National panel stops uranium mining in the Balpakram National Park
Uranium mining blocked,The Telegraph – Calcutta (Kolkata), New Delhi, May 14: A national panel of wildlife experts today rejected a proposal from the department of atomic energy for uranium exploration on the Rongcheng plateau in Meghalaya’s South Garo Hills.The standing committee of the National Board of Wildlife decided to reject the proposal for exploratory drilling in view of the sentiments of the local people and representations from civil society groups, the environment ministry said.
The Rongcheng plateau falls in the Balpakram National Park, home to elephants, black bear, leopards, deer and the red panda, one of the rarest animals in the world.Several green groups and NGOs have campaigned against a proposal for exploratory drilling, arguing that it would harm the bio-diversity in the park. The Telegraph – Calcutta (Kolkata) | Nation | Uranium mining blocked
Uranium salesman Paul Howes calls for Arkaroola mining
powerbroker and AWU national secretary Paul Howes said he had been convinced of the merits of mining during talks with Marathon Resources, a uranium explorer which had previously lost its licence over breaching of waste disposal conditions…………
Union calls for uranium mining in Arkaroola sanctuary | Adelaide Now, Christopher Russell, 14 May 2010, ONE of the nation’s most powerful unions says uranium miners should be allowed to exploit a huge deposit of the mineral in the Arkaroola reserve in the northern Flinders Ranges…..
the union and the miners face a bitter battle to develop the pristine wilderness and popular film setting known as one of the state’s natural geological wonders.
Lined up against developers are film-maker Rolf de Heer – who calls the site “the single most extraordinary piece of South Australia in existence” Continue reading
Ionising radiation a greater cause of breast cancer than previously thought
“Our work shows that radiation can change the microenvironment of breast cells, and this in turn can allow the growth of abnormal cells with a long-lived phenotype that has a much greater potential to be cancerous,”
Study Raises New Concerns About Radiation and Breast Cancer « Berkeley Lab News Center, 14 May 2010, “………It is well established that exposure to ionizing radiation can result in mutations or other genetic damage that cause cells to turn cancerous. Now a new study led by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has revealed another way in which radiation can promote cancer development. Continue reading
Labor breaks election promise to set up inappropriate nuclear waste dump
Medical experts – including nuclear medicine practitioners – confirm that Australians can continue to have unimpeded access to diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicines without the need for this dump.
Labor reneges on nuclear waste promise, The Age, DAVE SWEENEY, May 14, 2010 –Before the 2007 election, federal Labor promised a new approach to the management of radioactive waste, Continue reading
Ionising radiation double the cancer risk for the young
Younger Patients Face Double Radiation Risk from CT Scans: Study, Ethiopian Review, May 13th, 2010 Younger patients run a higher risk of health problems from radiation exposure caused by computed tomography (CT) scans, according to a new study. Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina found that the radiation risk for younger patients were double those of older patients in a CT radiation exposure study presented last week at the American Roentgen Ray Society 2010 annual meeting in San Diego, CA. Scientists say that the findings indicate that age is another factor that doctors should consider when ordering CT scans. Younger Patients Face Double Radiation Risk from CT Scans: Study
Nuclear industry can no longer hide radiation danger to workers
The “Silkwood Syndrome” of denial by employers and governments has dogged Australia since the 1950s….the nuclear industry must realise it risks embarrassment on a global scale should it persist in these tactics.
Things are always officially perfectly safe – nuclearhistory « Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog, 14 May 2010, ….In late July l996 the Australian Democrats raised the issue of radiological safety in the SA State Parliament.The Democrats report that workers employed at Roxby Downs were contaminated while performing nuclear duties in relation to radioactive waste owned by the Commonwealth. Continue reading
USA’s Nuclear Resuscitation failing in the States
“The public wants clean, safe, reliable and affordable electricity, not dirty, dangerous and expensive nuclear power, and most state officials continue to show they understand that.”
Nuclear Loan Guarantees Will Meet State Resistance, Connecticut News, May 13, 2010 by Jonathan Kantrowitz It was front-page news across America this February when the Vermont Senate voted to shut down the troubled Vermont Yankee reactor in 2012. But what most Americans don’t know is that the nuclear industry also lost all of its seven other major state legislative pushes this year – going 0-8 and putting yet another nail in the coffin of the myth of the “nuclear renaissance” in the United States, Continue reading
Britain’s new coalition govt a big worry for nuclear industry
“No private sector investor has built a nuclear power station anywhere in the world without lashings of government subsidy since Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. The World Bank refuses to lend on nuclear projects because of the long history of overruns. Our message is clear, No to nuclear, as it is not a short cut, but a dead end.”
Britain’s nuclear industry wakes up to an explosive problem as Chris Huhne moves in – Telegraph Blogs, 14 May 2010, “…………there remains a sizeable threat that the Liberals could force a time-consuming and costly public inquiry that delays the new build. Continue reading
Increased momentum for a national fight against Muckaty Nuclear Waste Dump Plan
“There is growing national concern about Minister Ferguson’s decide-announce-defend approach. The Senate report does not challenge the Minister’s absolute discretion in the site selection process, which will mean continuation of the secretive and bullish process undertaken so far”.
Senate Report Increases Determination to Fight Muckaty Nuclear Dump. The Beyond Nuclear Initiative (BNI) says a Senate report released today on the National Radioactive Waste Management Bill is deplorable and will invigorate efforts to oppose a dump at Muckaty Station in the Northern Territory. Continue reading
Methinks the uranium corporations do protest too much
Australia’s media is awash with the anger of BHP Billiton and other uranium miners, (even weird little Cauldron Energy), about the government’s super profit resources tax. Their threat is to wind down uranium mining, leave Australia etc.
But uranium mining is winding down anyway. BHP Billiton’s Grat Big New Mine is far from happening, as Olympic Dam still producing about a quarter capacity, with a damaged main shaft.
Recent Nuclear Non Proliferation arrangements mean that countries can get nuclear fuel from old nuclear weapons (no uranium mining needed for that). And the famous Nuclear Resuscitation (sorry, did I mean Renaissance?) – is not really happening.
And – it’s rude to mention this – but just one nuclear mishap like the current oil mishaps, and nuclear power is dead in the water forever.
Bad news for the uranium market
bad news for the uranium market.
Uranium threatened by political shake-ups FP Trading Desk May 12, 2010, by Peter Koven It has been a week of political overhaul in Europe, and one of the victims in the fallout could be the continent’s nuclear renaissance. Continue reading
Australian Government postpones Nuclear Waste Bill, Spurns Discussion with Greens
Ferguson’s response was “I don’t deal with the Greens, why would I deal with the Greens, we don’t deal with the Greens” and walked off.
The government’s strange flip flops on nuclear, Crikey, by Bernard Keane, 13 May 2010, “….This week it [the Australian Government] was preparing to speed its National Radioactive Waste Management Bill 2010 through parliament, with the aid of an unusually compliant opposition. The bill was scheduled for today but has been dropped ahead of higher priority bills. It is expected to return in June. Continue reading
Many doctors unaware of radiation cancer risks
Cancer Panel Report Cites Medical Radiation Concerns, News Inferno.com, May 12th, 2010 “…..the President’s Cancer Panel (PCP) pointed to the huge increase in Americans’ exposure to medical radiation. Continue reading
Govt perks to uranium industry in “indigenous” budget
Indigenous- Petrol sniffing, child abuse targeted, ABC Rural News, 11/05/2010…………………Funding will continue for the rehabilitation of the former uranium mining site at Rum Jungle in the Northern Territory, and sorting out Indigenous land access issues.Half a million dollars will be spent on the Working in Partnership Program, to help mining companies work better with Indigenous communities and create more Indigenous mining jobs.Beware of Australian govts bearing small, hurried, gifts to Maralinga veterans
As Queen’s Counsel Cherie Blair leads the Australian atomic veterans into legal battle with the British government over compensation, the Australian government hurriedly decides to at last give some (pretty lousy) compensation to them
Could it be that there’s a little clause in there somewhere, about the veterans dropping their legal case in UK, if they want to get Australian govt recognition?
1 This month
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
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