Antinuclear

Australian news, and some related international items

The people and environment of South Australia must be protected from Federal imposed storage of AUKUS High-Level nuclear waste

Brief by David Noonan Independent Environment Campaigner 10 Nov 2025. https://nuclear.foe.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Noonan-AUKUS-nuclear-wastes-target-SA-Briefer-9-Nov-2025.pdf

South Australians have a Right to Say No to undemocratic Federal imposed storage of AUKUS
High Level nuclear waste in our State. All Federal MPs & Senators from SA, Members of the SA
Parliament and candidates for the SA State Election on 21st March should declare their position:

Q: Will you accept or reject Federal imposed storage of AUKUS nuclear waste in SA?
The Federal Government quietly took up new AUKUS Regulations (2 Oct) as powers to impose
AUKUS wastes by override of State laws that prohibit nuclear waste storage in SA, NT and WA.

AUKUS Regulation 111 “State and Territory laws that do not apply in relation to a regulated
activity” names and prescribes our SA Nuclear Waste Storage (Prohibition) Act 2000. The
Objects of this key SA Law set out what is at stake: “To protect the health, safety and welfare
of the people of SA, and the environment in which they live” from nuclear waste storage.

Federal Labor’s draconian powers to compromise public health, safety and welfare protections. n SA Law, lacks social licence, are an affront to civil society, and damages trust in governance.
This is also a threat to Indigenous People with a cultural responsibility to protect their country.

Community expects our State Labor Government to give a clear State Election commitment to
protect SA from the risks and impacts of untenable and illegal AUKUS High Level nuclear waste
storage, see “The lethal legacy of Aukus nuclear submarines will remain for millennia – and
there’s no plan to deal with it” (The Guardian, 10 August 2025, interview with Prof Ian Lowe).

Labor has a further key leadership test ahead of our Election: to commit to support Indigenous
People’s human rights, set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples Article 29 (UNDRIP 2007), to “Free, Prior and Informed Consent” over storage of
hazardous materials on their lands. AUKUS wastes absolutely are hazardous materials!

a Question for Premier Peter Malinauskas: Will you respect and support Indigenous Peoples
Rights to Say No to Federal siting of AUKUS nuclear waste storage on their country in SA?

Call for full disclosure on a N-waste siting process after Labor breaks its commitment:
The public has a Right to Know what regions are being targeted for storage of High-Level
nuclear wastes. A secretive ongoing Defence review “to identify potential nuclear waste
disposal sites” (ABC News March 2023) must be made public ahead of the SA State Election.

AUKUS Minister Marles has broken his commitment to announce a process by early 2024 to
identify a site to dispose of AUKUS High-Level nuclear wastes. The failure by Defence to set out
any process – other than to take up powers to impose nuclear wastes – is unacceptable.

REPORTER: Is a high-level nuclear waste dump the price that South Australia will have to pay
for the jobs that go to the state? (Minister Marles Press Conference 14 March 2023)

MARLES: Well, as I indicated there will be a process that we will determine within the next 12
months for how the site will be identified. You’ve made a leap there, which we’re not going to
make for some time. It will be a while before a site is ultimately identified. But we will within the
next 12 months establish a process for how we walk down that path.

It is now over 4 years since Federal Labor agreed with Morrison’s AUKUS nuclear sub agenda.

SA Labor to let ‘national security interests’ decide siting for AUKUS nuclear waste?

National press reported the Woomera Area to be a ‘favoured location’ for storage and disposal
of nuclear sub wastes back in August 2023 (“Woomera looms as national nuclear waste dump
site including for AUKUS submarine high-level waste afr.com). WA, Qld and Vic political leaders
have rejected a High-Level nuclear waste disposal site in their States, with WA suggesting the
Woomera Prohibited Area in SA: “would be one obvious location within the Defence estate,
however, we will await the outcomes of the federal review” (SMH 15 March 2023).

Premier Malinauskas has so far only said AUKUS nuclear waste should go to a ‘remote’ location
in the “national security interest” (see “Site for high-level nuclear waste dump under AUKUS
deal must be in national interest, SA premier says” ABC News 15 March 2023).

The Premier’s “Office for AUKUS” (Letter, 7 Oct 2025) accepts “safe and secure disposal” of
High-Level nuclear waste, including spent fuel, produced when subs are decommissioned. The
Office says no decision has been made on a location but declines to reveal what is underway,
expresses no concerns over unprecedented nuclear waste storage or‘social license’, and
expects “community acceptance” (in SA?) for a nuclear ‘disposal solution’:

I can confirm that no decision has been made on a location within Australia for the
disposal of intermediate, or high-level radioactive waste from nuclear-powered
submarines. Determining suitable locations and methods for safe and secure disposal
will take time, but Australia will do so in a manner that sets the highest standards … and
which builds community acceptance for a disposal solution.”

SA is left in the dark, without a say, as an ongoing target for an AUKUS nuclear waste dump.

AUKUS is to store US origin nuclear wastes from 2nd hand Virginia Class subs in Australia:

AUKUS aims Australia take on second-hand US Virginia Class nuclear powered subs in the early
2030’s loaded with up to a dozen years of US origin military High-Level nuclear waste and fissile
Atomic-Bomb fuel accrued in operations of US Navy High Enriched Uranium nuclear reactors.
Swapping an Australian flag onto this US military nuclear reactor waste places an untenable ‘for
ever’ burden on all future generations to have to cope these US nuclear wastes.

Scenario: an AUKUS nuclear dump imposed on SA, High-Level military waste shipped into
Whyalla Port to go north, nuclear subs to be ‘decommissioned’ at Osborne Port Adelaide.


Whyalla Port is back on a nuclear waste target range. How else could AUKUS nuclear waste get
to a storage site in north SA? The Woomera Area is expected to be on a regional short list for an
AUKUS dump, requiring nuclear waste transport routes across SA. Port Adelaide community has
a Right to Say No to nuclear decommissioning plans for expanded Osborne submarine yards.

SA politicians must protect SA and rule out both an untenable AUKUS nuclear dump and
decommissioning nuclear subs and nuclear reactors at Osborne or else-where in SA.

SA must respect Traditional Owners Human Rights to Say No to imposition of nuclear wastes.

The SA public have Rights to full disclosure and for politicians to have to declare their positions,
We need an informed public debate ahead of our State Election. Silence by our political leaders,
while a path is paved toward nuclear decisions, makes a nuclear waste dump future more likely.

Info: see Rex Patrick & “AUKUS waste in perpetuity”, and David Noonan in Pearls and Irritations.

November 11, 2025 Posted by | South Australia, wastes | Leave a comment

This week’s Nuclear news – not from the military-industrial-political-media complex

Some bits of good news – 

Christiana Figueres: The global south is now leading the clean-energy revolution.   

Mozambique has reached a milestone in women’s health, vaccinating nearly 3 million girls aged 12–18 against HPV.

  Migratory Birds and Rice Farmers Are Helping Each Other Soar


TOP STORIES
The Gaza Laboratory: How War is Being Marketed and How the World is Fig

hting Back. 

The rise of the US ‘digital-military-industrial complex’ 

Trump’s 20 point plan to end the war in Gaza is the usual Israeli ultimatum: surrender or be murdered

Trump and the Deep State: The Tomahawk deadlock and the illusion of presidential autonomy

Resuming U.S. Nuclear Tests Is Reckless and Dangerous, One Expert Says. 

