The week in climate and nuclear news Australia
COP 25 – a chance to avoid catastrophic climate change. Not a lot happened in the first week of the COP25 climate talks in Madrid. Dr Katharine Hayhoe on The Bible and Climate Change. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpjL_otLq6Y&feature=emb_title Disasters fuelled by climate change are the top driver of human displacement.
A bit of good news – Renewable cities arising around the world. or listen on You tube
AUSTRALIA
BUSHFIRES and CLIMATE CHANGE. Australia on fire. Scott Morrison under fire over bushfire emergency. UN climate talks: what’s on the agenda in Madrid and what it means for Australia. COP25, and Australia’s position at the Madrid climate talks. Australia is copping it at COP25 – and rightly so. Australia slammed for using First Nations people to try and dodge climate bill.
Australian govt’s dodgy climate accounting tricks to be tested in Madrid. Energy Minister Angus Taylor escapes the House and heads for Madrid, where more fact checkers await. Australia burns, as government leaders choose not to discuss this. Fire? What fire? It’s business as usual in Morrison’s Canberra bubble.
Hypocrisy of Australian Labor Party on climate change. Peter Garrett urges Labor to reconnect with environmental movement, warns ‘true believers are dying’. To National Party members. “Climate Change” is real, not “dirty words”.
Morrison sponsored report says reef tourism may be virtually wiped out by climate change . Australia warned on climate refugees .
NUCLEAR. Community of small rural town Kimba “blown apart” by nuclear waste dump plan. Money, Money, Money, or perhaps not. Plan to dump nuclear waste in the Flinders Ranges. Dr Jim Green busts ANSTO’s spin about nuclear wastes.
Federal Nuclear Inquiry Report expected this week.
Traditional Aboriginal owners will not give up fight against planned WA uranium mine, despite legal loss.
BHP’s Olympic Dam expansion plan deserves serious scrutiny. BHP’s plan to take yet more water for huge copper-uranium mine.
ENVIRONMENT Investigative journalism – Victoria’s chemical waste scandal. Australia – water ownership and the politics of water. Environment is downgraded, as Morrison merges government departments. Morrison carves up environment and energy, praises Angus Taylor for waving big stick.
RENEWABLE ENERGY.
Coalition said 50% renewables would wreck the economy. Now their modest climate targets depend on it. Australia’s biggest businesses could deliver “a Yallourn” of new wind and solar. Huge influx of solar will reduce risk of power outages this summer, says AEMO
How Australia’s rooftop solar boom can be good news for the grid. Electricity prices set to plummet as strong wind and solar investment kicks in. NSW installs record 60MW of rooftop solar in November. NCH Launches built-for-purpose solar Panel cleaner for harsh Australian conditions. Cattle Hill wind farm starts sending power to the grid in Tasmania .
INTERNATIONAL
Water shortages to hit 1.9 billion people as glaciers melt.
Research shows that Climate models have correctly predicted global heating. UN chief praises youth leadership on climate action, deplores government inaction. Coal power becoming ‘uninsurable’ as firms refuse cover.
9 climate tipping points pushing Earth to the point of no return.
Bacteria to consume CO2 – a climate change solution?
.Antarctic ice sheets could be at greater risk of melting than previously thought.
Nuclear/Climate News – week to 3rd December
COP25, the annual United Nations international conference on dealing with climate change is now beginning, in Madrid. Global climate tipping point is getting near – researchers say.
For December, my websites are focusing on that unfashionable subject – ETHICS. Some aspects of “nuclear ethics” are climate change, health and environment, sustainability, developing countries, economic feasibility, – conclusion – nuclear power is not an ethical choice.
A bit of good news – Humpback Whale Population Bounces Back From Near-Extinction—From Just 450, to Over 25,000
AUSTRALIA
NUCLEAR. –Nuclear Inquiry Report now delayed, due to scandal over Energy Minister Angus Taylor? Minerals Council renews push for nuclear energy, but rather coy about its costs.
Shonky opinion poll results to give the go-ahead for Kimba nuclear waste dump? Australia to get high level nuclear wastes from UK, in return for Lucas Heights nuclear waste sent to UK.
Three Tjiwarl women from WA’s goldfields win conservation award for uranium mine campaign.
CLIMATE. Catastrophic weather conditions, but Australian govt has no climate adaptation plan. More than 160 bush and grass fires are burning across New South Wales. Australia’s ‘permanently wet’ rainforests now burning for the first time.
Sir David Attenborough hits out at the federal government over climate position. Barnaby Joyce auctions lump of coal – in a glass jar – at Nationals dinner.
Public opinion: for the first time, Environment is Australians’ top concern. The Murray Darling water crisis and what governments must do to fix this.
RENEWABLE ENERGY. Heating & cooling to go renewable and provide demand response. Australian solar PV integrated window technology gains US approval. Renewable South Australia posts lowest wholesale prices for second month in row. The day rooftop solar met two thirds of South Australia’s total demand. Power bills to fall by $40 as New South Wales Central West becomes wind and solar power hub. Why is pumped hydro in Australia not used very much?
INTERNATIONAL
The negotiations in Madrid for COP 25 Climate Change Conference. Tipping points leading to ‘Hothouse Earth’ already “active”, scientists warn.
Catholic doctrine; the use and even the possession of nuclear weapons is immoral. Plans for nuclear waste disposal, but there’s no long term solution.
Despite Halting Progress, UN Continues its Push for a Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone in the Middle East.
Climate/nuclear news to 27 November
Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are now at a record high level. Mountain water serving half the world is disappearing.
Against the background of all the disturbing climate news, it’s a bit of a shock to learn the lengths of duplicity to which politicians will go, to prevent climate action.
And, on the nuclear scene, duplicity of a different kind. I hate to use that tawdry phrase “fake news”, but that’s what it was, a false report of a nuclear explosion in the South China Sea.
Some bits of good news – In India, an intrepid old farmer grew a lush oasis in a cold desert. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-foEwcAu_zw. In drought-stricken Australia, some farmers are learning to improve the soil, and conserve water, with regenerative farming. Patients’exposure to medical radiation is going down.
