Nuclear waste dump plan for South Australia -uneconomic and uinrealistic
This reality is not linked to any red or green tape, but rather to the clear absence of economic returns. While the sector’s risks are significant, its economic contribution is not: in total it provides only around 650 jobs and $700 million in earnings – nationwide.
Dave Sweeney: Nuclear pain outweighs economic gain for South Australia THE ADVERTISER FEBRUARY 10, 2014 IF South Australia moved further down the nuclear road by processing enriched uranium or storing nuclear waste, it would threaten the natural environment and put the state in direct conflict with federal policy, global markets and community expectations.
The call by Business SA to process enriched uranium and store nuclear waste stems from misplaced enthusiasm rather than measured assessment.
Any such call can only be made by ignoring the reality that the nuclear industry is, here and internationally, under intense political, regulatory and community pressure since the Fukushima meltdown in Japan.
A market analysis by economic forecaster Morgan Stanley shows the price of uranium has slumped by nearly 50 per cent since the Fukushima nuclear crisis, where Australian uranium became and remains global radioactive fallout. Continue reading
The facts on Abbott’s war on the environment and climate change action
War on the environment a distraction from climate change policy, The Conversation, David Holmes, 11Feb14 ,A fter almost six months in office, it seems that the Abbott government’s reputation for action on climate change and the environment in general is in tatters.
Overseas, condemnation has been directed at a government now labelled as the ‘most hostile to its nation’s environment in history’. And that assessment is made with scant attention to what the Coalition government is doing on climate change, where it has pulled out all the stops to bring climate change policy to heel before the interests of big coal and big mining.On the environment, the Abbott government has departed from the Howard years of striking a balance with conservation values and listening to the concerns constituents have for the environment.
Balancing economic growth with sustainability had been at the forefront of legislative and regulatory protection, including the Howard government’s Environment Protection and Bio-diversity Conservation Act (1999). But the scrapping of the Environment Defenders Office (EDO) is symbolic of the distinctive shift we are seeing with this government.he EDO has played a crucial role in providing free legal advice to communities that wish to question and challenge decisions, such as coal seam gas drilling or dredging of the Great Barrier Reef. But in the context of a government that is driven to extract‘every molecule’ of gas and every last seam of coal from the driest country on earth, it has deemed that opposition to mining is not to be tolerated.
The really bad news for climate change mitigation policy is that the Abbott government’s open season on the environment will distract Australian’s from climate policy settings, which is the one area to which all environmental issues will one day be subordinated…….
Australia is the only nation currently demolishing a working carbon price, which has, in its very short life so far, already mitigated 40 megatonnes of C02.
The administrative and advisory infrastructure put in place to tackle climate change has been all but eradicated. To rehearse the measures:
- Abolishing the Climate Commission
- Axing of COAG’s Environment Ministers Forum after 41 years.
- Scrapping the Biodiversity Fund, Clean Energy Finance Corporation and Environmental Defenders Offices
- Foreshadowing the abolition of the climate change Authority in July
- Cutting funding to the: Caring for our Country Program, Low Carbon Communities Program, and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.Perhaps the decision invoking the most contempt relates to the Clean Energy Fund. Originally, the Abbott government had claimed that abolishing Clean Energy Finance Corporation will cost the budget A$439 million. However, it now transpires that investing in renewable energies is highly profitable, and the taxpayer is actually going to gain $760 million instead.
The contradictions here don’t stand up to even rudimentary analysis. On the one hand the Abbott government dogmatically claims that these cuts are economically driven, but this is patently false when it comes to the CEFC. ……http://theconversation.com/war-on-the-environment-a-distraction-from-climate-change-policy-22983.
Renewable Energy Target – a small cost for a big gain
this time, the renewable industry has grown and is planning to fight back with a marginal seats campaign and a public appeal to save the current Renewable Energy Target.
Is $15 a year really too much to pay for renewable energy? The Conversation, AUTHOR Dylan McConnell Research Fellow, Melbourne Energy Institute at University of Melbourne,11 Feb 14 Australia’s Renewable Energy Target looks likely to be weakened or even axed, with the Prime Minister saying the scheme needs to be reviewed because it is causing “pretty significant price pressure”.
But does $15 a year sound like a “pretty significant” cost to you? Continue reading
Institute of Public Affairs dictates environment policy to Tony Abbott
War on the environment a distraction from climate change policy, The Conversation, David Holmes, 11Feb14 “……The radical conservatism of the Coalition seems to be drawn from the same platform as the Institute for Public Affairs (IPA), which has entreated Abbott to ‘Be Like Gough’.
In a document posted on its website, the IPA declares open season on just about every publicly interested authority and organisation in Australia for which climate change ranks at the very top. Of 75 recommendations, climate change figures in four of the first six. These include:
- Repeal the carbon tax, and don’t replace it.
- Abolish the Department of Climate Change
- Abolish the Clean Energy Fund
- Repeal the renewable energy target
With recent talk that Abbott is about to appoint IPA ‘anti-renewable zealot’ Alan Moran to a new independent panel to review the Renewable Energy Target, it looks likely that all four of these recommendations will be ticked off nicely.
Nowhere on the planet is there a region that is going to feel the effects of climate change on its population than Australia, with heat-stressed soils, heatwaves, firestorms, flooding and cyclones. And yet, we have a government doing its level best to maximise measures that will only exacerbate global warming.http://theconversation.com/war-on-the-environment-a-distraction-from-climate-change-policy-22983
Help BHP by making South Australia the world’s radioactive trash dump!
John Read: By storing more radioactive waste at Olympic Dam, the 
struggling mine may remain profitable Adelaide Now,11 Feb 14….
For the last quarter of a century, WMC then BHP have picked the eyes out of the deposit, mining the richest, most accessible areas through expensive underground mining. Both companies have left staff, investors and governments in no doubt that underground mining is becoming increasingly unprofitable.
However, following an exhaustive study spanning over half a decade, BHP came to the conclusion that the mighty proposed open-cut expansion, deemed essential to guarantee the longevity of the mine and the best use of the resource, was uneconomical .
Every month that the mine continues to exhaust the feasible underground resource without initiating the open cut is a month closer to a Ravensthorpe-type decision when BHP will pack up its bat and ball and leave town.
When BHP singled out the poor performance of Olympic Dam at its recent AGM, hot on the heels of the announcement of imminent closures of Ford and now Holden , the Prime Minister and SA Premier have been left considering the unimaginable: closure of one of their prime assets……
If we want Olympic Dam to survive we need to rationalise our collective views on the nuclear industry and our management of radioactive waste……….
Olympic Dam, producing 70 million tonnes of radioactive tailings each year.
We need to acknowledge that the 40 cubic metres of radioactive waste generated by hospitals, research labs and the manufacturing industry each year and held in over 100 inappropriate storages around the country, is a minute fraction of what is produced and managed every year at Olympic Dam.
We should accept that the Olympic Dam region of northern SA was identified by a comprehensive nationwide search as the optimal region for an Australian radioactive waste repository……
By storing the national radioactive waste within or next to the Olympic Dam tailings dams, the struggling mine may generate sufficient revenue to remain profitable. http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/john-read-by-storing-more-radioactive-waste-at-olympic-dam-the-struggling-mine-may-remain-profitable/story-fni6unxq-1226822858616
Senate Inquiry found big faults in Australia’s uranium industry
Dave Sweeney: Nuclear pain outweighs economic gain for South Australia THE ADVERTISER FEBRUARY 10, 2014 “…….Since the Fukushima accident began in March 2011 there have been repeated and wide-ranging calls for an independent review of the costs and consequences of the Australian uranium sector, here and abroad. Predictably – and sadly – these have been ignored by uranium companies, the industry’s lobby association and successive Australian governments.
The most recent independent assessment of the Australian uranium industry – a Senate Inquiry in October 2003 – found the sector was characterised by underperformance and non-compliance, an absence of reliable data to measure contamination or its impact on the environment, and an operational culture focused on short-term considerations.
The small economic gain from uranium can mean big pain. There is a compelling case that Australia’s uranium trade is a major source of domestic and international risks and that an independent inquiry is needed into its effects on the environment, health, safety and security.
SA is blessed with renewable energy resources and is well placed to become a national and indeed global leader in renewable energy production. Renewables are the fastest-growing energy sector in the world and already provide more global electricity every day than the contested, costly and contaminating nuclear sector.
Radioactive waste, legacy mine sites and risky reactors all last far longer than the shelf-life of any politician or the tenure of any industry group. Uranium mining and the wider nuclear industry are high-risk, low-return sectors that pose unique, unresolved and long-lived threats.http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/dave-sweeney-nuclear-pain-outweighs-economic-gain-for-south-australia/story-fni6unxq-1226822892221
Cameco to decrease activities in Australia. Paladin shuts African mine
Weak uranium prices force closure of Paladin mine, Financial Review PETER KER AND ANGELA MACDONALD-SMITH 10 FEB 2014 Uranium miners are starting to cut back production amid a growing belief that the sector will not recover in the near term.
ASX listed Paladin Energy has confirmed one of its two mines will cease production until the uranium price recovers, while one of the world’s biggest uranium miners, Cameco, has cut its growth schedule and warned the ‘‘stagnant, over supplied’’ market was not going to improve any time soon.Cameco had previously promised to increase uranium production by 50 per cent over the next four years, but on Saturday the company said such long-term production forecasts were no longer appropriate in the current market conditions.
‘‘Market challenges have persisted since early 2011 and we expect they will continue for the near to medium term,’’ the Canadian company said in a statement.
Uranium prices have been on a downward trend since the Fukushima nuclear crisis damaged confidence in the industry in 2011……
Cameco deferred its Kintyre uranium project in Western Australia in 2012, and on Saturday it vowed to ‘‘decrease activities in Australia’’ even further.,,,,,,http://www.afr.com/p/business/companies/weak_uranium_prices_forces_closure_6Jq1zMnOONO3LAxC4jQkTM
Adelaide Citizens Demand Business South Australia Cease Nuclear Promotion Fraud
8 Feb 14 A group of concerned citizens today issued a firm rejection of industry lobby group Business SA’s recent “demands (for) a nuclear industry in South Australia”.
The group’s spokes-person, mathematician Brett Stokes, has personally demanded that Business SA and AdelaideNow cease Nuclear Advocacy Fraud.
Stokes says “the economics are bogus – the ludicrous totally false claim of abundant cheap energy deserves condemnation as a malevolent fraud”.
Stokes cites the huge costs of construction and operational failures such as Chernobyl and Fukushima.
Stokes also notes that nuclear power reactors require huge amounts of cooling water and only operate 90% of the time at best.
Who’s behind Business South Australia’s push for nuclear waste dump
The Editor
The Advertiser
Now that neither of the major political parties supports Business SA’s demand for a nuclear fuel and waste industry for SA (The Advertiser, 6/2/14) – one party calls it a “dangerous distraction”, the other “a long way off” (The Advertiser, 7/2/14) – then Business SA should put its money where its mouth is and publish the names of the companies it claims support its demand.
That way SA consumers can vote with their feet and perhaps Business SA might then be a little less outrageous in its political demands.
Dennis Matthews
Abbott’s Australia – the land of cover-ups and secrecy?
The ABC is uniquely placed.. because it is not beholden to commercial interests. Rather than leading the day’s news with a story about Justin Bieber, because that will generate the largest audience, Aunty tells people what they need to know.
Cover up and secrecy in Abbott’s Australia, Aljazeera, PM pans ‘unpatriotic’ national broadcaster for holding govt accountable to its electorate Fiona Broom, 7 Feb 14, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has something in common with Egypt’s military government – he expects the government-funded Australian Broadcasting Corporation to be a cheerleader for the country and decries the reporting of stories which portray Australia negatively.
But while the Egyptian government has jailed Al Jazeera journalists for making Egypt look bad, Abbott has to find other methods of curtailing criticism. Continue reading
New Nuclear technology not really an option for Australia
The Australian government is under pressure from the USA nuclear lobby, and a bunch of entrepreneurial Australian types, to buy the (as yet only on paper) Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, based on Thorium as fuel.
Sure, let’s debate nuclear power – just don’t call it “low-emission” , The Conversation , Mark Diesendorf, Associate Professor and Deputy Director, Institute of Environmental Studies, UNSW at University of New South Wales 6 Feb 14,
“……..The technology trap Could new types of nuclear power station solve the problem?“Fast breeder reactors” produce more nuclear fuel than they use and so would theoretically have much lower life-cycle CO2emissions than existing “burner” reactors. But in practice breeders are even more complex, dangerous and expensive than burners. As a result they have been stuck at the demonstration stage for decades and even some nuclear proponents admit that breeders are unlikely to be commercialized for at least another two decades, if ever.
The government’s issues paper mentions the possibility of nuclear reactors based on the thorium fuel cycle, but these are also more complex than uranium-based nuclear energy and there are no commercial systems operating as yet.
Advocates of another possible option, nuclear fusion on Earth, recognize that it unlikely to become a commercial reality for at least three decades, if ever.
To sum up, based on existing commercial technology, nuclear energy is not a solution to the global climate crisis, because it will soon become too emissions-intensive. It is also not a short-term solution, because it is a very slow technology to plan and construct. It is dangerous and very expensive.
So why bother? There is already a better alternative to fossil fuels: the efficient use of renewable energy.http://theconversation.com/sure-lets-debate-nuclear-power-just-dont-call-it-low-emission-21566
Political bias at Australia’s ABC
Status Update By Don’t blame me I didn’t vote for Tony Abbott POST BY PAGE MEMBER RICHARD O’BRIEN:Howard government appointments:
Donald McDonald – Liberal Party member and long-time friend of the Howard Family.
Michael Kroger – Liberal party powerbroker and former president of the Victorian Liberal party. Member of the right-wing think tank the Institute of Public Affairs (“Ding!”)
Judith Sloan – Right-wing labour market economist, News Ltd Columnist and outspoken critic of the ABC. Associated with right-wing think tanks the Centre for Independent Studies, the HR Nichols Society and the IPA (“Ding, Ding!”)
Ross McLean – Former Liberal party MP for Perth.
Leith Boully – Member of the Murray-Darling CAC with close ties to the Liberal party. Former member of the NT Young Country Liberal Party.
Maurice Newman – Close friend and confidant of John Howard and founder of the Centre for Independent Studies, a right-wing think tank identical to the IPA (“Ding, Ding, Ding!”)
Janet Albrechtson – Right-wing columnist for News Ltd. Associated with the CIS and IPA (“Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding!”)
Ron Brunton – Former right-wing columnist for News Ltd. Climate change skeptic, critic of the stolen generations report and Director of Indigenous Affairs at the IPA (“Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding!”)
Steven Skala – Former director of the CIS (“Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding!”)
Keith Windschuttle – Right-wing historian. Outspoken critic of the ABC and regular keynote speaker for the CIS and IPA (“Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding!”)
Peter Hurley – President of the SA Hotels Association and major donor to the Liberal party and right-wing think tanks…oh bugger it (“Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding!”)
Jonathan Shier – Right-wing opponent of all public broadcasting. Was appointed with a mandate to attack the ABC but resigned after 19 months. Guess who called for this guy’s appointment. (“Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding!”)
Mark Scott – Former staffer to NSW Liberal minister Terry Metherell.
Rudd/Gillard appointments
James Spigelman – No known political affiliation.
Julianne Schultz – No known political affiliation.
Cheryl Bart – No known political affiliation.
Fiona Stanley – No known political affiliation.
Jane Bennett – No known political affiliation.
Five ABC board appointments fall vacant in the current government’s term.
GOVERNMENT IGNORES UN RECOMMENDATION THAT WE ASSESS FULL COSTS OF URANIUM MINING
“…..…Recommendation For Assessment Of Environmental And Societal Costs Of Uranium Mining Hansard Page: 13 Question Date: 18 November 2013 Senator Ludlam asked:
Senator LUDLAM: It probably makes more sense to have your answer in front of me, rather than this back-and-forth across the table. What steps have been taken by the Commonwealth, or any agencies, or indeed your agency, to address the UN Secretary-General’s September 2011 recommendation that Australia conduct an in-depth assessment of the net cost impact of mining fissionable materials—that is, uranium—on local communities and ecosystems? It was an SG recommendation of 2011—…..
Mr McAllister: I can look into it, yes.
Mark Diesendorf points out that nuclear power is just NOT “low emission”
Sure, let’s debate nuclear power – just don’t call it “low-emission” , The Conversation , Mark Diesendorf, Associate Professor and Deputy Director, Institute of Environmental Studies, UNSW at University of New South Wales 6 Feb 14,
With environmental considerations constraining the further development of hydro-electric sources, nuclear technologies continue to present an option for future reliable energy that can be readily dispatched into the market.
This sentence appears in a passage dealing with the “move to low-emissions energy”, and although nuclear is not explicitly described as a low-emission option, it certainly looks as if the government is prepared to consider embracing nuclear power as part of an alleged move away from fossil fuel
Is nuclear energy really low-emission?
Unfortunately, the notion that nuclear energy is a low-emission technology doesn’t really stack up when the whole nuclear fuel life cycle is considered. Continue reading
Australia’s solar energy up against attack from Tony Abbott
Australia’s solar industry prepares for battle, pvmagazine 06. FEBRUARY 2014 | BY: EDGAR MEZA The government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott looks set to gut the country’s Renewable Energy Target program. Critics accuse Abbott of having misrepresented his stance on renewables. Australia’s renewable energy sector is feeling increasingly threatened by the government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
In a report on Thursday in U.K. newspaper The Guardian, opposition Labor Party environment spokesman Mark Butler took Abbott to task. Butler accused the prime minister of having pretended to support the renewables industry before the election but said he was now “launching a full-frontal attack” on the sector…….
The Labor environment spokesman said Abbott had taken control of a scheduled review of the country’s Renewable Energy Target (RET), adding that the current ruling coalition may reassess the program due to increases in power prices.
Butler said Labor would continue to oppose the repeal of the country’s carbon tax when parliament resumes this month and added that the party was also preparing “to ramp up a community campaign in support of renewable energy.” The renewable energy sector has become increasingly alarmed at the possibility of the government drastically reducing or even abolishing the RET.
The Australian solar council has already launched a “save solar” campaign out of fear the government review will immobilize the industry by eliminating the target, which requires 45,000 gigawatt hours of power to be sourced from renewables by 2020 and provides a subsidy to people who install solar systems. http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/australias-solar-industry-prepares-for-battle_100014143/#ixzz2se7wYtKC
1 This month.
20 September –National Day of Action in Melbourne on the International Day of Peace
Help Aunty Sue Protect Her Land and Sacred Sites From Destructive Rocket Testing.
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Australians deserve the truth
about
AUKUS – https://aukuspublicinquiry.com/
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
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