Canberra company wants to sell drone submarines with radiation detectors
Canberra company pitches drone submarines to defence and law enforcement February 17, 2015 Henry Belot Canberra Times Reporter A company describing itself as Canberra’s “homeland security specialist” is hoping to sell drone submarines with sonar technology and radiation detectors to the Australian military and federal police. ….. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/canberra-company-pitches-drone-submarines-to-defence-and-law-enforcement-20150217-13h09b.html
Don’t turn back to dirty nuclear waste industry: South Australia leads the nation in Renewable Energy,
Dennis Matthews, 14 Feb 15 BHP Billiton’s mine at Roxby Downs is the biggest energy user in SA. It’s also the biggest polluter and greenhouse gas emitter. The amount of radioactive waste at Roxby is enormous and it has just received, without any public consultation, government approval to increase the height of its radioactive tailings dam to 40m.
This electricity and water guzzling operation would be the main beneficiary of a nuclear power station, thus locking SA to even greater water and energy consumption and into a downward spiral of ever-increasing pollution.
SA leads the nation in the use of renewable energy, now the Premier wants to turn the clock back to the bad old days of Maralinga, Rum Jungle and Radium Hill. It’s an ill weather that will do no one good.
Foreign investors wary about Australia being out of step on carbon emissions
Australia’s approach to carbon emissions causes concern among foreign investors, Canberra Times, February 13, 2015 – Clancy Yeates Banking reporter Australia’s approach to carbon emissions is making some international investors increasingly “reserved” towards the country, says the local head of French banking giant BNP Paribas.
With European banks increasingly focused on the carbon exposure of their loan books, BNP chief executive Australia and New Zealand Didier Mahout also said there was room for improvement in how seriously corporate social responsibility issues were taken in Australia.
Ahead of climate talks in Paris later this year, Mr Mahout said international investors were starting to become more concerned about Australia’s approach to carbon emissions and corporate social responsibility issues relating to the environment.
While this has not prevented investment occurring, he said it was a bigger concern among overseas investors than local ones.
“It makes some international investors more reserved about coming to Australia under those circumstances,” he told journalists in Sydney……… Continue reading
Make your submission on Terms of Reference for South Australia’s nuclear inquiry
http://conservationsa.good.do/renewable-not-radioactive/submission/ – Go to this website for an easy way to make your submissionSouth Australia: Renewable Not Radioactive
A Royal Commission is being established to consider South Australia’s role into nuclear energy.
Premier Jay Weatherill has indicated that the Royal Commission will explore uranium enrichment, nuclear power generation and nuclear waste.
You can help make sure that all aspects of this toxic industry and its history are explored by submitting your ideas about what the Terms of Reference should be. We only have until February 16, 2015 to do it.
Here in South Australia we are already world leaders in renewable energy, such as wind and solar – we believe South Australia’s future should be renewable not radioactive.
Please send a message to the Attorney-Generals Department below.
Make your submission to the Attorney-Generals Department on the Terms of Reference
Feel free to incorporate and use our dot points below, but please make sure to include your own message, subject line and name at the bottom for the email to send.
To the Attorney-General Department,
I urge you to consider the following Terms of Reference to be included for the Royal Commission into nuclear energy. The Royal Commission will be undermined if it doesn’t include the following Terms of Reference.
· The environmental impacts of uranium mining in South Australia.
· Nuclear waste; the Royal Commission must look widely at nuclear waste management in South Australia, including uranium tailings. The Commission should examine proposals to host international nuclear waste and status of the waste industry globally.
· Legacy sites; South Australia’s contaminated nuclear sites including Maralinga, the Port Pirie Uranium Treatment Complex, and Radium Hill. There are unresolved concerns over the status of these sites (in relation to public health and environmental impacts) and the Royal Commission provides an opportunity to finally resolve these issues.
· The opportunity costs of a further embrace of the nuclear cycle, including the impact on our clean and green food and wine reputation, and the tourism and international student markets, particularly if South Australia were to host an international repository for high-level nuclear waste.
· Insurance, financial risk, public liabilities and subsidies; a comprehensive examination of the potential liability of the SA Government in the case of an incident or accident.
· Exploration of alternative energy sources to address the challenge of climate change, including the potential for growth in renewables and other low carbon technologies
Yours sincerely,
South Australian govt’s last ditch pretense at getting public input on nuclear inquiry terms
Royal Commission – Our role in nuclear energy
Consultation on suggestions for the Terms of Reference will close at this time.