The Risky Movement to Make America Nuclear Again– (very long -but useful extracts at https://nuclear-news.net/2025/11/04/1-a-the-risky-movement-to-make-america-nuclear-again/ 

Who is paying for Britain’s nuclear revival? 

The SMR boom will soon go bust. 

Cheaper, greener power is on the way – ALSO AT https://antinuclear.net/2025/11/03/cheaper-greener-power-is-on-the-way/    Australia is getting free electricity – will other countries follow?

Climate. THE CORRUPTION OF COP30: DODGY CLIMATE DOSSIERS How thousands of fossil fuel lobbyists got access to UN climate talks – and then kept drilling. 

Six pieces of data that give hope for the future of the climate.

Noel’s note for today – When will the public in each country wake up? Governments don’t care – they’re happy to waste taxpayers money on things nuclear, and especially weaponry. 

AUSTRALIA. 

NUCLEAR iTEMS

ATROCITIES. Israel Is Still Starving Gaza, And Other Notes.
CLIMATE. Can France’s nuclear legacy weather climate change?-ALSO AT https://nuclear-news.net/2025/11/09/1-a-can-frances-nuclear-legacy-weather-climate-change/
Siting new nuclear at Oldbury deemed ‘problematic’ due to high level of flood risk -ALSO AT https://nuclear-news.net/2025/11/08/1-b1-siting-new-nuclear-at-oldbury-deemed-problematic-due-to-high-level-of-flood-risk/

ECONOMICS.

EMPLOYMENT. Fears raised that specialist Vulcan MoD work could shift to Sellafield
ENVIRONMENT. Nuclear Tests and Their Legacy of Harms in Asia-Pacific.The Silicon Thirst: When Data Drinks the World Dry.
EVENTS. 19th and 20th November – Online Event- Holding the Memories: Communities Leading the Fight for Nuclear Archival Justice
HEALTH. The men who stared at mushroom clouds .
MEDIAAtomic testing must not resume.YouTube deletes hundreds of videos documenting Israeli war crimes.
OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR No to Nuclear, Yes to Renewables for Wales. Going Nuclear Free: The Early History of the Nuclear Free Local Authorities.
PERSONAL STORIES. Israel Still Controls Over Half of Gaza — Including the Rubble of My Home.
PLUTONIUM. Los Alamos National Laboratory Prioritizes Plutonium “Pit” Bomb Core Production Over Safety.Some 890 tons of Tepco nuclear fuel kept at Aomori reprocessing plant.

POLITICS

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY.

SAFETY. IAEA chief condemns Trump’s nuclear test plan. Trump’s Big Nuclear Reactor Push Raises Safety Concerns.

Remediation work through £4.6bn Sellafield framework. Officials launch investigation after hazardous incident at shut-down nuclear plant: ‘Deeply concerning’.

SECRETS and LIESThe AI Drones Used In Gaza Now Surveilling American Cities.
TECHNOLOGY. Artificial Intelligence Is Making Everything Dumber
URANIUM. Don’t fuel Riyadh’s nuclear weapons cravings
WASTES
Nuclear waste removal under way at silo.
Decommissioning.EDF’s plan to decommission Hinkley Point B approved despite regulator’s concerns. Hinkley Point B to begin 95-year decommissioning plan.
UK’s nuclear waste problem lacks a coherent plan.
Radioactive waste from Canada would be buried in Utah under EnergySolutions proposal.
The iodine-129 paradox in nuclear waste management strategies.

WAR and CONFLICT.

Hegseth Declines To Say Whether the US Is Planning To Bomb Venezuela. US amassing 16,000 troops off Venezuelan coast – Washington Post.

The moment of truth: The West confronts Russian military advances.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES.

November 10, 2025 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Australia is getting free electricity – will other countries follow?

As one of the most advanced solar nations in the world, Australia is well placed to experiment with giving people free power – and if it succeeds, other countries may look to copy its approach

By James Woodford, New Scientist 7th Nov 2025

Australians received a welcome surprise this week with the news that every household will soon receive 3 hours of free electricity every day, as part of a world-first initiative to share the benefits of solar power. If successful, it could be a model for other to follow in a future that will increasingly be powered by sunshine.

The Australian electricity grid is zinging with excess capacity during the day thanks to solar power, but it is strained at night when people return from work and use most of their appliances. To address this, the Australian government says its “Solar Sharer” scheme will be rolled out from July 2026 in three states – New South Wales, South Australia and the south-east corner of Queensland – with the rest of the country joining in 2027…………………..(Subscribers only)..…………………. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2503532-australia-is-getting-free-electricity-will-other-countries-follow/

November 10, 2025 Posted by | energy | Leave a comment

Coalition to look at coal subsidies, stick with nuclear

Liberal policy

Liberals risk joining ‘baddies’ with fossil-fuel push

CanberraTimes, By Tess Ikonomou, November 9 2025

A senior Liberal has warned his party would push Australia towards joining “baddies” in rejecting international climate goals as it prepares to back fossil fuel-fired power.

Political infighting within the coalition has intensified over the Liberals’ commitment to a target of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, a position the party is poised to follow junior partner the Nationals in dumping.

The Liberal Party’s formal position on the climate target will be decided following meetings in Canberra mid-week.

Liberal frontbencher and leading moderate Andrew Bragg on Sunday indicated he could quit shadow cabinet if his party decided it would pull out of the Paris Agreement and not maintain a clear goal for lowering emissions.

“If we left Paris, we’d be with Azerbaijan, Iran, Syria, you know, and a few other baddies,” he told ABC’s Insiders program.

“Australia has never been with those people before.

“Australia needs to be in Paris, in my opinion, and then we need to try to find a way to do net-zero better than Labor. That is better for jobs, better for industry, and better for decarbonisation.”

Senator Bragg added the Liberals were “not fringe dwellers” and most Australians want the nation to play a fair role in reducing emissions, an objective seen as key for the party to reverse its electoral decimation in urban seats.

Under the Paris Agreement, signed in 2015, members must increase their emissions targets every five years and cannot water down their goals……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan has flagged subsidies could be offered to keep current coal-fired power plants operating for longer under the coalition’s long-awaited climate and energy plan………………………………………………………………………………………………

Mr Tehan also foreshadowed the Liberals would continue their pre-election policy of supporting the development of nuclear power plants.

“Absolutely we want to see a nuclear policy, and we’ve already committed, through the coalition agreement, to lifting the ban, and that will be very much part of the discussions we have,” he said. https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/9107389/liberals-risk-joining-baddies-with-fossil-fuel-push/

November 10, 2025 Posted by | politics | Leave a comment

Free solar, nuclear cost blowouts, and “deadly negligence” on climate: A heady mix for the Coalition

Giles Parkinson, Nov 7, 2025, https://reneweconomy.com.au/free-solar-nuclear-cost-blowouts-and-deadly-negligence-on-climate-a-heady-mix-for-the-coalition/

The Coalition’s favoured energy technology is quite clearly nuclear – perhaps for no other reason than it is not wind or solar.

The Coalition no longer pretends that nuclear is the best option to address climate change, because they are tearing up their agreement on net zero, the softest of climate targets. That may be an admission that nuclear is very slow to build, particularly for a country that has never done so, and is still built on democratic principles.

Nor can they pretend that nuclear is the best technology on economics. Real world examples continue to defy the carefully constructed modelling commissioned by the Coalition.

In the UK, financing has finally been landed for the planned Sizewell C nuclear plant – and it turns out to be £38 billion, or around $A76 billion, for a 3.2 gigawatt facility. That translates to around $24 million a megawatt capacity cost, which is more than twice as much as the Coalition modelling would have you believe.

