Australian govt awards solar funding to nuclear company AREVA
BP Solar, Areva win $770m funding from Solar Flagship Climate Spectator 18 June 11 The Federal Government on Saturday announced that a consortium led by BP Solar and a proposal put forward by French nuclear giant Areva had won the 1st round of funding under the $1.5 billion Solar Flagships Program. Continue reading
Giant solar energy plants for New South Wales and Queensland
Giant solar energy plants to run 100,000 homes, Sydney Morning Herald, Ben CubbyJune 20, 2011 THE two giant new solar power plants slated for Moree in western NSW and Chinchilla in Queensland will mark the first time solar power in Australia is deployed on a scale large and reliable enough to rival coal as a source of ”baseload” energy. Neither plant is close to being the world’s biggest, with much more powerful solar power stations in the US and Spain already under construction, but enough power to run more than 100,000 households will be generated without the use of fossil fuels…. Continue reading
Koongarra’s Aboriginal owner to Paris to save his land
French uranium challenge to Kakadu heritage listing, Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin,The Age, June 20, 2011 ,”………..Jeffrey Lee, the sole member of the Djok clan and senior custodian of the land that includes the 12.5 square kilometre Koongarra project area, has also travelled to Paris hoping to speak at the meeting.Mr Lee, 40, who would be one of Australia’s richest people if he allowed the mine to go ahead, told The Age he wanted to tell the story of his country, which he wanted to see protected forever in the park.”I’ve waited too long for this to happen,” said Mr Lee, who works as a ranger in Kakadu.Koongarra is an ecologically sensitive area three kilometres from Nourlangie Rock, one of Kakadu’s most visited sites.According to Aboriginal beliefs, the land has places where the rainbow serpent entered the ground and a giant blue tongue lizard still lurks.The area also has rock art dating back thousands of years…..French uranium challenge to Kakadu heritage listing
How the nuclear lobby distorts Australia’s media coverage
Distorting the facts. Socialist Party Australia 17 June 11 The industry’s domination of the public debate around nuclear energy is clearly evident in Australia. In 2006 the Australian government commissioned the Uranium Mining, Processing and Nuclear Energy Review, which was unbelievably blatant in its distortion.
The panel included no health professionals, no environmental experts and no leaders in the field of weapons proliferation. Not surprisingly the report expressed no serious concerns in any of these areas.
Within the report a table titled “Fatal accidents in the worldwide energy sector, 1969 –2000” indicated a total of 31 deaths
associated with nuclear reactor accidents during that period. A tiny footnote added that “These figures do not include latent or delayed deaths such as those caused by air pollution from fires, chemical exposure or radiation exposure that might occur following an industrial accident.”
One commentator pointed out that the tobacco industry could similarly claim that the number of deaths attributed to cigarette smoking equals the number of people who die in house fires caused by people smoking in bed, with a footnote stating that there may be some risk of cancer and heart disease also. Continue reading
Australia’s top hypocrite? Uranium prince Mike Rann
Today, South Australia’s Premier Mike Rann, is reported in The Advertiser – “a well-placed party source said the Premier was “just trying to limp through until next March when he can sign off on the Olympic Dam expansion as his grand legacy, and then he’ll quit”. http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/from-media-mike-to-mr-invisible-the-premiers-new-style/story-e6frea83-1226077387415
In 1982, Mike Rann, evidently always driven by personal ambition, , wrote “Play it Safe”, a pamphlet released by the ALP to explain its opposition to uranium mining.
But that was before he saw the light – the light of where he could get influential backing to become important. Soon, Rann was pushing for ALP policy change on uranium mining – calling uranium “the fuel of the future”. But Rann did make one concession to anti-uranium feeling amongst wealthy consituents, opposing uranium mining in the Fleurieu Peninsula .
Otherwise – it’s been “All The Way ” with the Nuclear Lobby – for our top hypocrite, Mike Rann. – Christina Macpherson
Australia’s big polluters to get over $7 billion from Renewable Energy Target compensation
$7.1bn discount for big polluters, Sydney Morning Herald, June 16, 2011 A green group has released analysis that suggests exemptions for big polluters under the renewable energy target (RET) will cost households and businesses $7.1 billion by 2030…….A green group has released analysis that suggests exemptions for big polluters under the renewable energy target (RET) will cost households and businesses $7.1 billion by 2030….emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries receive a discount of up to 90 per cent so they’re not at a disadvantage compared with overseas competitors. Continue reading
Australia’s uranium mining: continued record of racism
Uranium mining Socialist Party Australia 17 June 11 Rural Indigenous populations have long been victims of the nuclear industry. The Ranger uranium mine in the Northern Territory has been in operation since 1981. During the ‘negotiating process’ the Mirarr Traditional Owners were told their opposition “shall not be allowed to prevail”. Continue reading
Australian Senate debating Bill that bribes Aboriginals into hosting nuclear waste dump
D-Day to stop nuclear waste dump NT Newsw, NIGEL ADLAM | June 16th, 2011..…. “the Central Land Council said the Federal Government was riding roughshod over Aboriginal people’s concerns..
