Yes, why isn’t Rudd at the Nuclear Summit?
Not much Australian media coverage of the Nuclear Summit either. Not a word on ABC Television last night.
Could it be that Rudd’s corporate backers, like BHP Billiton, are not very keen on Obama’s plan to get old nuclear weapons turned into fuel for commercial nuclear reactors? Perhaps Rudd would rather not be seen to be joining in undermining the uranium mining industry?
Obama, Rudd, speak on nuclear security
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Australia’s PM won’t be at world nuclear summit Radio Australia,April 9, 2010 Presenter: Linda Mottram
Speakers: Barack Obama, U-S President; Kevin Rudd, Australia’s Prime Minister; Rory Medcalf, director, International Security Program, Lowy Institute for International Policy
Radio Australia:Connect Asia:Story:Australia’s PM won’t be at world nuclear summit
Why is Australia so quiet about the Nuclear Summit?
It would appear to be irresponsible for Australia not to be represented at leadership level when the full security implications of the nuclear fuel cycle are being debated
Australia’s PM won’t be at world nuclear summit Radio Australia,April 9, 2010 “……… Still, some say it’s crucial that Mr Rudd goes to Washinton next week. Continue reading
Rudd conspicuously absent at Nuclear Summit
Faulkner dismisses any suggestion Rudd’s absence means Australia is not taking the issue seriously
Bombs away, The Age, by Daniel Flitton, April 13, 2010……there is also the remote prospect that terrorists might improvise a nuclear device themselves, either a crude atomic weapon or a ”dirty bomb”, spreading radioactive material with conventional explosives. Continue reading
Megatons to Megawatts will turn old nuclear weapons into fuel for commercial nuclear power!
turns highly enriched uranium into lightly enriched uranium.
Nuclear twist sees Russian warheads warming US homes Herald Sun AFP , April 13, 2010, IN A strange twist of Cold War enmity on the melt, uranium from what once were Russian nuclear warheads is used to heat and light American homes, thanks to the Megatons to Megawatts Program – a successful example of nuclear non-proliferation. Continue reading
Olympic Dam uranium mine still only at 25% capacity output
Delays continue at BHP’s Olympic Dam, The
Independent Weekly, KEVIN NAUGHTON 10 Apr, 2010 Work on the full recommissioning of Olympic Dam’s main shaft has been delayed again,….The shaft, which carries 75 per cent of the mine’s output, has been out of action since an accident on October 6, 2009…… Continue reading
Chile sent weapons grade uranium, to become nuclear fuel for USA
The Associated Press documented the transfer, agreeing to keep the details secret until the material arrived safely in the United States.
The mission will be the first of many if Obama is to keep his promise.
Chile gives its last weapons-grade uranium to US By MICHAEL WARREN and MEG KINNARD (AP) – Google News Hostimg 12 April The Associated Press: Chile gives its last weapons-grade uranium to US.….. Continue reading
Nuclear disarmament program could spell the end of uranium mining
Back in 2009, President Obama ordered a measure to help the ailing uranium industry – to lift the price of uranium.
He ordered a halt to the program to use weapons grade uranium from old nuclear weapons as fuel for copmmercial nuclear reactors.
Now, that program is to be re-started, and with the aim of spreading this use of old military uranium as nuclear fuel – to Russia , and the world – as part of the nuclear disarmament program.
In which case, – nobody would need new mined uranium!
Nuclear Summit’s plans to use old weapons fuel for commercial nuclear power
US summit expected to back Barack Obama’s plan to prevent nuclear theft | World news | The Guardian 12 April Leaders from more than 40 countries will tomorrow back Barack Obama’s plans to prevent the theft of nuclear material from vulnerable stockpiles around the world. Continue reading
U.S. military base in Central Australian to remain (a nuclear target?)
Our bases retain role in US plan, The Age DANIEL FLITTON, April 12, 2010 TOP-SECRET military bases in Australia will remain a key part of America’s nuclear arsenal despite President Barack Obama’s sweeping changes to limit the use of atomic weapons…..Senator Faulkner – ” ..Australia supports that US nuclear deterrence posture by hosting the joint-facilities as well.”
The satellite communication base at Pine Gap near Alice Springs is the largest of the joint US-Australian facilities, believed to monitor possible nuclear missile launches from Russia and China…..
[Obama] stopped short of declaring that America would never again be the first to use nuclear weapons as some arms control activists had hoped….
Senator Faulkner – ”As a major uranium supplier, Australia has got a particular interest in the security of nuclear materials,’‘ he said. Our bases retain role in US plan
Uranium pollution continues in South Australia, but protestors gain legal victory
David Noonan, 10 April 2010, After 10 years a group of brave and resolute anti-nuclear protesters have won a major court case against SA police in defense of their rights to defend the environment, to protest against uranium mining and to protect their rights civil and human rights – after a range of police violence was inflicted on them including unlawful imprisonment in a shipping container at the Beverley acid in situ leach uranium mine in May 2000. Continue reading
Uranium price continued slump leaves Cameco investors deeply in the red
The Cameco stock is currently around CAD 27.00 a share, leaving buy-and-hold investors which bought the stock across 2006 and 2007 deeply in the red.
Are uranium stocks oversold? “……… the sector has been on the backburner for months, if not years. Mineweb, Barry Sergeant , 09 Apr 2010 JOHANNESBURG – Relative to most mining subsectors, listed uranium stocks have rendered a poor performance, for some years now, inviting examination as to whether this area is oversold. Continue reading
Nuclear Power Lobby in a Bigger Mess Than I Thought
by Christina Macpherson 9 April 2010, Some big corporations have an obvious interest in Australia promoting nuclear power. But which sort? Better not get Fourth Generation nuclear reactors – or the whole uranium industry is stuffed!
Today, thanks to Renfrey Clarke (3 items from him below) I learned about:
Second Generation Nuclear Reactors – those presently in use (Pressured Water Reactors – uranium-intensive and so ultimately producing lots of greenhouse gases, and not very safe, )
Third Generation Nuclear Reactors – still being built – updated versions of the Second Gen, super-expensive, a bit safer, but same waste and proliferation problems
‘Fast Breeder’ Reactors and Fourth Generation Nuclear Reactors – the latter still at the design stage, carry serious fire and radioactive waste risk. Worst of all, for Australia, they won’t need uranium mining , as they could use existing huge stockpiles of depleted uranium
Traditional Aboriginal Owners to Appear at Senate Inquiry on Australian Govt’s Nuclear Waste Dump Plan
The NRWM Bill is also strongly opposed by the NT Government, the ACTU and Unions NT and national public health, student and environment groups.
9 April 2010 Aboriginal Traditional Owners from the Muckaty Land Trust will appear at a Senate Inquiry hearing in Darwin on Monday April 12 to speak against the federal government’s new law that seeks to impose a radioactive waste dump on the NT – the National Radioactive Waste Management (NRWM) Bill. Continue reading
“Third Generation” Nuclear Reactors” safety, pollution, proliferation dangers
Why James Hansen is wrong on nuclear power | Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal, By Renfrey Clarke April 8, 2010 -“…….Third-generation reactors are in essence evolved versions of the pressurised-water installations that provide almost all of today’s nuclear energy. Now being built for the first time, “third-generation” plants are arguably still at the pre-commercial stage. Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
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