AUSTRALIA
Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says Assange faces ‘unacceptable’ and ‘disproportionate’ punishment. A previous Prime Minister intervened to help political prisoner: Scott Morrison could do this for Julian Assange. Appeal from former political prisoner to Australia’s Prime Minister to help Julian Assange.
Australian government rushing laws to crack down on protestors. Journalists beware! Australia now a surveillance state.
CLIMATE. Bushfires flare and temperature records fall amid catastrophic conditions in South Australia. Climate change will make fire storms more likely in southeastern Australia. Survey showed environment and climate to be Australian children’s top concerns.
How does the climate denialist Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) get away with being a “charity”? Religiosity of Scott Morrison – about global heating and bushfires. Cuddling coal and people: does Scott Morrison think that Australians are that stupid about climate change?
University of New South Wales first engineering school to sign declaration to reduce harmful carbon emissions.
NUCLEAR.
- Australia as the salvation of the nuclear industry?
- Nuclear Waste Crash COVERUP – Contaminated Police Speak Out. ANSTO’s reply on nuclear crash report – that reply debunked.
- Kimba and Flinders Ranges communities do not know what nuclear wastes they are getting, and for how many decades. Determined Aboriginal opposition to plan for Federal Nuclear Waste dump in rural South Australia. Aboriginal group votes against nuclear dump, but government department warns that they cannot veto it. All Australians are able to vote – no nuclear waste dump in the Flinders Ranges.
“The case made by the uranium bulls is in reality full of holes”
RENEWABLE ENERGY.
States go it alone on energy after Coalition buries talk of emissions. How are Australian States progressing on renewable energy? South Australia way ahead. South Australia Liberals celebrate nation-leading switch to wind, solar and storage.
Australian billionaire Cannon-Brookes says $20bn solar project will be “lighthouse” to world. Is Gina Rinehart finally ready to switch to green energy and cut emissions? NSW tenders $3.5 billion supply contract in firm test for wind and solar. Right-wing front group Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) wants to hit Electric Vehicles s with road tax “before they appear in every driveway”. Electric car ultra rapid chargers arrive in heart of brown coal country.
INTERNATIONAL
Journalism’s future in crisis – the case of Julian Assange. Political manipulations– the Swedish allegations against Julian Assange.
Global heating is shrinking and accelerating the jet stream. Pursuing nuclear power slows down real action on climate change by faster, cheaper, energy sources. Analysis: Global coal power set for record fall in 2019.
On nuclear radiation – past and future – extract from article on Chernobyl.
MARSHALL ISLANDS. As the Runit nuclear waste dome crumbles, Marshall Islanders want honesty and justice.
IRAQ. New report on Iraqi babies, deformed due to thorium and uranium from U.S. military actions and bases.
UK.
- For UK elections, top issue is climate change. Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon’s outspoken opposition to use of nuclear weapons. Scottish National Party will press Jeremy Corbyn to scrap UK’s nuclear deterrent. UK’s Liberal Democrat leader criticised for her willingness to use nuclear weapons.
- A Labour government in UK would revive Wylfa nuclear power project. UK Labour touts ‘green industrial revolution’, BUT INCLUDES NUCLEAR POWER AS “GREEN”!
- UK’s embarrassing, expensive, intractable trouble with dead nuclear submarines.
- Why is the UK government now hiding its nuclear history files?
- EDF’s misleading and deficient safety report on Hunterston nuclear station.
CHINA. Further debunking of the conspiracy nonsense about a nuclear explosion in the South China Sea. China’s $2.5bn renewables investment in Inner Mongolia.
UKRAINE. Studies on Chernobyl nuclear disaster show that it’s relevant today, and for the future.
JAPAN.
- Pope Francis urges fresh efforts for Fukushima victims. Pope Francis calls for a ‘world without nuclear weapons’ during Nagasaki visit.
- Fukushima Workers Battle Leukemia – and Bureaucracy.
- Hotspots in East Tokyo’s Mizumoto Park. Environmentalists say.
- Japan nuclear plant safety costs increase 5-fold over 6 years to 5.4 trillion yen. Undersea survey for new nuke plant deferred due to protests in western Japan.
- Fukushima water too radioactive to release. Fukushima operator accused of cover-up over ‘contaminated’ water set to be poured into the Pacific.
- Inspectors find 41 cracks in the grounds of Fukushima nuclear plant: local media. Nuclear regulator says cost-cutting culture creating mistakes, delays at Fukushima plant. To Make the Olympics Look Good Japanese Government Wants Evacuees To Return To Fukushima. Fukushima to Become Solar, Wind Hub Using Farmland Tainted by Radiation.
- Doctors’ prescription for the Tokyo Olympics. The radioactive Olympics. Japan grapples with serving Fukushima food at Olympics.
- Dozens of bags of radioactive waste still missing in Fukushima three weeks after intense typhoon. Radioactive soil spilled over into roads, rivers, during Typhoon Hagibis, report says. Experts warn against fires from disaster waste after Typhoon Hagibis.
SOUTH KOREA. South Korea nuclear regulator wants information on radioactive Fukushima water release.
USA.
- The U.S. Submarine That Could Bring Nuclear Doomsday With It, One sub to end a country. Nuclear deterrence is weakened by the absence of diplomacy, and the demise of arms control. As negotiation deadline nears, tension between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump. US presidential candidate Deval Patrick’s ignorance about nuclear weapons.
- USA Democrats question Dan Brouillette, (Next DOE Secretary) on nuclear and coal.
- For the 8th time this year, a Hanford worker exposed to nuclear radiation. –
- Ohio: the nuclear industry’s violent assault on democracy.
- Safety problems with Holtec’s dry canisters for nuclear wastes. A Huge Tax Break Went to a Politically Connected Holtec International (Nuclear) in New Jersey Despite Red Flags. Georgia’s Nuclear Plant Vogtle behind schedule, with costs escalating. Holtec’s proposed nuclear storage facility of little benefit to New Mexico. New Mexico not keen to take South Carolina’s plutonium wastes.
- John Hopkins University prominent in helping the nuclear weapons industry. A call for John Hopkins University to stop helping nuclear weapons industry.
