Antinuclear

Australian nuclear news headlines 14 -21 October

Headlines as they come in:

• Australia’s democracy trashed, as Labor government + Liberal opposition join forces to push AUKUS bills through.
• Opposition Leader Peter Dutton heckled by protesters opposed to building a nuclear power station in Collie
• Refuting myths about nuclear and renewable energy
• Congressional report suggests Australia could dump plans to acquire AUKUS nuclear submarines.
• Making “Australia a Global Nuclear Waste Dump”: Senator Shoebridge on Labor’s Latest Betrayal.
• Let’s urge the Australian government to get off the fence and vote YES FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT
• Inside the room that loves Nuclear Ted
• Australia’s democracy trashed, as Labor government + Liberal opposition join forces to push AUKUS bills through
• Queensland Premier Steven Miles is promising to hold a vote on nuclear power. Here’s why
• Premier vows to hold vote on Coalition nuclear power plan ahead of federal election​.  
•  Queensland Premier Steven Miles is promising to hold a vote on nuclear power. Here’s why.  

October 15, 2024 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Queensland Premier Steven Miles is promising to hold a vote on nuclear power. Here’s why

October 15, 2024 , Anne Twomey, Professor Emerita in Constitutional Law, University of Sydney,  https://theconversation.com/queensland-premier-steven-miles-is-promising-to-hold-a-vote-on-nuclear-power-heres-why-241254

Queensland Premier Steven Miles this week declared his party would hold a plebiscite on nuclear power if it returns to office at the forthcoming state election.

The move is in response to plans by the federal Coalition to build and operate seven nuclear plants around Australia if elected to government. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says the facilities would be built at sites of coal power stations scheduled for closure. Two are slated for Queensland, at the Callide and Tarong power stations.

Queensland has state laws banning the construction or operation of a nuclear facility and requiring the state government to hold a plebiscite if there are Commonwealth plans to build a nuclear plant in the state. A plebiscite is a referendum-style vote to gauge voters’ views on an issue.

Unlike a referendum, the results are not binding. There’s also very little chance a plebiscite could be held on or before the date of the next federal election, as Miles has suggested, as the laws do not allow for a plebiscite on an opposition policy.

Who has the constitutional power over nuclear facilities?

While the Commonwealth Constitution does not refer to nuclear energy, the federal parliament has passed laws to regulate nuclear matters. To do so, it relies on a web of constitutional powers, including the trade and commerce power, the corporations power, the external affairs power and the territories power.

The Commonwealth can also compulsorily acquire land for public purposes. This makes the land a “Commonwealth place” over which it can exercise full and exclusive legislative power.

The federal government has previously engaged in commercial matters by establishing trading corporations, such as NBN Co and Snowy Hydro Ltd, to deal with nation-building infrastructure.

It seems likely, therefore, that the federal parliament could pass laws to authorise and regulate the operation of nuclear power plants in Australia.

In doing so, its laws would override inconsistent state laws, such as those that prohibit nuclear facilities, under section 109 of the Constitution.

But state governments could still make it difficult for the Commonwealth to give effect to its nuclear policies. You only have to look at how state governments have successfully opposed Commonwealth efforts to create a nuclear waste facility to see the problems.

Plebiscite as booby trap

The development of a nuclear power industry in Australia has been debated before – most recently in 2006 when the Howard Coalition government commissioned the Switkowski report on the use of nuclear energy in Australia.

This report suggested the Commonwealth could act to establish 25 nuclear power stations across Australia. In response, Queensland’s parliament, under a Labor government, enacted the Nuclear Facilities Prohibition Act 2007. It banned the construction or operation of certain types of nuclear facilities in Queensland. New South Wales and Victoria had also previously done the same.

The Queensland government recognised the Commonwealth probably had the power to override such a ban. So it included a political booby trap in section 21 of the law.

It says that if the relevant Queensland minister is satisfied the Commonwealth government has taken, or is likely to take, any step supporting or allowing the construction of a prohibited nuclear facility in Queensland, the minister:

must take steps for the conduct of a plebiscite in Queensland to obtain the views of the people of Queensland about the construction of a prohibited nuclear facility in Queensland.

Unlike a referendum, which changes the Constitution, a plebiscite operates as an opinion poll.

It would not prevent a nuclear power plant being built, or stop the federal parliament overriding the state ban. But it could create a political impediment.

During the debate over the state law in 2007, then-Premier Peter Beattie made this point clearly:

If the Howard government wants to use its powers to override the strong position of Queenslanders […] this government will make certain that Queenslanders have a chance to have their say.

This was important, he claimed, because it would “put political pressure on the federal government to not go down this road”. In other words, the law can be used to apply political pressure.

