Kimba and Flinders Ranges communities do not know what nuclear wastes they are getting, and for how many decades
Dump in decades, The Advertiser, GREG BANNON, Quorn, 19 Nov 19, REGARDING the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility, taskforce manager Sam Chard wrote a separate facility “will be found for the permanent disposal of intermediate level waste, but that’s a few decades off” (“Nuclear assurance”, The Advertiser, 16/11/19).
Temporary storage of intermediate-level waste is a major reason why some in the communities of Kimba and the Flinders Ranges are objecting so strongly to this proposal.
The Federal Industry Department acknowledges this material will need to be disposed of for 10,000 years to be considered safe. After four decades a disposal site has not been established and now we are being told it is still “a few decades off”.
The Department acknowledges that intermediate-level waste is the most toxic nuclear waste in Australia. We have asked for, but have received no guarantees, that this material will not end up being stranded at whichever site is chosen at the end of this ballot process. Why should these communities be expected to accept all of Australia’s nuclear waste, on behalf of all Australians, when they don’t know what they are signing up for?
Record heat, catastrophic fire danger for South Australia – what a great place to plan transport and dumping of nuclear waste -NOT
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Total fire bans declared across SA ahead of catastrophic conditions on Wednesday, ABC , 19 Nov 19 By Eugene Boisvert A total fire ban has been declared for South Australia on Tuesday ahead of catastrophic conditions expected on Wednesday.
Key points:
It is one of the first times the Country Fire Service (CFS) has declared a pre-emptive fire ban 24 hours before a hot and windy day, the agency’s head said. “It’s pretty unusual that we take a precautionary fire ban and I hope that people will realise we’ve done so in response to the severity of the conditions which are forecasted for Wednesday,” CFS chief officer Mark Jones said. Catastrophic fire conditions are expected on Wednesday for the lower Eyre Peninsula, the Yorke Peninsula, the Mid North and the Mount Lofty Ranges, when a total fire ban will also be in place All other regions have severe or extreme ratings, including the Adelaide metropolitan area. The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast a top of 42 degrees Celsius for Adelaide on Wednesday, after a high of 29C on Tuesday….. Fire season already started in SA The fire danger season has officially started in all of South Australia’s fire ban districts, apart from the lower South-East, where the season starts on Friday…… https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-18/total-fire-bans-across-sa-on-tuesday-ahead-of-catastrophic-day/11713696 |
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Journalism’s future in crisis – the case of Julian Assange
JOHN PILGER: Assange’s case will define the future of free journalism, https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/john-pilger-assanges-case-will-define-the-future-of-free-journalism,13324 By John Pilger | 18 November 2019 John Pilger describes the disturbing scene inside a London courtroom last week when the WikiLeaks publisher, Julian Assange, appeared at the start of a landmark extradition case that will define the future of free journalism.
Her face was a progression of sneers and imperious indifference; she addressed Julian Assange with an arrogance that reminded me of a magistrate presiding over apartheid South Africa’s Race Classification Board. When Julian struggled to speak, he couldn’t get words out, even stumbling over his name and date of birth.
When he spoke truth and when his barrister spoke, Baraister contrived boredom; when the prosecuting barrister spoke, she was attentive. She had nothing to do; it was demonstrably preordained. In the table in front of us were a handful of American officials, whose directions to the prosecutor were carried by his — back and forth this young woman went, delivering instructions.
Her knee in the groin was to announce that the next court hearing would be at remote Woolwich, which adjoins Belmarsh Prison and has few seats for the public. This will ensure isolation and be as close to a secret trial as it’s possible to get. Did this happen in the home of the Magna Carta? Yes, but who knew?
Who will then dare to expose anything of importance, let alone the high crimes of the West? Who will dare publish ‘Collateral Murder’? Who will dare tell the public that democracy, such as it is, has been subverted by a corporate authoritarianism from which fascism draws its strength?
Once there were spaces, gaps, boltholes, in mainstream journalism in which mavericks, who are the best journalists, could work. These are long closed now. The hope is the samizdat on the internet, where fine disobedient journalism is still practised.
The greater hope is that a judge or even judges in Britain’s court of appeal, the High Court, will rediscover justice and set him free. In the meantime, it’s our responsibility to fight in ways we know but which now require more than a modicum of Julian Assange’s courage.
How does the climate denialist Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) get away with being a “charity”?
The climate denialist IPA and its ‘public interest’ charity status, Independent Australia, By David Paull | 19 November 2019, Since the IPA and CIS organisations argue against the scientific consensus on the climate change emergency isn’t that against the public interest? Why, then, are they classified as ‘charities’? David Paull reports.
