New report on the UN Security Council’s work on climate security published — The Center for Climate & Security
This is a cross-post from the Planetary Security Initiative In the past 18 months, the emergence of climate security as a mainstreamed and core risk for national governments and IGOs has accelerated. In particular, the UN Security Council (UNSC) is becoming more cognizant of climate change being a core security risk that should be under…
New report on the UN Security Council’s work on climate security published — The Center for Climate & Security
To 27 July – the week in nuclear news, Australia and more
It has been a funny week in the news, funny not as in ha ha, but as in weird. The news here prioritised the Olympics. Oh goody, my countrymen and women won lovely medals, for doing sporty things, very fast.- so, extensive coverage of all that.
You wouldn’t know that the host city, Tokyo, is now daily getting close to 2000 new cases of coronavirus. You wouldn’t know that megafires are torching U.S. Western States, and North Eastern Siberia. Briefly mentioned – huge floods inEurope and China. Oh, and by the way, I think that the pandemic is still on, world wide, with the highly infectious delta variant.
The second biggest story, after the glorious Olympics, has been the success of the billionaire space playboys – Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos. The media can’t wait until Elon Musk and Bill Gates do their next thing – missile envy bringing great things for the world,(though we”re not quite sure what things)
AUSTRALIA
Opposition to nuclear waste transport through the port of Whyalla, South Australia. Port at Cape Hardy could be the entrance place for radioactive waste transport to Kimba, South Australia. Barngarla native title owners were excluded from decision-making on Kimba nuclear waste plan. A strong convention on radioactive waste safety means that nuclear’s toxic by-products should be kept as close as possible to the point of production
Western Australian site far more suitable than Kimba, South Australia, for nuclear waste dump. Regional site in Western Australia geologically and geographically suited to nuclear waste repository, unlike the Kimba site in S.A. Resources Minister Keith Pitt and his bald-faced lies about the Leonora nuclear waste proposal.
Submissions to the Federal Public Works Committee:
- The Australian Parliament will have to pay attention to David Noonan’s detailed submission on ANSTO’s ill-advised nuclear waste storage plan.
- Submission: Flinders Local Action Group points out the flaws in ANSTO’s nuclear waste plan.
- Submission: Barry Wakelin – ”interim ” storage of nuclear waste at Kimba is a poor plan, with no commitment to planning for a permanent solution.
- Submission: Leon Ashton opposes ANSTO’s flawed plan to set up a stranded nuclear waste dump at Kimba, South Australia.
- Submission: AZARK PROJECT says that Kimba nuclear waste plan is completely unnecessary, and irrelevant to nuclear medicine.
- Submission Noel Wauchope to Federal Inquiry into nuclear waste storage..
- Showdown over millions in mining royalties to Indigenous trust.
INTERNATIONAL.
Moral Intelligence or Nuclear War.
The world’s climate catastrophe – there is little time left to act. All We Can Save”: As Climate Disasters Wreck Our Planet, Women Leaders Are Key to Solving the Crisis. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) preparing assessments for COP26.
Climate change, extreme weather, is taking its toll on the nuclear industry. The nuclear industry determined to influence climate talks before COP26.
Racism and the misguided efforts to expand nuclear energy around the world,
After the lab-leak theory, US-Chinese relations head downhill.
Progressive lawmakers join across the world in a Global Alliance For A Green New Deal.
Huge carbon emissions of space tourism, Space tourism: environmental vandalism for the super-rich . Climate change report: Jeff Bezos & the new wild west show. Jeff Bezos and the corporate colonisation of the stars. Perils to austronauts’ health – high radiation and low gravity.
Emerging technologies and nuclear stability. Small Nuclear Power Plants No Use in Climate Crisis. Bill Gates’ fast nuclear reactor ”Natrium’‘ – not so safe and a nuclear weapons proliferation risk.
Why Scientists Plant Sunflowers After Nuclear Disasters.
Submission Noel Wauchope: to Federal Inquiry into nuclear waste storage.
Noel Wauchope 27 July 21, To: Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works Inquiry: “ANSTO Intermediate Level Solid Waste Storage Facility Lucas Heights, NSW” Public Submission. I do not write as someone who is opposed to Australia having a plan for the permanent disposal of the nuclear wastes that are generated at Lucas Heights. Quite the reverse. Australia must face up to the necessity for such a plan.