Sizewell C is expected to be a replica of Hinkley Point C, whose costs are now estimated at up to $A94 billion, and it seems that Sizewell kept its capital costs under control, because the UK government had to step in to take a 44 per cent stake. (The builder, the French government owned EDF, only wanted 12 per cent, because of the cost risks.)

It also changed the nature of the funding game – turning the new nuclear plant into a regulated asset (like Australia’s electricity networks), which will require consumers to start paying for the nuclear plant more than a decade before it is actually built.

Remember, this is the 5th or 6th plant to be built using the French EPR technology – and yet there is no sign of it getting any cheaper. And we haven’t see the inevitable delays and cost blowouts yet. Civil construction costs are blowing up projects all over the world, and nuclear is about as big as they come.

The UN starts another climate party

The Coalition’s anti-climate and no-to-net-zero stance comes as the UN climate conference is poised to start in Belem, Brazil, where UN secretary general Antonio Guterres has lamented “more failure” to do enough to keep the world on track to cap average global warming at 1.5°C.In remarks that might have been addressed specifically at the Coalition, but were directed at the world, Guterres said:

“Too many corporations are making record profits from climate devastation, with billions spent on lobbying, deceiving the public and obstructing progress,” Guterres said.

“Too many (political) leaders remain captive to these entrenched interests,” noting that countries are spending about ($A1.54 trillion) each year subsidising fossil fuels.

“We can choose to lead – or be led to ruin. Every fraction of a degree means more hunger, displacement and loss – especially for those least responsible. This is moral failure – and deadly negligence.”

What is the real target?

Those fractions of a degree are significant. The latest “emissions gap” report published by the UNEP says the world is headed for average of 2.9°C of warming based on current enacted policies, and 2.3°C and 2.5°C based on announced commitments.

What does a world of 3°C look like. Australia’s National Climate Risk report made it clear – catastrophic impacts, rising sea levels, collapsing ice sheets, the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef. Much of northern Australia would be uninhabitable.

Gina Rinehart, who appears to hold so much sway over the Nationals, wants to build a “defence dome” over northern Australia to protect its mineral riches. It might need a geodesic dome just to make it habitable.

What could possibly be done? As the UNEP notes: “The required low-carbon technologies to deliver big emission cuts are available. Wind and solar energy development is booming, lowering deployment costs. This means the international community can accelerate climate action, should they choose to do so.”

Astonishingly, the Coalition battle over net zero has been playing out in mainstream media as nothing more than political porn, focusing on personalities, egos and power. Climate science, and the renewable solutions, have barely been mentioned.

I’ve seen and heard maybe half a dozen interviews with Opposition energy and emissions reduction spokesman Dan Tehan and can’t remember him once being asked about climate science, or the economics and the engineering of the energy transition.

Does Australia really want to host COP31

Sometime in the next two weeks we will get an answer on whether Australia wants to host COP31, the next UN climate talks in 2026.

The plan is to do it in Adelaide, which would be a grand opportunity to show off the world’s most advanced renewable grid, with South Australia already at a world-leading share of 75 per cent wind and solar, and aiming for 100 per cent “net” renewables by 2027.

The state hosted the world’s first big battery and was the first to roll out “grid forming inverters,” which will help kill the need for fossil fuel generators and often has rooftop solar meeting the equivalent of all state demand. None of which was considered possible just a few years ago.

But if it is this hard to agree to a venue (Türkiye still has its hand up), does Australia want the hassle and embarrassment of presiding over a UN conference with no particular landmark goal, squabbling nations and the notable absence of the world’s biggest economy, the US?

Some in the ALP machine are thinking not. The delays and the massive oil and gas projects still being approved and rolled out, could make logistics tricky and the politics difficult. Which would be a shame: It is a rare opportunity for the Pacific Island nations to also have their say.

They have done so before when Fiji was the official host of COP23, but that was – for obvious reasons – held in Bonn, Germany. That might happen again, with Australia and Türkiye sharing “hosting” duties and various lead-up events, expos and talk-fests.

Duck! Free solar is coming your way

As the Coalition tries to tear itself apart over its position on climate and energy, federal energy minister Chris Bowen’s advocacy of “free solar” may turn out to be a political masterpiece – if only because it promises to change the conversation about the green energy transition.

Bowen wants to force energy retailers to offer at least three hours of “free electricity,” taking advantage of the abundance of rooftop and other solar in the middle of the day, and to make sure the benefits are shared with the 60 per cent of households that do not yet have, or can’t have, rooftop solar.

It’s sparked a predictable fury about heavy handed regulation: You can’t do that! And it’s true that some retailers already do offer such a tariff, although potential customers may want to assess the rates that are being charged in the evening peaks.

Morgan Stanley says the implications are significant enough – savings of up to $660 a year for non-solar households able to take up the offer (you need a smart meter and a big enough midday load so it can make sense), and estimates it might cost big retailers like AGL and Origin around $60 million each.

That suggests an uptake of less than 100,000 customers, which sounds about right. But it’s the messaging that counts – both to the long-forgotten consumer, and to the legacy retailers who are reminded they need to be on their toes to negotiate this energy transition.

Customers should no longer be the forgotten part of the energy transition. They now own rooftop PV, and are busy installing batteries and buying EVs. That will accelerate, but the benefits should not be theirs and theirs alone. Sadly, the legacy players sometimes need to be told to do the right thing.

Podcasts to listen to

This week on the Energy Insiders podcast, we talk to Vestas’ Jan Daniel Kaemmer about the prospects for wind industry in Australia, and of course the news of the week. See: Energy Insiders Podcast: The future of wind energy

Our other weekly podcast, SwitchedOn Australia hosted by Anne Delaney, has a look at the scandal over pre-paid energy packages for First Nations peoples. See: SwitchedOn podcast: The scandal of weekly power cuts in First Nations communities

In our Solar Insiders podcast, Sophie Vorrath digs in to the “free solar” idea and the opportunities for more electrification in a discussion with the EEC’s Luke Menzel: See: Solar Insiders Podcast: Would you like electrification with that?

And you can also catch up with the latest episode of the EV-focused The Driven podcast, where Sam Parkinson, Sarah Aubrey and the team discuss BYD’s cheapest EV, VW’s ID. Buzz GTX, and if local car manufacturing is just talk? See: The Driven Podcast: BYD’s most affordable EV, Kia’s new van, and what’s the buzz around VW’s GTX

November 8, 2025 Posted by | politics | Leave a comment

A Question of Needlessness: Selling Iron Dome to Australia

7 November 2025 Dr Binoy Kampmark, https://theaimn.net/a-question-of-needlessness-selling-iron-dome-to-australia/

The world of defence policy is truly on another planet. There, budgets are given to astronomical burgeoning and bizarre readings. Threats can be invented or exaggerated. Insecurity can be inflated. Decisions for the next project supposedly more lethal and more effective than ever can be made with cavalier disregard to realities. And the next cockeyed, buffoonish idea can be given a run for other people’s money. Those other people are, as always, the good tax paying citizenry of a country.

Australia has been doing superbly of late in this regard. It has given over territory and money to the United States, its appointed arch defender, so that the security of Washington’s imperium can be assured. It has done so in a manner suggesting advanced dementia, its politicians and strategists drivelling about the need to combat the barbarian yellow-red hordes to the north in a “changing security environment.”