The Prime Minister’s recent comments on the rights of individuals to undertake actions, such as boycotts, that may adversely affect “secondary” company interests raises questions of free speech and public interest.
But the increasingly shrill advocacy for climate denial in the public sphere in this country has reached a stage where it seems that substantive scientific arguments regarding future Earth scenarios are being drowned out.
The debate has descended – thanks in no small part to Murdoch media and political pundits – so that now it’s a “conspiracy” by the Bureau of Meteorology and NASA, or it’s “sun-spots”, which will initiate a new “ice-age”. Even the line, “We must take a balanced view” provides anti-science advocates with a platform.
Which raises the clear question: Is climate change denial of benefit to our community? Or, to put it another way, if some are still arguing against the scientific consensus on the climate change emergency we are confronting, isn’t that against the public interest?
What does it take to be a charity?
As it turns out, not if you are a “charity” registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission (ACNC). When talking about climate denialist organisations, key among those in Australia is the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) and the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS). Both have generated substantial public communication, which is “climate sceptical” in nature and at deviance from the consensus scientific view. Yet both organisations – particularly the IPA – and through their front groups such as the Australian Environment Foundation, have been at the forefront of promoting the idea that global warming is a conspiracy. Examples are the recent book published by the IPA and edited by Dr Jennifer Marohasy who is working on releasing a new edition next year.
The CIS, while not being a loud advocate of climate scepticism, has certainly hosted talkfests which have articulated these views. Both organisations are also within the international Atlas Network, which channels money into groups around the world that seek to further the climate denialist and libertarian agendas. And both have registered charities with the Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission (ACNC).
The IPA’s registered charity is called Trustee For Institute Of Public Affairs Research Trust, while the CIS has registered a charity under the name of, The Centre For Independent Studies Ltd……
Follow the money
The IPA receives only about ten to 20 per cent of its annual income through its charity, most of which is spent each year, amounting to some $800,000 in 2017-18. These are nearly all classed as “donations” under the ACNC disclosure requirements — though of course “donors” are not required to be identified…….
Both charities claim they are benefiting the “general community of Australia”. However, given the difficulty in matching a climate denialist agenda with a supposed community benefit, this simply does not stack up anymore.
The reviews by the ACNC in January 2014 of the charitable status of these two registered charities, in this light, needs to be reviewed again. This is particularly so of the IPA with its increasing focus on spreading misinformation (none of which stands up to proper scientific scrutiny) since 2014.
But there are also other issues which need clarification in order that better transparency occurs, such as better definitions of income and expenditure, the question of influence by foreign entities and perhaps what is key: whether charity funds being used by these organisations is for a purpose that may be deemed as being of detriment to the community. Charitable status should be relinquished under these circumstances.
I have written to the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission (ACNC) to undertake a fresh review of these charities and await a response in anticipation. You can make a complaint to the ACNC HERE. David Paull is an Australian ecologist . You can follow David on Twitter @davesgas. https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/the-climate-denialist-ipa-and-its-public-interest-charity-status,13325
50 bushfires continue to rage across New South Wales
 Sydney smoke: city covered in thick haze as more than 50 bushfires burn across NSW People with asthma or respiratory illness should stay inside, health authorities warn, Guardian Australian Associated Press, Tue 19 Nov 2019 Sydney woke up to a thick blanket of smoke over the city on Tuesday as New South Wales headed into the first of two “tough days” this week, with temperatures likely to rise to the 40s and little-to-no rainfall forecast.Most of the state’s east coast was under severe or very high fire danger ratings, with more than 50 bushfires burning, of which 28 remained uncontained.
All were at “advice” level on Tuesday morning, with more than 1,300 firefighters on the ground. Six lives and 530 homes have been lost since NSW bushfire season hit, with more than 420 homes destroyed in the past fortnight alone. “More than 1,300 firefighters continue work on these fires tonight, ahead of forecast hot, dry and windy conditions tomorrow,” the Rural Fire Service said. Winds dragged smoke from a huge fire at Gospers Mountain north-west of the Sydney over the city on Tuesday morning, and the haze was not likely to dissipate until a southerly change in the afternoon…… Parts of the state under severe fire danger on Tuesday included Greater Sydney, Greater Hunter, Illawarra/Shoalhaven, Southern Ranges and Central Ranges fire regions. These regions, along with the Northern Slopes and North Western regions, were also under a total fire ban. Much of the rest of eastern NSW and the Australian Capital Territory were under very high fire danger. Some 1.6m hectares of land have been burnt so far – more than the entire 1993-94 bushfire season……https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/19/sydney-smoke-city-covered-in-thick-haze-as-more-than-50-bushfires-burn-across-nsw |
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Flood risk at proposed nuclear dump site at Wallerberdina.
