Anti-nuclear women walkers greeted in Sydney
Anti-nuclear activists on the road Alternative Media Group, Pam Walker & Anna Watanabe , 20May 2010 The City of Sydney hosted a reception for anti-nuclear walkers from Footprints for Peace at Town Hall last week, showing its support for ending Australia’s involvement in the nuclear cycle.
Among supporters were Greens MLC Lee Rhiannon and various councillors from Sydney Mayors for Peace.
The walkers from Footprints for Peace – Women’s International Peace Walk, are walking from Brisbane to Canberra to protest nuclear proliferation.In Canberra the walkers will present Prime Minister Kevin Rudd with a message stick from the indigenous people of Brisbane Continue reading
Tribal women aim to prevent uranium mining in Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon uranium threatens tribal water, High Country News, Caitlin Sislin | May 18, 2010 Last week, a delegation of leaders from Arizona’s Havasupai Tribe traveled to Washington D.C., to advocate for the protection of the Grand Canyon region from a potential onslaught of uranium extraction activities.
These four women – tribal council members and traditional elders – voiced their concern for the safety of the land, the purity of the water and the health of the community, and called for the passage of the Grand Canyon Watershed Protection Act (H.R. 644). Introduced in 2009 by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) this law would ban mineral exploration and the establishment of new mining claims pursuant to the 1872 Mining Law, on about one million acres of public lands surrounding Grand Canyon National Park. Continue reading
Murky history of Australia’s exposure to radiation from French nuclear tests
Prime Minister Whitlam sent HMAS Supply to witness the French Tests. A Royal New Zealand Naval vessel also took position and watched. Thus more ANZAC nuke vets were created by the exposures they suffered…….The same mistakes which caused the Black Mist incident and all other incidents in Australia to go unreported in the 1950s were still in play in the 1970s…………
Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog, 19 May, 2010, On 22 July 1973 French atmospheric nuclear testing recommenced at Mururoa Atoll in the South Pacific. Continue reading
Quiet beginning to clean up dead nuclear reactor
Little fallout from nuclear clean-up (they hope) PS News 19 May 2010,
Obsolete facilities to be decommissioned, Work is due to commence soon on decommissioning obsolete nuclear facilities at the Lucas Heights Science and Technology Centre and the National Medical Cyclotron… Continue reading
Review: Nuke waste resisted, Radiation and Breast Cancer
Australia: Muckaty Aboriginal owners take their fight internationally. To public outcry, Paul Howes pushes for uranium mining in Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary. Martin Ferguson manages to avoid supporting real progress in renewable energy. Tony Abbott promises to slow renewable energy. Calls to phase out Victoria’s brown coal, and move to job intensive renewables.
International: Renewed concern over special cancer dangers for women and the young, from ionising radiation. Water issues threaten nuclear industry’s future. UK’s new govt raises doubts on new nuclear. Iran does uranium swap deal with Turkey. Cannes film festival launches “Countdown to Zero”. Indian community action stops uranium mining in National Park.
Muckaty nuclear waste battle goes to a global audience
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcuNpT84Ov
The proposed waste dump law excludes the Muckaty Traditional Owners from procedural fairness and appeal rights, removes Aboriginal Heritage and environmental protections and overrides any Commonwealth, State and Territory laws that could be used to oppose or challenge the dump plan.
From the campfire to cyberspace: Radioactive waste concerns go global, Natalie Wasley, 18 May 2001 Aboriginal Traditional Owners opposed to a radioactive waste dump at Muckaty Station in the Northern Territory of Australia have taken their campaign to a global online audience. Continue reading
Nuclear power a “no-go” in a water-short world
“The best alternatives from a water perspective are wind and photovoltaics, that require effectively no water”
Water Adds New Constraints to Power, NYTimes.com By ERICA GIES May 17, 2010 “……In the United States, thermoelectric power generation — mainly coal, nuclear and natural gas — accounted for 41 percent of U.S. freshwater withdrawals in 2005, U.S. Geological Society data show………..
But there is a growing awareness in California and throughout the United States that the use of water for energy generation may be reaching its limits. Continue reading
Paul Howes, like Martin Ferguson, a Nuclear Salesman
A loyal class-war warrior | The Australian, 18 May 2010, “ THE Secretary of the Australian Workers’ Union, Paul Howes, …….. Perhaps the most controversial position Howes has taken, one that puts him at odds with the Labor government, is his staunch support for nuclear energy in this country.He has spoken on the issue in a number of public forums, and received front-page newspaper coverage for the stance, including in The Australian. Continue reading
An Inconvenient Film about Nuclear Weapons
Queen Noor – “I believe this film needs to be seen throughout the world, and help those populations mobilize to put pressure on political leaders or support political leaders who support the elimination of nuclear weapons.”
