Dangers of the radioactive uranium mining industry will be obscured
Uranium mining IS different from other mining industries.
True, all mining has problems, and in fact, all mining does release some radioactive particles into the environment.
However, that pales into insignificance compared with the health and environmental problems of uranium mining. The only other mining of exceptionally serious health danger – is asbestos mining, and that is now long banned in Australia. Uranium mining should be banned, too.
Uranium mining leaves a legacy of radioactive tailings, of radioactively polluted waterways – problems that last long long after the mining company has disappeared from the scene, and from the responsibility.
Uranium mining is also completely involved in teh dangerous nuclear industry, and in catastrophes such as the Fukushima nuclear accident. It is also an essential part of the nuclear weapons industry.
It is a backward step for Australians to accept the idea that uranium mining is a “normal” industry, to be merged and hidden within the general mining scene.
! AUSTRALIAN URANIUM ASSOCIATION TO BE INTEGRATED INTO MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA (FED)
7 Nov 13, National mining industry advocacy is to be further strengthened through the integration of the Australian Uranium Association (AUA) and the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA). The decision to integrate the two organisations has been taken by member companies of both organisations. The move will enhance the uranium sector’s advocacy, reinforce its position in the mining industry.
It’s a dodgy time to be advocating new nuclear power
The Australian Liberal Party is soon to ‘discover” that human induced climate change is real. Well they have to, as the push for nuclear power in Australia heats up, and the Liberals will eventually have to come up with a reason for backing nuclear power, (other than just being sycophantic stooges for USA military industrial complex)
But I was quite surprised to find A new South Wales Liberal MP coming out with this position quite so early, as Jonathon O’Dea has.
Really – Australian Liberals should be a bit more careful about this. The official Liberal line is that we really do nothing much about climate change, because, well, it’s not a big deal at all, and certainly nothing to do with Australia’s weather extremes and bushfires. Mr Abbott and Mr Hunt have made this clear.
And secondly – it’s just not a great time to be advocating new nuclear power. Theoretically, Japan might be starting the most perilous exercise at Fukushima as soon as Friday 8th November. A nuclear fuel rods’ cooling pool sits precariously atop the damaged nuclear reactor No 4, with the building unsteadily sinking gradually into the ground. There have been 2 earthquakes in the neighbourhood only very recently. So those fuel rods gotta be removed ASAP, in an operation of unprecedented risk. One slip and the whole of Tokyo would need to be evacuated. It’s a dodgy time to be advocating nuclear power!
Australia’s twin menaces – climate change and the nuclear industry
At times I feel like completely changing this website – to one dedicated to action on climate change. Australians, under the “leadership” of Tony Abbott, appear to be sleep-walking towards disaster. It is no comfort that Abbott will be remembered as this nation’s most disastrous Prime Minister – hated for leading us, without a qualm, into the horror of extreme bushfires, flood, and sea level rise – and the repression of Pacific Islands’ climate change refugees
Global warming, climate change – this is an international emergency. Sure – cutting our carbon emissions is not going to fix that.
BUT – action on climate change (and on refugees) shows Australia to be part of civilised world society. Nations are going to need to help each other – and on climate change – Australia used to be a leader.
Still – as climate change creeps up on us, (perhaps roars up on us) we must keep in mind that a nuclear war or disaster could bring almost instant climate change upon us, as well as other horrors. That threat is real.
The failing nuclear industry tries to con Australians that it has the solution to climate change, We must resist their lies, lest we invite upon ourselves another catastrophe on top of the climate change peril.
For these reasons – this website will stay “ANTINUCLEAR”.
The week in climate and nuclear news
Climate change and bushfires. This topic has divided Australia. On one side, there are our government leaders – PM Tony Abbott and Environment Minister Greg Hunt. Abbott has declared that any link between the two is “complete hogwash” and dismissed the United Nations’ expert climate negotiator Christiana Figueres as “talking through her hat”. While the Greens’ Christine Milne deplored these statements, the Labor leader Bill Shorten was curiously silent. He said that he “didn’t want to speculate on the fires while people’s homes were still on the line” . Sadly, it is probable that a majority of Australians, fed by the Murdoch media, agree with them. Apparently the Labor Opposition agrees with the Liberal government that the bushfires are irrelevant to climate change and that it’s bad taste to talk about any link.
Greens’ MP Adam Bandt thought it was worse taste to just ignore climate change, Many others, including Victoria’s Country Fire Authority take the link seriously. Clearly one can’t identify a particular bushfire as caused by climate change. However, climate change has brought conditions of more intense heat, dryer vegetation, and bushfire seasons of earlier onset and longer duration.