FRANCE. France’s nuclear company EDF – report – a litany of failures France’s Flamanville nuclear financial catastrophe gets worse. France’s government is giving mixed messages on future of nuclear energy. France’s company EDF selling out of USA nuclear plants, Exelon to buy.
INDIA. India’s government ignores opposition as it plans to build spent nuclear fuel storage facility.
SOUTH AFRICA. South Africa’s nuclear waste storage almost completely full; a dangerous situation.
RUSSIA. Putin told bereaved families that nuclear accident scientists were working on an “unparalled”weapon.
TAIWAN. Taiwan govt to give $2.55 billion to Orchid Island in nuclear waste compensation.
GERMANY. In Germany , renewables replace nuclear and lower emissions simultaneously.
CANADA. Toxic flushing of nuclear poisons into Lake Winnipeg.
IRELAND. Irish wind power for France, as France’s EDF nuclear electricity is in a financial mess.
The week in climate/nuclear news Australia
This is a bit more boring than usual, as, apart from the Australian bushfires, not many climate and nuclear events have been in the news this week.
A new book brings the nuclear and climate threats together in a scary warning. In The Plutocene: Blueprints for a post-Anthropocene Greenhouse Earth, Andrew Glikson considers a future scenario where nuclear war, radioactive pollution, and global heating combine to produce a new era. He urges a range of tactics to avert this gloomy future.
S and P Global Ratings has made it plain: nuclear power can survive only with massive tax-payer support.
A bit of good news – Ocean Cleanup Makes History by Successfully Collecting First Plastic From Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
AUSTRALIA
CLIMATE.
- A cauldron of extreme heat developing in Western Australia is heading straight for the east coast bushfire zone. Meterologist shocked at prospect of Australia’s coming summer of heat and drought. The 2009 CSIRO Warning regarding the Increasing risk of Bushfire in Australia. Fire chief says Australia fires could be out of control for months. 23 fire and emergency services leaders from across Australia demand government action on climate change.
- Scientists refute Barnaby Joyce’s claim that sun’s magnetic fields cause bushfires. A twisted and so-called religious view of bushfires and climate change.
- Coal lobby wields power over Australian govt, like the National Rifle Association does in USA. Australia’s energy market was quietly tipped back in favour of coal generators. Scott Morrison shuns Torres Strait Islanders worried about climate change. Australia may seek forgiveness, rather than permission, for Kyoto carryover.
- Sweden dumps Australian bonds over “large climate footprint”. IEA tells Australia it’s on wrong track on climate, more wind and solar needed.
NUCLEAR.
Federal Govt to decide on new radioactive waste storage facility next year. Flood risk at proposed nuclear dump site at Wallerberdina. Open letter from Japan, to nuclear waste site candidates. With 40% opposed to Kimba nuclear waste dump, is this “consensus”. A duplicitous letter from Sam Chard, General Manager, Radioactive Waste Taskforce.
Australian Government report states that Lucas Heights spent nuclear fuel rods (for Kimba dump?) are High Level Wastes.
Rio Tinto drives ERA rehabilitation of Ranger uranium mine.
From Ziggy Switkowski – a new load of nuclear codswallop.
RENEWABLE ENERGY. ACT introduces first electric bus on path to zero transport emissions . Rooftop solar hits 45% of demand and sets new grid low in W.A. Rooftop solar delivers yet another record low in grid demand for South Australia. Renewables sector slams new network pricing proposals, says it will kill investment.
INTERNATIONAL
Climate change is a health emergency – physicians.
World Nuclear Waste Report. Dangerous radioactive hot particles span the globe. Still no country for old nuclear waste. Tritium and other radionuclides are hazardous,even in transport and storage.
Will Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) submarines make nuclear submarines relatively obsolete?
400,000 insect species face extinction.
In framing Julian Assange, The FBI tried to make Iceland complicit.
MARSHALL ISLANDS. U.S. won’t clean up Marshall Islands nuclear waste dome but wants it free of anti-U.S. graffiti. Nuclear tomb: The Runit Dome is chipping and cracking. The climate crisis https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a29760935/marshall-islands-nuclear-waste-climate-change/is tied up in the dangers of nuclear weapons in ways that nobody predicted
To 12 November – nuclear and climate news Australia
Global heating is behind critical news in California, and Eastern Australia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyNHKrM0qBE. Following the huge wildfires, Californians are realising that it’s more like a war situation, with more battles to come. Preparedness and adaptation are now the immediate needs, as well as reducing carbon emissions. And extreme heat waves will bring public health crises to American cities, despite the current very cold burst.
Australia’s ruling Liberal Coalition is still studiously avoiding the words “climate change”, and pouring abuse on The Australian Greens for their supposed insensitivity in mentioning those words in connection with bushfires and drought.
A bit of good news – New Zealand – one small nation shows how to be nuclear- free and climate friendly.
AUSTRALIA
Australia’s media fights for freedom of press – BUT NOT FOR JULIAN ASSANGE.
CLIMATE. Australia’s out of control bushfires (all along the region where the nuclear lobby wants to put reactors!). Sydney and surroundings – “Catastrophic” fire warning.
Climate dispute between Scott Morrison and the Greens. Massive bushfires in New South Wales are NOT “part of a normal cycle” – fire-fighting expert.
Scott Morrison wants to shut down moderate climate action group, Market Forces, BECAUSE IT’s TOO EFFECTIVE. Strong public demand for climate action, but Australian government determined to punish climate protesters. Double standards on “unacceptable” protests.
Australia’s over-exploited water supply – an issue being ignored.
NUCLEAR
- In Kimba 62% of locals vote in favour of nuclear waste dump. Claim that In reality Kimba’s support for nuclear waste dump was only 49.94% of those eligible to vote”. Bangarla Aboriginal people conducted their OWN ballot on nuclear waste dump plan for Kimba, South Australia.
- Kimba’s dramatic drop in property values, since nominated for nuclear dump.
- Australia’s National Radioactive Waste Management Taskforce is disingenuous about medical nuclear waste– Matt Canavan and ANSTO lying to Kimba community about true level of planned nuclear waste. Nuclear waste debate dividing communities. False promises of lots of permanent jobs – from National Radioactive Waste Management agency. Australian Government propaganda promoting nuclear waste dump to a rural community.
