With the prospect of more bursts of extreme weather in the future, yet another danger of the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor is apparent.
Meanwhile, other countries are turning to the safer and far more practical methods of producing medical radioisotopes. (After all, the tax-payer funded Australian National Science and Nuclear Technology Organisation ANSTO claims that the only purpose of the reactor is medical) . Map above shows Canada’s network for production and distribution of the most important medical radioisotope, Technetium-99m , as well s as others.
Bushfire now contained About 200 firefighters worked on Tuesday at Holsworthy and Barden Ridge backburning and creating containment lines.
By 6:30pm, the Holsworthy bushfire was considered contained, Mr Garlick said.
“Over the next few days our crews have a lot of hard work ahead of them mopping up and extinguishing all the hotspots within the containment lines of this fire,” he said.
“As these days continue, we are expecting milder conditions which will ease that threat, but residents should monitor those conditions and take advice from firefighters on the ground and through our website.”
As a result of backburning operations, some smoke would continue to remain in the Sydney area, potentially even as far as the Blue Mountains.more https://tinyurl.com/yaky4nqf
I’m a professional firefighter employed by Fire Rescue NSW and working out of Balmain fire station.
When I arrived at work on Sunday, the crew who were just finishing their shift looked dead on their feet. There was a pile of dirty hose in the backyard, and the fire engine stank of smoke.
‘We are leaders from many faith traditions and communities across Australia.
We are writing to you to ask you to abandon your proposed mine and
instead use the same money to invest in solar energy in North Queensland.
‘Our common home, the Earth, is now in great danger
due to the effects of our actions as human beings on the climate.
On this point the scientific community is united.
Today, we too are united as people of faith.
‘Let us be clear.
We are not merely opposed to this one mine.
We are opposed to all new coal development in the Galilee Basin.
We are at a crossroads.
One way lies destruction; the other way, sanity.
We need to turn immediately in the direction of a stable and
compassionate future based on ambitious investment in renewable energy. … ‘
Apocalyptic blaze surrounding nuclear reactor sets off emergency
AUSTRALIA is struggling to contain a growing bushfire that is racing towards a nuclear reactor, amid fears that the blaze could expand beyond their control. By OLI SMITH Apr 16, 2018
More than 500 Australia firefighters are struggling to tackle a massive bushfire, with several residents urged to seek shelters as evacuation is now “too late”.
Scenes of the blaze, which started yesterday, have been described as “apocalyptic” after the fire ripped through nearly 2,500 hectares of land close to the suburbs of Sydney.
Firefighters failed to stop the out-of-control blaze from burning through a major military base – and a nuclear reactor is the next at-risk location.
The New South Wales Rural Fire Service (RFS) said it was concerned that flying embers could spark even more blazes……
The unseasonably hot Autumn in south-eastern Australia has been blamed for worsening the bushfire after record temperatures for April.
Shane Fitzsimmons, of the RFS, warned that strong 60km per hour winds are expected to push towards residential homes.
He said that the country’s largest army barracks at Holsworthy, where stockpiles of fuel, ammunition and explosive materials are kept, had been hit by the fire.
Firefighters Warn NSW Is “Not Out Of The Woods” On Third Day Of Bushfires, Pedestrian. 16 Apr 18 More than 250 firefighters continue to battle bushfires in NSW’s southwest, which has spread more than 2,400 hectares since Saturday afternoon.
The blaze, which is believed to have originated in the vicinity of Casula, was fanned further by strong winds on Sunday.
More than 500 firefighters from the Rural Fire Service, Fire & Rescue NSW and the Australian Defence Force attempted to contain the blaze over the weekend with help from volunteers and 11 water-bombing helicopters.
The fire tore trough Holsworthy military range, and while approaching suburban areas, has been staved off. Several residents report fighting off embers with hoses and water buckets.
The fire was downgraded from “emergency level” to “watch and act” on 5.30pm Sunday, then again downgraded to “advice” around 2am Monday.
While lower wind conditions are expected to help with containing the fire, RFS Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers warned that the high temperatures remain an issue.
“Still quite a difficult day ahead (on Monday),” Rogers told the Nine Network. “I think we’ve got a long way to go before we’re out of the woods.”
There’s also a risk that winds could also pick up to 35km/h later today.
The RFS is currently advising residents in Pleasure Point, Sandy Point, Alfords Point, Barden Ridge [ie; Lucas Heights] , Voyager Point, Illawong, Menai & Bangor to “remain vigilant throughout the day and keep themselves up to date by checking the NSW RFS website“……..https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/firefighters-warning-nsw-bushfires/
Comment by Steve DaleThere is something really rotten about the Nationals lately. Four Corners (4corners, fourcorners) can you please follow the stink/money trail and find out who is pulling the strings on these politicians? We have had a Royal Conmission into nuclear, I think what we really need is a Royal Commission into Nuclear lobbying and its corrupting influence on our political system.