Barb Walker shared a post. Flinders Local Action Group Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste Dump In Flinders Ranges SA, 18 Nov 19Last Thursday five members of FLAG met with James Rusk from AECOM, and Johnathon from DIIS to voice our concerns regarding the flood threat from the Hookina Creek to the proposed dump site at Wallerberdina.
James admitted that flood waters could cover the site up to a meter deep in a rare Possible Maximum Flood event, and that this could be easily mitigated by raising the surface area of the 40 hectare site by approximately one metre.
To put this in perspective: This would require the the mining of approximately 600,000 tonnes of top soil from a borrow pit close to the site,
the carting of 26,400 semi tipper loads and the spreading and compaction of this fill to a metre deep over the entire site. Huge amounts of water of would also be needed for the costruction.
The resulting massive desecration of the proposed area, containing many sites of cultural significance to the Adnyamathanha women was not perceived by either James or Johnathon to be a problem. – Bob. https://www.facebook.com/groups/941313402573199/
With 40% opposed to Kimba nuclear waste dump, is this “consensus”
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What counts as consensus within a community? Stock Journal
15 Nov 2019 The results are back in from the AEC ballot, gauging opinion for a potential radioactive waste facility within the Kimba community.As with the original issue, the two sides of the debate are differing on if the results showing 61.58 per cent of the population would support the site proves consensus.
Third-generation Buckleboo farmer and No Radioactive Waste on Agricultural Land in Kimba or SA chair Peter Woolford said the ballot results were not surprising, but did show there was a considerable amount of opposition to the waste facility. “You can’t have 40pc opposed and say you’ve got clear support,” he said. “That’s nearly every second person in the street.”….. https://www.stockjournal.com.au/story/6495102/what-counts-as-consensus-within-a-community/?cs=4894&fbclid=IwAR0IEQ8Rwwq9vZ302Q30286nqpXmH9uwa–P28yTXoNHh6d9jZQbDZjlRuA |
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Visionary Leaders Symposium: ‘Our planet is our patient.’
Visionary Leaders Symposium: ‘Our planet is our patient.’ http://publichealthnewswire.org/?p=physicians-for-social-responsibility-visionary-leaders-symposium#.XdARGW8_6rw.twitter by Louise Dettman on 11/8/2019 Nearly 200 organizations representing medical, health care and public and environmental health professionals, including APHA, have so far endorsed the 2019 U.S. Call to Action on Climate Change, Health and Equity: A Policy Agenda.It challenges government, business, civil society and the health sector to recognize climate change as a public health emergency and to act now for climate, health and equity.
“Being health professionals, it’s important for us to realize that our planet is our patient, and it’s in the intensive care unit. We’re doctors to a dying planet and we have a job to do,” said Helen Caldicott, MD, keynote speaker at yesterday’s Physicians for Social Responsibility Visionary Leaders Symposium in Washington, D.C.
A PSR founder and former president, anti-nuclear activist, author and pediatrician from Australia, Caldicott has spent her life educating world leaders and the public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age. She urged those gathered at the Ronald Reagan Building for the symposium to “stop being polite and speak the truth loudly and clearly” about the need for action on climate change. As one of the drafters of the U.S. Call to Action, PSR is using it to mobilize and give voice to more health professionals.
It advocates for policies that promote a just transition to clean, safe renewable energy and energy efficiency; sustainable food production and diets; clean water; active transportation; and green cities. Such policies can lower climate pollution, reduce the incidence of communicable and non-communicable disease, improve mental health and realize significant cost savings in health care.
“I’m not being radical. I’m being a physician,” Caldicott said as she stressed the urgency of the situation; challenged attendees to question the role of politicians, corporations and the military in the production of greenhouse gases; and told everyone to contact members of Congress. “If you don’t use your democracy, they’ll swoop in and use it for you — for their own political and financial gain,” she said.
The U.S. Call to Action urges the health sector itself to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and — as a trusted voice — to effectively communicate the health threats of climate change and the health benefits of climate action. The symposium focused specifically on the role of women in the climate, health and equity movement and the importance of economic justice for the most vulnerable communities.
