Wikileaks revealed the danger of selling uranium to Asia
The existing reality of massive investment in nuclear weaponry in poverty-stricken South Asia, and the potential for vastly worse outcomes, needs to be factored into debates over Australian uranium export policy……The problem is that IAEA safeguards inspections in India will at best be tokenistic.
Rolling the nuclear dice with Australian uranium The Punch, Jim Green, December 2010, Secret US cables concerning nuclear politics in South Asia provide important context for debates over Australia’s uranium export industry…… Continue reading
Australia will keep its ban on uranium sales to India
Overturning the ban would reward India’s nuclear proliferation and undermine the NPT, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Australia Chair Tilman Ruff said.
“Selling uranium to India runs counter to Australia’s and global security interests, and would undermine Australia’s stated support for achieving a world without nuclear weapons,” he said..
No change in ban on uranium sales to India, Sydney Morning Herald, Adam Gartrell, January 19, 2011 – The federal government has told India it won’t lift its ban on uranium sales to the South Asian giant. Continue reading
Nuclear power, an obsolete industry that is winding down
There are nine fewer nuclear power stations operating
worldwide today than there were in 2002. There are 33 fewer nuclear power stations in Europe now than there were in 1989. The US has not built one in 36 years and the Japanese have virtually stopped building them.
Nuclear industry has no future, Mr Barnett – The West Australian, by Scott Ludlam January 13th, 2011, Premier Colin Barnett said last month that nuclear power was a “proved and safe source of energy” …….. In reality, there is no global nuclear renaissance, and we should hope there never will be. Since the early 1980s, the industry has been sinking under the weight of the vast costs of this obsolete and risky technology. Continue reading
Pressure on Australia to sell uranium to India, and to disregard environmental issues in FTA
Australia may rethink its the ban [on uranium sales to India] in view of the powerful endorsement by leading members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, including the US, France and Russia,……The two sides have agreed to accept the feasibility report on the proposed FTA. India is understood to have persuaded Australia to to keep extraneous issues like environment, labour and government procurement out of ambit of the FTA.
Krishna to go to Australia, uranium sale, FTA on agenda, Sify News, New Delhi, Jan 13 (IANS) India will press Australia to review its ban on the sale of uranium to New Delhi and discuss the contours of a free trade area (FTA) pact when External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna goes to Melbourne on a two-day visit next week. Continue reading
Australia ratifies IRENA’s renewable energy Treaty
51 nations have ratified IRENA’s renewable energy Treaty. Australia did so on January 11 this year.
Clinton Lauds IRENA In Abu Dhabi, Renewable Energy News : by Energy Mattersm 24 Jan 2010, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has applauded the efforts of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and their impact on addressing climate change, supporting sustainable technology, and combating “energy poverty” in the third world…. Continue reading
Britain seeks Australia’s support for its Trident nuclear missile buildup
….He also defended Britain’s nuclear arsenal….Dr Fox said a strong partnership with Australia had to be based not on sentiment ”but hard-headed pragmatism”.
British defence chief visits to rebuild ties, The Age, Daniel Flitton, January 14, 2011 “….. major security talks in Australia. Dr Fox will join Foreign Secretary William Hague in Sydney next week Continue reading
Australia would support USA attacks in Middle East
Any move in that direction would be met with maximum force from the US and its allies, including Australia.…………Maximum force is also on the agenda for nearby Iran..
Afghanistan to remain our biggest worry | The DailyTelegraphIan McPhedranJanuary 11, 2011 THE campaign in Afghanistan will dominate the military landscape this year as Australia and the other 44 nations involved in the international force struggle to develop a workable exit strategy from the eight-year conflict…. Continue reading
Australia’s new agreement with USA on nuclear technology
The United States has a central place in Australia’s network of nuclear cooperation agreements. In 2009 Australia exported 36 per cent of its $1.16 billion global uranium sales to US power utilities.
Australia-United States Agreement on Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, Kevin Rudd, 22 December 2010, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Australia and the United States today brought into force a new agreement that cements cooperation by our two nations in the peaceful use of nuclear material and technology. Continue reading
Australia’s uranium sales relate to nuclear weapons
The New START treaty comes at a time when Australia has recently agreed to supply uranium to Russia, despite it being notoriously non-transparent to outside observers of its weapons programs.
Nuclear arms treaty merely a start | The Australian James Norman December 28, 2010 “………….The New START treaty also poses questions for Australia and its place in contributing towards a world constantly threatened by the spectre of nuclear weapons. Continue reading
Why Australia must not sell uranium to India
We’ll be assured that “strict’’ safeguards will “ensure’’ peaceful use of Australian uranium. The problem is that IAEA safeguards inspections in India will at best be tokenistic…..the 118 countries of the Nonaligned Movement voiced objections to nuclear trade with non-NPT countries at the NPT Review Conference in New York last May.
Australia should switch sides and work with those countries attempting to strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation regime.
Rudd in Israel calls for openness on nuclear weapons
Rudd calls for inspections of Israel’s nuclear facility The Australian John Lyons December 14, 2010 FOREIGN Minister Kevin Rudd has arrived in Israel with a blunt message: allow international inspectors into your nuclear facility. Continue reading
Australia’s intelligence analysts warn against attack on Iran
WikiLeaks | fears of potential nuclear war in the Middle East, Sydney Morning Herald, Philip Dorling December 13, 2010 AUSTRALIAN intelligence agencies fear that Israel might launch military strikes against Iran and that Tehran’s pursuit of nuclear capabilities could draw the US and Australia into a potential nuclear war in the Middle East. Continue reading
Australia under contract to receive radioactive wastes
Dounreay Radioactive Waste Substitution Consultation 2010, The Scottish Government, 7 Dec 10,
“……….Dounreay’s Historic Contracts & the Current Situation
2.1.6 The contracts entered into by UKAEA contained clauses allowing for the radioactive waste allocated to overseas customers under the reprocessing contracts to be returned to the country of origin:– the “Return of Waste Clauses”. It is Government policy that these clauses be enacted and the radioactive waste sent back to the countries of origin. However to enact these clauses, the NDA is contractually obliged to return the radioactive waste in a form which can be safely transported and stored in accordance with such regulations as may be specified by the relevant competent national authorities.
2.1.7 The countries with radioactive waste at Dounreay which is due to be returned to them are Australia, Belgium, Germany and Italy…….. Dounreay Radioactive Waste Substitution Consultation 2010
Secrecy as Australia does uranium deal with Russia
Australia opening new uranium markets to a country with the world’s largest arsenal of nuclear weapons and largest stockpile of weapons-usable material, much of it inadequately secured………..the secrecy surrounding a deal that is done on the sidelines of the G20 rather than in the proper light of Australian public scrutiny.
Push in US Congress to sell nuclear power to Australia
The deal would allow for the United States to export nuclear technology, material and equipment to Australia for atomic power generation
Legislation Would Protect U.S.-Australia Atomic Trade Deal, NTI: Global Security Newswire , Nov. 18, 2010 Recently introduced U.S. legislation would ensure that a civilian nuclear trade agreement with Australia would still enter into force even if its time runs out in Congress, Continue reading
1 This month.
20 September –National Day of Action in Melbourne on the International Day of Peace
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PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
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