Monday 23 February – Friday 13 March
After initial suggestions have been sought from the community, consultation on the draft Terms of Reference will run during this period.
Have your say
Have your say on the discussion below, or send an email to:
Attorney-General’s Department
submissions@agd.sa.gov.au
Nuclear energy’s costs are prohibitive. What is the real agenda for Australia’s nuke lobby?
Weatherill’s reported comments suggested that small modular reactors may offer an option down the track. At the very least, these are a decade away, most likely more. By that time, in South Australia’s own limited target, the state will be more than 55 per cent renewables, and – according to the network operators – will be looking at renewables-based micro-grids as the most cost-effective option.
It is more likely that Weatherill’s commission may be looking
at whether the state should try and cash in on the nuclear waste management industry, which with the tens of billions of liabilities piling up, could be a lucrative opportunity.
The Sellafield plant in Cumbria will cost £70 billion ($A136 billion) to clean up, according to the UK’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC). These “opportunities” will be repeated hundreds of times as other nuclear plants are retired.
Why nuclear industry needs to be paid $500/MWh http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/why-nuclear-industry-needs-to-be-paid-500mwh-67193 By Giles Parkinson on 9 February 2015 South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill raised a few eyebrows about his plans, announced this weekend, for a “royal commission” into the nuclear energy industry.
But Weatherill is right about one thing: Nuclear energy, he says, is “not something that would be economically viable in South Australia, or indeed the nation.”
For most people, Weatherill’s comments about the costs of nuclear energy would be a case of stating the bleeding obvious. Not the nuclear fan club, however, who appear completely detached – even from the nuclear industry – on the reality of nuclear’s costs.
A glance at the contract for the Hinkley C nuclear reactor -the first to be built in the UK for a generation – proves otherwise. Even in the UK, with a well established nuclear industry, and all the infrastructure that has been built, it is still expensive. Hinkley C will start with a tariff of £92.5/MWh ($180/MWh) in 2023 before rising nearly three-fold over the following three and a half decades. Continue reading
The energy revolution is underway: many “get it”, but not Tony Abbott
Abbott’s Australia faces an energy revolution, ready or not http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/abbotts-australia-faces-an-energy-revolution-ready-or-not-19837 By Giles Parkinson on 4 February 2015 Malcolm Turnbull gets it. Last Saturday, after having a test drive of a Tesla Model S electric vehicle in California – an experience he described as ‘exhilarating’ – he declared that an “energy revolution” was upon us.
He noted how battery storage could turn the energy market upside down, reducing peaking power requirements, optimising the use of renewables and in some cases enabling consumers to go off the grid altogether.
“The excitement of technology in the Bay Area is exhilarating…..but not quite as palpable as the jolt you feel when you hit the accelerator!” he wrote. We don’t have a video of Turnbull’s test drive, but if he was in the passenger seat, it might have looked something like this.
Steve Ciobo gets it. The senior Abbott MP, a parliamentary secretary to both Julie Bishop and Andrew Robb, told ABC last week that the combination of solar and battery storage technologies was happening so quickly that Australians were ready to leave the grid. “There is massive change happening,” he said.
The CSIRO gets it. Its landmark report a year ago suggested that nearly one half of Australia’s energy requirements will be met by on-site generation, and up to one third of customers could leave the grid.The only question was when, and the utilities respond.
The biggest utilities in Europe and the US get it. Continue reading
No need to repeat the nuclear debate. South Australia has a fine renewable energy future
South Australia leads the mainland states in its harnessing of solar and wind energy. Together they supplied more than one-third of the state’s electricity for the whole of last year and all of the state’s power for one working day in September. The Port Augusta community is campaigning for a solar thermal power station to replace their antiquated coal-fired facility.
Any objective assessment of the state’s needs in the context of a commitment to sustainable development will favour going forward by expanding the proven capacity of clean renewables, rather than gambling on unproven nuclear fantasies.
We’ve already had the nuclear debate: why do it again? The Conversation Ian Lowe Emeritus Professor, School of Science at Griffith University 11 Feb 15 South Australian premier Jay Weatherill made the curious announcement on Sunday that there will be a Royal Commission to examine the state’s future role in the nuclear industry. There has been bipartisan support in South Australia for the state being a major uranium exporter, but no support for any involvement beyond that.