However, ANSTO’s proposal for a temporary storage of these long lasting toxic wastes, at Napandee, South Australia, is NOT such a plan. As the licensing body, ARPANSA, has acknowledged, these highly hazardous nuclear fuel wastes can be safely and securely stored at Lucas Heights. Indeed ARPANSA has licensed this storage for at least 40 years to come. There is absolutely no need to trek this highly dangerous stuff for 1700 km to a small rural community, in a richly agricultural area – for so-called ”temporary” storage . At Napandee, they may well become ”stranded wastes”, while the necessity for permanent disposal remains ”a can kicked down the road”.
ARPANSA is still to consider the licensing application for the Napandee nuclear waste facility plan. ANSTO should not be able to continue with its process for the Napandee plan before this; ARPANSA Approval for proposed indefinite duration above ground nuclear fuel waste and Intermediate Level Waste storage in SA may not be granted.
Therefore, it is up to the Public Works Committee to require and confirm ANSTO public works that will comply with the Contingency to keep
Intermediate Level Wastes at Lucas Heights until a final disposal option is available.
It has not been made clear that there are really two separate proposals by the National Radioactive Waste Management for radioactive waste storage in South Australia
- for Low-Level Waste disposal facility in SA for an indefinite period.
- above ground nuclear fuel waste and ILW storage
ARPANSA will expect separate License Applications for these two proposals.
On transparency. ANSTO has been secretive about its plans regarding Intermediate Level Wastes. At least two significant reports to ARPANSA, required as part of
ARPANSA Licensing Conditions and due to the regulator by 30 June 2020, and ARPANSA’s reply, should be made available to the PWC, and publicly available.
On safety and security. As ARPANSA has noted, the double handling of Intermediate Level Waste in transporting it from one temporary storage to another temporary storage, is not consistent with international best practice. The safety and security problems of course also involve the communities en route, over such a long distance. Yet the NRWM taskforce has not engaged with these communities, surely that engagement must be a requirement for such a plan
On the undemocratic process. The National Radioactive Waste Management plan for this facility at Napandee rides roughshod over the rights of South Australians, who have had no say in this decision. It is an affront to South Australia, with its clear law prohibiting nuclear activitis. THe Eyre Peninsula region ‘s communities have had no say. Importantly, the traditional owners of the area.the Barngarla people, were eluded from the local vote, and are clearly against the dump plan.
On the hypocritical claim of ”medical necessity”. The publicity from ANSTO and from MInister Pitt has portrayed this facility as a ”medical necessity”, which it very obviously is not. As this submission primarily concerns the public works at ANSTO, I won’t go into that issue now. But it is pretty obvious to all but the somewhat brainwashed Kimba supporters of the plan, that the mostly short-lived medical radioactive wastes are dealt with at the local level, with no need for the elaborate centralised plan for Napandee. https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Public_Works/ANSTOLucasHeights/Submissions
Victoria’s Bayside Council call on Australian government to support the UN nuclear weapons ban treaty
Bayside Council supports nuclear prohibition,, https://www.miragenews.com/bayside-council-supports-nuclear-prohibition-601949/ 26 July 21, Bayside City Council has become the 11th Council in Victoria to join the call for the Australian Government to sign and ratify the United Nations (UN) Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
In a unanimous decision at the July 2021 Council Meeting, Bayside Councillors declared their support and are now calling on the Australian Government to sign the Treaty without delay.
Nuclear weapons pose a threat to communities throughout the world, and we believe all people, including our residents, have the right to live in a world free from this threat,” Mayor Cr Laurence Evans said.
“Any use of nuclear weapons, whether deliberate or accidental, would have catastrophic, far-reaching and long lasting consequences for people and the environment.”
Australia has not signed or ratified the Treaty, despite committing to pursue nuclear disarmament under the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
“It’s time for Australia to sign and get on the right side of history,” Cr Evans said.
Part of the Council resolution includes writing to the Foreign Affairs Minister, and the local Federal member of parliament, advising of Council’s support to the Treaty.
t was also resolved that Council will take steps to ensure that funds administered by Bayside City Council are not invested in companies that produce nuclear weapons.
Bayside City Council is the 11th Victoria Council to join the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) Cities Appeal- a global call from cities and towns in support of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
(ICAN) is a coalition of non-governmental organisations in 100 countries promoting the implementation of the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Founded in Melbourne in 2007, ICAN was awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize
”Nuclear Games” expose Japanese government’s spin about the Olympic Games.