First came the AUKUS trilateral security pact with the US and the United Kingdom, which enshrines the costly fantasy of nuclear-powered submarines Australia may never get and certainly does not need. Nor is there an obligation on the part of the US to part with any, a prospect ever more unlikely given the failure of its own submarine base to keep pace with annual production. Let’s not even start on the prospects of an AUKUS-designed submarine, which will be lucky to make it to the construction stage without sinking.  

To itemise any number of foolish ventures and items being pursued by the Australian defence department would be injurious to one’s well being. This is largely because they keep comingin their risible daftness. Of late, the idea that Australia needs an anti-missile defence shield along the lines of Israel’s Iron Dome system is becoming more than a flirtation. And it’s being given a sense of frisson by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the Israeli company responsible for implementing and maintaining it.

The chance for Rafael to shine came at the Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition, an event running from November 4 to 6. Its presence, along with the Australian subsidiary of Israel’s primary unmanned vehicle manufacturer Elbit Systems, had piqued activists from the Palestine Action Group (PAG), who gathered just before the opening of the exposition to protest that fact.  

A predictably muscular reaction from the New South Wales police followed. According to PAG organiser Josh Lees, they “immediately attacked” the peaceful gathering with pepper spray and horses. The NSW Premier Chris Minns, for his part, was enthralled by the economic prospects of the gathering: defence exports were there to be grown, deals to be made. That these were with merchants of death was no big matter. “They’re not selling nuclear weapons … we want to see the industry grow.”

For its part, Rafael had pulled out the bells and whistles. The company, according to its display, offered “an integrated, combat-proven portfolio that delivers end-to-end protection and impactful projection for Australia’s naval forces, ensuring freedom of action in Australia’s northern approaches and across vital sea lines of communication.”

In an interview at the exposition, the company’s vice president of international business development, Gideon Weiss, hawked Iron Dome’s technology with salesmanship enthusiasm. “The perception that Australia is far and distant and isolated is completely untrue,” he remarked with stern certitude. “There’s absolutely no reason in the world why any Australian would think… that in a conflict, Australia would not be attacked.” The unasked question here is why Australia would make itself an appealing target to begin with. But Weiss did not break his stride: “Your enemies have a great arsenal of ballistic missiles, hypersonic ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and long-range UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles]. Why wouldn’t they use them against you if they wanted to?”    

Asked whether the company’s message had bitten in Canberra, Weiss was assured. The “capability and the maturity of the technology” had been noted by Australia’s defence wonks and Rafael was always keen to focus on “sovereignty, about the Australian industrial context.” There was “infrastructure which to Australianise, if you will, these technologies.”  

The company has shown ample familiarity with the soil they wish to till. The Australian Defence Strategic Review of 2023 declared the need to “deliver a layered integrated air and missile system (IAMD) operation capability urgently. This must comprise a suite of appropriate command and control systems, sensors, air defence aircraft and surface (land and maritime) based missile systems.” The current program to develop a “common IAMD capability” was “not structured to deliver a minimum viable capability in the shortest period of time but is pursuing a long-term near perfect solution at an unaffordable cost.”

Defence analysts called upon to comment on the matter are slavering. Jennifer Parker, a regular talking head on the subject, rues the fact that Australia can never, given its geographical size, be protected in its entirety. “Unlike Israel, where they can defend the entire country against missiles broadly… that’s not feasible for Australia because of our size.” Focus, she suggests, on the “critical infrastructure elements that we need to protect, like HMAS Stirling, Pine Gap and bases around Darwin, and design integrated air and missile defence around that concept.”

The United States Studies Centre, an Australian outpost soddenly friendly to the military-industrial complex and the needs of the imperium, is also unrelenting about the need for a more expansive missile defence system. Peter Dean, senior advisor on defence strategy, cites “the lack of effective ground-based air defence and an Integrated Air and Missile Defence system” as “the most critical gap in the achievement of Australia’s strategic goals.”

Another outfit most friendly to US interests, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, is alsomuch in love with missile interception. “If we want to get serious about integrated missile defence,” ASPI senior analyst Malcolm Davis posits, “we need to have long-range, ground-based interceptor missiles that can handle threats like intermediate range ballistic missiles launched by China.”

The next wasteful program of military expenditure looms happily on the horizon, leaving the question of need unanswered. Weiss has good reasons to be optimistic that a train has been set in motion. “I wouldn’t want to name names,” he says with confidence, “but everyone knows us very well.”

November 8, 2025 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Holding the Memories Webinar.

Join us for our webinar co-hosted with Labrats, Holding the Memories: Communities Leading the Fight for Nuclear Archival Justice a panel presentation exploring barriers to accessing nuclear archives and expose the power of community-held memory.

WHEN
NEW YORK Wednesday November 19, 4pm, EST
LONDON    Wednesday November 19, 9pm, GMT
MELBOURNE   Thursday, November 20, 8am, AEST
FIJI/MARSHALL ISLANDS  Thursday 20 Nov – 9am FJT & MHT

For more timezones please view here

View or event on our new website and help us share the webinar out on InstagramFacebook & Linkedin

REGISTER – https://events.humanitix.com/holding-the-memories

Featuring: 

  • Dimity Hawkins (Nuclear Truth Project, Australia)
  • Alan Owen (LabRats International, UK)
  • Karina Lester (Yankunytjatjara-Anangu community leader, Australia)
  • Dr Chris Hill (University of South Wales, UK)
  • Dr Jon Hogg (University of Liverpool, UK)

Building on the Nuclear Truth Project’s Challenging Nuclear Secrecy report (2025), this international collaboration brings together affected community members, nuclear justice advocates and organisations from the UK and Australia. 

The webinar will explore barriers to accessing nuclear archives and expose the power of community-held memory.

Focusing on British nuclear weapons testing in Australia and the Pacific (1952–1963), the discussion will focus on archival access as a core part of nuclear justice, victim assistance, and environmental restoration.

How do communities impacted by nuclear weapons testing overcome systemic barriers to accessing official records of harm to Peoples and Country? 

Join us to learn how memory is held — and fought for — by those most affected.

November 8, 2025 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Subs base enigma. NSW Government doesn’t know what to hide or why

by Rex Patrick | Nov 3, 2025 , https://michaelwest.com.au/nuclear-subs-base-nsw-government-doesnt-know-what-to-hide-and-why/

Getting access to documents concerning a nuclear submarine base in NSW has become an FOI riddle wrapped in a submarine mystery inside a nuclear enigma. Rex Patrick reports.

You can’t have the documents. Hang on, maybe you can? Nope, they’re too sensitive. OK, they’re not sensitive, you can have them all. Except you can’t.

If you’re struggling to follow this, I’ll try to explain. But keep this in the back of your mind – all Australian taxpayers are paying for the Department of Defence’s part in this, and those NSW taxpayers also get to pay the NSW Crown Solicitor’s part.

It started with a single backflip. When I first asked the NSW Government for access to documents relating to the consideration of a nuclear submarine base in NSW, they said I couldn’t have the documents because they were Cabinet-in-Confidence.

When I took the case to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), the NSW Government backflipped. They stated that their Cabinet exemption claim was wrong and asked NCAT if the Government could remake the decision.

Double backflip

The Tribunal said, “Yes, remake your decision”.

A month later, the NSW Government issued me a new decision. No! Again, “you can’t have them”! Across 12 pages of carefully worded legalese, they tried to explain why the public can’t see the documents.