Of plebiscites and federal elections

Miles suggested the plebiscite could be held the same day as the next federal election “to save people going to the polls twice”.

This could affect voting in the federal election by highlighting the impact of nuclear policies on Queensland. But if this is the tactic, Miles faces two problems.

First, Queensland law only triggers the plebiscite requirement when the relevant state minister is “satisfied the government of the Commonwealth” is likely to take a step in supporting or allowing the construction of a prohibited nuclear facility in Queensland.

But the minister could not legally be satisfied of this before the election outcome is known, as a policy of an opposition party does not amount to a proposed action of the “government of the Commonwealth”.

Second, section 394 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 says no state or territory election, referendum or vote can be held on the day of a Commonwealth election without the authority of the governor-general.

This ban was introduced in 1922, after holding state votes at the same time as federal elections resulted in a high informal vote due to different voting instructions.

The governor-general has given this permission only once, when the Northern Territory held a plebiscite on becoming a state on the same day as the 1998 federal election.

It’s doubtful the federal government would advise the governor-general to permit a partisan state plebiscite to be held on the same day as a federal election.

Where does this leave us?

It’s unlikely Queensland could hold such a plebiscite at or before the next federal election.

But if the Coalition wins the next federal election and proceeds with its nuclear policy, Queensland would be obliged to hold a plebiscite – regardless of who wins the state election, unless its law was changed.

This would make clear how much support there was for nuclear power. A clear rejection wouldn’t have any legal effect, but could well achieve the same outcome through political pressure. We might also see other states follow suit to hold plebiscites on nuclear power, although none currently are legally obliged to do so.

October 15, 2024 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

This week’s news – not from the nuclear-military-industrial-complex

Some bits of good news – Australia quadruples the size of marine reserve near Antarctica. The world’s spending to fight global lead poisoning just doubled. Seoul’s Han River is being restored

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TOP STORIES

Michael Hudson and Richard Wolff: Middle East Exploding, Ukraine Crumbling, US to Take Action? – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXDz1PdMWao.

“Escalation dominance” and the new nuclear threat: We face more than 1,000 Holocausts.

Israeli retaliation threat sparks call in Iran for nuclear weapons.

Japanese anti-nuclear organisation awarded 2024 Nobel Peace Prize – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCm3CStSao8

Radiation: Updated findings provide insights into radiation exposure’s impact on cancer risk.

Renewable Energy Surge Lowers UK Blackout Risk.

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Climate. Unprecedented peril: disaster lies ahead as we track towards 2.7°C of warming this century. The climate crisis threatens societal collapse—how many more hurricanes will it take for us to wake up?

Biodiversity. WWF: Average wildlife populations have fallen 73 per cent in 50 years.

Noel’s notes. Vitriolic hatred of Arabs and Russians versus THINKING and practical military strategy. The “tech bros” are going to have a global party with AI in warfare. Should we let them be in control?. How in the hell do you cope with Facebook?

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AUSTRALIA. Albanese and Dutton team up on toxic AUKUS nuclear waste deal. One of Australia’s largest unions, the ETU, questions Australia’s billion-dollar nuclear price tag. Australia’s evolving nuclear posture: avoiding a fait accompli (Part 1 of 2).

Labor springs surprise nuclear power committee to call Coalition bluff on energy policy. John Hewson –The opposition leader’s nuclear bullshit. More Australian nuclear news at https://antinuclear.net/2024/10/10/australian-nuclear-news-headlines-oct-7-14/

NUCLEAR ITEMS

ART and CULTURE. One Horrible Year on from October 7 2023, a Bleak Reflection.

ATROCITIES. Israel: Simply no red lines at all.  Let’s remember the365 days of genocide as well as October 7 attack.  Israeli Snipers Routinely, Deliberately Shoot Palestinian Kids In The Head.  As Israel Extends Its Genocide Into the West Bank, It Targets and Kills Children. Patrick Lawrence: Truths That Come Out Like the Sun.

ECONOMICS. Rolls-Royce mini nuke arm posts wider £78mln loss. Rolls-Royce suffers £78m loss on mini-nukes amid UK rollout delays. EDF Seeks to Raise Up to £4 Billion to Help Fund Construction of UK’s Hinkley Nuclear Plant. EDF reportedly seeking up to £4bn from investors to finish Hinkley Point C.

EDUCATION. Financing new nuclear. Governments paying the price?- ALSO AT https://nuclear-news.net/2024/10/12/1-b1-financing-new-nuclear-governments-paying-the-price/  Nuclear lobby takes over tertiary education, with blatant lies about “clean” “green” nuclear.

