Kerang, Victoria, getting two solar farms in 2013
Another 30 MW Solar Farm For Victoria http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3530, 27 Dec 12, Gannawarra Shire Council last week approved plans for another 30MW solar farm to be constructed near Kerang, Victoria. The latest 30MW PV solar project will be situated on 36 hectares south of the town and is expected to produce 52 gigawatt hours of clean electricity annually; enough to power 14,300 homes and avoid 62,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year.
“Construction of the $38 million solar farm is expected to commence in mid 2013, with an expected construction timeframe of around 14 months. The project is likely to provide significant employment and service opportunities for Kerang,” Manager Economic Development Roger Griffiths said.
Gannawarra Shire Council Mayor Cr Neville Goulding said Council is actively encouraging utility scale renewables in the area.
“The development follows strategic work by Council’s Economic Development unit to facilitate and promote the option of large scale solar projects within the Shire, to Australian and overseas companies seeking to invest in the Australian green energy market. Council looks forward to further developments in the renewable energy sector.”
Albury based ECO for LIFE will be developing the project.
Another 30MW solar farm is already under construction in the Kerang region after being approved in August. The facility is being developed by AKK Consulting Group and is located off the Loddon Valley Highway, 4 kilometres south of the town centre.
Kerang is situated 279 kilometres north-west of Melbourne. In addition to substantial solar radiation resources, the town has access to a large capacity sub-station, a 220kV transmission line that runs from Bendigo to Broken Hill in NSW, two 66kV sub transmission lines running directly to Swan Hill and one 66kV sub transmission line to Cohuna.
Radioactive waste in Arkaroola Wilderness now tax-payers’ problem, not Marathon’s
In February of this year, Marathon was paid $5 million in compensation by the State Government over the decision to stop it exploring in the Flinders Ranges.
it is ironic the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary is home to a radioactive waste facility.
Radioactive waste being stored in shed in Arkaroola, THE AUSTRALIAN BRYAN LITTLELY with Giuseppe Tauriello From: adelaidenow December 25, 2012 IT’S the nuclear-waste facility that few people know about – 21 barrels of medium- to high-level radioactive material stored in a tin shed in South Australia’s Outback paradise.
The waste is in the heart of Arkaroola, the Outback wilderness sanctuary the State Government hopes will one day be included on the World Heritage list.
The facility, known as Painter Camp, is not registered under the Radiation Protection Act and a management plan for its safe and secure operation is still being developed.
In a revelation likely to outrage environmental groups and anti-nuclear campaigners, responsibility for Painter Camp now lies with the State Government, Continue reading
Australian town powered by solar energy 1981 – 2004
Historic Australian Solar Farm To Become A Museum http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3526 25 Dec 12, Long before the solar power boom in Australia, the White Cliffs Solar Power Station was generating clean electricity for a town.
Located at White Cliffs, New South Wales, which had no grid connection at the time; it was constructed in 1981 by a team from Australian National University.
The solar farm originally featured fourteen three-metre parabolic dishes covered in thousands of mirrors and mounted on heliostatic mountings; which followed the sun throughout the day. Continue reading
Marathon’s Arkaroola uranium project: summary of events
Radioactive waste being stored in shed in Arkaroola, THE AUSTRALIAN BRYAN LITTLELY with Giuseppe Tauriello From: adelaidenow December 25, 2012 @,,,,,,,A MARATHON PROJECT
February 2005: Adelaide-based Marathon Resources commences exploration at the site around Mt Painter and Mt Gee in the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary.
September 25, 2007: The sanctuary’s leaseholders raise concerns that wildlife and flora will be destroyed by a uranium mine proposed on the property. Marathon wants to mine almost 45 million tonnes of ore to produce 900 tonnes of uranium a year.
February 12, 2008: The State Government suspends exploration in Arkaroola indefinitely for what it describes as a significant breach of the exploration licence.
July 31, 2010: Marathon resumes its controversial exploration of the Mt Gee area after a major clean-up.
