South Australian govt will put BHP Billiton’s welfare ahead of environment?
“Is the Premier saying that no matter what environmental impact there may be, he is giving BHP the go-ahead to put the desal plant there?”
BHP insists Point lowley best for desalination plant Adelaide Now SARAH MARTIN
January 08, 2010
BHP Billiton says building its proposed desalination plant anywhere but Point Lowly on the Spencer Gulf would cost “hundreds of millions” more dollars.
The desal plant’s location has divided the State Government and the Opposition, with the latter calling for BHP to investigate an alternative site on the West Coast beyond Ceduna.
Labor member for Giles, Lyn Breuer, also wants the plant built elsewhere, saying the risk to the giant cuttlefish population in the gulf is too great. Continue reading
Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s conflict of interest on radiation cancer studies
Meltdown, USA: Nuclear Drive Trumps Safety Risks and High Cost 06 January 2010 by: Art Levine, t r u t h o u t | News Analysis“………Because of questions about conflict of interest and research integrity, Beyond Nuclear, among others, is asking the NRC to take a hands-off position in commissioning a new academic study.
“The NRC receives about 90 percent of its funding from nuclear power reactor licensing fees,” said Cindy Folkers, radiation and health specialist with Beyond Nuclear. “As such, NRC clearly stands to gain from more reactor construction. Therefore, it should not be doing cancer studies or directly hiring people to conduct such studies. This is a flagrant conflict-of-interest and puts a scientifically rigorous, non-biased study at great risk
t r u t h o u t | Meltdown, USA: Nuclear Drive Trumps Safety Risks and High Cost
91% of Sept-Iles residents oppose uranium mining
According to the poll, 91 per cent of the 1002 Sept-Îles residents queried about the question of uranium exploration said they were opposed to the idea.
(Canada) Sept-Îles residents oppose uranium exploration , CBC News January 6, 2010 |
The Quebec government has a duty to put a stop to plans for uranium exploration in the Sept-Îles region because of the overwhelming opposition of residents, the city’s mayor, Serge Lévesque, said Tuesday. Continue reading
Can uranium mines be operated safely?
Uranium Mining: Australia and Globally League of Individuals for the Environment, Inc , Gavin M. Mudd 7 Jan 2010 “………………..The most recent experience of Australia’s operating uranium mines demonstrates the challenges involved in uranium mining, which are distinct and unique. There have been numerous incidents at the now closed Nabarlek mine and the operating Ranger, Olympic Dam, and Beverley projects. Continue reading
Patrick Moore – paid by a Nuclear Energy front group
the seemingly fresh story line…as delivered by ….Patrick Moore, whose financial ties to a Nuclear Energy Institute front group are rarely disclosed.
Meltdown, USA: Nuclear Drive Trumps Safety Risks and High Cost 06 January 2010 by: Art Levine, t r u t h o u t | News Analysis “……..despite all these problems, a seemingly benign solution for global warming – nuclear energy – has boundless, if simplistic, appeal, even if it could take years to build and threatens public health and safety, while undermining with billions devoted to nuclear bailouts genuine renewable energy.
Still, the pro-nuclear pitch is especially welcomed by media outlets when it advances the seemingly fresh story line of environmentalists embracing nuclear power, as delivered by the likes of ex-Greenpeace activist Patrick Moore, whose financial ties to a Nuclear Energy Institute front group are rarely disclosed. Continue reading
Review of the nuclear year that has been
Review of the nuclear year that has been Christina Macpherson 5 January 2010
Australia: An extraordinary year in which Climate Sceptics were allowed to dominate much of the media, turning Australia into a curious outpost of anti-science. Pro-nuclear hype revved up, too – sometimes promoted as cure for global warming, but, inexplicably, also promoted by climate change disbelievers.
BHP Billiton put out huge but inadequate Environmental Impact Statement for its planned Olympic Dam expansion. Uranium explorations all over the place, especially in South Australia, as govt and mining industry try to manipulate aboriginal owners. Awareness of radiation effects at last leads to Maralinga veterans’ legal bid for justice.
International: While the nuclear hype went on, the facts were otherwise. France’s “flagship” new nukes are still struggling, under construction, and ramping up huge debts to AREVA. UK and USA governments struggle with the reality that only the tax-payer can pay the costs of nuclear power. State-owned nuclear industry – e.g France, Russia, China are not troubled by having to reveal the costs.
USA in a turmoil over where to put nuclear wastes, as Yucca Mountain dump plan is dumped. Revelations of illegal waste-dumping by UK and European countries were quickly glossed over in mainstream media. China is secretive about its nuke wastes, in earthquake areas, and imprisons nuclear dissidents.
The world waits for a resolution of Iran and its nukes, with fear of attack on Iran by Israel or the USA.. Middle Eastern countries seek nuclear power “for peaceful purposes only”, while India revs up its nuke power and nuke weapons, and everyone eyes Pakistan with trepidation.
Quietly, the anti-nuclear and anti-uranium movements built up momentum, along with strengthening indigenous rights movement, and a strong presence at Copenhagen. Impediments occur to the growth of the nuclear industry, including for example, quite a few legal victories in USA.