- Victorian Government Inquiry into nuclear prohibition.
- Nuclear for Newcastle? But the Hunter’s renewable energy programme is underway.
RENEWABLE ENERGY. First offshore wind farm in Australia being tested. Western Australia set to decide on 180MW solar farm for state’s south. Solar and battery offered as “standard” in Victoria new-build housing project.
INTERNATIONAL
Planet in peril as world leaders ignore global heating’s catastrophes.
Julian Assange’s father comes to Ireland, Europe, to campaign for his son’s release.
Nuclear medicine has radiation dangers – a reminder to clinicians.
Climate and Nuclear – the news this week- Australia
This week, Katharine Hayhoe, climate scientist and evangelical Christian, sends a powerful message to other Christians, on the urgent necessity to act on climate change. Scientific warnings have intensified over recent month. It used to be “a problem for our grandchildren“, but climate change is here, now. With a new urgency, the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2019 will be held from 2-13 December in Madrid.California wildfires signal the arrival of a planetary fire age.
Mainstream media has been silent on the threats, and indeed the impacts, of extreme weather on nuclear facilities. There is minimal (and all too reassuring) coverage following on the effects of Hurricane Hagibis on Fukushima’s collections of radioactive trash. There is not a mention of the threats to nuclear facilities, in the reporting on the Californian wildfires. For example, there are fires in Ventura County, which has the notorious nuclear Santa Susana Field Laboratory – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn8xyr7CYXs
A bit of good news – the Living New Deal Project.
AUSTRALIA
Is climate change playing a role in Australia’s drought? Hotter and drier- Australia’s weather records set to be broken this year.
CLIMATE.-Dry weather set to return after thunderstorms bring temporary relief. Climate change is bringing more extreme weather events to Sydney and Melbourne.
Coal from six biggest miners in Australia produces more emissions than entire economy. Coercion is coal’s only friend. Australia’s surging diesel emissions from cars and utes cancel out wind and solar gains.
Scott Morrison’s threats against climate activists – getting a bit sinister. Scott Morrison doesn’t like even the “quiet people” speaking up. Scott Morrison delivers a speech that sounds very like an attack on democracy. Morrison’s crackdown on climate protests could have unintended consequences.
Energy Minister Taylor’s ‘expert panel’ in search of emissions reductions shuts out clean energy sector. Coalition’s carbon market plans at risk from low quality “grey” credits.
It’s time that the Australian government declared a water emergency. A national approach needed to a national river system.
NUCLEAR.
- Nuclear waste containers in transit to South Australian dump, could be vulnerable to bushfires. Aboriginal leaders prominent at the Australian Nuclear Free Alliance conference in South Australia. “Have Your Say” on nuclear waste dump – just a window-dressing exercise by the Australian govt.
- In Western Australia. South Australians do not want their state to become “the wasteland state”. Shire of Leonora deputy president says NO to importing nuclear waste.
- Australia’s secret hazardous radioactive military leftovers.
- Australian company Worley Parsons joins the international throng trying to sell nuclear power to Saudi Arabia.
- Australia’s nuclear bomb lobby. Nuclear weapons and Australia’s hypocrisy about them.
- Australian film-makers to join in 10th Uranium Film Festival in Rio de Janeiro May 2020.
RENEWABLE ENERGY. Renewable energy target now overshot by nearly 1GW, says regulator. Victoria 50% by 2030 renewable energy target voted into law. South Australia had lowest cost of supply in main grid in October. Hydro Tasmania pushes “battery of the nation” plan, will unlock wind and solar. Hydro Tasmania pushes “battery of the nation” plan, will unlock wind and solar. Carnegie Clean Energy set to resume trading, with big plans for CETO wave power. Coalition gives $1bn to CEFC for 24/7 reliable renewable power.
INTERNATIONAL
Ruthless and relentless – USA-UK destruction of Julian Assange.
Fukushima is not safe for 2020 Olympics, nuclear scientists warn.
The human species at threat of wipeout – nuclear war in space.
A Global Review : Threats o f Nuclear Conflict. How an India-Pakistan nuclear war could start—and have global consequences. United Nations adopts Japan’s nuclear disarmament resolution.
Argentina’s Rafael Grossi chosen to head UN nuclear agency.
No, thorium nuclear power is still not a viable energy technology.
Greta Thunberg and Leonardo Di Caprio join forces in climate crusade.
To 30 October – nuclear news Australia
On October 24, seven Catholic peace activists were convicted on all counts for their 2018 protest against nuclear weapons. They face 20 years in gaol. This case is symbolic of where we are at – in the nuclear weaponisation of our planet. At the same time, Julian Assange, in solitary confinement in UK, faces extradition to USA and a life sentence- for exposing the truth on U.S. military atrocities.
Climate change is going to be even more costly than we thought. In California, the severity of wildfires signals the future climate situations.
A bit of good news – The cleanest waste-to-energy power plant in the world.
AUSTRALIA
Australia’s media under threat. ABC challenges the validity of Federal Police raids. Australian Federal Police put their case at Federal Court hearing about their raid on ABC. Attorney General Christian Porter backs laws that restrict journalists’ reporting. A new court order is being abused in order to harass a journalist. Australia’s environment department is unlawfully withholding documents from the public.
CLIMATE CHANGE. 85 fires burning across New South Wales Iconic Macquarie Marshes on fire. Climate change and the prospects this year for the Darling River. Some good news for a change: Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions are set to fall.
Why we can’t trust Scott Morrison – his REAL climate policy. Australian Prime Minister Morrison’s attitude to Pacific Islanders – “Take the Money and Shut Up about Climate Change”. Angus Taylor repeats misleading claim on carbon emissions yet again.
240 conservation scientists call on Australian government to strengthen environmental protection laws. 47 experts urge NSW government to defend NSW law and climate.
NUCLEAR.
- Voting begins in Kimba as nuclear waste issues divide the community. Farmers, traditional owners and ratepayers unite in anti-nuclear rally. South Australian Labor comes out swinging against nuclear waste dump selection process. Can the Australian government impose a nuclear waste dump on South Australia?