ENERGY. Nuclear – not the way ahead. Renewables based systems are reducing blackouts in UK and USA! China to head green energy boom with 60% of new projects in next six years. Japan PM Ishiba eyes more renewables, less nuclear in energy mix.

ENVIRONMENT. Farmers warn over Hinkley Point C’s saltmarsh plan. EDF bosses grilled over River Severn salt marsh plans at ‘prickly’ meeting. Nuclear plant ‘will decimate fish stocks’.

LEGAL. Are DOE and NNSA Complying with the National Environmental Policy Act?.

MEDIA. “The First Live-Streamed Genocide”: Al Jazeera Exposes War Crimes Filmed by Israeli Troops Themselves.US-Backed Israeli Military Forces Have Executed Numerous Journalists Since October 7. Brutal lessons of 1984 nuclear bomb drama Threads. BBC viewers urge everyone to watch ‘bleak’ war film that has only ever been shown four times. “Threads” brings nuclear war fears to a new audience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgT4Y30DkaA&t=11s

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR . Planned nuclear plant in a Kenyan top tourist hub and home to endangered species sparks protest. Nuclear power stations are neither wanted nor needed in Scotland.

PEACE. UK and Ireland partners congratulate 2024 Nobel Peace Prize winner.

PERSONAL STORIES. Palestine Talks | Medea Benjamin ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB_OxrjJsRA)

POLITICS. As Milton bears down on Floridians, Joe and Bibi bear down on Iranians. Israeli Protesters Call for Ceasefire in Anti-War Demonstrations – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGw3XTLhIpk. Kamala Harris’ foreign policy agenda music to war party, anathema to swing state voters. Hinkley Point C saltmarsh plans ‘a disaster‘, say MPs.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. Biden Officials Say Ceasefire Talks Are Suspended as Harris Names Iran Top Enemy. Biden Allowing Israel to March US Into War With Iran.  IAEA Missing in action, on Israeli nuclear strike threats, Iranian outlet argues. NATO state’s PM pledges to block Ukrainian membership.

SAFETY. Canada’s false ‘solution’ for used nuclear fuel waste. Canada’s nuclear watchdog green-lights operation of aging Pickering reactors to 2026 – ALSO AT https://nuclear-news.net/?s=Canada%E2%80%99s+nuclear+watchdog+green-lights Ukraine wants UN nuclear watchdog to place foreign observers near all its nuclear plants.

SECRETS and LIES. Is This The Last October 7 Where We’ll Be Able To Speak The Truth?Fulsome bribery to communities – from Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO).

SPINBUSTER. Sellafield’s “Social Impact Multiplied” Wins Greenwash Award for “The Edge” Water Sports Centre in Contaminated Harbour.

TECHNOLOGY. On Army bases, nuclear energy can’t add resilience, just costs and risks.

URANIUM. DoE awards next-gen nuclear fuel contracts backwards.

WASTES. Securing a nuclear waste disposal site for the future. A desire to leave not a ‘compelling need’ under nuke dump compo scheme say Nuclear Waste Services.

WAR and CONFLICT. Slaughter In Gaza And Lebanon As War With Iran Approaches. Report: US Considers Launching Airstrikes Against Iran To Support Israeli Attack. Carnegie nuclear expert James Acton explains why it would be counterproductive for Israel to attack Iran’s nuclear program.Israel may attack Iran’s nuclear sites to target weapons: See map.  Blinken approved Israeli attacks on Gaza aid convoys: Report. “Greater Israel:” Cabinet Minister Plots Seizure of Territory from 6 Neighbors, including Lebanon. ‘Russia doesn’t want to use nuclear weapons’: The view from wartime Moscow.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. US arms dealers witness ‘record profits’ from Israel’s year-long genocide in Gaza, war on Lebanon. US’ next-gen nuclear submarines suffer delay with costs soaring past $130 billion. Could small modular reactors be used to create nuclear warheads?.

October 15, 2024 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Under the shadow of a NATO-Russia nuclear war, Hibakusha awarded Nobel Peace Prize

By John Hallam, Oct 15, 2024, https://johnmenadue.com/under-the-shadow-of-a-nato-russia-nuclear-war-hibakusha-awarded-nobel-peace-prize

As Vladimir Putin deploys mobile missile launchers throughout the Siberian Taiga armed with Yars heavy duty ICBMs, while making nuclear threats and claiming that these forces have been placed on a higher level of alert (though this isn’t necessarily so), NATO seems intent on compounding what seems already threatening and dangerous enough with the performance of the annual Steadfast Noon nuclear exercises, in which NATO literally rehearses for the apocalypse. It seems that this year the exercise is more ‘real’ than previously.

