Julia Gillard and Manmohan Singh in harmony over uranium sale plan
Gillard and Singh on song on uranium, The Age October 18, 2012 Adam Gartrell, AAP India’s leader has personally praised Prime Minister Julia Gillard for her government’s revised stance on uranium sales and has declared a “new chapter” in the bilateral relationship.
Manmohan Singh and Ms Gillard have formally agreed to start negotiations on a nuclear safeguards agreement to allow Australia to start selling uranium to India….
Uranium mining in Western Australia – the Barnett Government’s Betrayal
The Premier has shown his colours this week by attacking the Renewable Energy Target and supporting a half-baked scheme to mine toxic material and sell it to a dangerous industry that is in terminal decline. The Wiluna project makes no sense whatsoever on an economic level as well as an environmental level.
10 October 2012 The Western Australian Minister for Environment has handed down his flawed decision to approve the Toro Energy Wiluna Uranium Project today. This mine, if not stopped, will be the first uranium mine to open since the change in uranium policy by the Western Australian Government in 2008.
The State Government has failed to place adequate conditions on mine closure for Toro’s Wiluna Project. Toro has not revealed estimates of future mine closure liability and has not submitted a final rehabilitation plan. Despite the scarcity of water in the area, the Minister failed to determine adequate water resource for the life of the mine. Continue reading
South Australia to hold Parliamentary Enquiry into Solar Thermal Energy for Port Augusta
Solar Thermal Energy Parliamentary Enquiry For South Australia http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3430 by Energy Matters The efforts by supporters of the construction of a solar thermal power station in Port Augusta, South Australia have paid off.
SA Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis said a select committee will research a proposal to replace Alinta Energy’s Northern and Playford coal-fired power stations at Port Augusta with a concentrated solar thermal plant. Continue reading
Solar panels, energy efficiency, high utility prices, are causing slump in demand for coal powered electricity
Power industry in the dark as demand wilts WA Today October 19, 2012 – “…… Demand slump The process itself is clear enough. Higher prices are prompting people to use less power, 
whether at home or at work. The higher dollar has forced some energy-intensive manufacturers to reduce output or shift abroad.
Solar panels sprouting on roofs at the pace of about 300,000 homes a year and more insulation batts underneath them are also curbing demand, particularly at peak times. Buildings are also much more energy efficient. Continue reading
Australian uranium sales to India, fraught with hypocrisy and danger
If we really want to assist Indian communities who currently lack access to electricity – and we should – it would be far more effective to prioritise exporting Australian expertise in regional renewable energy systems.
the admission this week from India’s own auditor that the country’s nuclear industry is “dangerously unsafe, disorganised and, in many cases, completely unregulated” – only compounds concerns.
When Australian uranium leaves our waters it effectively disappears from the radar. This is a profound concern for a fuel that can power either nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons. High-level Indian officials have stated that they need to source uranium from overseas in order to free up their own uranium for military purposes
No smooth passage to India for Australian uranium http://www.abc.net.au/environment/articles/2012/10/18/3612800.htm DAVE SWEENEY, ABC 18 OCT 2012 PRIME MINISTER JULIA GILLARD is in India this week and amid the staged handshakes and solemn exchanges of signed papers. The uranium sales plan is being heavily promoted. But there is growing concern both here and in India about the implications of the move and the fast-tracking of nuclear-armed India into the global atomic club.
No doubt Julia Gillard will be employing the age-old tactic of highlighting a problem that no reasonable person could ignore and then seeking to ‘own’ the solution. Proponents of the sales deal point to the estimated 200 million Indians who do not have reliable access to electricity as a rationale for the sales deal. But to link Australian yellowcake with lights and cookers in remote Indian villages is to draw a very long bow. Continue reading
Queenslanders Urged To Act On Solar Installations http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3429 18 Oct 12 Tens of thousands of Queensland households that registered for the state’s previous solar feed in tariff rate are yet to finalise their paperwork and installations – and may miss out if they wait too long. Continue reading
Coal power falling – Victoria’s Premier regrets success of renewables and carbon tax
More Coal Power To Go, Electricity Related Carbon Pollution Plunges http://www energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3427 18 Oct 12 After years of battling the filthy fossil fuel status quo, Australia’s renewable energy revolutionaries are now really starting to see the changes they dreamed of.
Due to a reduction in electricity demand, the carbon tax and Australia’s Renewable Energy Target putting downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices; coal fired power generation is increasingly falling by the wayside.
We’ve previously reported on South Australia’s Playford B plants being shut down for good and Stanwell taking two units at its Tarong facility in Queensland offline soon. In New South Wales, the end of coal fired generation at Munmorah power station has been confirmed Yesterday it was announced the majority of Victoria’s Yallourn Power Station’s generation capacity would be mothballed – only three of the four units at Yallourn will generate electricity.
Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu had a curious reaction to the announcement according to a report on the ABC:
“This is an unfortunate signal to the future if the carbon tax is having an impact in this way,” he said.
Clean Energy Council Chief Executive David Green said shifts in the way electricity was generated were to be expected if Australia was serious about shifting to clean energy.
“Six weeks ago renewable energy was wrongly criticised in some quarters for not reducing emissions, and now Australia’s 20 per cent Renewable Energy Target has been criticised for being too effective,” Mr Green said. “The fact is, the Renewable Energy Target is doing exactly what it is supposed to: aiding Australia’s transition to a cleaner energy system and hunting out the least-cost ways of doing this.”
According to an article on WA Today, based on analysis of figures compiled by the Australian Energy Market Operator, electricity sold into the east coast market since the carbon tax was introduced had 7.6 per cent less carbon dioxide associated with it. To paraphrase Gandhi; thanks in part to over 858,000 households installing solar panels, Australians are being the change they want to see in the world.
How Australians are paying up big time for others’ air conditioning
The percentage of homes with air-conditioners has jumped from around 25 per cent in 1975 to nearly 70 per cent now, with the percentage nearly doubling in the last decade. Those households which do not have air-conditioning are paying an effective a cross subsidy of $330 for the use of those devices during those 40 hours of critical peak periods.
Why you are paying $10/hr to run your neighbour’s air-con REneweconomy By Giles Parkinson on 18 October 2012 We’re not quite into the scorching summer temperatures peaks, but here’s a thought to help boil your blood the next time you lie on the couch, sweltering in the heat. You’re one of a minority of households that do not have air conditioning, but you might as well, because it’s costing you pretty close to $10 an hour in those summer peaks to subsidise those that do.
That, at least, is the broad conclusion of the Productivity Commission’s report into electricity prices, which shines a light on a well-known fact that has suddenly become political dynamite – nearly all the electricity price rises in recent years is due to the unbelievably inefficient way we use and supply energy.
Here are a few facts that are probably well known but are worth repeating here. Continue reading
Critics on all sides as Australia leads way on Antarctic protection BY: MATTHEW DENHOLM, TASMANIA CORRESPONDENT The Australian October 18, 2012 AUSTRALIA and France have developed a plan to protect 1.9 million square kilometres of east Antarctica as new marine parks, although a report today will call for an even larger reserve.
The Australia-France proposal, backed by the EU, covers seven coastal zones in east Antarctica…. (subscribers only)
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/foreign-affairs/critics-on-all-sides-as-australia-leads-way-on-antarctic-protection/story-fn59nm2j-1226498135791
ANSTO chief ducks and weaves in Senate questioning on incidents at Lucas Heights nuclear reactor
Noel Wauchope 18 Oct 12, I guess that we can rely on the mainstream media to give a sympathetic coverage to Dr Adi Paterson chief of Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) – who was very distressed after being put on the spot in the Senate yesterday. http://scott-ludlam.greensmps.org.au/content/estimates/ansto-6 At one point in the polite, but persistent, questioning by Senator Scott Ludlam, (left) the discussion was interrupted by an interjection from David Reid. Reid was the whistleblower who alerted us all to a radiation incident at Lucas Heights, and was sacked for this
Anyway, the most recent KPMG report on the 2007 incident criticised – the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency ARPANSA for its poor response to the incident.
This report was one of several reports on the matter. In February 2011, Australia’s workplace health and safety regulator, Comcare, found the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, or ANSTO, has under-reported accidents and breached safety standards. Investigating radiation incidents, Comcare found that ANSTO breached health and safety laws. It also reported that Mr Reid’s suspension was somewhat extreme and Mr Reid was substantially denied procedural fairness.
In the Senate yesterday Senator Scott Ludlam got devious answers from Dr Paterson, who seemed bent on asserting that the radioactive spill incidents never happened, anyway. No wonder that David Reid angrily interjected!
SENATOR LUDLAM: ” The KPMG report finds that ANSTO technical and supervisory staff and the executive management covered up the fact that three staff were contaminated by the beta emitter yttrium on the relevant day and that Mr Reid witnessed an incident between two men at the contamination barrier on the day in question n. He reported that one man had yttrium contamination, which is a beta radiation emitter, all down his clothes and in his mouth and that the other man’s supervisor was trying to clean him up and was telling him not to report the contamination….Mr Paterson, are you still contesting that these events even occurred at all? “
DR PATERSON: We were not involved in this investigation in a way that would have allowed us to put all of the issues on the table this was a report that was, indeed, intended for ARPANSA. It was not intended to make any findings in relation to ANSTO, and I do not believe it has done.
SENATOR LUDLAM: It is your facility; it is your plant. It is a report about an accident involving your staff at your facility. I am not quite sure why we are creating this distance. It was created for the regulator because they were extremely unhappy—I will contest these contentions later on this morning with ANSTO—with ANSTO’S response to these incidents, which did indeed occur. These are not alleged incidents. These are a matter of public record.