In the runup to July 23 opening ceremony, the Olympic torch relay was deliberately routed through Fukushima Prefecture, including the towns where the plant is located, and others nearby that were long abandoned in the wake of the disaster. Olympic baseball and softball competitions are also being held in a stadium in Fukushima Prefecture.
Billions will watch the Olympics and get the carefully crafted message that everything in Fukushima is fine, and that nuclear meltdowns are quickly lived down. But that’s dangerous denialism. We need a global education effort to promote basic literacy about nuclear dangers in order to make future nuclear disasters less likely.”
Games for the young coincides with Tokyo Olympics, Saily News, 26 July 21,
Perhaps it was also a reflection of the longstanding cat-and-mouse game played by the world’s nine nuclear powers – the US, UK, France, China, Russia, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel – violating the Olympic ideals of peace and humanity with a resurgent nuclear arms race.
The coalition says Nuclear Games shines a light on nuclear issues which are deliberately downplayed by governments, including by Japan as it presents the Olympics with a virtually empty stadium because of Coronavirus restrictions.
Japan experienced nuclear bombings in 1945 and also suffered one of the world’s most devastating nuclear power accidents in 2011 and remains deeply affected by them.Tuesday, July 27, 2021 -Coinciding with the opening ceremony, a coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), anti-nuclear activists and youth leaders launched Nuclear Games, an innovative film and online platform addressing nuclear history and the risks and impacts of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy……………..In a press release, the coalition of NGOs said that nuclear dangers and tensions are rising today. According to the Pentagon, the risk of nuclear war is growing. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists’ Doomsday Clock advanced this year to 100 seconds to midnight – closer to nuclear war even than during the Cuban Missile Crisis……
Nuclear Games was developed by interactive video books pioneer Docmine, a Swiss-based creative studio, with support from Basel Peace Office, Youth Fusion, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Switzerland and the World Future Council.
It is offered in English and German and aimed at non-usual suspects: people who don’t typically watch political documentaries or engage in anti-nuclear advocacy work, says the coalition.
“It will have particular resonance with younger viewers, many of whom are unfamiliar with the history it conveys of nuclear disasters, near misses, and ongoing threats and impacts.”
Joseph Gerson, President of the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security, and Vice-President of the International Peace Bureau, told IDN: “In addition to appreciating the film’s pointing to the ongoing existential nuclear dangers on the eve of the 76th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki A-bombings, I am glad that the Games’ press release points to the hypocrisy of the Olympics being held midst the pandemic.”
He said the Japanese Government has cynically spent trillions of Yen to prepare for the Olympics and then insisted on holding them against the opposition of most people in Japan.
“With only a quarter of the Japanese population vaccinated against Covid-19, we should reflect on how many more Japanese people would be alive today and next year were those Yen, and others spent on building one of the world’s most advanced militaries, instead been devoted to developing and purchasing vaccines. I hope that Japanese voters will bear this in mind when it is election time this fall,” Gerson declared.
In the runup to July 23 opening ceremony, the Olympic torch relay was deliberately routed through Fukushima Prefecture, including the towns where the plant is located, and others nearby that were long abandoned in the wake of the disaster. Olympic baseball and softball competitions are also being held in a stadium in Fukushima Prefecture.
“This is government spin, deliberately minimizing and normalizing the disaster, and ignoring Fukushima’s ongoing impacts and threats to public safety,” said Dr Andreas Nidecker, MD, Basel Peace Office president and the originator of the Nuclear Games concept.
Billions will watch the Olympics and get the carefully crafted message that everything in Fukushima is fine, and that nuclear meltdowns are quickly lived down. But that’s dangerous denialism. We need a global education effort to promote basic literacy about nuclear dangers in order to make future nuclear disasters less likely,” he declared. http://www.dailynews.lk/2021/07/27/features/254937/nuclear-games-young-coincides-tokyo-olympics
The fantasy of the Olympic Games as ”recovery” from nuclear disaster, and from Covid-19
Before the COVID-19 pandemic engulfed the world, the Japanese government originally painted the 2020 Olympic Games as the “Recovery Olympics,” meant to showcase how the nation rebuilt in the decade following the cataclysmic triple disaster of 2011
“The government is now talking of an Olympics that could be a sign of humanity’s triumph over the pandemic, but vaccines have not yet been put into practical use, and the world has not yet been freed from the risk of infection,” he added. “There is no chance of success by trying to box in reality to meet the labels the government upholds. The idea of a ‘coronavirus Olympics’ may also likely end as a mere fantasy.”
Discontent over Fukushima nuclear disaster response casts shadow over Tokyo Olympics, Yahoo News, CATHERINE THORBECKE and ANTHONY TROTTER, Mon, July 26, 2021, Some 150 miles from Tokyo’s Olympic venues, calendars that line the walls of empty classrooms remain frozen on a date more than a decade in the past: March 11, 2011.
Images from an abandoned elementary school in Futaba, Japan, are an eerie reminder of the uneven recovery efforts 10 years after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake triggered a catastrophic tsunami and caused the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
About 164,000 people were forced to evacuate in the aftermath of the meltdown at the now-infamous Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. Many never returned home.
As the Japanese government doggedly forges ahead with the delayed and beleaguered Olympic Games this year, some advocates say initial promises that the situation in Fukushima is “under control” are false. Some also say the “Recovery Olympics” branding exploits residents who feel forgotten, and cleanup of the Dai-ichi power plant will take decades longer than government estimates.
Japanese officials insist radiation levels in reopened parts of Fukushima prefecture — which is set to host baseball and softball for the Summer Games — are safe for visitors, and many independent monitors agree. But what many say is a lack of transparency has eroded public trust, and a new debate rages over the what to do with the more than 1 million tons of “treated” radioactive wastewater piling up in storage tanks at the damaged nuclear power plant.
Here is how the legacy of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe looms large over the Tokyo Olympics.
A ‘Made in Japan’ disaster
Kiyoshi Kurokawa, the chairman of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (a group mandated by Japanese legislators to examine what went wrong and make recommendations), told ABC News that recovery efforts are far from complete and a permanent plan for how to dispose of contaminated waste is not in place.
It has a long way to go,” Kurokawa told ABC News of Fukushima’s recovery. “It’s a very tragic thing — and there are just certain people that cannot go back.”
The issue is, what is the long-term prospectus of how to contain Fukushima Dai-ichi, and I’m not so sure TEPCO [Tokyo Electric Power Company] has a clear long-term plan of what to do,”
Kurokawa added. “They’re doing at least their best effort, but I think cleaning up radioactivity is a mess, and particularly with Fukushima Dai-ichi’s issues.”
While the quasi-state-owned power firm that runs the embattled nuclear power plant has suggested a 30- to 40-year timeline for decommissioning, Kurokawa said conflicting research estimates it could take at least “100 years.”
In his team’s scathing report on what went wrong, delivered to Japanese lawmakers in the aftermath of the event, Kurokawa calls the nuclear catastrophe a “profoundly manmade disaster — that could and should have been foreseen and prevented.”
Kurokawa blasted cultural factors in the nation with the world’s third-largest gross domestic product that he says ultimately resulted in more suffering……….
The biggest issue from our point of view has been this historical lack of adequate transparency on the part of TEPCO and also the Japanese government,” Azby Brown, a researcher for the nuclear monitoring nonprofit organization Safecast, told ABC News, “and this is from the beginning and may actually predate the accident.”
“We see some similar things happening regarding the coronavirus response and even among the negotiations or the discussions regarding the Olympics and what measures will be taken to protect the safety of people who come here for that,” Brown added. “So, it’s all part of a similar phenomenon within Japanese institutions and bureaucracies and government.”
Recovery is far from reality’ ahead of so-called ‘Recovery Olympics’
Before the COVID-19 pandemic engulfed the world, the Japanese government originally painted the 2020 Olympic Games as the “Recovery Olympics,” meant to showcase how the nation rebuilt in the decade following the cataclysmic triple disaster of 2011
The global health crisis and mounting costs associated with hosting the international event during a once-in-a-century pandemic has led to dwindling public support for holding the games, but these concerns appear to have largely fallen on deaf ears. Many locals have expressed fears that it could lead to a surge in coronavirus cases as vaccination rates in Japan lag far behind its peers in the developed world.
For some residents or evacuees of Fukushima, however, hosting the Olympics at a cost of some $12.6 billion is a painful reminder of government-spending priorities.
“Some people feel abandoned not only by the government but also by the nation,” Kazuya Hirano, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, told ABC News. “They also feel used for the promotion of the government slogan, the ‘Recovery Olympics.'”
Hirano — whose research has focused on the continued social, political and health effects of the disaster — said that the government terminated financial support for evacuees in 2017, but most have not returned home.
“Reconstruction does not make much sense as most former Fukushima residents who were affected by the disaster have not returned or have no intention to return because they are worried about the radiation for their families as well as themselves,” Hirano said. “Most people have already settled in new places.
…….. ”for them to try to use this as a way to showcase recovery, it was a sketchy idea from the beginning and I think now it’s probably certainly backfired,” he said. “Instead, it will only highlight the problems and the lack of recovery.”……….
With “real, concrete things” still not adequately taken care of in Fukushima, Brown said many residents view the billions of dollars pumped into the Olympics as “just misspent funds.”
In his 2013 speech pitching Tokyo as a host city, then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told members of the International Olympic Committee that the situation in Fukushima is “under control” and “has never done and will never do any damage to Tokyo.”
His words have drawn ire from Fukushima residents for years.
In July 2020, Katsunobu Sakurai — who was mayor of Minamiosama, Fukushima, at the time of the catastrophe — blasted the “Recovery Olympics” branding in an interview with the one of the country’s biggest newspapers.
“No matter how much you tout the games as a sign of recovery, the overall picture of only Tokyo prospering while the recovery of the disaster-hit areas in the Tohoku region remains undone will not change,” he told the Mainichi newspaper, referring to the region that is home to Fukushima. “I’ve been to Tokyo many times, and saw that there were more crane trucks at the construction site of the athletes’ village than in the disaster-hit areas.”
“It was obvious at a glance where the national government was placing its resources,” he added……..
While the government has assured visitors the designated areas in Fukushima are safe, some independent monitoring organizations, including Greenpeace Japan, have reported finding radioactive hotspots with readings that don’t align with figures released by the officials.
Kurokawa and Brown agreed that the risk of dangerous levels of radiation exposure in reopened areas of Fukushima is low, but residents’ trust in official statements also remains low…………………………………
The Japanese government has prepared for the Olympics while upholding the ‘disaster recovery’ label, even though a recovery is far from reality,” Sakurai said to the Mainichi newspaper in July 2020. “It is superficial to declare a recovery with no actual progress.”
“The government is now talking of an Olympics that could be a sign of humanity’s triumph over the pandemic, but vaccines have not yet been put into practical use, and the world has not yet been freed from the risk of infection,” he added. “There is no chance of success by trying to box in reality to meet the labels the government upholds. The idea of a ‘coronavirus Olympics’ may also likely end as a mere fantasy.” https://www.yahoo.com/gma/discontent-over-fukushima-nuclear-disaster-090220990.html
Floods threaten nuclear power stations: call for endangered reactors to be shut down.
Nuclear power plants threatened by floods, final shutdown required. In the wake of the devastating floods of recent days, the Munich Environmental Institute has called for endangered nuclear reactors in Europe to be shut down.
Due to the advancing climate crisis, the risk of operating nuclear power plants continues to increase. The flood situation in western Germany and the neighboring countries as a result of heavy rainfall is devastating.
The water levels in the rivers had risen quickly. People lost their livelihoods or their lives, their belongings have been destroyed.
Sonnenseite 23rd July 2021
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) preparing assessments for COP26
Against a backdrop of fires and floods, researchers are meeting virtually to finalise a key climate science study. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is preparing the most comprehensive assessment on the
state of global heating since 2013.
Over the next two weeks, the scientists will go through their findings line by line with representatives of 195
governments. Experts say the report will be a “wake-up call” to governments. It is expected that the short, 40-page Summary for Policymakers will play an important role in guiding global leaders who will come to Glasgow in November to deal with critical climate questions.
BBC 26th July 2021
Xi Jinping, Bolsonaro, Putin and Morrison: The four leaders resisting global climate action — RenewEconomy
As countries prepare to return to international negotiations on climate, Australia will find itself lumped in the club of fossil fuelled rogues. The post Xi Jinping, Bolsonaro, Putin and Morrison: The four leaders resisting global climate action appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Xi Jinping, Bolsonaro, Putin and Morrison: The four leaders resisting global climate action — RenewEconomy
Old style tech to give major boost to Australia’s shift to wind and solar — RenewEconomy
New spinning machines about to join South Australia’s grid will allow the maximum output of wind and solar farms to be dramatically lifted. The post Old style tech to give major boost to Australia’s shift to wind and solar appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Old style tech to give major boost to Australia’s shift to wind and solar — RenewEconomy
July 26 Energy News — geoharvey
Opinion: ¶ “Powering Rural Economic Development With Renewables” • Electric cooperatives loom large in conversations about the US energy system’s past, present, and future, despite the fact that they serve only 13% of US electricity load. Importantly, they may have difficulties replacing their aging coal fleets with less costly wind and solar projects. [CleanTechnica] Transmission […]
July 26 Energy News — geoharvey
The Australian Parliament will have to pay attention to David Noonan’s detailed submission on ANSTO’s ill-advised nuclear waste storage plan.
Ed note. This is a long tough read. But it’s worth it!
The federal gov. must stop compromising safety and security in SA with their untenable nuclear
waste storage plan and accept Extended Storage of nuclear fuel waste and ILW at Lucas Heights.
The NSC advice states that dual handling in transport associated with interim storage “does not
represent international best practice”; and raises implications for both safety and security noting
that “ANSTO already has comprehensive security arrangements in place” at Lucas Heights.
There is no technical reason why ANSTO can-not conduct Extended Storage of ILW on-site, at least
through-out the period of ongoing OPAL reactor licensed waste production operations to 2057.
There will be consequences if the federal Minister imposes a NRWMF onto unwilling community in
SA and declares a fancy shed at Napandee on Eyre Peninsula an indefinite nuclear waste store:
Submission No. 3 To: Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works Inquiry: “ANSTO Intermediate Level Solid Waste Storage Facility Lucas Heights, NSW” Public Submission by David J Noonan B.Sc., M.Env.St. RE: Extended storage of ANSTO’s ILW on-site at Lucas Heights is warranted until availability of a final disposal option. The indefinite Store for ANSTO nuclear fuel waste & ILW in SA is untenable. Dear Secretary Please consider this Submission with five Recommendations (see p.4), the Reports and further info sought from ANSTO, and my request to provide evidence as a Witness in a PWC Inquiry Hearing.
I raise public interest matters for the Public Works Committee (PWC) to consider and to report on to the Houses of Parliament (see Contents p.4). In accordance with requirements in the Public Works Committee Act 1969 Section 17 Functions of the Committee, and having regard to Sec.17(2) for “alterations to the proposals for the work that … are necessary or desirable to ensure the most effective use” of public works in this case. Recommendation 1: ANSTO’s proposed public works on Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) storage must be altered to provide for the necessary and proper Contingency to retain ILW on-site in safe and secure extended storage at Lucas Heights “until the availability of a final disposal option”.
The proponent entity ANSTO’s proposed public works and Submission No.1 do not reflect the agency’s duty to provide for the necessary and proper Contingency in safe and secure on-site management of ILW at Lucas Heights up to the availability of a final (off-site) disposal option. The ARPANSA CEO stated in relevant evidence (June 2020) to a Senate Inquiry on the NRWMF Amendment Bill 2020, that: “Waste can be safely stored at Lucas Heights for decades to come.” ANSTO’s “Interim Waste Store” Operating Licence (2015) was approved by ARPANSA with a Contingency to store reprocessed nuclear fuel wastes “until the availability of a final disposal option” (see p.10-13). That key License “is not time limited” with an approval to operate for over 40 years.
ARPANSA cite this long-standing required Contingency for “Retention of the returned residues at ANSTO until the availability of a final disposal option” in ARPANSA’s Submission No.86 (Sept 2020, p.4) to the Senate Standing Economics Legislation Committee of Inquiry on the NRWMF Bill 2020. ANSTO has a duty to manage ILW in accordance with the same standard of Contingency required by ARPANSA for the provision of safe and secure on-site storage of nuclear fuel waste at Lucas Heights. Both ANSTO’s ILW and the highly hazardous nuclear fuel wastes accrued at Lucas Heights operations are stated by the regulator ARPANSA to require radiation shielding, safe handling and security, and to require isolation from people and from the environment for over 10 000 years (see p.19).
In contrast, the ANSTO proposed public works extend ILW storage capacity by a decade toward 2037 and are il-advisably premised on transfer of ANSTO’s ILW to an interim above ground Store in SA. These matters, and the questionable credibility of ANSTO’s premise. go to ANSTO’s duties and activities under Sec.17(4): “the Committee shall have regard to the functions, powers and duties of the authority … in relation to the activities of the authority concerned.”
In accordance with Sec.17(3)(e) “the present and prospective public value of the work” will bemaximised by the PWC requiring that ANSTO public works are fully compatibility with the necessaryContingency to retain ILW on-site until availability of a final disposal option.Recommendation 2: ANSTO must not pre-empt ARPANSA Licensing decisions. ANSTO mustplan for the valid Contingency that an ARPANSA Approval for indefinite duration aboveground nuclear fuel waste and ILW storage in SA may not be granted.
ANSTO’s overarching assumption to transfer ILW to an interim above ground Store in SA – an event
which may never occur – may compromise the stated purpose of works and the suitability of works.
This matter goes to Sec.17(3) “In considering and reporting on a public work, the Committee shall
have regard to: (a) the stated purpose of the work and its suitability for that purpose.”
Recommendation 3: The PWC must require and confirm the suitability of any assented
ANSTO public works to provide for – and comply with – the necessary Contingency to retain
ILW on-site at Lucas Heights until a final disposal option is available.
The PWC should take note that ARPANSA have said they expect separate License Applications for the
proposed NRWM Low-Level Waste disposal facility in SA; AND for the proposed indefinite duration
above ground nuclear fuel waste and ILW storage in regional SA.
This PWC Inquiry must consider the fact that ARPANSA Approval may not be granted for proposed
indefinite duration above ground nuclear fuel waste and ILW storage in SA – irrespective of whetheror-not ARPANSA Approval is granted for proposed Low Level Waste disposal in SA.
Recommendation 4: Transparency requires ANSTO must release key ILW Reports and
further information to provide an adequate basis for informed decision making in
consideration by the PWC and to facilitate informed public interest input to this Inquiry.
Including: Two ANSTO Intermediate Level nuclear waste Reports required as part of
ARPANSA Licensing Conditions and due to the regulator by 30 June 2020, AND the formal
response(s) by ARPANSA.
These important Reports were requested to be released during the 2020 Senate Inquiry (see p.5).
I request Transparency from ANSTO and present Questions for the proponent to answer (see p.6).
Recommendation 5: The PWC Inquiry should consider proposed indefinite storage of ANSTO
nuclear fuel waste and ILW in SA is untenable and compromises safety and security in SA.
ANSTO’s premise to transfer ILW into indefinite storage in SA is contrary to International
Best Practice (IBP) and does not comply with ARPANSA Committee advice (see p.8-9).
The ARPANSA Radiation Health and Safety Advisory Council (April 2010) provided advice to the CEO
which concluded that: “Australia’s current policy of indefinite storage for intermediate level waste
does not appear to be consistent with international best practice.”
ARPANSA stated in 2015 that the NRWMF plan “will have the provision for ILW storage above ground
for approximately 100 years” – effectively indefinitely – which is not consistent with IBP (see p.19).
ARPANSA’s Nuclear Safety Committee (NSC, Nov 2013) provided advise to the CEO that dual
handling transport for interim storage “does not represent International Best Practice”, and
importantly: “also has implications for security”.
The NSC (Nov 2016) advised the CEO that it was “essential” to engage communities along waste
transport routes (see p.20). In 5 years of targeting SA for required shipping of ANSTO nuclear fuel
waste through an SA Port and for trucking ILW across SA, this has not been done.
The fact that a pending UK shipment of reprocessed ANSTO nuclear fuel waste and associated ILW
due in 2022 is to go into ANSTO’s existing “Interim Waste Store” at Lucas Heights (see p.5), safety
rated by ARPANSA out to 2055, provides further evidence the proposed Store in SA in unnecessary.
Federal Labor question ARWA and why ILW should be moved from one temporary store to another
Imposition of a nuclear waste dump will be an issue in the March 2022 SA Election (see p.14-16).
Continue readingSubmission: AZARK PROJECT says that Kimba nuclear waste plan is completely unnecessary, and irrelevant to nuclear medicine.
national nuclear waste facility at Kimba the existence or otherwise of which will have no effect whatsoever on the production of nuclear medicine by ANSTO
the importance and use of nuclear medicine locally is significantly
decreasing as there is a general reluctance and reduction by modern medicinein using nuclear isotopes for medical purposes in preference to much safer means to diagnose and treat medical conditions which were previously the
subject of nuclear medicine.
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works Inquiry into the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation Intermediate Level Solid Waste Storage Facility at Lucas Heights
SUBMISSIONS BY AND ON BEHALF OF AZARK PROJECT PTY LTD, Peter Remta 26 July 21
INTRODUCTORY SUMMARY OF SUBMISSIONS
A. The proposed increase in the nuclear waste storage capacity at Lucas Heights by constructing a new storage facility is a completely unnecessary and expensive exercise which is only perpetuating the government’s inappropriate plans for a waste management facility at Kimba.
