DECLARED YET, seems to be the order of the day!
So…. the very first announcement for 2021 by NRWMF is this!        
The Propaganda Train continues in 2021……
Oh, and fun fact of the day – Jim Haskett is the son of late Federal politician candidate Anthony Haskett who ran for the National Country Party in the early 1980’s in the seat of Grey.
Jobs for the boys?
A very warm welcome to ARWA’s Site Supervisor, Jim Haskett! Joining us this week in the Kimba office, …Jim is currently staffing the Kimba office (which has re-opened for 2021) with Maree to join him later this week.

January 22, 2021 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, Federal nuclear waste dump | Leave a comment

As Biden acts on climate, Morrison reactivates fossil rhetoric — RenewEconomy

Will Morrison take Biden’s lead on climate? The fact that he marked the moment of the US rejoining Paris with a whirlwind tour of oil and gas projects is not a good sign. The post As Biden acts on climate, Morrison reactivates fossil rhetoric appeared first on RenewEconomy.

As Biden acts on climate, Morrison reactivates fossil rhetoric — RenewEconomy

January 22, 2021 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

January 22 Energy News — geoharvey

Opinion: ¶ “Secretary Pete: Transportation Dept Should Be A Climate Agency” • President Joe Biden’s decision to have Pete Buttigieg lead the Department of Transportation may be among the most consequential of his presidency. Secretary Buttigieg will inherit multiple simultaneous crises. The transition to emissions-free vehicles will be a major job. [CleanTechnica] NASA electric aircraft […]

January 22 Energy News — geoharvey

January 22, 2021 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment