Boss of ERA bales out as Ranger uranium mine loss reported
ERA reports Ranger uranium loss of $21m and boss ABC News, By Rick Hind 1 August 13 The company that runs the Ranger uranium mine in the Northern Territory has announced a $54 million loss and the departure of its chief executive.
In its half-yearly results, Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) said losses booked up included $21 million spent on an underground exploration decline.
It said chief executive Rob Atkinson will move to Rio Tinto after five years running ERA.
ERA is majority owned by Rio Tinto….. The underground exploration decline is part of establishing the viability of future operations.
Draft EIS guidelines for the underground mining proposal are in the hands of the Northern Territory Environmental Protection Authority.
The Federal Government is expected to release environmental guidelines for the proposed expansion within weeks….. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-01/era-ranger-uranium-loss-report-ceo-goes-to-rio-tinto/4858824
Western Australian wind farm will benefit farmers across twp shires
Conditional Approval For Western Australian Wind Farm http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3866 1 Aug 13, The Great Southern Joint Development Assessment Panel has given Moonies Hill Energy conditional approval for a stage of the proposed Flat Rocks Wind Farm.
Moonies Hill Energy director Sarah Rankin saysconstruction of the wind farm could commence in late 2014, early 2015. Construction had originally been intended to commence in 2012/13.
If fully developed, the Flat Rocks Wind Farm will be a 150 MW project. Situated 25km south east of Kojonup, in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, the facility will produce 562,000 GWh of electricity annually – enough to power 90,000 homes – and avoid up to 451,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent each year. Moonies Hill Energy says the project would inject $130 million into the local community over its lifespan – $30 million during construction and $5 million a year during operation.
The Flat Rocks Wind Farm will host 74 wind turbines perched on 84m towers and will be compatible with existing agricultural activities such as stock grazing and broadacre crops. After construction, the facility will occupy less than 1% of productive farmland.
The wind farm will spread over 6 farming operations and across two shires. The five landowners involved will all be financial beneficiaries of the project. The wind farm will be patched into the South West Interconnected System (SWIS) via the proposed 330kV Muja-Wellstead transmission line, construction of a 132kW line into the Kojonup substation or via the existing 132kV line that traverse the southern part of the project area.
Electricity produced by the Flat Rocks wind farm will be sold into the SWIS under a commercial agreement.
As part of the project, Moonies Hill Energy will establish a Sustainable Communities Fund to operate during the life of the wind farm that will provide support for surrounding community programs.
Muckaty nuclear waste dump on Aboriginal land – a misguided plan
Plan to use Aboriginal land as a nuclear waste dump is flawed and misguided
Radioactive waste management is difficult, but secretive deals made without Aboriginal Traditional Owners’ full consent are even more worrying. A transparent debate is needed. Dave Sweeney theguardian.com, 31 July 2013 This week, federal resource minister Gary Gray is talking radioactive waste with Aboriginal people in remote central Australia. Six years ago an Aboriginal clan group, the Northern Land Council (NLC) and the then Howard government signed a secret deal to develop Australia’s first purpose-built national radioactive waste dump at Muckaty, north of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory.
The commercial-in-confidence plan saw the clan group “volunteer” an area of the shared Muckaty Land Trust for the burial and above ground storage of radioactive waste in return for federal payments, promises and a “package of benefits” worth around $12m.
The deal was not known about or supported by the rest of the Muckaty Traditional Owners and remains the source of bitter contest, deep opposition and a Federal Court challenge. Now Gray is back to talk with the NLC about a second site nomination on Muckaty. Unfortunately the new plan appears to follow the old pattern of secrecy, exclusion and contest. Continue reading
Large scale solar power project for Western New South Wales
Largest solar power station in the southern hemisphere News International, 31 July 2013 11:16 Gary Gray Canberra , Federal Minister for Climate Change, Mark Butler today announced construction will start in January on the largest solar power station in the southern hemisphere after the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) reached financial close with AGL Energy Limited (AGL).
Mr Butler said the project will be built across two sites in Western NSW and will cover a combined area four times the size of the Sydney CBD.
“Australia has the highest average solar radiation per square metre of any continent in the world and we should take advantage of that natural asset,” Mr Butler said.
“This project is 15 times larger than any other solar power station in Australia and represents a big step forward towards making solar a bigger part of Australia’s energy mix.
“The Rudd Government is committed to transitioning Australia to a clean energy future and this combined 155 megawatt solar project helps make renewable energy cost competitive for more Australians.”
Minister for Resources and Energy Gary Gray said this was a major milestone for AGL and the Government and would help boost investor confidence in large utility-scale solar.
“Reaching financial close and progressing to construction is a major achievement paving the way for future investment and meaning that, in a short time, an additional 50,000 homes across New South Wales will be powered by clean energy each year,” Mr Gray said. Continue reading
Australia needs a public and independent national commission on nuclear waste management
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Plan to use Aboriginal land as a nuclear waste dump is flawed and misguided Dave Sweeney theguardian.com, Wednesday 31 July 2013
“……..Radioactive waste management is difficult. Only time can take the heat out of the waste – but transparent and robust processes and policy development can take the heat out of the waste debate.
Australia has never had an independent assessment of what is the best (or least worst) way to manage our radioactive waste. Decades ago unelected bureaucrats decided a centralised remote dump was the best model and ever since a chain reaction of politicians have tried – and failed – to find a compliant postcode.
Australia is better placed than some countries to do things differently – and better. We have much less radioactive waste than nations with domestic nuclear power and ours is mostly stored at two secure federal sites – the Woomera prohibited area in South Australia and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation’s Lucas Heights nuclear facility in southern Sydney.
ANSTO, which produces and houses most of Australia’s radioactive waste, is upgrading its storage facilities. It and the federal nuclear regulator agree ANSTO has the ability and capacity to securely manage all radioactive waste on site, including material due for return from overseas.
This reality provides Australia with some much needed breathing space. For more than two decades, politicians have talked big and listened little – and they have spectacularly failed come up with an agreed, credible and mature approach to radioactive waste management.
It is time to move away from the obsession with finding a place to dump and instead build a space to discuss. We need to get the policy architecture right so future generations of Australians will not have a radioactive legacy that is badly wrong.
A public and independent national commission would advance the discourse on what constitutes responsible radioactive waste management and to move all stakeholders out of the trenches and to the table.
In a long overdue and most welcome change of style, if not yet of substance, the latest federal minister with responsibility for this issue has acknowledged that there are deep Aboriginal and wider concerns over the Muckaty plan.
A minister named Gray should be well-placed to show leadership on an issue of inter-generational national importance that is not – and should never be – just black and white.
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Australians way ahead of politicians in attitudes to climate change
Climate of the nation 2013: Australian attitudes on climate change http://apo.org.au/research/climate-nation-2013-australian-attitudes-climate-change
Kristina Stefanova | The Climate Institute
The 2012 research was conducted in the heat of the toxic and speculative debate leading up to the introduction of the carbon laws.
A year later we find that two-thirds of Australians think that climate change is occurring and almost all of them believe that it is impacting Australia now. People are genuinely worried about the cost impacts of extreme weather and climate change on everyday concerns such as crop production and food supply, insurance premiums, water shortages and climate refugees.
Climate change is not perceived as a major issue in this election, but it is also clear that there is no basis from which to call the election a “referendum on the carbon tax”.
Only around a third of Australians think that the carbon laws should be repealed and more oppose a double dissolution to get rid of them than support one. The “carbon tax” itself is not a major reason for supporting a Coalition vote. “Economic mismanagement”, “lies and incompetence” and the “carbon tax lie” are cited as far stronger reasons.
Opposition to carbon pricing is dropping. While support remains soft, it strengthens significantly when the policy is explained. This matches the findings of other recent polls. Continue reading
Wind energy company wins award, but still faces problems on King Island
Hydro Tasmania wins engagement award http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2013/07/26/577753_national-news.html
Shannon Twomey | July 26, 2013 HYDRO Tasmania has won the Community Engagement Award at the Clean Energy Council Awards.
The awards are hosted by the Clean Energy Council as part of Clean Energy Week.
Hydro Tasmania won the award for their community engagement on the Musselroe Wind Farm Project in the north east of Tasmania.
The Musselroe Wind Farm is a 56-turbine, 168-megawatt wind farm that provides power to 50,000 homes and prevents the emission of 450,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
Project director Andrew Hickman said from the start Hydro Tasmania have worked closely with communities in the area.
“Many members of the project team have lived and worked in the north east region over the entire construction period and have become a real part of that community,” Mr Hickman said.
“Hydro Tasmania have engaged with local schools, tourists bodies, indigenous elders and business groups to build the relationships that have resulted in genuine community ownership of this project.”
Friends of the Earth and Yes 2 Renewables spokesperson Leigh Ewbank said Hydro Tasmania have a good reputation for strong community engagement.
Hydro Tasmania are currently working on another wind farm development, the TasWind Project, on King Island. Continue reading
Arctic permafrost thawing, with drastic climate results
Release of methane gas from Arctic permafrost could devastate global economy: study http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-25/arctic-methane-could-devastate-economy3a-study/4842994 By David Mack and Stuart Gray
European scientists say the release of large amounts of methane gas from thawing Arctic permafrost could devastate the global economy.
Permafrost, or soil below the freezing point, has been thawing under rising global temperatures for many years.
The thawing is releasing the powerful greenhouse gas methane, which is concentrated in the Arctic tundra and is also found as semi-solid gas hydrates in the sea. A study in the science journal Nature says the release of 50-gigatonnes of methane over a decade will result in flooding, sea-level rise, agriculture damage and health impacts amounting to $60 trillion – which was roughly the size of the entire global economy last year.
The researchers say the impacts will be particularly devastating in developing countries..
Separate research also shows permafrost melting at alarming rates in the Antarctic.
Plutonium blown up at Maralinga, in secret “Vixen B” tests
Dig for secrets: the lesson of Maralinga’s Vixen B The Conversation, Liz Tynan, 26 July 13 “……….The tests of far greater consequence were the 12 Vixen B tests, only held at Maralinga These experiments used TNT to blow up simulated nuclear warheads containing a long-lasting form of plutonium.
Vixen B scattered 22.2kg of plutonium-239 around the Maralinga test site known as Taranaki. This form of plutonium has a half-life of over 24,000 years. The extreme persistence of radiation and the threat of cancer posed by inhaling small particles in dust at the site make it especially dangerous.
The Vixen B tests took place amid total secrecy in 1960, 1961 and 1963. Maralinga’s toxic legacy can be summed up in one word: plutonium. When the Maralinga Rehabilitation Technical Advisory Committee (MARTAC) reported in 2002 on efforts to remove contamination from the area it said “Plutonium … was almost entirely the contaminant that determined the scope of the [Maralinga rehabilitation] program.”
The British carried out some clean-up operations after Vixen B and provided a report (by British physicist Noah Pearce) in 1968 that made claims about the level of plutonium contamination at the site. The Pearce report provided the technical basis for the Australian Government to release the UK from any further liability for the Maralinga site.
The technical advisory committee later confirmed that the plutonium contamination at Taranaki was wrong by a factor of 10: “A comparison between the levels reported by the UK at the time (Pearce 1968) and the field results reported by the Australian Radiation Laboratory…(Lokan 1985) demonstrates an underestimate of the plutonium contamination by about an order of magnitude.”……..” http://theconversation.com/dig-for-secrets-the-lesson-of-maralingas-vixen-b-15456
Independent Aboriginal Government created – the Republic of Murrawarri
Aboriginals Create the World’s Newest Government First Peoples Worldwide, 26 July 13 The world is welcoming its newest government – the Republic of Murrawarri, a nearly 82,000 square kilometer territory stretching across northern New South Wales and Queensland in Australia, has declared its independence as a sovereign nation.
Murrawarri’s independence comes after a long diplomatic process. The republic, which has around 4,000 residents, officially declared their continuing independence and statehood on April 3, 2013. The declaration was sent to the Queen of England, who is the constitutional monarch for Australia, along with a request for documents that would prove the Crown’s official rights to governance of Murrawarri. Continue reading
Australia’s right wing in a right mess about policy on wind energy
The debate over climate change has been an intellectual debacle for the political right. Their tribal hatred of environmentalists has driven them into a position of denouncing any technology favoured by their enemies. The only invisible substance with which Abbott and his backers should be concerned about is their disappearing intellectual credibility.
The right’s anti-wind campaign is pure scaremongering http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/23/abbott-wind-turbines-health-effects by John Quiggan, 25 July13 Climate change is a debacle for the Australian right. Their tribal hatred of environmentalists has driven them to denounce any technology favoured by their enemies Tony Abbott’s quip that emissions trading schemes represent “a so-called market in invisible stuff” has been rightly derided as a dog-whistle to climate denialists, unsuccessful only in that it was not pitched high enough to escape detection by the rest of us. Critics have had plenty of fun pointing out the many examples of “invisible stuff” that is, like carbon dioxide, critically important despite the fact that we can’t see it – electricity, financial risk, and so forth.
A point that has attracted rather less attention is the extent to which the views of Abbott’s team on climate are being driven by claims about something that is not only invisible and inaudible, but indeed non-existent – namely the supposed health effects of wind farms. The belief that wind farms are dangerous to human health has been widely propagated on the political right, despite the absence of supporting scientific evidence.
The leading Australian promoters of wind paranoia are the Waubra Foundation, the Australian Landscape Guardians and 
the Australian Environment Foundation (AEF). These groups are often linked with each other and with rightwing organisations like the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA). The AEF in particular is a straightforward front group – it was set up by former IPA senior fellow Jennifer 
Marohasy and originally operated out of the IPA offices in Melbourne.
The supposed health risks of wind turbines have also been pushed byGraham Lloyd in The Australian newspaper, other rightwing columnists like Miranda Devine, and conservative politicians including Craig Kellyand John Madigan.
To get the boring scientific facts out of the way, the National Health and Medical Research Council investigated the issue in 2009 and 2010. The review considered the potential health impacts of infrasound, noise, electromagnetic interference, shadow flicker and blade glint produced by wind turbines and concluded that, “at the time of writing, there was no published scientific evidence to positively link wind turbines with adverse health effects.” Continue reading
An Australian nuclear CONference: yes it is a real CON
Putting the Con back into Conference: No social license for nuclear power. July 25: Natalie Wasley, Beyond Nuclear Initiative and Uranium Free NSW On July 25/26 the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) is holding a conference in Sydney titled ‘Nuclear Energy for Australia?’
The conference might be framed as a question but the answer is predictable given that the majority of keynote speakers are from organisations in favour of developing a nuclear power industry in Australia, including industry representative bodies and pro-nuclear think tanks.
“The idea of nuclear power in Australia has been tested and rejected many times by the Australian public,” said Beyond Nuclear Initiative coordinator Natalie Wasley. “Former Prime Minister John Howard was forced to back down from ambitious nuclear power plans when people demanded to know which postcodes would be targeted. The broad community challenge to current plans for a low and intermediate-level radioactive waste dump at Muckaty in the Northern Territory would translate to fierce opposition to plans for storage of high-level waste from nuclear power reactors.”
Advocates have tried to rebrand nuclear power as a solution to climate change concerns, but actual energy generation trends have not followed this optimistic rebranding. The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2013 discerns that the impact of Fukushima on the global nuclear industry has become increasingly visible, noting that Global electricity generation from nuclear plants dropped by a historic 7 percent in 2012, adding to the record drop of 4 percent in 2011.
“Nuclear is costly and contaminating and our energy future is renewable, not radioactive,” said Ms Wasley.
Sakyo Noda from the Uranium Free NSW collective said “Uranium from Australia was present in Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant and the authority is still unable to control the situation – recently TEPCO admitted that contaminated water was leaking into the ocean”
“Uranium mining is the beginning of the catastrophic nuclear chain. We are trying to stop uranium exploration in NSW because we can’t risk another nuclear accident and leave contaminated soil, water and air to the next generations. The radiation health risk and impact on children affected by Fukushima has not yet been fully revealed”, Mr Noda concluded.
In August 2012 a broad coalition of trade unions, health and environment groups, the NSW ALP and NSW Greens launched the NSW Uranium Free Charter in response to the overturning of the 26 year moratorium on uranium exploration in the state.