- MP Sonja Terpstra and Victoria’s Labor government stand by existing bans on nuclear activities. New political party Reform WA wants nuclear power as an option for Western Australia.
- Radioactive liquids in Olympic Dam waste pools are killing native birds.
Tilman Ruff discusses radiation risks regarding Olympic events at Fukushima.
RENEWABLE ENERGY. Jobs and growth: Albanese recasts Labor’s planned clean energy revolution. Morrison and Taylor’s little big grid plan not quite what it seems. Building Tasmania’s future on renewable energy. Another 162MW solar farm gets connection approval in Queensland. Townsville shopping centre builds “Australia’s biggest” solar car park. ARENA-backed project trials all-electric “net zero energy” homes in Melbourne. Big wind farm and even bigger battery approved for South Australia.
World Nuclear Waste Report (WNWR) to be launched 11th November.
A young Hannah Rabin was the peace movement’s Greta.
Over 300 financial institutions put $748 billion in to nuclear weapons companies.
The hazards of nuclear submarines.
Offshore wind to become a $1 trillion industry by 2040.
Science journalism – dominated by white males.
The week in nuclear/climate news Australia
It seems that it takes the very young and the very old to grasp the world’s climate emergency, and have the guts to demonstrate this to the world. Greta Thunberg and her family are paying the price for her outspoken courage. David Attenborough, (in the past constrained by the BBC) now speaks boldly about the planet’s environmental crisis.
Nothing dramatically new in the nuclear area.
Freedom of information, press freedom, civil liberties, – might not be directly linked to climate/nuclear issues, -but, indirectly, they’re linked to everything. In London, a judge denies Julian Assange a delay in extradition hearings, as he, having been effectively in solitary confinement, struggles to meet the power and resources of the US government. His own country, Australia, spinelessly backs the USA, as usual. Meanwhile the Australian media is launching a concerted campaign against Australia’s exceptionally repressive laws that target. journalists
AUSTRALIA
Growing calls for Australian government to defend Julian Assange.
The government seeks to intimidate the media. Australian media push for press freedom – a culture of secrecy – the right to know. Regional News Media join the campaign for freedom. Australia needs a Media Freedom Act. New involvement of Attorney General in press freedom.
NUCLEAR –
- Keep Australia’s ban on nuclear power – Noel Wauchope at Federal Inquiry Hearing. South Australian government says: “nuclear power remains unviable now and into the foreseeable future.”-No benefit to Australia in planning for nuclear power – Tilman Ruff. Nuclear Power Uninsurable and Uneconomic in Australia.
- Federal govt trying to con Australians that a national nuclear waste dump is a “local” not a NATIONAL ISSUE. Few permitted to vote on nuclear waste dump. A new bribe given on the eve of Kimba and Wallerberdina nuclear waste dump ballot. Public excluded from Delloitt Risk Assessment report for the radioactive waste repositary. Federal govt open door to international high level nuclear waste dump.
- Aaron Patrick in Australian Financial Review subtly slants a story in the pro nuclear direction. ANSTO’s nuclear medicine problems. South Australia: ballot on nuclear waste dump: Labor reaffirms anti-nuclear policy.
CLIMATE. Australia’s climate crisis: destruction of forests. Independent MP Zali Steggall to propose climate change bill to parliament . Government blocks crossbench motion to declare a climate change emergency. Morrison’s flimsy climate plan laid bare in strained Senate hearings.
Scott Morrison on the drought (“Climate” is a dirty word). Morrison government’s drought policy mess. Building dams and praying for rain is not a drought policy. Australian government’s “entrenched” anti-climate attitude – John Hewson. Barkindji people have title to Darling River area – but their river is dying, killed by drought, and whiteys’ mismanagement. Severe fire danger for northern New South Wales.
RENEWABLE ENERGY. AEMO provides glimpse of future grid: Not much fossil fuel, even less “base-load”. Wind and solar output beat brown coal in Australia for first time in September quarter. Victoria bill to lock in 50% renewable target passes through upper house. Huge wind and solar pipeline could make coal power ‘extinct’ in Australia by 2040. Meralli rolls out another “small but smart” solar farm in South Australia.
The week in nuclear news Australia
Again – climate and nuclear news collide. In Japan, Typhoon Hagibis re-spreads nuclear contamination far and wide – nuclear workers at heightened risk. Low lying Marshall Islands, victim of nuclear testing, now declares a Climate Emergency.
AUSTRALIA
NUCLEAR
- Clean Energy Council slams Federal Nuclear Inquiry as “distraction” from real energy challenges. Dr Jim Green addresses Australia’s Federal Nuclear Inquiry.
- Navy chief looks to nuclear submarines for Australia.
- Kalgoorlie Mayoral Candidate John Katahana wants a Small Nuclear Reactor for the town.
- Government study found Kimba and Flinders Range areas to be unsuitable for nuclear waste dump. More bribery to Kimba and Hawker communities as nuclear waste dump ballot nears. Federal nuclear waste dump plan- it’s really High Level wastes! Wildly exaggerated economic claims by Australia’s National Radioactive Waste Management Taskforce.
CLIMATE. David Glynne Jones on the unwisdom of nuclear power for Australia in a heating climate. The role of climate change in A ustralia’s early bushfire season. Bushfires continue burning across Australia, destroying homes. Northern Territory Aboriginals call out for climate action as mangroves dieback with heat. Weather experts predict more heat and fire risk coming, though fewer cyclones. Climate change – heat -drought – more mass fish deaths to come.
Greens seek to outlaw coal use by 2030, push climate emergency as Labor wavers. Don’t nuke the climate Australia.
Dick Smith, Julian Assange, and USA’s “outrageous” claim to “universal jurisdiction over every person on earth”.
Civil Liberties – Media Freedom Barnaby Joyce and former foreign minister Bob Carr urge stoppingt extradition of Julian Assange to USA. Pamela Anderson to confront Scott Morrison and plead for Australia to help Julian Assange.
RENEWABLE ENERGY. Is Energy Minister Angus Taylor on a one-man mission to stop wind and solar? EnergyAustralia calls for “unity” to enable “inevitable” transition to renewables. Solar reaches 80 per cent share of demand in South Australia on Saturday. Clean-energy hub Adelaide a drawcard for local and global innovators. Queensland approves new 180MW wind farm, with possible battery. Massive 5,000MW solar and wind projects set to fuel WA’s hydrogen expansiono wind turbines. AEMO’s Zibelman calls for system plan, says ‘just in time’ investment won’t work.
INTERNATIONAL
Revealed by Wikileaks – facts about nuclear weapons and the nuclear industry.
Climate Scientists urge protestors to keep on going with Extinction Rebellion. Google publicly decries climate change, privately donates to climate denialism. Massive Carbon Tax is needed– International Monetary Fund. U.N. officials on how Nuclear Power is irrelevant to climate action. The woman who was first to scientifically show, in 1856, how atmospheric C02 caused global warming.
The impossibility of nuclear power solving climate change. Mainstream media fails to cover news on military carbon emissions.
Physics Nobel Laureate predicts NO Migration to Other Planets.
Nuclear news Australia for first week in October
Radio Ecoshock, which (along with Paul Beckwith) I regard as the best information source about climate change, devoted its most recent programme to Australia. Australia does stand out – as both the “canary in the coal-mine”– for climate change, and as the top climate-denialist country.
In today’s Australian news I find an item which illustrates this. Australian country towns are in drought, losing their water supplies. But the national obsession with sport goes on. Thousands of litres of water were trucked in to the now waterless town of Pooncarie – to settle the dust on the race track, for the annual racing carnival. Australia’s P.M. Morrison criticised Greta Thunberg, and Australia continues to take no real action on prevention of, or adaptation to, climate change.
AUSTRALIA
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young defends the right to peacefully protest. New involvement of Attorney General in press freedom.The government seeks to intimidate the media.
NUCLEAR –Ballot dates confirmed for Flinders Ranges on nuclear waste dump issue. Nuclear waste dump for Kimba? Residents to vote soon. A Kimba resident says there’s no going back: a plea to vote NO to nuclear dump.
A nuclear industry for Australia would be a huge cost to taxpayers Queensland Liberal National Party opposes nuclear power. Queensland conservatives emerge as voice of reason in nuclear debate. Seriously!. Labor challenge to nuclear power fan MP Keith Pitt – where would you put nuclear reactors?.
Energy Efficiency the FIRST FUEL – a top Nuclear Submission from Brenda Hugget. Incidents related to transport of radiation instruments in Australia.
CLIMATE– Australia’s drought disaster a political disaster too, for its climate-sceptic Morrison govt? Climate emergency petition surges towards 200,000 signatures, but will Morrison listen? With temperatures heading for 40C, New South Wales and Queensland at bushfire risk. Climate change the essential factor in planning about droughts. Black swans – the bushfires of the future are already here. Government caught out lying on emissions, and solar installs at record high
RENEWABLE ENERGY Horizon first utility to pull down power lines and replace with renewable micro-grids. Tasmanian renewable energy projects tipped to pour $6.5 billion in state’s economy. Experts want air-con “clunkers” replaced to soften Victoria demand peaks, cut bills . XXXX! Hundreds of pubs slash energy costs through Lion deal on solar.
Red flags across the grid: New technologies hobbled by old thinking. Fourteen new big battery storage projects proposed for NSW. Tesla Model 3 electric vehicle smashes sales records, recasts Australia car market.
INTERNATIONAL
Bill Gates is wrong. Nuclear power will not save the climate.
How nuclear power powers the bomb.
Australian nuclear news- week to end of September
Greta Thunberg gave an impassioned speech at the United Nations Climate Summit, . It has resulted in some quite vicious media attacks on her, while it has highlighted the inability of world leaders to take effective action to stop or slow global heating.
It has also sparked a new burst of climate denialism. Nevertheless, science persists in uncovering the unwelcome facts. The French National Center for Scientific Research has just released a report warning that Earth could warm 7 degrees C by the year 2100. Numerous scientific bodies warn on increasing greenhouse gases, and increasing pace of global heating.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyYpExl8AJU
The World Nuclear Energy Status Report 2019 was launched on September 24. Some brief notes on its findings are here. They indicate that the commercial nuclear industry is in decline.
AUSTRALIA
CLIMATE. Sir David Attenborough slammed the Australian government’s response to climate change. Scott Morrison and Donald Trump happily together against action on climate change. Scott Morrison on climate change: he just doesn’t “get it. Behind closed doors: Australia pushes reputation as world’s leading fossil fuel dealer. Minerals Council of Australia makes global top 10 climate policy opponents. Australian schoolgirl attends United Nations Youth Climate Summit.
NUCLEAR. 50+ groups sign joint civil society statement on domestic nuclear power. Submission for the public good: to Federal Nuclear Inquiry – Noel Wauchope. Lyn Allen and Richard Ledger’s nuclear submission – for the public good. Nuclear submarines for Australia? Dangerous, would require costly taxpayer insurance. NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro wants to “normalise”nuclear power.
Nuclear waste dump ballot to go ahead in Kimba, South Australia.
RENEWABLE ENERGY. Clean Energy Finance Corporation and National Farmers Federation back ready-made clean energy solutions for Australian farmersTwo huge renewable hydrogen projects planned for Queensland. Small but “smart” Kanowna solar farm comes on line in northern NSW. Australia’s main grid copes just fine with minimal amount of coal.
INTERNATIONAL
Leaders of world’s largest emitting economies do not have real plans to meet goal of net zero emissions.
Nuclear weapons an unacceptable danger to humanity – U.N.Secretary-General António Guterres.
Weapons proliferation risk of nuclear power in space.
Climate change makes nuclear waste even more of a deadly threat. Nuclear power is on the skids: it’s really not going to help address climate change. Nuclear energy too slow, too expensive to save climate: report .
Uranium industry in permanent collapse? And thorium industry probably no better.