DR PATERSON: I believe that we have been very clear on this matter. If indeed this incident did take place— (interjection here from David Reid)..
SENATOR LUDLAM: So you contest the existence?
DR PATERSON: I can contest whether there was an incident of this nature at the time that has been outlined in the report.
Scientists must not downplay the seriousness of Antarctic ice melting
parts of the Antarctic ice caps were melting at unprecedented rates.
“The role of scientists is not to be alarmists, and not to downplay the data, but simply to report it.”
Antarctic climate facing ‘rapid’ changes: chief scientist, The Age, October 16, 2012 -Australia’s chief Antarctic scientist says claims by climate experts about environmental changes in the southern continent are not alarmist.
The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) told a Senate estimates hearing today “rapid changes” taking place across the icy land mass would have significant impact on global climate.
Changes in ocean flows and shifts in Antarctic ice cap levels were occurring at rates faster than at any other time in history, chief scientist Nick Gales said. “That’s the part that is the most dramatic about the information we’re receiving,” he told the hearing. Continue reading
Legal challenge by Pacific Nations against sale of uranium to India?
Pacific nations could challenge Australian uranium sales to India, ABC News, Stephanie March, Oct 12, 2012 Until last year, the Labor government in Australia had refused to sell uranium to India because it isn’t a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and is a nuclear weapons producing state A move by Australia to allow the export of uranium to India could face a legal challenge from Pacific nations…….International law expert Professor Donald Rothwell has told Radio Australia’s Asia Pacific program that could lead to a challenge under a 1985 treaty which governs nuclear testing and the use of nuclear materials from the region.
“Australia therefore has an obligation to ensure that its sale of uranium mined from within Australia is dealt with consistently with the provisions of the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty,” he said.
“To that end, there’s very much an expectation that any sale would be only to countries that meet the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty obligation and that immediately raises an issue, because India, of course, is not a party to the NPT.”
The South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, or the Treaty of Rarotonga was signed in 1985 by 12 nations in the Pacific and Australia.
Any objection under the Treaty of Rarotonga would have to be brought by one of the Pacific Nations that are signatories to the agreement.
Mr Rothwell says due to its history, the South Pacific does have a very strong record of being anti-nuclear
“The region fiercely contested France’s nuclear weapons testing program in the 1970s and as recently as the 1990s,” he said.
“So any concerns that might be raised by Australia’s conduct could well come from within the region and given the history of the region, it shouldn’t be completely ruled out…… http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-12/an-australian-uranium-sales-to-india-could-face-pacific-challen/4311024?section=business
Prominent Indian citizens appeal to Australian Prime Minister against selling uranium to India
CNDP Appeals To The Australian PM Against Uranium Export to India http://www.countercurrents.org/cndp161012.htm 16 October, 2012
Dear Prime Minister,
We urge you to reconsider the decision to supply uranium to India. This uranium will fuel the massive expansion of nuclear power programme that the Indian government is undemocratically pushing on poor people of India, criminally overlooking the concerns of safety, environment, livelihoods of surrounding populations and the financial implications.
Supplying uranium to India also amounts to legitimizing its status as a nuclear weapons state. Continue reading
In 1950s Australian government set scene for USA missile bases here
Australia’s untold reaction to the Cuban Missile Crisis, The Conversation, Laura Stanley, 16 Oct 12 Fifty years ago, the United States and the Soviet Union stood on the brink of nuclear war over Soviet missiles in Cuba. Since then, the Cuban Missile Crisis has been recognised as one of the most definitive moments of the 20th Century.
In the past twenty years, declassified government records have revealed indeed how close the parties came to nuclear conflict. More records continue to be declassified…….. What has not been greatly explored to this point, however, is Australia’s reaction to this crisis. Continue reading
Australia’s first utility scale solar energy plant – but we lag behind USA
Australia lags US by four years in solar roll-out, First Solar says. SMH, October 16, 2012 First Solar, the biggest maker of thin-film panels, said Australia is four years behind the US in building large solar farms and expects its
project with General Electric to help spur the industry’s expansion.
First Solar is supplying panels to the 10-megawatt Greenough River project in Western Australia, the nation’s first large-scale solar plant. The GE- and Verve Energy-owned solar project, which started this month, may increase capacity to as much as 40 megawatts, the companies said Oct. 10.
“This is less about the size and more about the fact that we now have a utility-scale solar project in Australia,” Jack Curtis, First Solar’s Sydney-based vice president of business development, said . “The local industry can now look to this project and see they can be developed, that they can be executed. It will provide local operational data that can be used to bring the rest of the industry along.” ….. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/australia-lags-us-by-four-years-in-solar-rollout-first-solar-says-20121016-27pih.html#ixzz29ZyKNn6y
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