Big public response on Roxby
Adelaide now 9 August 09August 08, 2009
THE State Government will deliver two reports on BHP Billiton’s proposed expansion of Olympic Dam mine because of the sheer number of responses to the company’s environmental impact statement.
Premier Mike Rann said the Government had already completed a draft submission, but would produce a second after it had sorted through the 3950 responses.
“The EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) has generated a significant public response and we believe the Government should take into account those views before making its own final submission,” he said.
Call for Northern Terriitory to get wildly rich , with nuclear power
Alderman calls for NT to host nuclear plant
NORTHERN TERRITORY NEWS, by NIGEL ADLAM
August 28th, 2009
AUSTRALIA’S first nuclear power plant should be built in Darwin or Katherine, a council alderman said yesterday.
Former Alice Springs deputy mayor Murray Stewart said a nuclear plant would make either community wildly rich. Continue reading
Will South Aust govt really enforce conditions on Roxby Downs uranium mine expansion?
South Australian govt calls on BHPB to fix gaps in Olympic Dam Environmental Impact Statement
Carbon + Environment
25 August 2009
The South Australian Government has called on BHP Billiton to fix inadequacies in its draft EIS for the proposed expansion of its Olympic Dam mine. Continue reading
Australian govts: just a slap on the wrist for BHPB’s uranium plans?
Olympic Dam report raises hurdles
The Australian Gavin Lower | August 25, 2009
THE Rann government has admitted its concerns about BHP Billiton’s proposal to turn Olympic Dam into the world’s largest open-cut mine are not deal-breakers, inviting criticism that it is pushing for the project to go ahead at any cost. Continue reading
Nuclear power for Australia? an expensive superstition
Rundle: Who ate all the yellowcake?
Crikey.com by Guy Rundle 19 August 2009
If you think it’s tough to get an incinerator built these days, trying putting a nuclear waste dump anywhere. Voters wouldn’t allow it, not in their backyards. Nuclear power is the defining struggle, around which a new politics is organised. Continue reading
Labor’s nuclear hypocrisy and ignorance
Christina Macpherson 19 August 09 Paul Howes, Bob Hawke, Marting Ferguson – Labor’s right wing is showing itself to be more ignorant than the Liberals . Don’t they know that no country in the world is willing to take in nuclear waste from overseas? Continue reading
Labor’s right wing making a nuclear flap
Union boss calls for nuclear energy
The Age MICHELLE GRATTANAugust 19, 2009
AUSTRALIA should develop a domestic nuclear industry and cast off ”ancient, hypochondriac policies” to get maximum benefit from its uranium, one of the country’s leading union figures has said.National secretary of the Australian Workers Union Paul Howes said the Federal Government should lift its ban on a nuclear power industry. Prohibitions on uranium mining in Queensland and exploration in NSW and Victoria – ”superstitions of another age” – should also go.
Australians would be ”dills” not to seize the prize presented by use of nuclear energy and it should consider establishing nuclear processing facilities to add value to our export ore, Mr Howes told the Sydney Institute last night.
Union boss calls for nuclear energyBob Hawke in new plug for nuclear waste industry
THE AUSTRALIAN Paul Kelly, August 19, 2009
“Australia can make a significant difference to the safety of nuclear generation by agreeing to take waste from nuclear power stations. This would be an important contribution to safety and energy security. It would also become a strong source of national income for Australia that could be dedicated to our own environmental and water requirements.”…………… He says the financial benefits from any decision would be immense.
Many public submissions on BHPB’s plan to expand uranium mine
Australia may supply uranium to India
(More Australian news at nuclear news Australia )
Australia may supply uranium to India for JV power plants
indian express.con. Aug 07, 2009 Cairns:
India expressed its interest in having civil nuclear cooperation with Australia amid indications that the two countries are likely to sign an energy agreement in November under which Australia may supply uranium for joint venture power plants.
Australia’s policy of not supplying uranium to countries that have not signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) was noted by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna who had discussions on a wide variety of bilateral subjects with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his counterpart Stephen Smith.
…………………Rudd is expected to visit India in November when the two countries are likely to sign an “Energy Declaration” for generation of nuclear power for which his country may supply uranium.