To 23 September – Nuclear (and Climate) News Australia
It’s been an important week for the world’s climate. Today, the world’s leaders meet in New York for a Climate Action Summit. The United Nations is trying to pressure the world into faster action on climate change. On Friday, millions, led by children demonstrated in cities around the world, for action, for abandoning fossil fuels https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXXAkt2492c. I was at the Melbourne protest, and I have never seen a rally so massive, paralysing the central business district. So many children! It’s their future.
Some good news – The ozone layer is repairing – international co-operation pays off.
AUSTRALIA
NUCLEAR.
- Trump tries to pull Scott Morrison, ‘man of titanium’, into a military coalition. A dilemma for Scott Morrison, as Trump suggests that Australia join USA in a possibly nuclear war with Iran.
- Controversial MP Barnaby Joyce on the pro nuclear campaign trail. Nationals MP Sam McMahon lashes renewable energy as ‘hoax’ and ‘fraud’ but says nuclear will help solve energy crisis,. The well-named Liberal Senator Antic goes all out for nuclear power and waste importation.
- Australia must not become a missile base, a nuclear target – Young Labor.
- Australian Workers Union join National Party’s push for nuclear power.
- Exposing misleading evidence to the federal nuclear inquiry.
Found – historic film of Aboriginal resistance to uranium mining
CLIMATE. Australian children, and adults who care, march in their hundreds of thousands, for Action on Climate Change. Resources Minister Matthew Canavan blasts ‘hypocritical, self-indulgent activists’ holding back mining sector.
Coal’s servant, P.M. Morrison makes Australia an international pariah at UN Climate Summit. He is in USA, but won’t attend the Summit. UN bars coal nations from climate stage. (especially Australia). Setting only long term zero carbon targets is code for “we’re doing nothing now”. National Party disdains report from Farmers for Climate Action.
Australian Labor Party standing firm on its climate policies.
Climate change already damaging Australia’s ecosystems. Hot, dry summer to increase Victoria’s bushfire risk . Australian Capital Territory leads the nation in the climate emergency.
Rare earths. Morrison and Trump open new front in China trade war with rare earth ‘action plan’.
RENEWABLE ENERGY. Revealed: Josh Frydenberg was behind the strange Environment Department decision to block wind turbines on Lord Howe Island. ANU to explore renewable energy exports for Australia, with Taylor’s backing.
Australia’s capital to be first city outside Europe to transition to 100% renewables. ACT’s 100% renewable electricity target is saving households cash.
Victoria solar demand still sizzling: another 3,250 rebates gone in 20 minutes. Victoria locks in new solar farm planning guidelines. Another solar farm starts up in Queensland as daytime prices stuck near zero.
INTERNATIONAL
Nature is being exterminated: the Climate Strikes are just the beginning of our fight back. Climate Emergency – ‘We’re losing the race’. From space, the human impact on the Amazon is clearly visible. The good, the bad and the ugly: the nations leading and failing on climate action.
The health impacts of climate change.
Rising temperatures, rising seas – the growing climate change menace to nuclear power.
The catastrophe that would be a “limited nuclear war“. Dramatic rise in the risk of a US-Russia nuclear war, which would kill mega millions.
The ‘advanced’ nuclear power sector is dystopian..
Nuclear and (some) climate news to 17 September
This newsletter is intended to be about matters nuclear. It IS, BUT, again this week, climate change is the overwhelmingly big issue. I cannot do justice to it at all. Thank goodness, we have Covering Climate Now, and other great media, taking up the cause.
A bit of good news – What Was Once One of the Most Polluted Landscapes on Earth Now Has Some of the Cleanest Air in the Region.
AUSTRALIA
CLIMATE.
- Temperatures 10C above average forecast as 130 bushfires continue to burn.
- Climate crisis confronts Prime Minister Morrison. Coalition returns to climate denial roots as Morrison dodges UN summit. Fear of drought, flood and fires leads farmers to plea for urgent action on climate change . Climate change pushing Queensland’s bushfire and cyclone seasons on a collision course. Australians fear extinction and drought, food, water problems from climate change.
- Extreme heat a killer for Australians.
- Energy Minister Angus Taylor wants coal generators to stay on line and “run at full tilt”. Why pay thermal generators to stay online? It’s totally nuts.
Australians concerned about climate change: few support nuclear power. Climate change deniers favour nuclear power!
NUCLEAR.
- Labor Party highlights Liberal Coalition’s recommended sites for nuclear reactors.
- Medical isotopes without a nuclear reactor: it’s time Australia modernised nuclear medicine.
- The politics of ANSTO’s nuclear isotopes – mainly for export, not for home use.
- Is Australia to be guinea pig for NuScale’s non existent, untested, super-expensive not-so-small nuclear reactors?
- Minerals Council of Australia again pushing pro nuclear propaganda. Push for nuclear power is a dangerous distraction from real action on climate change.
- An Australian’s memories of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Submissions to Federal Inquiry into the prerequisites for nuclear energy in Australia were received up until 16 September. Summaries of 58 so far published submissions are available. Up until 7 September, submissions to Federal Nuclear Inquiry were 50/50 pro and con.
Some examples: Arnaud Coquillard’s submission to Federal Nuclear Inquiry rejects nuclear power, calls for care for the planet. Eric Gribble’s submission to the Federal Nuclear Inquiry in favour of nuclear power. Barrie Hill explains how Australia’s tax-payers must fund nuclear power development. John Quiggin sets out a very unlikely course for nuclear power in Australia.
Kimba or the Flinders Ranges – nuclear sacrifice zone? Potential impact of radioactive wastes on water activities in the Spencer Gulf.
RENEWABLE ENERGY. Fact Check: Malcolm Turnbull says renewables plus storage are cheaper than coal and nuclear for new power generation. Is he correct? Network giant says renewables transition will deliver lower prices and cut emissions. Wind overtaking brown coal is only a matter of time. New investment fund targets small solar and wind farms in Australia. AEMO slashes output of five big solar farms by half due to voltage issues.
INTERNATIONAL
The poles in climate crisis, and that includes “third pole” the Mingyong glacier. Forest fires destroying vital buffer against climate change. UN warns that climate crisis is the greatest ever threat to human rights.
Frightening new simulation of a US-Russia war triggered by one ‘tactical’ nuclear weapon.
The danger of government secrecy and cover-ups: Kate Brown’s “Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future” illuminates the truth about radioactive legacy of nuclear industry.
How to warn distant future generations about nuclear waste?
UN Move the Nuclear Weapons Money campaign calls for divestment.
The ‘advanced’ nuclear power sector is fuelling climate change, and Weapons of Mass Destruction. Much touted “advanced” nuclear reactors nonexistent and just not practical. The costs and the risks are too great. Small nuclear reactors safe? Not so.
This week in nuclear and climate news Australia
In an extraordinary article in the New Yorker, Jonathan Franzen predicts that the climate apocalypse is now inevitable, and that main goal should preparation rather than prevention. He makes a persuasive argument, but has aroused the ire of climate scientists.
In nuclear news, the problem of Russia’s recent nuclear explosion lingers, as abandoned boats and beaches near the accident area are found to have high levels of radiation. Also lingering are the catastrophic effects of radiation and chemical poisons unleashed on Iraq, with thorium, a product of depleted uranium decay, still causing birth defects.
AUSTRALIA
NUCLEAR.
- One week left to put in submissions to Federal Nuclear Inquiry. Greig Myer’s fine submission to Inquiry into the prerequisites for nuclear energy in Australia.
- Former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull calls nuclear power a “loopy” fad. Labor Party urges Prime Minister Scott Morrison to rule out nuclear power. Labor wants Liberal Coalition to come clean on planned sites for nuclear reactors.
- Scrutiny on proposal for thorium nuclear reactors for Australia.
- Minister Canavan and Department of Industry Innovation and science ready to spoil beautiful, sacred, and arable land – for nuclear trash.
- Australia is complicit in the new nuclear arms race.
Australia sells weapons to Saudi-led coalition, is complicit in human rights abuses.
CLIMATE. Climate change now brings Queensland into a new era of bushfires. Record warming coming to Eastern states because of sudden warming of air above Antarctica. Australian Medical Association labels climate change ‘a health emergency’. Minerals Council of Australia doesn’t like tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, with his statements about climate. The Morrison government’s scandalous deception about “Kyoto credits” and climate change.
RENEWABLE ENERGY. Australia has met its renewable energy target. But don’t pop the champagne. Tasmania wind farm delivers Australia renewables target. But what’s next? Wind, solar and storage prompt re-design of Australia’s energy market. ‘Bold’ scheme launches to power every property on SA’s Eyre Peninsula with solar. Victoria’s boosted rooftop solar rebate fully subscribed in minutes. Australian Energy Market Operator looks at role of rooftop solar to help manage Electric Vehicles on the grid. The new normal: EV sales double in Australia, while petrol car sales slump. EDL’s Coober Pedy Hybrid Renewable Project wins at 2019 Asia Power Awards.
INTERNATIONAL
Global catastrophe ever closer as nuclear arms race revs up.
‘All of us are in danger’: John Pilger delivers warning from Julian Assange.
UN warns on need for global action – treaty – as the world’s oceans are in dire trouble.
To 2 September -Nuclear and Climate News
It’s not that climate change is getting any better – it’s just that there were fewer news articles about it this week. There was a pretty desperate call from Pope Francis for governments to act.
One weather news item that is getting a lot of coverage is Hurricane Dorian -. not necessarily caused by climate change, but exacerbated by it. It’s of particular interest because of the St. Lucie and Turkey Point nuclear power stations on alert in Florida, potentially in its path. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YERxqsFXRQ0
August, the month when we remember the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,– has been an ominous month for bringing us all closer to World War 3. Donald Trump moved to trash all the nuclear arms agreements, that might put the brakes on international conflict. Pentagon experts recommended Artificial Intelligence to control nuclear weapons. There have been at least 3 occasions when the imagination and intuition of a human being has just narrowly saved the world from a nuclear holocaust. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGsrO3klcAs
A bit of good news. Spanish group gives summer holidays to kids from Chernobyl’s polluted region.
AUSTRALIA
NUCLEAR
- Western Australian Labor joins Queensland Labor in clearly rejecting nuclear power. Both major parties in Queensland now oppose nuclear power.Australian Government
- Nuclear Inquiry is told that renewables, not nuclear, are the best option. Small Modular Nuclear Reactors and Australia’s laws prohibiting the nuclear industry.
- Despite Australia’s laws prohibiting nuclear activities, ANSTO’s already chosen nuclear reactor types for Australia.
- Dr Jim Green explodes the Australian Financial Review ‘s propaganda promoting Small Modular Nuclear Reactors. Aaron Patrick of Australian Financial Review misrepresents economist John Quiggin on nuclear power. Nuclear
- lobby launches its “grassroots” push for nuclear power in Australia.
- Ziggy Switkowski’s doublespeak pushes the nuclear lobby’s barrow. Nuclear power in Australia not realistic for at least a decade, Ziggy Switkowski says. Risk of ‘catastrophic failure’ if Australia adopts nuclear energy: Switkowski.
- Is the push for nuclear power a covert push for nuclear weapons? Australia’s nuclear research reactor was always intended as the first step towards the nuclear bomb.
- Is Australian govt’s plan for “temporary” nuclear waste dump really part of drive to IMPORT NUCLEAR WASTES?
- Australia’s foremost climate scientist Tim Flannery used to favour nuclear power – not any more!
CLIMATE. Queensland extinguishes native title over Indigenous land to make way for Adani coalmine. Indigenous landowner challenges Environment Minister Sussan Ley’s decision for coal mine.
RENEWABLE ENERGY. NSW coal city, Newcastle, sets sights on 100 per cent renewables. Victoria government triples number of home solar rebates for September. Solar and giant “water battery” to slash university’s grid consumption by 40%.
They are trying to break Julian Assange “physically and psychologically”. Injustices to Julian Assange in British prison. (Why is Australia making a huge fuss about an Australian detained in China, but ignoring Assange?)
Climate change is destabilising the Earth’s marine environment. ‘12 Years to Act on Climate Change’ – what does this really mean?
Nuclear winter – the global threat to life. A freezing and deathly aftermath would follow a US-Russian nuclear war.
BRAZIL. International calls for urgent action on climate, as new fires rage in Amazon forests.
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