Heidi Hutner, PhD, a filmmaker, writer and professor at Stony Brook University, moderated an expert panel of women advocates discussing the health hazards of and solutions to nuclear power and climate change. Hutner opened the program with a trailer of her upcoming documentary about the women of Three Mile Island and, along with the other participants, questioned nuclear power as the answer for a just transition to clean energy.
Following the symposium, at the 2019 Visionary Leadership Awards, PSR presented Caldicott with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her work. It also recognized other individuals and organizations for their efforts in advancing nuclear weapons abolition and addressing environmental risks to human health, including the consequences of climate change.
A twisted and so-called religious view of bushfires and climate change
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Israel Folau links bushfire crisis to same-sex marriage and abortion, SMH, By Megan Gorrey, November 17, 2019 Sacked rugby union star Israel Folau has linked the NSW bushfire crisis and drought to legalising same-sex marriage and abortion, warning the disasters are a “little taste of God’s judgment”.Speaking at his church in north-west Sydney, Folau said his remarks were a “message mainly for the people that are outside [the church], within the world”. The video footage was posted online on Sunday….
“Look how rapid, these bushfires, these droughts, all these things have come, in a short period of time. You think it’s a coincidence or not? God is speaking to you guys, Australia, you need to repent. “What you see right now in the world is only a little taste of God’s judgment that’s coming, it’s not even a big thing.” Folau said the natural disasters were “no coincidence” and the solution was for people to “turn from their wicked ways”…… https://www.smh.com.au/national/israel-folau-links-bushfire-crisis-to-same-sex-marriage-and-abortion-20191117-p53bf4.html?list_name=40_smh_newsalert&promote_channel=edmail&utm_campaign=smh-am-newsletter&utm_content=TOP_STORIES&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter& |
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A duplicitous letter from Sam Chard, General Manager, Radioactive Waste Taskforce
What a duplicitous letter from Sam Chard!
Nuclear assurance, by SAM CHARD, NRWMF taskforce general manager
I WRITE in response to the letter from Michele Madigan (“Nuclear vote”, The Advertiser, 11/11/19).
The National Radioactive Waste Management Facility will be for the permanent disposal of low-level waste, and temporary storage of intermediate-level waste.
A separate facility, likely a deeply geological one, will be found for the permanent disposal of the intermediate-level waste, but that’s a few decades off.
The transport of waste will be conducted safely, and examples in France and the UK demonstrate such a facility can coexist with a clean, green image and a successful export industry.
In the recent Kimba community ballot, more than 61 per cent of local residents supported hosting the facility, and now a ballot is under way for residents near Wallerberdina Station.
Traditional owner, neighbour, and business consultation is also being undertaken, and anyone else with an interest can make a submission
Australian Government report states that Lucas Heights spent nuclear fuel rods (for Kimba dump?) are High Level Wastes
This is an extract from a government report from1993.
The report calls the nuclear fuel rods from the decommissioned Hifar reactor High Level waste.
This would be dumped in the Flinders or Kimba.
Stop the lies, stop the dump.
“The report of the Research Reactor Review examines, among many other things, the issue of the management of spent fuel rods from the HIFAR reactor, which had been accumulating at Lucas Heights since 1963. The Report says:
The spent fuel rods at Lucas Heights can only sensibly be treated as high level waste.
The pretence that spent fuel rods constitute an asset must stop’ (p. 216)
waste. … The pretence that spent fuel rods constitute an asset must stop.”
(McKinnon Review, Principal Conclusions p.xxiii, July 1993)
A cauldron of extreme heat developing in Western Australia is heading straight for the east coast bushfire zone
A cauldron of extreme heat developing in WA is heading straight for the east coast bushfire zone, ABC News, By Irena Ceranic 15 Nov 19, A build-up of intense heat that will see temperatures in WA soar into the mid 40s this weekend will be dragged across the country next week, right into parts of New South Wales and Queensland devastated by bushfires this week.
Key points:
- Four lives and hundreds of homes have been lost in NSW and Queensland fires
- Milder temperatures should provide some relief for NSW in the coming days
- But intense heat from WA is likely to be dragged across the country next week
The NSW and Queensland bushfires have already burnt through more than a million hectares of land, killing four people and destroying more than 300 homes.
Bureau of Meteorology spokesman Neil Bennett said milder temperatures were expected to provide some relief to parts of NSW where fires continue to burn over the next few days, but the bushfire threat was far from over with the heat expected to ramp up again.