Nuclear power. As Australia’s Liberal government determinedly pursues a climate denial agenda, the nuclear lobby is publicly fairly silent. Australia’s nuclear lobby bides its time, until the fuss subsides. Once all effective climate action has been dismantled by the government, it will no doubt become politically correct to again believe in climate change. Then the nuclear lobby can swing into action – promoting nuclear. power as the solution. The Liberal government will be all for it, Labor Senators Gary Gray, Mark Bishop and Alex Gallacher are among the Labor pro nuclear faction. We’ll need to watch Bill Shorten, who is likely to even weaker on Labor’s anti nuclear policy than he is on Labor’s climate action. The ALP’s 2011 policy platform expressly forbids “the establishment of nuclear power plants and all other stages of the nuclear fuel cycle in Australia”.
Climate and uranium news this week
Bushfires tear across South Eastern Australia. Is this a taste of what is coming for this summer and beyond?
It follows Australia’s warmest 12 months on record. Our last summer broke 123 extreme weather records in 90 days. Last month was Australia’s hottest ever September on record.
The IPCC has released its Fifth Assessment Report. There’s a 95-100% probability that more than half of the observed increase in global average surface temperature from 1951 to 2010 is human induced.
And what is the Abbott government doing about climate change? The Climate Commission has been abolished. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation will be abolished. We no longer have a Department of Climate Change. On October 14, the draft legislation to repeal the carbon price mechanism, to be the first item of business for the 44th Parliament, was revealed.
The planetary crisis of climate change surely shows us that it requires planetary, internationally co-operative solutions. Australia was a leader in climate action – but look at us now – an international disgrace?
Uranium. Toro Energy holds it AGM today, amid accusations that it has misled shareholders by pretending that a new uranium deposit in Western Australia has gained regulatory approval, when it in fact, has not.
Report on the Australian premiere of nuclear promotional film ‘Pandora’s Promise’
We gave out leaflets to those attending the film premiere last night. I was apparently the only anti nuclear person in the audience – a voice heckling n a pro nuclear wilderness.
- First part of the film: – established 4 or 5 speakers who all claim to have previously been anti nuclear, and shows the major nuclear accidents, faults etc. Sets up the bad things about nuclear power, and shows anti nuclear activists to be idealistc, but emotional and uninformed. Subtly denigrates and makes fun of anti nuclear activists, uses female speaker Gwyneth Craven a lot. Subtle put down of women – “brains hard wired to protect babies” Film’s protagonists changed their minds after learning from experts.
- Second part:Disillusion with environmental movement – rubbishing Kyoto Protocol, rubbishing renewable energy, rubbishing energy conservation. Stresses need for growing energy use. Harm from coal. (some good arguments here) Rubbishes fear of radiation – very poor information given here – inaccurate about radiation. repeats the “banana myth”. Misrepresents what WHO has said. Minimises Chernobyl, Fukushima’s health effects.
- Third part – safety and wastes History lesson on how USA nuclear power progress was stalled by politics, Democratic administrations. Integral Fast Reactors (Gen 1V) delayed by politics. IFRs so safe – they can use wastes as fuel, so in the meantime, Gen 3 reactors can go on, producing valuable fuel.
- Concluding part Present situation – nuclear France – hugely successful, Germany using more coal emitting more greenhouse gases. Nuclear is costly upfront, but will be much more economical than solar or wind. Nuclear wastes a valuable resource, nuclear warheads turned to fuel forreactors. especially exciting, Small Modular Reactors. Future energy needs for modern high energy resource rich lifestyle .
- inaccurate portrayal of anti nuclear people – all shown to be uninformed, anti science, pro coal, and non-expert.
- not at all up to date on renewable energy development – inaccurate picture of France today, and especially of Germany
- wrong information on ionising radiation – ?deliberate ignorance on this.
- no mention whatsoever of terrorism risks – to nuclear reactors, nuclear waste fuel pools, transport of “valuable” wastes to feed reactors
- glosses over weapons proliferation risks
- almost completely ignores economics – no mention of costs of security, eventual waste disposal from Gen 1V reactors.
- good presentation of climate change danger, and of health dangers of coal
- interesting presentation – at times amusing (though at times this is at the expense of anti nuclear people)
- music well used for emotional impact – dramatic at times, sentimental when showing happy Chernobyl residents.