The inquiry will be led by former governor Kevin Scarce. Scarce has previously expressed support for a renewed debate on nuclear energy.
However, we have already had several inquiries into nuclear expansion. The new Royal Commission risks re-treading the same old ground and uncovering nothing new. Continue reading
Again, Murdoch media gets it wrong on Renewable Energy Target
Murdoch media wrong again on renewable energy target REneweconomy By Giles Parkinson on 10 February 2015 The Murdoch media has been unrelenting in its attack on renewable energy, and the renewable energy target in particular. Now that Tony Abbott has been propped up, despite losing a referendum among his back benchers on Monday, it seems that castrating the RET remains unfinished business.
Regular Murdoch commentator Judith Sloan has been a repeated critic of the RET, and let fly again on Tuesday, calling for the policy to be changed.
That’s fine, different points of view are welcome. But not when they are accompanied by such wild factual errors. Sadly, this has been the lot of the renewable energy industry in Australia.
The original Sloan article can be found here. Here are some of the erroneous highlights. Continue reading
Rockfall at Olympic dam uranium mine kills worker
Worker killed in industrial accident at Olympic Dam CHRISTOPHER RUSSELL STEVE RICE THE ADVERTISER FEBRUARY 10, 2015 A FATHER killed during a rockfall at Olympic Dam was a four-time premiership footballer renowned for being a larrikin and a popular community member.
Brian Partington, 47, of Tumby Bay, died after he was struck in the chest by falling rocks in the underground mine about 6am on Tuesday.
His death was the first workplace fatality this year following 13 deaths in 2014.
Police will prepare a report for the State Coroner while SafeWork SA has launched an investigation into the incident…….http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/worker-killed-in-industrial-accident-at-olympic-dam/story-fni6uo1m-1227214320004
Abbott govt weakening on anti-renewable energy policy?
Guardian Australia understands the government is preparing to make significant concessions in talks with Labor to try to strike a bipartisan deal over the RET. Talks resumed last week and are set to continue…….
the government is now also in close consultation with the renewable energy industry, with a target in the mid 30,000 gigawatt hours under discussion. More talks with Labor are expected within a fortnight.
The solar industry has run an intensive marginal seat campaign to protect its treatment under a special “small scale” renewable energy target, earning the ire of Greg Hunt in the process…….http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/feb/10/abbott-government-shows-signs-of-shifting-ground-on-climate-policy
Katharine Murphy dissects Tony Abbott’s motivation and agenda
Abbott for years had played the role of dysfunctional younger brother of the two Peters: Reith and Costello…….But this new precision Tony was delivering the goods, and being feted for it. The narrowness of the agenda and the breakneck speed of the daily news cycle kept things simple. The formula the firm had honed was paying daily dividends.
Team Abbott could fool themselves that they had actually conquered chaos…….
How will this all end, I asked one of the colleagues last week? “Not well for Tony.
How the Liberal party machine swallowed the real Tony Abbott alive, Guardian Katharine Murphy, deputy political editor, 8 Feb 15
The Tony Abbott I knew disappeared in 2013 as he sublimated himself to the needs of his party and its backers. Ultimately the strategy backfired..
My last recorded sighting involved Abbott romancing a constituency he thought essential to securing power. Gina Rinehart was there. So was Rupert Murdoch. Abbott obligingly went down on bended knee to secure a private tête-à-tête with the mogul, because why on earth would a multi-time zone eminence like Murdoch stand up to greet a mere politician on the cusp of the prime ministership?
The occasion was the 70th anniversary of the Institute of Public Affairs.
………..
Coal would be good for humanity, and the Coalition would develop the policies to prove it. Continue reading
Greens in South Australia must stop giving preferences to Labor-Liberal duopoly
Dennis Matthews, 9 Feb 15 Greens MP Mark Parnell has criticised Jay Weatherill’s opportunistic decision to look at ways of promoting the nuclear industry in SA (The Advertiser, 9/2/15) but it was Greens preferences in the Fisher by-election that gave Weatherill the ammunition to launch his pro-nuclear attack.
The ALP’s narrow victory in Fisher gave them the extra seat to be able to govern in their own right. If the Such-endorsed independent had been elected then the status-quo would have been maintained and Weatherill would have had to delay his pro-nuclear ambitions.