February 22, 2011: Then-Premier Mike Rann claims he is “unashamedly pro-mining” but is considering options to safeguard Arkaroola. He tells Parliament all options are on the table.
June 9, 2011: A Greens motion to protect the Arkaroola mountains from mining is passed in the Upper House.
July 22, 2011: Premier Rann announces the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary will never be mined, labelling it unique.
February 2012: The State Government pays Marathon $5 million in compensation for the exploration ban. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/radioactive-waste-being-stored-in-shed-in-arkaroola/story-e6frg6n6-1226543320645
Resources scientist questions management of tailings and water for Wiluna uranium project
Dr Mudd also highlighted the use and contamination of ground water
sources in the area as a key issue, saying there have been issues at
other uranium mines across Australia and it remains unclear where
water for this site will come from or what techniques will be used to
source it
Monash mining expert examines Wiluna uranium proposal
Science Network, 23 December 2012 AN AUSTRALIAN expert on mining
sustainability has highlighted some of the key environmental aspects
for West Australia, as the state moves closer to its first uranium
mine.
Resources company Toro Energy recently received state government
environmental approval to develop WA’s first uranium mine near Wiluna,
with the company now seeking federal environmental approval.
Monash University mining expert Gavin Mudd says the primary issues
concern the management of tailings and waste rock, as well as water
use, contamination and other aspects local to the mine site. Continue reading
Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) looks to renewed nuclear agreement between USA and Australia
Nuclear Energy Agreements With Russia, Australia Open Door for Expanded Trade, Nuclear Energy Institute, 12/10/2010
WASHINGTON, D.C.—With the completion of the congressional review, the
way is clear for the Obama administration to enact a civilian nuclear
energy cooperation agreement with Russia and renewed another with
Australia, commonly known as “123 agreements.”
The bilateral
agreements with the two nations will open the door for new nuclear
trade, research and technology transfers. Following is a statement
from the Nuclear Energy Institutes President and Chief Executive
Officer Marvin Fertel:
“These agreements are important to the United States to allow for the
supply of nuclear technology, fuel and services with other countries….
“The agreement with Australia renews and strengthens a long-standing
accord with an important partner. ….
“With these agreements, American nuclear technology companies and
suppliers will have broader global market access.”
Damage to eyes from ultraviolet radiation
UV Eye Safety to Avoid Sunburn of the Eyes,
https://www.tranquileyes.net.au/2012/12/uv-eye-safety/
23 Dc 12,
We protect our skin with
sunscreen, but what about our eyes? Most of us are aware of the
dangerous effects ultraviolet (UV) rays have on our skin, but few of
us realize the danger imposed on our eyes. UV radiation, whether from
natural sunlight or artificial UV rays, can damage the eye’s surface
tissues as well as the cornea and lens. UV radiation can burn the
front surface of the eye, much like a sunburn on the skin. Continue reading
Green movement is in partnership with Aboriginal people to preserve our land
Marcia Langton’s promotion of the resource industry as the primary way to empower indigenous communities is a dangerous and fraught path. The historical experience of the interface between the resource sector and our first peoples is one of profound and adverse impact.
White occupation of Australia was based on the legal fiction of Terra nullius, coupled with a utilitarian economic thinking that saw this ”empty land” as fair game for any activity that could generate ”ownership” and income. Then, as now, mining could do that. Times, people and expectations have changed, but there is still a massive structural imbalance weighted in favour of mining giants.
Green movement is here to help, not hinder, Aborigines, The Age, December 21, 2012 Leah Talbot and Dave Sweeney A CONSISTENT theme running through Professor Marcia Langton’s recent Boyer Lectures is the idea that the environment movement is standing in the way of indigenous empowerment and that conservationists are ”new colonisers under a green flag”.
The accusation is way off the mark.
Long ago, the Australian Conservation Foundation recognised that the best way to protect the environment in this country was in partnership with those who have done this for thousands of years, the Aboriginal traditional owners.