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This week in Australia: nuclear, and other news
AUSTRALIA and INTERNATIONAL
This week I chanced upon a website that made me think, and reminded me that everything is inter-connected. The nuclear issue is just one part of the web of global social and environmental issues . This website is “Project New World: Let’s co-operate “ I think it originates in Germany – but anyway, it can be read in many languages, and it links up all sorts of issues.
This idea is timely, as now there’s an Australian in gaol in Russia, for protesting against oil drilling in the Arctic. OK – it’s oil not nuclear. In fact, the Russians have dumped so much radioactive trash in the Arctic, that this drilling may well be very connected.
In America, 83 year old Sister Megan Rice remains in a prison cell, awaiting what could be a 30 year sentence for her anti nuclear action.
The one bright spot is that the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s wheels of process for re-licensing nuclear power plants have ground to a halt, along with much else, due to the USA government shut-down. Also, for Australia and others, it might be just that bit harder for the secretive Trans Pacific Partnership to get signed up, seeing that Obama has had to cancel his Asian visit.
In Australia, Robert Stone is showing his nuclear advertising film “Pandora’s Promise”, and getting mainstream media coverage, of course. In Melbourne, there will be a protest at the launching of the film. Cinema -goers will be handed leaflets explaining what the film carefully leaves out.
‘Pandora’s Promise’ – film that is stinking its way around Australia
The nuclear advertising film ‘ Pandora’s Promise’ will be showing around Australia, and in Edinburgh and London in the next couple of weeks. It is largely funded by people from the pro nuclear Breakthrough Institute, including people like Bill Gates, who has his own nuclear power company Terra Power. It is directed by passionate nuclear enthusiast, Robert Stone, who does Q and A afterwards, and over-talks any critical questioners.
Weaknesses of this film include the way that it:
- mocks anti nuclear opinions as a bunch extremists and zealots. It makes no effort to portray any sensible opposing opinion.
- minimises the health effects of ionising radaiation with downright untruths, for instance, telling us only that Chernobyl killed 56 people. It leaves out that a United Nations World Health Organization agency predicts 16,000 more will die from Chernobyl cancers and that the European Environment Agency estimates 34,000 more. It omits that non-fatal thyroid cancer struck another 6,000, mostly children
- does not mention the crippling economics that is now closing nuclear plants in USA (Florida, Wisconsin and California), nor the imperative for tax-payer subsidy
- does not mention insurance: the nuclear industry, alone among industries is exempt from risk through USA’s Price Anderson Act, as well as every home owner’s insurance policy stating that this policy does not compensate you for any radiation damage from a nuclear power plant.
- avoids the economics of Small Nuclear reactors (SMRs) Even under the best of circumstances, there will be no SMR prototype for as long as a decade or more. There are serious questions over the economics of mass producing these, over their safety, and the huge costs of maintaining security over thousands of little nuclear reactors scattered around the land. None of this is discussed in the film.
- promotes Integral Fast Reactors (IFRs) – fast breeder reactors. but doesn’t mention the past failure of these, in USA , France (Super Phoenix) Japan (Monju), and their enormous cost.
- Dishonestly minimises the nuclear waste problems of IFR’s. Film does not explain that the final wastes, while smaller in volume, are far more radioactive and dangerous than existing nuclear wastes, and therefore require the same amount of storage space and security.
State of play in Australia’s climate and nuclear news this week
Nuclear news has gone very quiet at the moment – seeing that for Australia nuclear’s big argument was that it’s “the cure” for climate change. (But now it is not politically correct to worry about climate change?)
Uranium. Energy Resources of Australia is touting its latest method to to treat radioactive water. ERA will go out of business if it doesn’t get a new mining operation going at Ranger. Not a great prospect – with its history of spills and revenue losses.
CLIMATE CHANGE has dominated the news this week. Or, more correctly, what Australia is NOT going to do about climate change.
Tony Abbott has:
- abolished the Science Ministry
- appointed as head of his Business Advisory Council – Maurice Newman, who very recently attacked the CSIRO, the weather bureau and the “myth” of anthropological climate change.
- abolished the Climate Change Commission, – sacking its chief, Tim Flannery
- appointed as Environment MInister – Greg Hunt, who abandoned decades of personal commitment to addressing climate change in order to save his political skin. He now tacitly supports climate scepticism, and has given false information on climate change and carbon emissions
- through Greg Hunt approved a brief to begin drafting a Bill to repeal the Climate Change Authority (this requires an Act of Parliament)
- through Treasurer Joe Hockey has ordered the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) to cease operations. However, this order is not lawful, it is obliged to continue to operate until the Coalition passes legislation abolishing the CEFC (that needs an Act of Parliament)
To abolish the Climate Change Authority and the CEFC Abbott’s Bills would have to pass both Houses of Parliament, This can’t happen until after July 2014, as until then Abbott would not have a majority in the Senate.