The Charter states in part: The nuclear industry promotes nuclear power as a solution to climate change. It is not. We cannot solve one environmental and social problem by embracing another. Investment in renewable energy would create thousands of jobs, especially in regional Australia, without the health risks associated with uranium mining and nuclear energy.
Sloppy science writing in Australia’s media
The death of science journalism in Australia Independent Australia by MatthewDonovan 24 July, 2013 As the mainstream media struggles – particularly newspapers – the loss of journalists is a worrying trend; Noel Wauchope explains why she is most concerned about the loss of qualified science journalists. INVESTIGATIVE journalists would do well to investigate what is happening to science news writing in Australia…..
I knew that quality science journalism in Australia was dwindling. It took the most recent pro-nuclear advertorial in the Fairfax media to really wake me up to this. John Watson, ‘Senior writer’ at Fairfax Media, wrote an article entitled, Want to kill fewer people? Go nuclear…..
Why have The Age, Sydney Morning Herald and others sunk to this level of sloppy journalism?
Apart from the obvious fact they don’t want to offend their corporate backers, this kind of writing is symptomatic of what happens when you get rid of your qualified dedicated science journalists. Amongst the plethora of Fairfax journalists encouraged to depart their jobs were science editor Deborah Smith, health editor Julie Robotham, health correspondent Mark Metherell and environment reporter Rossyln Beeby.
That’s Fairfax. But what about the Murdoch media? The Murdoch media never had much of a problem in its coverage of science. The Australian blithely publishes science articles written by journalists who are clearly far from expert in the field of science.
This has been documented by Tim Lambert with his article, The Australian’s War on Science. In it he goes about scrutinising, in depth, writers such as Maurice Newman and Graham Lloyd.
The Australian did have one qualified science writer, Leigh Dayton. When she was sacked, the reason given by her editors was they: Continue reading
100% Renewable Energy Supply From Off-grid achieved by King Island
Australia’s King Island Achieves 100% Renewable Energy Supply From Off-grid System http://cleantechnica.com/2013/07/24/australias-king-island-achieves-100-renewable-energy-supply-from-off-grid-system/ July 24, 2013 Mridul Chadha
The island, which otherwise would be dependent on imported electricity and fuel, now seems well equipped to generate its usual as well as back up electricity through renewable energy sources.
Hydro Tasmania used its own automated power control systems and flywheel technology to supply uninterrupted power last month. For the first time, the company did not use diesel backup systems to keep the power supply going. Of course, the ample availability of wind and solar energy resources on the small island to the north of Australia’s island state helped the company achieve this milestone.
Currently, according to the company, the backup system could be diesel free when there is sufficient wind and solar energy available or during the off-peak demand hours (night and dawn). But Hydro Tasmania is working to make this system foolproof.
Demand side management and energy storage solutions are being planned to make the backup system completely diesel free at all times.
The automated diesel-free system, accompanied with demand side management and energy storage, could prove to be a blessing for small island nations and remote regions across the world. Island nations in the South Pacific cannot afford to be dependent on imported diesel nor can they have extensive transmission systems spanning hundreds of kilometres across open seas.
Hydro Tasmania is implementing these systems under the King Island Renewable Energy Integration Project (KIREIP).
Among the many renewable energy, energy efficiency, and energy storage solutions implemented under this project is a 100 kW solar PV project. This project was installed in 2008 and uses dual-axis tracking, making it more efficient than conventional solar PV projects. The project will soon see increased use of biodiesel produced from recycled cooking oil and tallow and installation of Australia’s largest energy storage battery system.
Trans Pacific Partnership talks focus on media control
Big Media’s push for extreme new Internet censorship rules stalls secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership talks http://www.straight.com/news/402631/big-medias-push-extreme-new-internet-censorship-rules-stalls-secretive-trans-pacific-partnership-talks By David Christopher Big Media lobbyists and unelected bureaucrats are holding closed-door meetings in Malaysia this week, as they continue secret talks on the Trans-Pacific 
Partnership (TPP).
The TPP is a highly secretive and extreme trade deal being negotiated by Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Peru, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, the United States, Singapore, and Vietnam.
Reports from Malaysia indicate that the TPP talks are stalled over five key issues—including a key chapter on copyright and intellectual property rights that would censor and criminalize Internet use. Continue reading
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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