That was September. Fast forward to late October and, out of the blue, the NSW Crown solicitor wrote to me and advised, “the [NSW Government] position in relation to the information in issue in the proceedings has changed … The [NSW Government] no longer holds the view that information is subject to an overriding public interest against disclosure.”

Woo-hoo! Transparency at last. But wait…

Defence secrecy

The email went on to say, “… Defence has an interest in the Defence Information and it has objected to the release of that information. Defence has a right to appear and be heard in the proceedings …”

What secrets?

I am yet to find out the basis of Defence’s objection to releasing the material, but in a very closely related request for information, Defence objected to the release of information because those documents identified or described Defence infrastructure or capability (e.g. base locations, site suitability studies, strategic assessments).

But seriously, how sensitive can a base’s location be? How sensitive can buildings be? In five minutes, anyone with internet access can use Google Earth to avail themselves of the location and layout of HMAS Stirling in Western Australia, where US and UK nuclear submarines are currently visiting.

Moreover, the buildings that will support the permanent basing of submarines at HMAS Stirling can be seen by visiting the website of the Federal Parliament’s Public Works Committee.

Yellow peril

But what about the Chinese? Won’t they find out?

Defence may be worried that if the location is known, then the Chinese might buy land next door to the planned base. The problem is, the Chinese have already purchased land in the Port Kembla and Newcastle port precinct.

In fact, Newcastle Port is operated by a consortium with 50% Chinese ownership (98-year lease) through China Merchant Port Holdings;

they probably already know more about Newcastle Port and its environs than Defence does.”

The Chinese purchases in both cities provide considerable ability for them to monitor and evaluate key infrastructure servicing and capacity developments; high voltage power supply arrangements, natural gas supply details, potable water arrangements, fire water supply details, rail and road access arrangements and area telecommunications.

And the Chinese won’t only have access to future strategic plans for the port areas; their purchases are significant enough that they could help shape those plans, having a seat at the table as interested constituents and ratepayers. We know Chinese officials have already used their property interest to have meetings with the Mayor of Newcastle.

And as for the details of what Australia will need to safely support a nuclear sub force,

the Chinese already know that from their 50 years of operating nuclear attack subs.

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Getting access to documents concerning a nuclear submarine base in NSW has become an FOI riddle wrapped in a submarine mystery inside a nuclear enigma. Rex Patrick reports.

You can’t have the documents. Hang on, maybe you can? Nope, they’re too sensitive. OK, they’re not sensitive, you can have them all. Except you can’t.

If you’re struggling to follow this, I’ll try to explain. But keep this in the back of your mind – all Australian taxpayers are paying for the Department of Defence’s part in this, and those NSW taxpayers also get to pay the NSW Crown Solicitor’s part.

It started with a single backflip. When I first asked the NSW Government for access to documents relating to the consideration of a nuclear submarine base in NSW, they said I couldn’t have the documents because they were Cabinet-in-Confidence.

When I took the case to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), the NSW Government backflipped. They stated that their Cabinet exemption claim was wrong and asked NCAT if the Government could remake the decision.

Double backflip

The Tribunal said, “Yes, remake your decision”.

A month later, the NSW Government issued me a new decision. No! Again, “you can’t have them”! Across 12 pages of carefully worded legalese, they tried to explain why the public can’t see the documents.

That was September. Fast forward to late October and, out of the blue, the NSW Crown solicitor wrote to me and advised, “the [NSW Government] position in relation to the information in issue in the proceedings has changed … The [NSW Government] no longer holds the view that information is subject to an overriding public interest against disclosure.”

Woo-hoo! Transparency at last. But wait…

Defence secrecy

The email went on to say, “… Defence has an interest in the Defence Information and it has objected to the release of that information. Defence has a right to appear and be heard in the proceedings …”

Crown Solicitor email

Backflip, with Defence objection (Source: NSW Crown Solicitor)

What secrets?

I am yet to find out the basis of Defence’s objection to releasing the material, but in a very closely related request for information, Defence objected to the release of information because those documents identified or described Defence infrastructure or capability (e.g. base locations, site suitability studies, strategic assessments).

But seriously, how sensitive can a base’s location be? How sensitive can buildings be? In five minutes, anyone with internet access can use Google Earth to avail themselves of the location and layout of HMAS Stirling in Western Australia, where US and UK nuclear submarines are currently visiting.

Moreover, the buildings that will support the permanent basing of submarines at HMAS Stirling can be seen by visiting the website of the Federal Parliament’s Public Works Committee.

Nuclear submarine piers

Nuclear Submarine Piers (Source: Defence)

Yellow peril

But what about the Chinese? Won’t they find out?

Defence may be worried that if the location is known, then the Chinese might buy land next door to the planned base. The problem is, the Chinese have already purchased land in the Port Kembla and Newcastle port precinct.

In fact, Newcastle Port is operated by a consortium with 50% Chinese ownership (98-year lease) through China Merchant Port Holdings;

they probably already know more about Newcastle Port and its environs than Defence does.

The Chinese purchases in both cities provide considerable ability for them to monitor and evaluate key infrastructure servicing and capacity developments; high voltage power supply arrangements, natural gas supply details, potable water arrangements, fire water supply details, rail and road access arrangements and area telecommunications.

And the Chinese won’t only have access to future strategic plans for the port areas; their purchases are significant enough that they could help shape those plans, having a seat at the table as interested constituents and ratepayers. We know Chinese officials have already used their property interest to have meetings with the Mayor of Newcastle.

And as for the details of what Australia will need to safely support a nuclear sub force,

the Chinese already know that from their 50 years of operating nuclear attack subs.

But that won’t stop Defence objecting to the release of information that would otherwise be reasonable for the grant of social licence. It’s a department addicted to secrecy (how else are they going to keep their multi-billion dollar procurement blunders from public scrutiny).

A political ruse

Greens Senator David Shoebridge offered his perspective on the Federal Government’s secrecy:

“The Albanese government isn’t worried that China will find out where they want to put another US nuclear submarine base, they are worried the Australian public will.
“The community of the Illawarra have already made it crystal clear that a nuclear submarine base has zero social licence to operate at Port Kembla.
“The other potential target for Defence is Newcastle, and with a growing revulsion there with the use of the Williamtown F35 hub to arm Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Labor knows that option is also deeply unpopular.
“Hiding these documents isn’t about preventing a foreign adversary from organising against Labor’s war plans, it’s about preventing the public opposing them.”

So, despite the NSW Government’s double backflip (which, despite them being cavalier in the first place, I do appreciate), it looks like I’ll have to keep fighting for transparency.

At least the backflips mean I’ll stand at the bar of NCAT with the NSW Government on my side of the argument. Meanwhile, we’ll all keep having to pay for both sets of lawyers, all necessary to keep politically sensitive topics from the public.

November 8, 2025 Posted by | secrets and lies | Leave a comment

World’s biggest isolated grid hits new peak of 89 per cent renewables, led by rooftop solar

 Western Australia’s South West Interconnected System – the world’s
biggest isolated grid – has reached a remarkable new record high of 89
per cent renewables, led by rooftop solar.

The new peak – 88.97 per cent
to be precise – was reached at 11am on Monday, beating the previous
record of 87.29 per cent set just a day earlier, and the previous peak of
85.36 per cent set on October 23. “Another milestone for WA’s clean
energy future,” Sanderson wrote. “It’s another strong sign of the
transformation underway in our energy system as we become a renewable
energy powerhouse.”