Not Surprisingly, Former Labor Energy Minister Martin Ferguson has applauded the Liberal government’s attack on renewable energy. In the Labor cabinet, Ferguson had a hard time pretending to support renewable energy. Look out for Ferguson getting a nice little job with the polluting industries?
What a week in Australia’s climate/nuclear news!
Election results show that, in fact, climate change and the carbon tax were not a major issue. The ABC’s opinion poll showed that Australians in general wanted action on climate change. However, election results suggest that this did not translate into support for carbon pricing. Nuclear/uranium issues were just not on the radar.
What Australia’s election results did show, is that a sustained barrage of attack against climate action policies, run over the past 3 years by the Murdoch media, in tandem with its attacks on the Labor government, had its effect.
Disinformation about climate change surely contributed to the confusion in the electorate, resulting in the extraordinary proliferation of silly little mini parties. Most of these new single issue new Senators are quite ignorant of general political issues, and can be relied on to vote mindlessly with the Abbott Government, when these Senators take up their seats in July.
For this reason, Abbott may well say that he will act quickly, but his best bet is to hang off on his most extreme, and anti climate action policies, until July.
However, Abbott is doing what groundwork that he can. Only yesterday, he’s been talking with President Obama, about the Trans Pacific Partnership, (TPP). You may well wonder about this – it’s a secretive pact designed to give American corporations a lot of power, for example, ability to sue Australian State governments – in effect, to override environmental laws. The Labor Government was being very careful about this. But does Tony even understand it?
Labor re-groups. No, Tony, they’re not going to “man up” and dump carbon pricing and climate change action. On the contrary, both Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese see action on climate change as a central issue
Christina’s election comfort – Tony Abbott is a Tall Poppy – TEMPORARILY
Yes. It’s a sad week for democracy in Australia’s MURDOCHRACY.
My one comfort.
Murdoch media, America’s Tea Party, and multinational fossil fuel corporations, have groomed the seemingly vacuous Tony Abbott into an Australian Tall Poppy. My comfort is – we all know what Australia does to Tall Poppies – cuts ’em down. And this couldn’t happen to a better fellow.
Nuclear and climate news in this election week
AUSTRALIAN ELECTION
NUCLEAR and URANIUM Well, you’d be forgiven for thinking that no Australian political party is the slightest bit interested in nuclear and uranium issues. However, there’s an underlying push in the Liberal Party to overturn Australia’s law against importing international nuclear wastes. And some Labor heavies join in that push. The Liberal Coalition’s goals of weakening environmental regulation will of course impact on the uranium mining industry. The Australian Greens remain steadfast – in both opposing these dirty and dangerous industries, and in promoting clean and practicable renewableenergy solutions. Choose Nuclear Free is the place to go For detailed analysis of party policies.
Both Liberal Coalition and Labor are hellbent on getting rid of Scott Ludlam from the Senate. That’s understandable. He is far too intelligent, far too articulate – and worse too ethical, too courteous. The mad monk could well say of Ludlam – “Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?”
CLIMATE. Words almost fail me (you might be glad to know?) But Tony Abbot has abdicated from any pretense of action on climate change. I don’t think he’s all that bright. He thinks that the environment, climate change, action etc, might be tacked on at the end of he economy, if there’s a bit of spare money. He has no concept of teh basic role of environment and climate underlying the economy.
By the way – Tony’s a Rhodes scholar. You might think that that means he’s really intelligent. However – major criteria for Rhodes scholarship are not so much brains. More emphasis is on ” fondness for and success in sports” and on ” instincts to lead”. – i.e. desire To Be Topp
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Australian nuclear news this week
Well, in the election fever, I thought that there was no nuclear news. However, I’ve learned that there has been a series of radio broadcasts – Radio Adelaide – covering the push for the full nuclear cycle in South Australia. And it’s worse than I had thought. I have listened to only the latest of these broadcasts, but it really did wake me up as to what is being proposes for South Australia.
I had thought that it was motivated by money – the idea of somehow making money out of nuclear power. Well, of course, it IS money. But the big connection is really uranium enrichment plans for the nuclear weapons industry, and USA’s nuclear war strategy. South Australia’s already got Beverley and Heathgate uranium mines, owned by nuclear weapons giant General Atomics. No surprise that some want to further entrench Adelaide’s military-industrial -intelligence complex in the nuclear war machine. Envouragment is provided by professor Stefan Simons, of UCL Adelaide, funded by BHP. Anyway, I have transcribed this broadcast .