Weatherill’s about-face was preceded by the Rann back-flip on uranium mining in SA.
Thanks to SA Greens long-standing preference deals with the ALP we are now headed towards a pro-nuclear agenda that the Greens have long fought against.
It’s time for the SA Greens to distance themselves from the Labor-Liberal duopoly, to stand on their own two feet, and to not support anti-Greens policy by default.
Planned strategy to phase out coal mining in News South Wales – The Greens
Greens call for all coal mines to close in NSW http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/greens-call-for-all-coal-mines-to-close-in-nsw-20150207-138i76.html Kirsty Needham The NSW Greens will step up the attack on coal, calling for exports to end in five years and existing mines to be phased out.
The coal election policy will be outlined on Sunday by Greens upper house MP Jeremy Buckingham, just days after Premier Mike Baird faced noisy protests opening the Whitehaven Coal mine at Maules Creek, which the government says will provide 400 jobs.
Farmers have also been angered by last month’s planning approval for Chinese coal miner Shenhua near the Liverpool Plains.
Mr Buckingham said the Greens were moving beyond the party’s previous focus on “no new mines” to push for the complete phase out of coal, which would necessitate an economic plan for NSW coal producing regions to diversify into other, sustainable industries.
“It’s time to talk about how coal is over, especially with the Baird government’s rabid backing of coal,” said Mr Buckingham.
A recent article in Nature concluded that 95 per cent of Australian coal reserves needed to stay in the ground to meet global warming targets. This means only three years more production in NSW at current rates, according to the Greens.
“The question is will NSW have a planned and managed phase-out strategy for coal, or will we wait for a chaotic collapse of the industry?” said Mr Buckingham.
The Greens want coal mining royalties lifted by 2 per cent, and mining royalties by 1 per cent, to divert $250 million a year to transition coal mining communities away from coal. Mr Buckingham said food processing and sustainable agriculture were viable job creation opportunities.
“It will be a complex, long-term and difficult process, but we need to begin it now otherwise we will end up with a nasty shock.”
The Greens’ policy calls for coal mining licences to be reassessed in line with a limit of less than 600 million tonnes left to be extracted in NSW to meet the “carbon budget” of keeping within two degrees of global warming.
Existing coal mines would be reviewed and given a timeline to wind down and cease operations.Mr Buckingham said coal mining royalties were “significant but not essential to the budget of NSW”, and had plateaued.
“At the moment we have Mike Baird and the Coalition going hard on approving coal mines, and Labor in hiding on it. Labor are putting political pragmatism, and trying to win Hunter seats, ahead of what needs to be done,” said Mr Buckingham. In 2013, former Opposition Leader John Robertson backed away from comments he reportedly made at a public forum that Labor was working on a plan to phase out coal.
South Australia’s Nuclear Inquiry: Chasing Fuel’s Gold
Meg Sobey, Conservation South Australia, 8 Feb 15 The state’s peak environment body is deeply disappointed that so much time, energy and resources will be spent on a costly and ultimately fruitless inquiry into the unwanted and unsafe nuclear industry, when we should be focusing on clean, green renewables instead.
“Conservation SA, like the vast majority of South Australians, remains deeply opposed to nuclear power, nuclear waste and all other parts of the nuclear cycle,” said Chief Executive, Craig Wilkins.
“South Australians have spoken time and time again: we don’t want to be the world’s nuclear waste dump. “Yet that’s the real agenda here: the only market gap in the nuclear fuel cycle is for us to become the dumping ground for the world’s nuclear waste.
“The first two questions the Royal Commission should ask is: Where on the South Australian coast will a nuclear power plant be located?
What impact will becoming the world’s nuclear waste dump have on our state’s tourism and education export markets and clean and green food reputation?
“South Australia is already a world leader in clean and green energy.
“That’s the real energy gold we should be chasing, not the fuel’s gold of turning our state into a toxic nuclear waste dump,” he said.
Meg Sobey, Communications Officer on 0411 028 930 meg.sobey@conservationsa.org.au Craig Wilkins 0417 879 439
1 This month
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/235274195556
21 April Webinar: No Nuclear Weapons in Australia
Start: 2026-04-21 18:00:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
End: 2026-04-21 19:30:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
Event Type: Virtual
A virtual link will be communicated before the event.
Host Contact Info: australia@icanw.org
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 