Call for aboriginal summit
here in Australia the government has spin doctors operating full time to hide the true state of play in respect of Aboriginal people. They are paid big dollars to convince the white Australian public that what they do for Aborigines is in the interest of the Aboriginal people and that special measures are necessary. “
Aboriginal struggle like those in China and Iran Goodooga, northwest NSW, 3 January 2010 – – A NSW activist likens the struggle for Aboriginal rights to the uprisings to win freedom in China and Iran. Continue reading
Nuclear plant cooling pools – terrorist targets
The Department of Homeland Security has marked Shearon Harris as one of the most vulnerable terrorist targets in the nation.
Nuclear Waste Pools in North Carolina . Nuclear Waste Pools in North Carolina In Top 25 Censored Stories for 2010 Project Censored, Organic Consumers Association January 3, 2010 One of the most lethal patches of ground in North America is located in the backwoods of North Carolina, where Shearon Harris nuclear plant is housed and owned by Progress Energy. The plant contains the largest radioactive waste storage pools in the country. Continue reading
Maralinga atomic veterans join British class action
It is a race against time as applications have to be lodged before a legal deadline of May 2010
CLASS ACTION BY NUCLEAR VETERANS HEADED BY SYDNEY LEGAL TEAM – NO WIN NO FEE December 31, 2009 by Coober Pedy Regional Times Surviving Australian veterans of the British nuclear tests at Maralinga, Monte Bello Island and Christmas Island in the 1950s and 60s are joining British and other nuclear veterans in taking the British government to court in what could be one of the most significant compensation cases in legal history. Continue reading
Need for media coverage of medical radiation risks
Let’s hope the media gives this as much attention as they do with their traditionally disproportionate reporting on a given test’s benefits.
Radiation from CT scans increases the risk of cancer | KevinMD.com 29 Dec 09 The Archives of Internal Medicine recently released a study concluding that “roughly 72 million CT scans performed in the U.S. in 2007 will ultimately cause some 29,000 cases of cancer.”
That’s an attention grabber.It was found that the amount of radiation given off by CT scans can vary by a factor of ten, based on the model of the scanner itself and the hospital the test was performed in. That makes it difficult to truly estimate a patient’s exposure.
Extrapolating their model to CT-angiography, a controversial heart scan that gaining popularity, it’s estimated that “one in 270 women who [receive the study] at age 40 will develop cancer as a result of the scan, and one in 600 men.”That’s a huge number, and one that warrants discussion whenever the test is being considered. Let’s hope the media gives this as much attention as they do with their traditionally disproportionate reporting on a given test’s benefits.
Radiation from CT scans increases the risk of cancer | KevinMD.com
Ziggy continues to spruik “safe, Clean” nuclear power
“It is far too expensive, much dearer than wind power. It is unnecessary because Australia has enormous renewable energy resources and in the long term it [nuclear energy] becomes a medium-level carbon dioxide emitter,“.Dr. Mark Diesendorf
Australia debates plan to build 10 nuclear reactors The National Phil Mercer, SYDNEY December 30, 2009 Conservationists have reacted with dismay and bewilderment to a call by Australia’s atomic industry to build 10 nuclear power stations by 2030. ….. Continue reading
Doubts about the future of uranium mining
“Right now, there’s a lot of speculation, but exactly how large demand will grow, no one knows.”
Canada: Two companies push Uranium mining in region By GARY HARMON/The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel December 27, 2009 Two major international suppliers of uranium, meanwhile, are out of commission temporarily and possibly permanently. The Cigar Lake Mine in Canada flooded, and the Olympic Dam Mine in Australia is out of production because of a shaft accident..………………. Continue reading
USA Nuclear lobby demands $100 billion in EXTRA funding from govt
The nuclear trade group has called for $100 billion in additional loan guarantees for low carbon energy sources to help support replacing aging reactors
U.S. Loans to Boost Nuclear Industry Seen Soon abc News By Ayesha Rascoe December 28, 2009
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration is poised to announce loan guarantees to help kick-start the country’s nuclear power industry, which hasn’t built a new plant in more than three decades. Continue reading
Australians prefer renewables, not nuclear energy
Renewables favoured over nuclear: Newspoll ecogeneration 29 Dec 09 December 29, 2009
Australians strongly favour renewable energy as a government priority over nuclear energy, according to a recent Newspoll survey. Continue reading
India’s nuclear program hampered by lack of insurance
All property insurance covers exclude losses due to nuclear reaction, nuclear radiation or radioactive contamination.
Irda sounds out insurers on nuclear accident cover The Economic Times 29 Dec 2009, Hema Ramakrishnan & Mayur Shetty, ET Bureau NEW DELHI|MUMBAI: A year after private nuclear plants became a possibility in India following the Indo-US nuclear deal, the insurance regulator is deliberating with companies to cover liabilities arising out of deliberating with companies to cover liabilities arising out of nuclear accidents, which is essential for such plants…
…Currently, nuclear risks are not covered by any policy, as insurers do not have the wherewithal to estimate liabilities. All property insurance covers exclude losses due to nuclear reaction, nuclear radiation or radioactive contamination.
In most countries, operators of nuclear plants buy insurance cover as they are liable to pay compensation for any damage. Normally, the liability is limited by both international conventions and national legislation. The state has the responsibility to accept any liability more than insured.
The absence of such covers here may make it difficult to fund relief, if an accident occurs.
The US, for instance, is not bound by any international nuclear liability convention. The liability from a nuclear accident is addressed by the Price Anderson Act of 1956, which provides $10 billion in cover without cost to the government. It covers power reactors, research reactors and all other nuclear facilities.
Irda sounds out insurers on nuclear accident cover- Insurance news-Insurance-Personal Finance-The Economic Times
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