Election. I am so fed up with all the rubbish. That includes the Liberal Coalition saying on Tuesday that they would use Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to fund a solar power station in Victoria. and on Thursday that they would cut the funding of ARENA. But I did like Guy Rundle’s respectful and insightful story about Greens leader, Christine Milne.
Nuclear News Australia – mercifully short this week
AUSTRALIA
Yes – mercifully short. We are swamped with tripey media about the coming election. It’s all too much. Except for the Greens, political parties pretty well ignore climate change and renewable energy. Debates ?- Christine Milne doesn’t get a look in. Preference deals ? very confusing. here’s a good link to advise on preference matters http://www.belowtheline.org.au/
Renewable energy. Just as nuclear propagandist Martin Nicholson tells us, (in impenetrable jargon) how cheap nuclear power will be for Australia, Giles Parkinson reports on the Australian government now acknowledging that renewable energy is no more costly than fossil fuels.
INTERNATIONAL
I could go on about the parlous state of the uranium market, and of the nuclear industry in USA.
However, the overwhelming new is about Fukushima. New radioactive water leaks are appearing. Some from the water storage tanks? Some from welling up of groundwater?. Anyway this is recognised as a new crisis, with no solution coming any time soon.
Meanwhile, the nuclear propagandists have gone very quiet on what a success the Fukushima clean-up is. Indeed, the nuclear propagandists have gone very quiet. Except in Australia – where Martin Nicholson continues his proud history of damning renewable energy, praising nuclear power, and dazzling us all with impressive, but unintelligible blather.
Four Mile uranium project – Australia’s dirtiest and most dangerous uranium connection
(Christina Macpherson, originally posted on 4 Nov 2012) Leaving aside its nasty little internal squabbles, Australia’s fifth uranium mine Four Mile uranium project in South Australia is without doubt the most striking example of all that is wrong about Australia’s uranium industry. Well, next door, is Beverley mine – equally bad. But they’re practically the same, in that they are both practically owned by USA’s General Atomics. Neal Blue is the chairman of Quasar Resources, which is affiliated with General Atomics, a major United States weapons and nuclear energy corporation. He is CEO of Heathgate Resources. a 100 per cent-owned subsidiary of General Atomics (GA) which owns Beverley uranium mine. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors for General Atomics
General Atomics has a murky history It develops nuclear technologies including arms manufacture. Especially those Predator drones which kill anybody that the Pentagon thinks is “suspicious” in Iraq and Afghanistan. Neal Blue was one of the designers of Predator. At its uranium processing plant on an Indian reservation in Oklahoma, General Atomics for years covered up radioactive water and gas leaks.
General Atomic has spent $thousands’ lobbying and ferrying of USA politicians to Australia, , and Australian federal and state politicians to USA . In 2000 Heathgate applauded police brutality against environmentalists and local Aboriginal people. An online video clip details this brutality. the police action (in a 2000 media release which is no longer available online). After a 10-year legal case, 10 people were awarded a total of $700,000 damages.
General Atomics flew a group from the US Congress to Australia, accompanied by company executives, to persuade the Federal Government to buy the company’s Predator unmanned aircraft
As well as its interest in unmanned spy planes, General Atomics has employed human spies. In 2008 it was caught hiring a former undercover police officer turned private investigator to infiltrate Australian environment groups and report on their actions.
In 2008 General Atomics and Neal Blue were sued for fraudulently hiking uranium prices and manipulating costs. In the settlement One of General Atomics’s customers, Exelon, received $US41 million from the company. It is estimated Mr Blue made $US200 million by breaking the contracts and selling uranium on the spot market
Heathgate Resources have been promoting the view that low-level radiation is beneficial, and funding the Australian visits of people like Dr Doug Dr Boreham prepared to promote those views.
Heathgate is not required to clean up Four Mile uranium mine. and there is no requirement it decontaminate the Beverley site when mining ceases. Christina Macpherson 25 Oct 12,
Go-ahead for disputed uranium joint venture BY: BARRY FITZGERALD From: The Australian October 25, 2012 THE much-delayed Four Mile uranium project in South Australia – a joint venture between ASX-listed Alliance Resources (25 per cent) and US group Heathgate (75 per cent) – is finally being developed.
1 This month.
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AUKUS – https://aukuspublicinquiry.com/
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
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