The areas in dark red on the map below [on original] show parts of WA will bake in temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius over the weekend, before the hot air mass bears down on the east coast by Tuesday. ……. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-15/wa-hot-air-mass-will-head-to-the-east-coast-bushfire-zone/11705750
Federal Govt to decide on new radioactive waste storage facility next year
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Federal Govt to decide on new radioactive waste storage facility next year, https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/federal-govt-to-decide-on-new-radioactive-waste-storage-facility/11706852?fbclid=IwAR0Ux4kgvx9WnXGWBNrmuAOxsLZEYDfanXY69yT7-ZRIbGIB009IAab5NPY Australia’s 40-year search for a site for a national radioactive waste storage facility could be coming to an end.The Federal Government says it’ll make a final decision early in the New Year on three sites under consideration in South Australia.
This week ballot papers are being sent to residents of Hawker in the Flinders Ranges to gauge local support. It follows a recent vote of the Kimba community on the Eyre Peninsula, which showed a majority in favour. Guests: Jeff Baldock, Kimba landholder and member, Working for Kimba’s Future group Producer: Cathy Van Extel |
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Meterologist shocked at prospect of Australia’s coming summer of heat and drought
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‘A horrible map to look at’: No rain as Australia enters grim summer, https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/11/14/a-horrible-map-to-look-at-no-rain-as-australia-enters-grim-summer/
Robyn Wuth Australia is staring down the barrel of a horrific summer season that will drag scorching temperatures and extreme conditions well into the new year.Livio Remano has never seen such extreme conditions in the 20 years he has worked with the Bureau of Meteorology, comparing the long term seasonal outlook to a bad chest X-ray. “It’s horrible, it’s a horrible map to look at,” he said on Thursday. “I have never seen this before in my life … the entire country of Australia is covered in deep red.” That red colour means 70 to 80 per cent of the country is experiencing above-average temperatures, and is being blamed on something called an extremely positive Indian Ocean Diode. Westerly winds weaken along the equator and push warm water to shift towards Africa during a typical IOD. The wind changes allow cool water to rise from the depths of the ocean in the east, causing a temperature difference across the tropical Indian Ocean, with unusually cooler water in the east and warmer in the west. It means atmospheric moisture levels drop in Australia’s northwest, which alters the path of weather systems coming from Australia’s west. The result is less rainfall and higher than normal temperatures over parts of Australia. Queensland is moving into its wet season but there is little chance of significant rainfall until January. But eventually, Mr Remano says the rain will come. Whatever rain does fall will be isolated and could cause more harm than good with the threat of dry lightning strikes sparking new fires. “What we need is English rain, but it is not forthcoming – certainly not anytime soon,” he added. |
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Rio Tinto drives ERA rehabilitation of Ranger uranium mine
Rio Tinto drives ERA rehabilitation of Ranger, https://www.australianmining.com.au/news/rio-tinto-drives-era-rehabilitation-of-ranger/
The company has announced an offer of new fully paid ordinary shares to raise the rehabilitation funds, with support from majority owner Rio Tinto.
As ERA’s largest shareholder, Rio Tinto is subscribing to its full entitlement of approximately $326 million.
ERA is not able to secure third-party underwriting support, therefore Rio Tinto is also acting as the underwriter to ensure ERA secures the funds it needs.Rio Tinto energy and minerals group executive Bold Baatar said it was committed to ensuring ERA’s position to fund the rehabilitation.
“We take mine closure very seriously and ensuring ERA is able to fund the closure and rehabilitation of the Ranger project area, through participating in this entitlement offer, is a priority,” Baatar said.
The shares will be offered to all eligible shareholders for $0.15 per share, representing a 38 per cent discount to the $0.24 per share 10-day volume weighted average price (VWAP).
After the increase in the rehabilitation provision in 2018, ERA found it did not have sufficient existing cash resources or expected future cash flows to fulfil the Ranger rehabilitation.
ERA believes it will have an achievable plan for the Ranger rehabilitation with the completion of this entitlement officer.
As per the obligation with the Commonwealth and Northern Territory governments and the Traditional Owners, ERA will return the Ranger project area to an environment similar to the nearby Kakadu National Park.
Under its mining approval terms, ERA must end mining and processing at Ranger by January 2021 and finish final rehabilitation by January 2026.
ERA is not expected to generate any direct financial return from the Ranger rehabilitation expenditure.
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
20 May – Webinar – The dangerous world of AUKUS, US, military occupation and suppression of dissent
National Webinar, 20th May, 2026, 6.30pm AEST. Confronting laws restricting/suppressing protest speech and action
Speakers: Former Sen. Rex Patrick, Lawyer Nick Hanna ,Arthur Rorris ,Jorgen Doyle, Sen David Shoebbridge,
Facilitator Kelley Tranter.
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 