John Barilaro to push the nuclear power button The Australian, April 17, 2018 Acting NSW Premier John Barilaro will declare nuclear power “inevitable” in a speech that slams “ignorant, 1970s” thinking for preventing development of the nation’s uranium reserves and condemning residents to blackouts.
The speech by the state Nationals party leader, seen by The Australian and to be delivered on Wednesday night at an energy policy forum in Sydney, calls for small modular reactors, likely imported from the US, to reduce dependence on high-emission coal and gas-fired power over the next five to 10 years……
Mr Barilaro, who recently returned from an Advanced Reactor Summit in Atlanta, Georgia, spoke out in favour of nuclear power a year ago, prompting Premier Gladys Berejiklian, currently in India on a trade mission, to declare she was open-minded on the issue. “I’m in the camp of the jury’s still out,” she told the ABC then.
…….The Minerals Council of Australia, a proponent of nuclear power, said the federal nuclear ban could be reversed “with a single amendment to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. “The removal of four words — ‘a nuclear power plant’ — would allow nuclear industries to be considered for development in Australia,” it said.
Looks like the bribery has been successful. $2M approved for 33 Kimba projects, Eyre Tribune Kathrine Catanzariti 16 Apr 18
More than 30 projects in the Kimba district will share in $4 million from the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility Community Benefit Program.
Resources Minister Matt Canavan announced the successful projects near Kimba and Wallerberdina Station near Hawker on Wednesday, with 33 out of the successful 45 projects located in Kimba.
The successful projects include big projects such as a new palliative care wing at the Kimba Hospital, and smaller projects like air-conditioning in the Kelly Pioneer Memorial Hall.
The projects vary from new infrastructure and upgrades to existing infrastructure, community projects, feasibility studies and trials.
Mr Canavan said the two communities, which were being consulted about hosting the facility, were invited to submit projects that “deliver social and economic benefits to their area”.
“Two million dollars for each community is a significant investment, designed to help offset the time and resources they are devoting to the detailed consultation program underway,” Mr Canavan said……..
“Beneficiaries include local sporting clubs, community organisations, and projects focussed on everything from tourism to health, agriculture and mobile phone coverage. ……
“Two sites in Kimba and one at Wallerberdina Station volunteered to host the facility, and are currently in a detailed community and technical assessment process.
“The Community Benefit Program is a key part of the process.”……. https://www.eyretribune.com.au/story/5336162/2m-approved-for-33-kimba-projects/?cs=5806
ATLA opposes UCG in Leigh Creek, The Transcontinental, Marco Balsamo , 16 Apr 18
The Adnyamathanha Traditional Lands Association (ATLA) has declared that “enough is enough”, voting unanimously against underground coal gasification (UCG) in Leigh Creek and the proposed radioactive waste management facility near Hawker.
ATLA CEO Vince Coulthard said it is time to “heal this area, not fill it with poison”.
“We don’t want the dangerous gasification project at Leigh Creek and we don’t want the toxic nuclear waste dump either,” he said.
“Our country has had enough, it is time for healing, we don’t want any further destruction at Leigh Creek.
“This is a very important Muda (spirituality) and the desecration of this site has to stop.”……….ATLA’s vote against a nuclear waste dump at Barndioota comes after a recent visit to the site by Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Matt Canavan.
The Minister declared that a postal vote would commence on August 20 to measure the community support for the proposed national radioactive waste management facility.
The Lancet Countdown report on health and climate change was published in October 2017 by The Lancet and will be updated annually through to 2030.
It tracks progress on health and climate change across 40 indicators divided into five categories: climate change impacts, exposures and vulnerability; adaptation planning and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co-benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement.
Dr Ying Zhang, a senior lecturer in the University of Sydney’s School of Public Health, and Associate Professor Paul Beggs, from Macquarie University, wrote in the MJA that, from an Australian perspective, “with our high level of carbon emissions per capita, it will be important to reflect on our progress and how it compares with that of other countries, especially high-income countries”.
“A group of Australian experts from multiple disciplines is commencing work on our first national countdown report,” Zhang and Beggs wrote.
“The project recognises the importance of the climate change challenge in Australia, including its relevance to human health, and also the unique breadth and depth of the Australian expertise in climate change and human health.
“The Australian countdown will mirror the five domain sections of the Lancet Countdown, adopt the indicators used–where feasible and relevant to Australia–and include any useful additional indicators.
“The inaugural Australian report is planned for release in late 2018 and is expected to be updated annually. We hope to raise awareness of health issues related to climate change among Australian medical professionals, who play a key role in reducing their risks,” the authors concluded.
“The Australian countdown is also envisioned as a timely endeavour that will accelerate the Australian government response to climate change and its recognition of the health benefits of urgent climate action.”
The University of Sydney appointed Dr Tony Capon as the world’s first professor of planetary health in 2016. Learn more about the mission and activities of the University of Sydney’s Planetary Health Platform.
Lucas Heights nuclear reactor: The untold threat of the Sydney bushfires.
Emergency warning issued as out-of-control bushfire rages across Sydney
As fires raged in Sydney, there has not been a peep out of the mainstream media about the fire hazard to Lucas Heights nuclear complex. Noel Wauchope reports.
THE LATEST news on the bushfires raging in Sydney’s south-west is that the firefighters are “cautiously optimistic” and that emergency warning advice has been downgraded to “watch and act”.
However, the fire continues to burn in an easterly direction towards Barden Ridge and weather conditions are still dodgy, as Sydney’s record-breaking heatwave looks like coming to an end.
It’s been an anxious time — the fire has burned over 2,400 hectares. On Sunday (15 April), more than 500 firefighters in almost 100 fire trucks, along with 15 aircraft, battled the blaze throughout the day. Residents were told that it was too late to leave their homes. Heat from the bushfires was impacting the high voltage lines. There is very little rain forecast over the next few days.
So, it has all been a worry. But you wouldn’t know, would you, that the fire is so close to the Lucas Heights nuclear complex? The latest maps shown on The Guardian and NSW Rural Fire Service websites don’t really show how close this fire is getting to Lucas Heights. I have previously written about the safety hazards of Lucas Heights, with its reactor, cooling pond and accumulation of nuclear wastes — the amount of which is not publicly available.
The fires have reached about four kilometres from Lucas Heights. Embers carried by wind can form spot fires well ahead of the firefront — even up to 20 kilometres away. In the dense and rugged bushland, with predicted west to north-west winds up to 30 kilometres per hour – not forgetting that bushfires create their own weather systems – is not that hazardous to the nuclear complex?
But we don’t hear a word about this. What makes the silence easier, is that the residential area previously part of Lucas Heights was renamed Barden Ridgein 1996 to increase the real estate value of the area, as it would no longer be instantly associated with the High Flux Australian Reactor (HIFAR) — and now the Opal nuclear reactor.
Of course, now, because of the name change, there’s no public awareness that Australia’s nuclear reactor is anywhere near the fires. You can bet that the government wants to keep us all in blissful ignorance.
What we do know, is that fires are certainly a hazard to nuclear sites and there is the possibility of radiation release across a wide area, if fire invades a nuclear complex, with the fuel rods in cooling pools at great risk. When fires do happen near a nuclear site, there may be a security panic going on but that is not communicated to the public.
Whenever there have been wildfires threatening nuclear sites – in Russia, Europe or the U.S. – the pattern is to downplay, to not mention, the nuclear danger. The publicity pattern is always to ignore the radiation hazard.
“It’s being fought by security site fire crews, with help from a helicopter able to detect any aerial release of radiation.”
As though any amount of monitoring is going to help or that any data would be publicly shared. Not a peep about the radiation numbers during the fires in and around Los Alamos, even though they were “monitoring” it.
And in the case of this fire in Russia, the emergency minister threatened to “deal with” those who spread radiation “rumours”:
For the current Sydney bushfires, it seems as though there will have been a lucky escape for the communities, despite the fact that two giant aircraft, the DC10 Nancybird and the C130 Hercules “Thor” — normally used for aerial water bombing — were not available to help fight the Sydney fire, having been sent back to the U.S., because by March, the fire risk is supposed to be over.
It will have been a much luckier escape that they realised if the nuclear complex remains unscathed — this time!
Lucas Heights nuclear organisation closed on Monday https://www.theleader.com.au/story/5343505/ansto-closed-to-all-non-essential-staff/
While there was no risk to ANSTO as a result of fires near the precinct, the organisation decided to close the campus to all non-essential staff tomorrow to help minimise traffic impacts in the area.
The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) at Lucas Heights will be closed on Monday to all non-essential staff.
ANSTO released a statement late today saying there was no risk to ANSTO as a result of fires near the precinct but the organisation decided to help minimise traffic impacts in the area.
“ANSTO infrastructure including the OPAL reactor is protected by numerous fire safety systems, policies, plans and arrangements to ensure there is never any risk to operations or safety,” the statement said.
“The OPAL reactor is at power and operating normally.
“Some 1,200 people work at the Lucas Heights campus. Based on current advice, and to minimise local road and traffic impacts, we have advised ANSTO staff who are not performing essential services to work from home.
“All contractors, tenants and construction workers on our building projects are advised not to attend our campus tomorrow; and the childcare centre has been closed.
“As a precautionary measure, the ANSTO Operations Centre was activated yesterday, and continues to monitor the situation.
“ANSTO would like to take the opportunity to thank the emergency services and support staff who are continuing to assist on this matter.”
New study reveals catastrophic death toll from a nuclear attack
WHAT would happen if a nuclear bomb went off in your backyard? A chilling new study estimates the death toll from an attack on Australia.Tom Livingstone, news.com.au, APRIL 15, 2018
“……Scientists from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University have created simulations of a potential outcome if an attack did occur, and found the best course of action for people was to take shelter first and then take steps to escape afterwards.
Those who tried to seek out family members and “aid and assist” others were more likely to die.
In the study, it showed some people would look out for family, while others wold panic and run blindly away.
When humans carried out “shelter-seeking, evacuation, healthcare-seeking, and worry combined,” they were more likely to survive.
The simulation, which was first revealed by Science Magazine, shows that venturing away from a safe place leaves civilians subjected to a higher dose of radiation, which would likely prove fatal.
With President Trump’s consistent tweets threatening action against Russia and North Korea in a game of who has the bigger artillery, a dystopian future seems more and more possible.
Last month researchers created an interactive map that revealed the terrifying scope of a nuclear blast for any given area.
The map shows the extent of the fireball, radiation, shockwave, and heat spawned by different weapons, from the 15 KT ‘Little Boy’ dropped on Hiroshima to the largest weapon in the USSR’s arsenal, the 50,000 KT Tsar Bomba.
For example, if North Korea dropped the Hwasong-14, a 150 KT yield nuclear weapon on Sydney’s CBD, there would be more than 77,000 fatalities and 156,000 injured. The radiation from the blast would exceed 12 square kilometres and go further depending on wind patterns.
If Vladimir Putin dropped a 50,000 KT Tsar Bomba (Reportedly the biggest in his arsenal) on Sydney, there would be 1,513,303 fatalities, 1,111,725 injuries and radiation exceeding 80 square kilometres.
If the Aussies pissed off the US and Trump attacked us, it would most likely be with the 300KT W-87, which would kill an estimated 114,374 Sydneysiders, injure more than 227,000 and cause radiation exceeding 15 square kilometres on initial impact.
While scary to think about, it’s an important thing to get your head around in Trump’s 2018. Without coming off as alarmist we should understand the exact magnitude of a nuclear blast and how damaging it can potentially be.
Unusually for a suburb, Lucas Heights does not contain a residential area. The residential area previously part of Lucas Heights was renamed Barden Ridge in 1996 to increase the real estate value of the area, as it would no longer be instantly associated with the HIFAR nuclear reactor. [and now the Opal nuclear reactor]
Residents warned not to leave, Sydney fire worsens SMH, By Jacob Saulwick,
Fire authorities have issued an emergency warning for some suburbs in south-west Sydney, telling residents to seek shelter.
At about midday on Sunday, residents in Voyager Point, Pleasure Point and Sandy Point were advised not to leave their properties and to protect themselves from the heat of an out-of-control fire.
Residents in Alfords Point, Menai and West Barden Ridge were advised to shelter in place as the bush fire approached.
“It is too late to leave,” the Rural Fire Service said in a statement.
“Firefighters are in these areas and are in place to undertake property protection as required,” the RFS said……
Electricity company Ausgrid, meanwhile, said there might be short interruptions to power supply.
Heat from the bushfires was affecting Transgrid’s high-voltage power lines, Ausgrid said, causing voltage dips. Rail services across Sydney were disrupted on Sunday morning……
Electricity company Ausgrid, meanwhile, said there might be short interruptions to power supply.
Federal Science Minister Canavan this week announced a postal ballot August 20 of the so-called ‘local communities’ – Kimba & Wallerberdina – for the purpose of gaining consent towards furthering the NRWMF Site Selection process.
Informed consent requires both these electorates (& the wider Australian society) be fully appraised of all facets integral to any nuke dump.
Such would include these minimal requirements:
1. Adequate time to digest & follow up the outcomes from the current Senate Select Committee Inquiry into the NRWMF Community Engagement Process.
2. A complete knowledge of the actual nature, containment types, timings, duration & volumes of material destined for the facility – including a full & competent inventory of radioactive waste legacy holdings. For example: HIFAR decommissioned; ILW from all sources; CSIRO & DoD Woomera; DSTO Edinburgh; & SAGovt Radium Hill, amongst others.
Without such widespread understanding, any Poll result would lack competency, demonstrate a failure of administrative process & further exacerbate the existing community divisions created by the NRWMF Project deficient governance.
So far, the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility Taskforce has focused almost exclusively upon ANSTO radiopharma production gloves & gowns @ Lucas Heights.
THE TASKFORCE NEEDS TO PRO-ACTIVELY FULLY APPRAISE EVERYONE BEFORE ANY CASTING OF BALLOTS
Antinuclear 