Because of its vested interests, Australia should not have a key position in Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty meetings
by Peter Ravine, 26 April 2010, I am concerned at Australia’s position with regard to proposed changes to the Non Proliferation Treaty. It holds a key position in the coming review as co-chair of the International Commission yet it has an unavoidable vested interest in promoting uranium exports.
It should be replaced by a neutral country like Ireland or New Zealand, and the Commission should be re-constituted with adequate informed renewable energy representation. The Commission’s proceedings to date should be rejected until a new neutral commission is formed to revise the proceedings as needed. (This article continues in item below)
Need to redraft Report of International Commission on Nuclear Proliferation and Disarmament.
Paragraph 15 and the remainder of the document would need to be re-worded to require phasing out nuclear power. Support for the following points might help to influence next month’s NPT New York conference.
by Peter Ravine, 26 April 2010, With due respect to Dr Gareth Evans, I am not impressed by the Commission’s December 2009 report as indicated by the following extract: Continue reading
Australia’s forgotten soldiers, victims of Maralinga atomic bomb testing
he was required to sign the official secrets act when returning from Maralinga, which prevented him from talking about the site for 30 years.
McGee’s lost men forgotten in fallout , Adelaide Now, Bryan Littlely, April 24, 2010 FRANK McGee is looking for the lost men of Maralinga, but fears most of his lads have died without recognition for the work they did cleaning up our nuclear disgrace
- The former Royal Air Force Flight Lieutenant commanded a party of 35 airmen whose task it was to collect, bury and salvage items from the Maralinga atomic test sites over two years from 1966. Continue reading
Australian govt undermining nonproliferation: uranium sales to Russia
“The spread of weapons grade material is the dark underbelly of the
uranium mining industry,”
Fernando de Freitas, 24 April 2010, The Federal Government’s decision to allow uranium exports to Russia will harm Australia’s credentials as a leading international voice against the spread of nuclear weapons, according to the Australian Greens. 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
Australians don’t believe Martin Ferguson’s claims on safety of uranium to Russia
Australia exports uranium with no requirement for IAEA inspections to take place.
Can Russia be trusted with our uranium? Sydney Morning Herald, JIM GREEN, March 22, 2010 A 2005 survey of 1200 Australians found that 56% of us believe that the International Atomic Energy Agency’s nuclear ‘safeguards’ system is ineffective. Barely half as many believe the system is effective. Continue reading
Rudd prepares to open the uranium floodgates to Russia
All types of nuclear reactors can be used for nuclear weapons
Dr Hansen is keen on the “integral fast reactor” concept. Continue reading
A reminder of uranium mining’s connection with nuclear weapons
Secretive Arms Tycoon Behind New Uranium Mine | The Media Freedom Foundation, 9 March 2010, James
Neal Blue, who helped devise the Predator unmanned aircraft that are in use in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, is the director of a company that bought the Four Mile uranium mine in Australia. Blue is the chairman of Quasar Resources, which is affiliated with General Atomics, a major United States weapons and nuclear energy corporation. Continue reading
Australia’s shame – the treatment of atomic test veterans
They were given little protection against the radiation and were simply told to turn their backs on the explosions
Treatment of atom bomb veterans a ‘national disgrace’, Sydney Morning Herald JENNIE CURTIN, February 28, 2010 ONE of Australia’s most respected military figures has joined veterans’ groups in calling for war benefits to be paid to Australian servicemen who were exposed to British atom bomb tests in the 1950s. Continue reading
Australian soldiers used as guinea pigs in Maralinga nuclear tests
The veterans say they were used as guinea pigs to gauge the impact of radiation on humans.
Nothing stops Australian uranium exports ending up in nuclear weapons
A credible safeguards regime for Australian uranium exports depends on having a credible safeguards agency. Sadly, the federal government’s Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office (ASNO) is anything but.
Nuclear Safeguards and Australian Uranium Export Policy — Friends of the Earth Australia, by Jim Green 25 Jan 2010 There is a long history of nuclear power facilitating nuclear weapons programs …….The larger part of the problem is real or feigned interest in nuclear power providing a rationale for the acquisition of enrichment plants, reprocessing plants and research reactors and a rationale for the development of cadres of nuclear scientists and engineers whose skills can be put to use in weapons programs………… Continue reading
Australia’s Pine Gap part of nuclear Star Wars?
Green s fear Pine Gap part of Star Wars. ABC News By Adrienne Francis Dec 18, 2009
The Australian Greens are concerned there may be moves to link Central Australia’s spy base at Pine Gap to the United States proposed ballistic missile defence shield known as “Star Wars”. Continue reading
A positive view of the Nuclear Disarmament Commission
A real chance for a world free of nuclear weapons Sydney Morning Herald MARK DAVIS December 17, 2009 “…………………The original “grand bargain” of the NPT was that the nuclear-armed states signing up agreed to negotiate disarmament while the states without nukes agreed not to develop or obtain weapons. Continue reading
A negative view of the Disarmament Commission
Report on nuke threat is a dud Greg Sheridan, Foreign editor : The Australian December 17, 2009 “……………The world has more than 20,000 nuclear weapons and it would be a good thing if this number were substantially reduced. Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
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