We have a positive vision for northern Australia that aims to respect culture, protect the environment and put forward appropriate solutions to issues affecting indigenous communities. The policy of free, prior and informed consent from traditional owners underpins our work. Continue reading
Julian Assange promises new revelations and will stand for Senate in 2013
The WikiLeaks boss also mentioned his plans to run for a seat in the Australian Senate, indicating confidence that he would win in next year’s federal election. “In Australia, an unelected senator will be replaced by one that is elected,” he stated.
‘We continue to stand up to bullies’ ‘ every day ordinary people teach us that democracy is free speech.’
(includes video )Assange: WikiLeaks to release over a million new docs in 2013
http://rt.com/news/assange-wikileaks-christmas-speech-511/ 20 December, 2012, Despite all the difficulties the WikiLeaks faced in 2012, Julian Assange vowed to publish some 1,000,000 new documents in the coming year. In his Christmas speech he called for people to continue fighting for democracy “from Tahrir to London.” Continue reading
Australian security scholar Des Ball saved us all from nuclear war
Des Ball: the man who saved the world, The Age, December 21, 2012, David Wroe, THAT America could launch a limited nuclear strike against Russia was a fashionable belief in US strategic theory of the 1970s. Policymakers thought that if Cold War tensions boiled over, they could hit selected Soviet targets in a way that controlled further
escalation and forced Moscow to back down.
It took the iconoclastic Australian security scholar Des Ball to point out that the theory was bunkum. In his influential essays of the early 1980s, Ball argued that reasoned strategic theory was likely to go out the window once the missiles started flying. Among the first targets would be the other side’s command and control centres – its eyes and ears. Once blinded, a superpower – consisting of real people responding with human instincts – would not distinguish a ”controlled” strike from a full-scale attack and would retaliate with everything it had.
A controlled exchange would quickly become all-out nuclear war. Today, none other than former US president Jimmy Carter says that Ball’s work helped save the world from potential holocaust. In a new book of essays honouring Ball’s four decades helping to keep Australia and the world a safer place, Carter says Ball’s ”counsel and cautionary advice, based on deep research, made a great difference to our collective goal of avoiding nuclear war”.
Released last week, the book, Insurgent Intellectual: Essays in Honour of Professor Desmond Ball, is an extraordinary outpouring of praise for a colossus of strategic thinking in Australia – albeit one who stands out as an odd fit among his generation of largely conservative colleagues.
Ball, who is marking his 25th year as a special professor at the Australian National University’s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, cuts an unusual figure with his beard, rumpled clothing and rat’s tail hair………
http://www.theage.com.au/national/des-ball-the-man-who-saved-the-world-20121220-2bpdd.html#ixzz2FiJCmAdw
Ashurst, Lawyers for the global nuclear industry
Ashurst is a big global law firm, which does lots of stuff. However they do specialise in resources and in the nuclear industry
From Ashurst’s website:
- Ashurst: Nuclear – Our Nuclear Group advises on the unique issues that affect stakeholders on nuclear projects and transactions across the globe http://www.ashurst.com/expertise-detail.aspx?id_Content=6596
- Ashurst: 2013 – a year of opportunity All up, 2012 has had its ups and downs in SA but with a Government which is, in its own words, “unashamedly pro-mining” [see: www.pir.sa.gov. au/minerals/press_and_events/ news_releases/marathon_accepts compensation_for_arkaroola], http://www.ashurst.com/publication-list.aspx?id_content=1361&expandExpertiseList=true&id_queryContent=6596
- Nov 15 2012 Australia Grid Australia used Ashurst to shut up an outspoken farmer –http://www.smh.com.au/business/grid-australia-and-the-campaign-to-gag-outspoken-farmer-20121114-29cfc.html#ixzz2F1k8McI7
- Dec 13 2012 Ashurst firm has recently initiated a number of redundancies, with the firm’s energy & resources practice being particularly badly hit.
- 2009 Ashurst advised Babcock International on acquisition of UK Government’s atomic commercial operations
- Ashurst – curiously they describe the parlous state of UK’s nuclear industry – Failed Technologies http://www.ashurst.eu.org/download/grpprj/nuclear.txt
Lynas rare earths company DOES have a radioactive waste problem
Lynas was attracted to Malaysia because it was offered tax free status for 10 years.
there was little mention of the waste — or “residue”, as Lynas prefers to call it.