Meanwhile – and highly appropriately given the level of the threat and the danger the world faces – the Hibakusha (Bomb Victims) group Nihon Hidankyo has been awarded this years Nobel Peace Prize for its work in spreading the word on the effects of nuclear weapons and in working for their abolition. A more appropriate and timely award is hard to imagine.

Newsweek reported on 7 Oct that Putin had ordered Russian missiles placed on higher alert. Video of mobile missile launchers rumbling out into the Siberian Taiga over remote roads from their garages was posted on Telegram.

An item in Pearls and Irritations Oct 11, by this author noted that placing Russian nuclear missiles on high alert (if indeed their alert status really has changed) is ‘a dangerous game’.

If the deployment of Yars missiles on mobile launchers in the Siberian Taiga (threatening enough if we also take account of the accompanying rhetoric) inches us toward an event sequence that would, if it should take place, end what we call ‘civilisation’ in its first milliseconds of EMP, kill up to 50% of all humans in about 90 minutes, and leave most of those who somehow survive to starve and freeze in the twilight of a nuclear winter – then the pursuit of a NATO nuclear exercise in which the dropping and the targeting of nuclear weapons is actively practiced, surely compounds the risk.

Russia’s deployment of its mobile YARS ICBMs was bad enough. 2 weeks worth of NATO nuclear exercises, in which NATO actively practices for the apocalypse, surely compounds that risk.

Colonel Daniel Bunch, director of NATO nuclear weapons operations, adds point to the potential risk, saying in a Finnish publication that this year’s exercise also has another clear difference from last years’ nuclear weapons exercises.

“- This year, the planes will deliver the weapon to the target”. “We’re looking at how to integrate that and what we can learn about maximising the performance of a very powerful aircraft,”

One can imagine how this reads in the Kremlin. About as cheerfully as the deployment of YARS mobile missiles reputedly on ‘high alert’ reads to NATO.

Back in 1983, NATO also practiced for the apocalypse, in an exercise known as ‘Able Archer’, in which commanders went through the procedures they would have had to go through to order the release of nuclear weapons. There was one slight glitch – The KGB was convinced it wasn’t an exercise but the real thing. Only the leakage of NATOs real battle plans to the Kremlin (showing it was indeed an exercise) and a last minute substitution of heads of state for underlings saved the world from nuclear war.

Russia’s deployment of an important segment of its nuclear forces, (assuming a real change of status has taken place which it may not have) combined with NATO’s nuclear exercises which will go on for a week starting Monday put the world closer to the brink.

The need for nuclear risk reduction measures such as No First Use, de-alerting and enhanced or resumed military to military communication has never been clearer, and the need for abolition never clearer.

Australia could do much both by vigorous advocacy of risk reduction and by joining the TPNW (Ban Treaty). Much has been promised and little or nothing achieved in this department.

Meanwhile, the well-deserved award of the Nobel Peace prize to the Hibakusha both puts the spotlight on nuclear weapons and their abolition, and on the suffering of nuclear victims, where it needs to be.

October 15, 2024 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Nuclear – not the way ahead

Renewable energies consistently outperform nuclear power in terms of cost and deployment speed and are therefore chosen over nuclear power in most countries’ – so says this years independent World Nuclear Industry status report (WNISR). It notes that in 2023, 5 new nuclear reactors (5 GW) started up and 5 were closed (6 GW), capacity thus declining by 1 GW. So overall it says that nuclear energy’s share of global commercial gross electricity generation declined from 9.2 % to 9.1%, little more than half of its peak of 17.5 % in 1996. In 2023, total investment in non-hydro renewable electricity capacity reached a record US$623 billion, 27 times the reported global investment decisions for the construction of nuclear power plants, with solar and wind power capacities growing by 73% and 51%, respectively.

Nevertheless, some countries are still pushing on with new nuclear, despite its poor economics, including the UK and Sweden. Sweden has mooted a new financing model but its critics say support for nuclear ‘is like throwing money down the drain’ since ‘the expansion of solar energy will make nuclear power obsolete and push it out of the electricity market by the 2030s’. In the UK, and also in France,  it has been argued that part of the reason for the political commitment to new nuclear is link between civil and military nuclear, with cross-funding and technical collaboration seen as beneficial.