The Australian Energy Market Operator says the record
share was led by rooftop solar, which accounted for 64 per cent of
generation at the time. Large scale wind accounted for just over 16 per
cent, with the rest from large scale solar, solar battery hybrids, biomass
and battery storage.

 Renew Economy 5th Nov 2025,
https://reneweconomy.com.au/worlds-biggest-isolated-grid-hits-new-peak-of-89-per-cent-renewables-led-by-rooftop-solar/

November 7, 2025 Posted by | energy | Leave a comment

Navi Pillay. Don’t be complicit in genocide Australia, warns former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Former Chair of the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Judge Navi Pillay has warned that Australia risks complicity in genocide if we fail to act on Israel’s assault on Gaza, Stephanie Tran reports.

by Stephanie Tran | Nov 5, 2025 https://michaelwest.com.au/navi-pillay-dont-be-complicit-in-genocide-australia-warns-former-un-judge/

Speaking at the National Press Club, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reiterated calls for the Australian government to fulfil its obligations under international law in light of the findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory which concluded that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the threshold for genocide under international law.

‘We are all witnesses to the carnage’

Pillay stressed that every government, including Australia’s, had witnessed the livestreamed atrocities in Gaza unfold in real time and could not claim they “didn’t know” what was happening.

“We are all witnesses to the carnage in real time on our TV screens…. 65,000 Palestinian civilians [have been] killed, including women and children and it was all shown live on our TV sets, so nobody can say we didn’t know what was happening. No Australian parliamentarian could say we didn’t know what was happening. That was the defence the Nazis put up. …That is what some South African whites said.”

The veteran jurist, who presided over the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, said the Commission’s findings were based on verified evidence collected over the past two years. Pillay said that in determining whether Israel had genocidal intent, the panel implemented the legal test established by the International Court of Justice, that genocidal intent is the “only reasonable inference” from the facts.

“We followed UN rules, and we followed the test for genocidal intent. … It must be the only reasonable inference from the acts themselves.” 

In September, the Commission concluded that genocidal intent was “the only reasonable inference” from Israel’s conduct, pointing to the military’s use of heavy munitions in densely populated areas, the systematic destruction of cultural and religious sites, and repeated defiance of International Court of Justice (ICJ) rulings ordering provisional measures.

The report also found that Israeli authorities committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the Genocide Convention, namely killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinians in whole or in part, and imposing measures intended to prevent births.

Australia’s obligations under the Geneva Convention

Pillay criticised Australia’s muted response to the Commission’s finding that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.

“Under the Genocide Convention, every state… has the legal obligation to prevent the commission of genocide, to deal with the commission of genocide, and to protect against genocide.”

She called on the Australian government to define and publicise its policy on genocide prevention, warning that the government’s maintenance of ties to entities complicit in the genocide could leave it open to prosecution.

“Be careful what you’re doing,” Pillay said.

Listen to this story

4 min

Former Chair of the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Judge Navi Pillay has warned that Australia risks complicity in genocide if we fail to act on Israel’s assault on Gaza, Stephanie Tran reports.

Speaking at the National Press Club, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reiterated calls for the Australian government to fulfil its obligations under international law in light of the findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory which concluded that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the threshold for genocide under international law.

‘We are all witnesses to the carnage’

Pillay stressed that every government, including Australia’s, had witnessed the livestreamed atrocities in Gaza unfold in real time and could not claim they “didn’t know” what was happening.

“We are all witnesses to the carnage in real time on our TV screens…. 65,000 Palestinian civilians [have been] killed, including women and children and it was all shown live on our TV sets, so nobody can say we didn’t know what was happening. No Australian parliamentarian could say we didn’t know what was happening. That was the defence the Nazis put up. …That is what some South African whites said.”

The veteran jurist, who presided over the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, said the Commission’s findings were based on verified evidence collected over the past two years. Pillay said that in determining whether Israel had genocidal intent, the panel implemented the legal test established by the International Court of Justice, that genocidal intent is the “only reasonable inference” from the facts.

“We followed UN rules, and we followed the test for genocidal intent. … It must be the only reasonable inference from the acts themselves.” 

In September, the Commission concluded that genocidal intent was “the only reasonable inference” from Israel’s conduct, pointing to the military’s use of heavy munitions in densely populated areas, the systematic destruction of cultural and religious sites, and repeated defiance of International Court of Justice (ICJ) rulings ordering provisional measures.

The report also found that Israeli authorities committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the Genocide Convention, namely killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinians in whole or in part, and imposing measures intended to prevent births.

Australia’s obligations under the Geneva Convention

Pillay criticised Australia’s muted response to the Commission’s finding that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.

“Under the Genocide Convention, every state… has the legal obligation to prevent the commission of genocide, to deal with the commission of genocide, and to protect against genocide.”

She called on the Australian government to define and publicise its policy on genocide prevention, warning that the government’s maintenance of ties to entities complicit in the genocide could leave it open to prosecution.

“Be careful what you’re doing,” Pillay said.

“You may one day face charges of complicity in genocide.”

Her comments come amid growing pressure on the Albanese government over Australia’s defence ties with Israel, via the F-35 program and contracts with Israeli weapons manufacturers. 

November 7, 2025 Posted by | legal | Leave a comment

Nationals choose coal, nuclear and climate denial, as politics of delay threatens to kill another industry.

Giles Parkinson, Nov 3, 2025, RenewEconomy,

So, the Nationals have decided to stop pretending they care about climate change, and have thrown in their lot with the fossil fuel industries. It should come as no surprise – climate denial, coal and nuclear often go hand in hand. 

It is the greed, stupidity and cowardice that stuns the most. This is a party that chooses not to support its regional constituency – those likely to suffer most from the impacts of climate change – but to side with billionaires determined not to let science and the fate of future generations get in the way of making money.

Climate science demands that strong action is needed as quickly as possible to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. This is true for Australia as it is for the rest of the world. Reaching net zero by 2050 is the very least that should be done – we should really be aiming for net zero in the mid 2030s or early 2040s.

The Nationals, though, having rejected near and medium term climate targets, can’t even be bothered kicking the can down the road, which is how many describe the task of net zero by 2050. And like most climate deniers, they voice support for the world’s most expensive, difficult and delayed technology – nuclear energy. 

The most obvious technologies, and by far the best in the Australian context, are solar, wind, and battery storage. It is not all we need, but it is the lowest cost and the most readily deployable. The Nationals prefer to look the other way.

It looks, sounds and feels Trumpian. We’ve seen how idiots and ideologues have been promoted to the key roles in the new US administration, and the damage that has been done, the lives that have been lost and will be lost, and the attacks on science, the environment, and the foundations of western democracy.

But we really don’t have to look beyond our own shores to see how this plays out – new right wing governments in Queensland (LNP) and the Northern Territory (CLP) have ripped up renewables targets and ignored climate science to pursue what appears to be a single goal: To further enrich the fossil fuel interests that support them. 

Tomago, not pronounced like tomato

This has consequences. The owners of the giant Tomago aluminium smelter last week flagged the possible closure in three years – not because of the transition to renewables, but largely because it has not come quickly enough in NSW.

There is deep irony in this. Rio Tinto believes it has secured the future of its Boyne Island smelter and associated refineries in Gladstone in Queensland by locking in a series of wind, solar and solar battery hybrid contracts – all the biggest of their type in Australia. And there are more to come, we understand.

This was the result of the state Labor government’s pro-active efforts and a common sense approach to the rollout of renewables and renewable zones in the country’s most coal dependent state, although the new LNP government has tried to bugger that up by “calling in” the wind project. It seems a phone call solved that issue.

NSW has arguably more ambitious transition plans – given the size of its grid – and a lot more urgency because of the age of its coal generators.

But behind the ostensibly bipartisan support have been acts of quiet and noisy sabotage – rabble rousing and planning delays – particularly from the Nationals that has made the rollout of wind and solar that much more difficult.

Of course, they are not the only ones to blame. The buyers’ strike by the big energy retailers, the failure of super to invest in their own country’s future, the pathetic coverage of mainstream media have all played their part………

Race to renewables

It is instructive to note the number of industries that are trying to transition to renewables as quickly as they can, to secure their future, like Boyne Island.

BHP has signed up for a series of large renewable contracts with Neoen based around wind and battery storage to provide the bulk of power to its giant Olympic Dam mine in South Australia.

Fortescue is charging towards “real zero” – meaning burning no gas or diesel by 2030 to power and operate their iron more mines by 2030, which would be an extraordinary feat if they can pull that off in that time frame.

And numerous smaller mines are already reaching levels of 90 per cent renewables on their off grid mines, and gaining big benefits and customer approvals because of it

This is happening at the local level too – the federal battery rebate numbers are now at 108,000 (as of Saturday) and showing no signs of slowing down.

And there is renewed enthusiasm for vehicle-to-grid, essentially using the big batteries in EVs for the same purpose, to act as batteries on wheels. Amber’s Chris Thompson says consumer energy resources – such as batteries and EVs – is the next big wave.

“You really start to see the future forming here, where consumers are actually the backbone of the energy grid,” he says. “They are participating, they are accelerating this renewable transition, and we are desperately trying to work hard to make sure that we can help make it simple and easy for everyone to participate.”

And as ARENA’s Darren Miller noted: “We can expect the level of storage in these vehicles to exceed what we need in the grid by about three times. So all we need is a third of people plugging their cars in and having this technology to essentially provide all of the firming that we need for our grid for our home energy consumption.”

See also: Video: Big breakthrough for batteries on wheels

Co-operation please………………………..

Carter had a simple message on what needs to be done.

“Stop fighting and get aligned for the common good. We need a global carbon platform and market. We can’t keep assuming that dumping manmade greenhouse gases is free or has no consequence,” he said.

“Partly, this is due to the crazy ideology that dominates climate change, which is fuelled by a deep distrust of science and scientists………..https://reneweconomy.com.au/nationals-choose-coal-nuclear-and-climate-denial-as-politics-of-delay-threatens-to-kill-another-industry/

November 6, 2025 Posted by | politics | Leave a comment

Labor pledged to ban nuclear weapons in opposition. In government it got a reality check

ABC News, By Angus Grigg, 3 Nov 25

Anthony Albanese said the stakes could not be higher.

Banning nuclear weapons, he told delegates at the 2018 ALP National Conference, was the “most important struggle for the human race”.

It was Albanese the activist, showing himself to be a politician of conviction, as he implored the Labor Party to pass a resolution in support of a treaty banning nuclear weapons.

“Labor in government will sign and ratify the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,” he told the party faithful

“This resolution is Labor at our best.”

The resolution was passed unanimously, but after almost four years in power Labor is yet to honour its promise of signing and ratifying the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

At the National Conference that day in Adelaide, it was Richard Marles who seconded the resolution, albeit with far less passion, saying the treaty was “something we can all agree on”.

But in an interview with Four Corners, the now Deputy Prime Minister has stepped back from this commitment.

Asked why Labor had yet to sign the treaty, he said: “What’s really clear is that the [national] conference understands that this is a decision of government … a decision of Labor in government.”

“The decision that Labor has made in government has been to follow the non-proliferation treaty.”

While complementary to the nuclear weapons ban treaty, the NPT is something entirely different.

It was ratified by the Whitlam government in 1973 and seeks to limit the number of nuclear-armed states rather than put a prohibition on nuclear weapons.

When asked if Labor was still planning to sign the ban treaty, Marles reiterated that the Party “is pursuing the NPT”.

He denied it was a broken election promise, saying the words adopted by the National Conference meant the Labor government would make the final “decision” on signing the treaty.

That was not the impression Albanese gave the National Conference in 2018.

“Progress always requires leadership,” Albanese told the party faithful.

For an extra injection of political theatre that day, Albanese held up a Nobel Peace Prize medal, awarded in 2017 to Australian advocacy group ICAN for its work on the so-called ban treaty.

All this begs the question: why hasn’t the Albanese government signed the ban treaty?

Managing our alliances

The major stumbling block here is Australia’s alliance with the US.

Australia plays a small but crucial role in the US’s nuclear weapons program through defence facilities at Pine Gap and North West Cape, which provide early warning communications and targeting information.

Australia also seeks protection under America’s so-called “nuclear umbrella”, where the US agrees to protect some of its allies. This would be prohibited by the ban treaty.

Another obstacle is some of the language in the latest Defence Strategic Review, which says Australia’s best protection against the risk of nuclear escalation was the “United States’ extended nuclear deterrence”.

Albanese and Marles both clearly understood these issues back in 2018, when they were burnishing their anti-nuclear credentials with the left of the party.

Albanese even addressed such concerns in his speech.

“I am a very strong supporter of our alliance with the United States,” he told the conference.

“The fact is that we can disagree with our friends in the short term, while maintaining those relations.”

He cited the treaty to ban landmines, which Australia signed despite US opposition.

“The United States and many other countries that ended up supporting it today were hostile to the idea,” he said.

The new frontier

The problem for Albanese and Marles is that Australia is at a point in the geopolitical cycle where we are leaning into our alliance with the US, not pulling back.

Anxious that President Donald Trump will abandon the region, Australia is looking for ways to accommodate the US alliance.

That will see the US nuclear-capable B-52 bombers rotating through Tindal air base south of Darwin. In addition, US Virginia-class submarines docking at HMAS Stirling near Perth, could in the future be carrying nuclear weapons……………………….

, the nuclear arms control regime is breaking down.

The New Start treaty, a comprehensive arms control and transparency agreement limiting the US and Russia’s nuclear arsenals, expires in February and there is little prospect of it being renewed.

For Tilman Ruff, a founding member of ICAN whose Nobel Prize Albanese held at the 2018 conference, this only increases the need to sign the ban treaty.

“At a time of weakened international cooperation, it significantly increases the urgency of getting disarmament, preventing nuclear war,” he said.

“The treaty doesn’t prevent military collaboration with a nuclear-armed state. It only prevents collaboration on nuclear weapons.”

Albanese said signing the ban treaty was “Labor at our best”. As it turns out, we’ve seen Labor at its most pragmatic. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-03/labor-retreats-from-nuclear-weapons-ban-pledge-four-corners/105959312?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

November 5, 2025 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The SMR boom will soon go bust

by Ben Kritz, 3 Nov 25, https://www.msn.com/en-ph/technology/general/the-smr-boom-will-soon-go-bust/ar-AA1PJi1U

ONE sign that the excessively hyped concept of small modular reactors (SMRs) is now living on borrowed time is the lack of enthusiasm in the outlook from energy market analysts, whether they are individuals such as Leonard Hyman, William Tilles and Vaclav Smil, or big firms such as JP Morgan and Jones Lang LaSalle. None of them are optimistic that the sector will be productive before the middle of next decade, and the more critical ones are already predicting that it will never be, and that the “SMR bubble” will burst before the end of this one. My frequent readers will already know that I stand firmly with the latter view; basic market logic, in fact, makes any other view impossible.

In a recent commentary for Oil Price.com, one of the rather large number of online energy market news and analysis outlets, Hyman and Tilles predicted that the SMR bubble will burst in 2029. They based this on the reasonable observation that power supply forecasts are typically done on a three- to five-year timeframe. The fleet of SMRs that are currently expected to be in service between 2030 and 2035 simply will not be there, so energy planners will, at a minimum, omit them from the next planning window, and might decide to forget about them entirely. Deals will dry up, investors will dump their stocks or stop putting venture capital into SMR developers, and those developers will find themselves bankrupt.

That is an entirely plausible and perhaps even likely scenario, but the SMR bubble may burst much sooner than that, perhaps even as soon as next year, because of the existence of the other tech bubble, artificial intelligence, or AI, an acronym that in my mind sounds like “as if.” The topic of the AI bubble is an enormous can of worms, too complex to discuss right now, but the basic problem with it that is relevant to the SMR sector is that AI developers need a great deal of energy immediately. It has reached a point where AI-related data centers are described in terms of their energy requirements — in gigawatt increments — rather than their processing capacity. The availability of power determines whether or not a data center can be built; if the power is not already available, it must be within the relatively short time it will take to complete the data center’s construction.

Even if SMRs were readily available, their costs would discourage customers; AI developers are not too concerned with energy costs now, but they will be as their needs to start actually generating a profit become more acute. On a per-unit basis, SMRs are and are likely to always be more expensive than conventional, gigawatt-scale nuclear plants, and for that matter, most other power supply options. Hyman and Tilles estimate that on a per-unit cost basis (e.g., cost per megawatt-hour or gigawatt-hour), SMRs will be about 30 percent higher than the most efficient available gigawatt-scale large nuclear plants. Being smaller, SMRs would — hypothetically, as they do not actually exist yet — certainly cost less up front than large nuclear or conventionally fueled power plants, but their electricity would cost much more in the long run. That might not be an issue in some applications, but it certainly would if SMRs were intended to supply electricity to a national or regional grid.

Some analyses point out that some early adopters of SMRs, that is, customers who have put down money or otherwise promised to order one or more SMR units if and when they become available, may not be particularly price-sensitive; for example, military customers, governments taking responsibility for supplying electricity to remote areas, or some industrial customers. However, they would still be tripped up by the fragmented nature of the SMR sector, which was caused by the “tech bro” mindset of ignoring almost 70 years of experience in nuclear development and trying to reinvent the wheel.

JP Morgan’s 2025 energy report noted that there are only three SMRs in existence, with one additional one under construction; there is one in China, two in Russia, and the one not yet completed is in Argentina. All of them had construction timelines of three to four years, but took 12 years to complete; or in Argentina’s case, 12 years and counting. Argentina’s project has had cost overruns of 700 percent so far, while China and Russia’s projects were 300 percent and 400 percent over budget, respectively.

These are all essentially one-off, first-of-a-kind units, so some of these problems are to be expected, such as regulatory delays, design and manufacturing inefficiencies, and challenges from building supply chains from scratch. These problems would be resolved over time, except that there are literally hundreds of different SMR designs all competing for the same finite, niche-application market.

If the SMR developers listened to the engineers and policymakers who built up nuclear energy sectors that took advantage of economies of scale by standardizing a few designs and distributing the workload, they might get somewhere. That is not happening; potential customers, whether they have power cost concerns or not, are reluctant to jump in because it is not at all certain which SMRs will survive the competition. They might be willing to experiment to see if one design or another actually works — that is why the Chinese and Russian SMRs exist — but the fragmented SMR sector prevents them from trying more than one and making comparisons, at least not in a timely or financially rational manner.

I think the bubble begins to burst this coming year. The timeframe for construction to startup in most SMR pitches is four years. That’s entirely too optimistic, of course, but even if it is taken at face value, once we get a few months into 2026 without any tangible development happening, everyone will catch on that there won’t be any SMRs by 2030, and interest will turn elsewhere. It already is, among the data center sector, as was explained above.

November 5, 2025 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Target Australia: Four Corners sounds alarm on nuclear weapons

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), has called on the Australian government to urgently advance the signature of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) to address growing nuclear dangers.

The call follows last night’s ABC Four Corners investigation “Trading Fire” which highlighted elevated dangers in Australia as hosting US nuclear-capable platforms and supplying minerals that can facilitate nuclear weapons is making Australia a high probability target. 

Gem Romuld, Director of ICAN Australia, said:

“The ABC has put this issue on the national radar. The government needs to lift the veil of secrecy about what’s going on and require our nuclear-armed AUKUS partners to declare whether their vessels and aircraft are nuclear-capable or carry nuclear weapons. Australians have a right to know and a right to say no. There is no place for nuclear weapons in Australia.

To stop Australia becoming a launchpad for nuclear war we must sign the Australian-born treaty that bans the bomb and could save the world.” 

ICAN was awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its role in achieving the TPNW. A year later, Anthony Albanese and Richard Marles led a successful resolution committing the Australian Labor Party to sign and ratify the TPNW in government. 

However when asked whether Australia would sign and ratify the TPNW on Four Corners last night, Minister Marles said;

“What’s really clear is that the [National] Conference understands that this is a decision of government… a decision of Labor in government. And the decision that Labor has made in government has been to follow the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The NPT is at the core of Labor in government’s policy.”

Dr Tilman Ruff AO, co-founder of ICAN, said:

“Minister Marles gave the impression that the Albanese Government is walking away from Labor’s longstanding ban treaty commitment. There’s no reason Australia can’t join the TPNW as well as the NPT. It can, should and must. 

As Australia pursues nuclear-fuelled submarines under AUKUS, it is essential that we send a clear message to our nation, our region and the world that nuclear weapons are a red line. We call for the government to set a timeline for the signature of the TPNW in this term of parliament.”

November 4, 2025 Posted by | weapons and war | Leave a comment

Danish Arbitration Court has decided against Greenland Minerals A/S case to develop uranium industry.

Energy Transition Minerals is an Australian company  (formerly Greenland Minerals Limited)

On 28 October 2025, the Arbitration Court ruled on whether the case brought by Greenland Minerals A/S against Naalakkersuisut can be heard by an arbitration court. The Arbitration Court has decided that the issue of the right to exploit minerals at Kuannersuit cannot be brought before an
arbitration court and that the Danish state cannot be a party to the case.

The case was brought before the Arbitration Court by Greenland Minerals A/S on 22 March 2022. According to Greenland Minerals A/S’ claim,
Naalakkersuisut should be ordered to grant the company a permit to exploit minerals at Kuannersuit.

The case arose from the adoption of the Uranium
Act, which prohibits preliminary investigations, exploration and
exploitation of uranium. The Act prevents a permit for exploitation from
being granted in the company’s license area, as the uranium values exceed
the Uranium Act’s de minimis limit.

The Greenland Government was surprised that the company chose to bring the case before an arbitration court, as the Greenland Government’s discretionary decisions can only be brought before the courts, and the Greenland Government has maintained throughout the case that the arbitration court does not have jurisdiction to decide
the case. The arbitration court’s decision was therefore expected.

Naalakkersuisut 28th Oct 2025, https://naalakkersuisut.gl/Nyheder/2025/10/2810_voldgiftsretten

November 4, 2025 Posted by | legal, uranium | Leave a comment