Labor violated nuclear waste promise
(Australian) Labor violated nuclear waste promise
ABC News Alice Springs 4 August 09
The Greens have accused the Federal Government of a huge violation of its commitment to repeal legislation forcing a nuclear waste facility on the Northern Territory.Labor made an election promise in 2007 to repeal the Radioactive Waste Management Act and maintains it will happen before next year’s federal election.Greens’ nuclear spokesman Senator Scott Ludlam is in Alice Springs this week discussing nuclear issues with concerned residents.He says the legislation needs to be repealed to take the pressure off people living near the four proposed nuclear waste sites.
“We had a Senate inquiry which I initiated, which came out here and recommended very strongly to the Government that the legislation be repealed in the first half of this year,” he said.”That clearly has not happened.”The [Government] said we will announce a site and then consult, which is in clear breach of the promise that the ALP took to the election.”
ABC Alice Springs – Labor violated nuclear waste promise: Greens
BHP Billiton tries to get free permits for greenhouse emissions
(Australian) Emissions will rise under Olympic Dam plan: greens
Sydney Morning Herald Marian Wilkinson Environment Editor August 3, 2009
BHP-Billiton’s plan to dig the biggest open-cut uranium and copper mine in the world is under attack from environmental groups who claim it will send greenhouse gas emissions soaring in the home state of the Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong.The battle over the massive expansion of the Olympic Dam mine in South Australia comes as mining companies are in talks with the Government over whether the copper industry will be granted free permits to cover greenhouse gas emissions because of export competition from countries such as Chile.If the talks are successful, BHP could be shielded from some of the high costs of greenhouse pollution associated with the mine’s expansion under the Government’s carbon pollution reduction scheme.
BHP estimates that the expanded Olympic Dam mine could produce up to 4.7 million tonnes (4.7 megatonnes) of greenhouse emissions every year at its peak, according to its environmental impact statement, which is on display. That figure is close to 1 per cent of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions today.
The Australian Conservation Foundation estimates that by 2020 the mine’s expansion will increase South Australia’s emissions by about 12.4 per cent a year.
A spokeswoman for Senator Wong told the Herald yesterday the copper industry ‘‘is working with the Department of Climate Change to assess copper’s eligibility’’ for free permits under the Government’s scheme and whether it qualifies.
Uranium mining is not considered eligible for free permits under the Government’s scheme but Olympic Dam’s main product will be its huge copper reserves.
Public submissions to the state and federal Labor governments on BHP’s environmental statement close this week.
U.S. activists battle Australian company’s new uranium mine
Activists battle new uranium mine request
They want a closer look taken by regulators.
07/31/2009
Two environmental groups are trying to block Utah’s first new uranium mine in three decades. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and Uranium Watch want the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to rethink its approval of the Daneros Mine, located about 10 miles from Natural Bridges National Monument.The groups also want the federal agency to stop Australia-based White Canyon Uranium from mining its Daneros claim until BLM’s Utah director, Selma Sierra, determines whether her agency studied the environmental consequences sufficiently.
“There are a lot of issues associated with uranium mining that were not adequately assessed before the permits were issued,” Liz Thomas, an attorney for SUWA, said Friday…………………..Besides possible harm to the air and water, she said, the cumulative impacts of the Daneros Mine and other nearby uranium For instance, mine waste, called “tailings,” from past uranium mining remains piled up on the Daneros site, Thomas noted. In addition, if old mines reopen in the area, there will be more ore trucks traveling the backcountry roads on their way to the uranium mill in Blanding.
Finding out if Australia’s federal politicians are fair dinkum about renewable energy
Renewable Energy News 30 July 09
Melbourne, Victoria, The Australian solar industry and households wanting to install solar power systems have been left hanging in recent weeks in relation to government rebates, resulting in many providers having excess stock of solar panels.
While the political powers-that-be duke out ETS legislation that incorporates the new Solar Credits program, national provider of solar power solutions Energy Matters has decided to clear some of their surplus stock by extending an offer to senior politicians -an initiative they call “SolarGate”.
Through “SolarGate”, the company will be offering senior politicians including Minister for Climate Change and Water Penny Wong, Minister for Environment, Heritage and the Arts Peter Garret, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Senators Xenophon, Fielding and Swann, Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull, Minister for Resources and Energy Martin Ferguson and Victorian Premier John Brumby a grid connected solar power system for their homes; free of charge.
Unlike the Utegate affair, the “SolarGate” systems on offer will not be a keeper, but on loan from the company to help ensure all recipients can maintain their political integrity and avoid negative media attention.“We’re hoping by installing these systems it will not only help reduce the carbon footprint of the recipients, but also keep solar power and renewable energy close to mind for these politicians and provide some balance in relation to the heavy lobbying of the fossil fuel industry.”, states Max Sylvester, Energy Matters’ co-founder.
“Each time they look at their solar array, they’ll be reminded of solar power’s potential and the fact each passing day without the appropriate support for Australian solar energy means extra unnecessary carbon emissions being generated by filthy coal power.”
The sudden cessation of major rebates for grid connect and off grid solar power last month and the stalling of Solar Credits program funding being made available has thrown the industry in disarray, with some smaller providers having to lay off staff.
Since June, Energy Matters has fielded enquiries from thousands of Australians waiting on the Solar Credits program to be written into law so they can install a system.
Energy Matters Launches “SolarGate” Initiative. : Renewable Energy News
Dr Helen Caldicott – international campaigner for the truth about nuclear power
Profile – Helen Caldicott
Sydney Morning Herald By Lucinda Schmidt July 29, 2009This anti-nuclear campaigner has spent a lifetime striving to create a better world.
The day after the Federal Government approved a new uranium mine in South Australia, veteran anti-nuclear campaigner Helen Caldicott was appalled. In her view, exporting uranium, to any country, is morally indefensible.
“I think it’s devastating,” she says, describing Prime Minister Kevin Rudd as “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” and accusing Environment Minister Peter Garrett of moral turpitude.
“I’m so ashamed to be an Australian at the moment,” says Caldicott, 71, a Melbourne-born medical doctor.
“As we export uranium, we’re in fact exporting nuclear weapons, cancer, leukaemia and genetic disease. It’s a public health issue.”
In the 1970s and 1980s, Caldicott was one of the world’s leading anti-nuclear voices, as the Cold War generated fear of a nuclear holocaust.
In Australia, she played a big role in forcing the French atmospheric nuclear tests underground, after writing a letter to a newspaper in 1971 about the increase in radiation levels in Adelaide’s water supply following tests over the Pacific Ocean.
Profile – Helen Caldicott – Money – Business – Home – smh.com.au
Martin Ferguson undermining climate change policy
Sydney Morning Herald Marian Wilkinson, Environment Editor July 27, 2009THE state and federal energy ministers, led by Labor’s Martin Ferguson, are being accused of undermining the Rudd Government’s climate change policies in light of a report which finds the national electricity market they oversee is discouraging energy efficiency and new renewable energy.
“Energy ministers are rewarding polluting energy and blocking efficiency and clean alternatives”, said Jane Castle of the NSW Total Environment Centre which commissioned one of the leading energy consultancy firms, McLennan Magasanik Associates, to report on the role of the National Electricity Market in climate change……………………
The report comes after Mr Ferguson launched an attack on environmentalists for failing to support the expansion of Australia’s liquid natural gas projects and uranium mining, saying they did not understand, “where our electricity comes from, who pays for it and what the future of the global energy landscape looks like”.
But Ms Castle accused Mr Ferguson of thwarting the Rudd government’s climate change policies. “He heads the Ministerial Council on Energy which is actively obstructing the development of energy solutions which would bolster the economy, create jobs and protect us from rising carbon costs,” she said. “His overblown statements are intended to simply disguise his defence of Australia’s biggest polluters.”
The consultants’ findings were backed by one of Australia’s leading renewable energy companies, Pacific Hydro. Its spokesman, Andrew Richards, said the energy ministers needed to intervene to get the National Electricity Market to “transition from the old way of doing things”. As a first principle, he said, the electricity market needed to include a commitment to climate change policies.
Martin Ferguson’s climate change policy | Marian Wilkinson | Environment and ALP
Rudd ridicules Opposition’s nuclear push
Rudd ridicules Opposition’s nuclear push
Jul 23, 2009 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says Labor’s policy of opposing nuclear power generation in Australia is clear……………………………“Can I say our policy on this was made absolutely clear at the ALP national conference a couple of years a go when I was leader of the parliamentary Labor Party, I still am, though my other job has changed, and it was clear cut that we were getting rid of the three mines policy,” he said.
Mr Rudd says the remarks show the Opposition do not have a coherent policy on climate change.
“We’ve got this extraordinary situation where the only thing the Liberal Party seem to be united on is putting nuclear plants, power plants, across the country, when they can’t even have a unified position on climate change,” he said.
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 