Cannes 2010: Queen Noor and Valerie Plame Wilson on Nukes – THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, May 17, 2010 Continue reading
Save Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary from uranium mining, says Liberal Senator
Arkaroola too precious to mine: Minchin , The Independent Weekly, 14 May, 2010 South Australia’s Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary is too precious to turn over to uranium mining, South Australian Senator Nick Minchin says.
The Liberal Senator says he is appalled that the Australian Workers Union is in favour of opening the sanctuary to the uranium industry. Continue reading
National panel stops uranium mining in the Balpakram National Park
Uranium mining blocked,The Telegraph – Calcutta (Kolkata), New Delhi, May 14: A national panel of wildlife experts today rejected a proposal from the department of atomic energy for uranium exploration on the Rongcheng plateau in Meghalaya’s South Garo Hills.The standing committee of the National Board of Wildlife decided to reject the proposal for exploratory drilling in view of the sentiments of the local people and representations from civil society groups, the environment ministry said.
The Rongcheng plateau falls in the Balpakram National Park, home to elephants, black bear, leopards, deer and the red panda, one of the rarest animals in the world.Several green groups and NGOs have campaigned against a proposal for exploratory drilling, arguing that it would harm the bio-diversity in the park. The Telegraph – Calcutta (Kolkata) | Nation | Uranium mining blocked
Uranium salesman Paul Howes calls for Arkaroola mining
powerbroker and AWU national secretary Paul Howes said he had been convinced of the merits of mining during talks with Marathon Resources, a uranium explorer which had previously lost its licence over breaching of waste disposal conditions…………
Union calls for uranium mining in Arkaroola sanctuary | Adelaide Now, Christopher Russell, 14 May 2010, ONE of the nation’s most powerful unions says uranium miners should be allowed to exploit a huge deposit of the mineral in the Arkaroola reserve in the northern Flinders Ranges…..
the union and the miners face a bitter battle to develop the pristine wilderness and popular film setting known as one of the state’s natural geological wonders.
Lined up against developers are film-maker Rolf de Heer – who calls the site “the single most extraordinary piece of South Australia in existence” Continue reading
Ionising radiation double the cancer risk for the young
Younger Patients Face Double Radiation Risk from CT Scans: Study, Ethiopian Review, May 13th, 2010 Younger patients run a higher risk of health problems from radiation exposure caused by computed tomography (CT) scans, according to a new study. Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina found that the radiation risk for younger patients were double those of older patients in a CT radiation exposure study presented last week at the American Roentgen Ray Society 2010 annual meeting in San Diego, CA. Scientists say that the findings indicate that age is another factor that doctors should consider when ordering CT scans. Younger Patients Face Double Radiation Risk from CT Scans: Study
Britain’s new coalition govt a big worry for nuclear industry
“No private sector investor has built a nuclear power station anywhere in the world without lashings of government subsidy since Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. The World Bank refuses to lend on nuclear projects because of the long history of overruns. Our message is clear, No to nuclear, as it is not a short cut, but a dead end.”
Britain’s nuclear industry wakes up to an explosive problem as Chris Huhne moves in – Telegraph Blogs, 14 May 2010, “…………there remains a sizeable threat that the Liberals could force a time-consuming and costly public inquiry that delays the new build. Continue reading
Methinks the uranium corporations do protest too much
Australia’s media is awash with the anger of BHP Billiton and other uranium miners, (even weird little Cauldron Energy), about the government’s super profit resources tax. Their threat is to wind down uranium mining, leave Australia etc.
But uranium mining is winding down anyway. BHP Billiton’s Grat Big New Mine is far from happening, as Olympic Dam still producing about a quarter capacity, with a damaged main shaft.
Recent Nuclear Non Proliferation arrangements mean that countries can get nuclear fuel from old nuclear weapons (no uranium mining needed for that). And the famous Nuclear Resuscitation (sorry, did I mean Renaissance?) – is not really happening.
And – it’s rude to mention this – but just one nuclear mishap like the current oil mishaps, and nuclear power is dead in the water forever.
1 This month
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
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