“Pushing ahead at Muckaty and ignoring the serious level of dispute about the nomination process would be a disaster for traditional owners, their families and the broader Tennant Creek region,” he said. “The last thing we need is more disputes and more conflict”….
Land council director David Ross said the management of nuclear waste should be treated in a proper scientific way rather than bribing “the poorest sector of the community”….http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2011/06/16/240871_ntnews.html
Australian company Lynas faces resistance in its plan to dump thorium wastes in Malaysia
Democratic Action Party, have been warning that Lynas has the potential to create the same kind of environmental and public health problems that the workers and residents of Bukit Merah endured….| Lynas Malaysia and the rare earth controversy, Asia Sentinel by John Berthelsen , 14 June 11 |
Independent Senator Nick Xenophon urges Senate to delay vote on nuclear waste dump
Senator Xenophon says the issue is live before the courts and cannot be ignored.
“The Senate should wait until the Federal Court has made its findings as to whether those who claim to be the owners of Muckaty Station, who volunteered the site, are the correct parties to do so,” he said.
Muckaty nuclear dump bill likely to pass Senate, ABC News 14 June 11 Laws to set up a nuclear waste storage facility in the Northern Territory are likely to be approved by the Senate this week, despite calls from senators for the debate to be put on hold. Continue reading
Australia’s uranium industry hit as European countries reject nuclear power
The downturn in European interest in nuclear energy has now impacted Australia, the world’s third largest exporter of uranium oxide after Canada and Kazakhstan.
Fallout From Fukushima Rattles Australia’s Uranium Mining Industry, The Street, 16 June 2011 The slow-motion Japanese Fukushima reactor debacle has sent ripples worldwide, with Germany, Switzerland and Italy all now deciding to exit nuclear power. Continue reading
Poll finds majority of Australians want 100% renewabl energy
Deputy Australian Greens leader Christine Milne, who accepted the survey on behalf of the multi-party climate change committee, said the results were a resounding “yes” to renewable energy………… “It needs more than the renewable energy target.” The only large-scale projects in Australia so far have been in wind, but more needs to be done to bring on solar and thermal projects, Senator Milne said…….
Most want 100% renewable energy: survey Nine MSN News 15 June 11- A clear majority of Australians want the nation to move towards 100 per cent renewable energy, a major survey suggests. Continue reading
Australian Productivity Commission overestimated costs of solar power
some media reports seem to have put a strong focus on the solar element rather than the major driver – increases in the costs of transmission and distribution. Massive amounts of money are being poured into network upgrades to service peak demand; largely driven by the use of air-conditioners during the summer months. “Here’s again where rooftop solar power can be a saviour,” said Mr. Rich. “By creating the power closer the point of consumption, you decrease line loss, which can account for up to 10% of electricity generation – and line loss worsens in warm weather. Additionally, solar power systems would be generating the most power during times when the bulk of air-conditioning is being used. Rooftop solar has many other benefits – it’s the Internet of distributed electricity generation.”
Solar Power’s Carbon Abatement Cost Exaggerated, Renewable Energy News, by Energy Matters 15 June 11 –The Australian Productivity Commission’s recent report questioning the value and benefit of residential solar power is misinformed says Jeremy Rich, CEO of national solar solutions provider Energy Matters.
Liberal Senator wants “balance” in teaching Climate Science
Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells said she hoped the curriculum would reflect balance if there were a divergence of expert views on the subject of climate science.
Push to oust climate science from schools * Joe Kelly The Australian * June 14, 2011 SCHOOL Education Minister Peter Garrett has confirmed the Gillard government will not stop the teaching of climate science in the classroom following a move in Britain for the subject to be withdrawn from the national curriculum. Continue reading
Australia’s role in nuclear non proliferation means no uranium sales to India
The precedent set by nuclear trade with India increases the risk of other countries pulling out of the NPT, building nuclear weapons and doing so with the expectation that civil nuclear trade would continue.
Nuclear trade with India risks boosting arms race, The West Australian, By Scott Ludlam June 13th, 2011, Australia’s long-standing policy to not sell uranium to nations refusing to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty must not change.
Nuclear trade with India would undermine the fundamental principle of the global non-proliferation regime – the principle that signatories to the NPT can engage in international nuclear trade for their civil nuclear programs while countries which remain outside the NPT are excluded from civil nuclear trade. Continue reading
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