Lynas and its supporters assert its operations are completely safe, but as NM reported on Monday, others — including scientists — are less confident.
The IAEA also recommended that Lynas proceed no further until it had filed comprehensive plans for the permanent disposal of waste, decommissioning of the plant and remediation of the site at the end of its life.
Lynas’ waste plans a toxic pipe dream Aliran, 19 December 2012 Scientists and community leaders are concerned about radioactive waste from Lynas’ Malaysian plant but the company representative who took Wendy Bacon’s questions brushed off the criticism. This is the second of two articles about Lynas by Wendy Bacon. Read the first here.http://aliran.com/11005.html Australian rare earth company Lynas has always known it had a waste problem.
It plans to process rare earth concentrate, imported from its mine at Mount Weld in Western Australia, at its Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (Lamp) in Malaysia. It will not only produce rare earths for export but also a huge amount of waste, including more than a million cubic metres of low level radioactive material.
Lynas was originally going to build its Lamp plant in China, which produces more than 90 per cent of global rare earths. But according to its 2007 annual report, it decided to move to Malaysia, because the Chinese government was increasing its control over production, including applying environmental standards more strictly. Continue reading
Bernie Fraser worried about Liberal Party’s subservience to fossil fuel lobby
In a separate interview with the AFR, Fraser said the Coalition’s vow to repeal the carbon tax “flies in the face of
science”.
Fraser fears Abbott at mercy of fossil fuel lobby on renewables http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/fraser-fears-abbott-at-mercy-of-fossil-fuel-lobby-on-renewables-30017#comment-30119 By Giles Parkinson 20 December 2012 The certainty that the renewable energy industry craves from government policy making may be short-lived – even if Climate Change Minister Greg Combet rubber stamps the Climate Change Authority’s recommendations for a steady course on the renewable energy target.
The CCA chairman, Bernie Fraser, told RenewEconomy in an interview last night that he feared a Coalition government would be swayed by the intense lobbying of the fossil fuel industry – despite the apparent bipartisan support for renewables
“I think that that lobbying that is being made to us, and the views being expressed by the fossil fuel generators and some other groups will be pretty powerfully directed towards the Coalition,” Fraser said. Continue reading
Julian Assange’s Wikileaks Party to enter Australian politics in 2013
Julian Assange confirms bid for Australian Senate, news.com.au 20 Dec 12 PLANS to set up an Australian WikiLeaks party are “significantly advanced”, the whistleblowing organisation’s most visible member says.
Julian Assange has told Australian media he intends to run for a Senate seat in the next election, adding that “a number of very worthy people admired by the Australian public” have expressed interest in standing for a yet-to-be registered Australian WikiLeaks party.
A draft party constitution has been prepared and is being subjected to legal review, Fairfax reports. Party registration with the Australian Electoral Commission would require confirmation of at least 500 members listed on the electoral roll.
Mr Assange told Fairfax he had not yet registered to vote but believes he will be able to register in either NSW or Victoria as an overseas voter.A “strategic decision” would determine which state he would run to represent, he said…..
http://www.news.com.au/national/julian-assange-confirms-bid-for-australian-senate/story-fncynjr2-1226535741180
Uranium lobbyist Michael Angwin attacks Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act
Uranium industry calls for reform, Mining Weekly, By: Esmarie Swanepoel 19th December 2012JOHANNESBURG – The Australian Uranium Association (AUA) has called for a reform of the environmental assessment and approvals process in Australia, after federal Environment Minister Tony Burke delayed a decision on a new uranium mine in Western Australia.
Burke on Tuesday extended his decision deadline until March 31 next year, and requested more information on the project from projectdeveloper Toro Energy.
The AUA’s CEO Michael Angwin said on Wednesday that the best way to reform the environmental assessment and approvals process was to cease the “discriminatory treatment” that the industry received under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act….
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.
.
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)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 