B, Serious and urgent consideration should be given to the establishment of the underground nuclear waste facility at Leonora by Azark Project due to its international recognition and acceptance for its unsurpassed suitability and safety.
C. Several members of the Committee should be excluded from any participation in deciding the merits of establishing or funding of the facility for the additional storage since they have previously made ill-founded and unjustified statements praising the proposals for Kimba…….
Continue readingSubmission: Barry Wakelin – ”interim” storage of nuclear waste at Kimba is a poor plan, with no commitment to planning for a permanent solution
Despite assurances from responsible Ministers, that a permanent ILW site selection process decision is in train, there is no evidence that the Parliament is making any endeavour to fulfil that promise, particularly when it is recalled that the construction (in 2007) of the OPAL nuclear reactor was conditional upon that promise being kept ,which it is too apparent never happened.
Sumission No. 4 Public Works Submission – Barry Wakelin OAM, Kimba, S A, 23 Juy 21,
I present this submission as someone with 15 years of Federal Parliamentary Service: and as a former Public Works Committee member and citizen of Kimba observing the machinations of a proposed “temporary” site for ILW (Intermediate Level Waste at KImba.) Mainly, promoted as a Low Level Waste site by government representatives .
I was closely involved with the Woomera attempt at a nuclear waste site. The great thing about being free of party politics is the time to become better informed and to develop my own clearer, fairer and individual opinions.
Despite assurances from responsible Ministers, that a permanent ILW site selection process decision is in train, there is no evidence that the Parliament is making any endeavour to fulfil that promise, particularly when it is recalled that the construction (in 2007) of the OPAL nuclear reactor was conditional upon that promise being kept ,which it is too apparent never happened.
Small communities like Kimba and its 95% agricultural dependence, have no government guarantee against health and economic damage from a ILW nuclear waste facility.
The defacto international nuclear waste via the suggested sixfold increase in the ANSTO export of nuclear medicine is in conflict with South Australian government policy and should not be inflicted upon a small rural community which is ignored by policy enforcers.
The question must be asked: why should a community of 0.00004% of Australians be bribed or emotionally blackmailed by the government using taxpayers’ funds to bludgeon 400 people at $200,000 each, in to accepting a nuclear Dump on behalf of 25million Australians who predominantly say NO . Not least of all are
government organisations like the Department of Defence who say the nuclear waste is too dangerous to be placed on their land ,the size of Tasmania.
If it takes this much money from government to convince a small community to accept the government’s argument which only gives the country a”temporary” nuclear waste facility of very limited value it is a a sad waste of taxpayer’s funds.
A commitment to the search for a permanent disposal site for ILW has not occurred and considering
2037 is the timeline; it is reasonable to accept that a “temporary” storage will not be required due to the new facilities at Lucas Heights The nuclear reactor will always have some temporary ILW storage.
It is clear to me that there is a reasonable prospect over the next fifteen years to find a suitable site
for permanent disposal of ILW suitably geologically and seismologically.
It is a privilege to be able to offer from my long term involvement in this difficult issue a view on the
justice or otherwise, which has been inflicted upon my magnificent community for the past six years.
I offer my best wishes to the Committee for your considerations.
.
Resources Minister Keith Pitt and his bald-faced lies about the Leonora nuclear waste proposal
26 July Kazzi Jai on Whyalla Pitt lies
“Federal Resources Minister Keith Pitt said the government did not receive detailed information to independently assess a site at Leonora, and couldn’t accept “unverified information” which could “cut short” the consultation and assessment process.”
This is the BIGGEST BALD FACED LIE Minister Keith Pitt has said yet!!
The current Leonora site proposal HAS been actively giving the Feds detailed information since 2017 I believe…..at EXACTLY the SAME TIME as Kimba was allowed to SUBMIT AGAIN into the mix after being taken COMPLETELY OFF the list in April 2016, after being deemed unsuitable!
Can’t have it both ways!
In fact ANOTHER site in Leonora Western Australia WAS in the mix back in 2015, as one of the SEVEN short listed sites deemed suitable by the Feds – by the then Josh Frydenberg as Minister at the time!
It was a different site in Leonora – but nevertheless, echoes the SAME SITUATION as Kimba in many ways!
1 This month.
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
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
19 May – Webinar- Webinar: No Nuclear Weapons in Australia
Start: 2026-05-19 18:00:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
End: 2026-05-19 19:30:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
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 