However, be that as it may, Emeritus Profs. Stephen Thomas (University of Greenwich) and Andrew Blowers (OU) do not see nuclear civil power prospering in the UK, indeed they say that ‘it is time to expose the Great British nuclear fantasy once and for all.’ They claim that ‘no amount of political commitment can overcome the lack of investors, the absence of credible builders and operators or available technologies let alone secure regulatory assessment and approval. Moreover, in an era of climate change there will be few potentially suitable sites to host new nuclear power stations for indefinite, indeed unknowable, operating, decommissioning and waste management lifetimes. And there are the anxieties and fears that nuclear foments, the danger of accidents and proliferation and the environmental and public health issues arising from the legacy of radioactive waste scattered on sites around the country’.   

They go on to suggest backing off new nuclear projects. They do recognise that ‘abandoning Sizewell C and the SMR competition will lead to howls of anguish from interest groups such as the nuclear industry and trade unions with a strong presence in the sector. It will also require compensation payments to be made to organisations affected. However, the scale of these payments will be tiny in comparison with the cost of not abandoning them’. 

Certainly the cost of construction is vast- and expanding. The EPR being built by EDF  at Hinkley Point may in the event cost £35bn, with there’s still being a way to go- 2030 for unit 1 start up, maybe 2031 for Unit 2. And as industry commentators have noted ‘as the cost of Hinkley Point has increased, the backers have had to provide more funding. The souring of relations between Britain & China saw CGN stop providing any more money, leaving EDF to fund the shortfall. EDF has called upon the UK government to help out with the escalating cost but it has refused. EDF was fully nationalised in 2023, leaving the French taxpayer to pick up the tab for the cost overruns’. 

UK consumers will of course pay the high cost of the power when it comes on the grid. They will also be expected to shell out for the next EPR that is planned in the UK, at Sizewell, but this time in advanced of completion, under the RAB financing system. However, although the government has provided £5.5bn to move things along, the final (private) investment decision on Sizewell C keeps being delayed. EDF aimed to secure funding by the end 2024, but that may now be extended to 2025 – and EDF is still looking for £4bn to finish Hinkley Point!

All in all, with EDF’s finances in a mess, and few other companies keen to take risks with this technology, it looks a bit uncertain. Even the UK government seems to be having doubts, with plans for a new large project on Wylfa in Wales may be subject to a review.  Proposals are currently being considered for small modular reactors under a UK SMR competition, but the US NuScale PWR has just been eliminated from the race. It was once seen as the leader, but it had lost a US order. EDF had earlier dropped out. So that leaves Rolls-Royce, GE-Hitachi, Westinghouse, and Holtec Britain, with the newly formed agency, Great British Nuclear, expected to announce 2 winners later this year or early next year. Up to £20bn is at stake. However few see any power being available anywhere from SMRs until the early or mid 2030s. Despite a lot of hype, in reality it has been slow going. And there are risks. 

Overall then, the prospects for new nuclear in the UK, or indeed elsewhere, do not look too good. Even in China, renewables are expanding very much faster, with according to the WNISR/IRENA, at the end of 2023, there being over 1000GW of wind and solar and around 421GW of hydro in place, compared to just 53GW of nuclear. Given the scale and rate of deployment, and the costs, it’s pretty clear which should be the way forward in terms of energy supply there and everywhere else. 

Nuclear fission may have a small role to play in some isolated locations and in some applications, and fusion may be viable at commercial scale at some stage, but we have to be aware of hype and overselling in this area, and also in the wider nuclear debate, with nuclear sometimes being sold as the answer to climate change.  It’s not. As I have indicated in earlier posts, there is no shortage of studies from around the world confirming the view that nuclear is a costly and risky distraction from renewables, which are the main energy supply solutions to climate change. And Germany has shown how the exit from nuclear can be done, led by renewables. Although they do have some issues in terms of balancing, renewables, along with energy efficiency, demand management and storage, are the way ahead to an economically viable and sustainable energy future.

October 14, 2024 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Rupert Murdoch’s Global War on Democracy and Climate

Time: Wednesday, October 16, 8 – 9pm EDT

Location: Virtual event, Join from anywhere

About this event

Join a lively conversation and Q&A via Zoom with the Media and Democracy Project and our special guest, Malcolm Turnbull, the former Prime Minister of Australia. Prime Minister Turnbull has been at the vanguard of advocacy for democracy and climate crisis solutions in Australia.

Our discussion will center on Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, its global impact on democracies – particularly PM Turnbull’s experiences in Australia (where the Murdoch media empire began) as well as on disinformation and its role in undermining essential efforts to address the climate crisis.

The Q&A will include questions submitted in advance by attendees. Submit your question for the former Prime Minister, (we will do our best to ask as many as possible). https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSde7D9TxS_SP_1C0z52eUuAUt1LYBaXS-0qpGpwGIICtJrRCg/viewform?usp=sf_link more  https://www.mobilize.us/mediademocracyproject/event/695135/

October 13, 2024 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment