“Clean” nuclear power now a bribe for weapons non proliferation?
Could it be that the nuclear powers are in so deep that they just don’t know how to get out? Despite the cost, despite the mounting unsolved waste problem, despite the countries seeking nuclear weapons, the Big Powers forge on with the myths of “clean” “cheap”, “climate friendly” nuclear power. From the statement of Gordon Brown, and the US China joint statement (both quoted below) it looks as if the myths will continue to be perpetrated, and that even the failed idea of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership might get a re-run.
‘We can lead construction of a new global order’ Public service.co.uk November 17, 2009 The UK can shape the world of the future by leading in global co-operation, the Prime Minister said in his annual speech on foreign policy at the Lord Mayor’s banquet. Gordon Brown – “………..Britain must continue to lead the renewal of a grand global bargain between nuclear weapon and non-nuclear weapon states. A fair and balanced deal in which non nuclear weapons states must accept clear responsibilities to end proliferation by renouncing nuclear weapons in return for the right to access civil nuclear power;…..
‘We can lead construction of a new global order’ – Public Service
U.S.-China Joint Statement CBS News Political Hotsheet by Brian Montopoli November 17, 2009 Following President Obama’s meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao, the White House released a joint statement on the relationship between the two countries,
………The two sides welcomed the establishment of The U.S.-China Energy Cooperation Program (ECP), a partnership between government and industry to enhance energy security and combat climate change. The ECP will leverage private sector resources and expertise to accelerate the deployment of clean energy technology.
The two sides agreed to work together to advance global efforts to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy. They welcomed the recently-concluded Third Executive Committee Meeting of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, and the commitment of the partnership to explore ways to enhance the international framework for civil nuclear energy cooperation. They agreed to consult with one another in order to explore such approaches — including assurance of fuel supply and cradle-to-grave nuclear fuel management so that countries can access peaceful nuclear power while minimizing the risks of proliferation.
In Full: U.S.-China Joint Statement – Political Hotsheet – CBS News
Australian uranium to China not monitored
Australian Uranium to China, a Worry for Many Reasons Second shipment of uranium heads to Australia, environmental whistleblowers still in jail By Shar Adams Epoch Times Staff 18 Nov 09 AUSTRALIA Continue reading
Low uranium prices stopping new projects
Uranium too low to incentivise new mines Mining Weekly By: Liezel Hill17th November 2009 TORONTO– Uranium prices still will need to firm significantly to justify the development of many of the mining projects being considered around the world, Jean Nortier, the CEO of Vancouver-based Uranium One, reiterated on Monday……… Continue reading
Aborigines’ Maralinga land still radioactive
Maralinga land ‘not ready’ for handing back ABC News Nov 11, 2009 An ex-serviceman who was exposed to radiation during Maralinga atomic testing in the 1960s says land should not be handed over to traditional owners until a contaminated area is cleaned up or fenced off. Continue reading
Review: Maralinga land, USA and UK nuclear ‘push’
Australia: Four Mile uranium mine mired in a legal mess. Rudd anxious to sell uranium to India? Aborigines get back contaminated Maralinga land. Regional push for renewables, while New South Wales starts solar gross feed-in tariff, and smart grid could include small, decentralised, energy sources. Australian book provides detailed evidence that could form the basis for atomic veterans’ legal action.
International: USA politicians pushing hard for nuclear to be part of Copenhagen global warming ‘solution’. Meanwhile new nuclear proving wildly expensive. UK govt pushes ahead to reduce incentives for renewables, and prevent local power to stop nuclear.plants. Calls for UN to properly investigate depleted uranium’s effects in Iraq. Calls for tracking patients’ radiation screening. – the week that has been
Is Ziggy Switkowski ignorant or what?
Ziggy Switkowski announces that Australia will be likely to be getting not 25, but 50 nuclear power plants, and one up and running by about 2020. And he says: ‘overseas experience will shape Australian thinking.”
Is Ziggy Switkowski fair dinkum? Has he not heard of current ‘overseas experience’ – Continue reading
Sea level rise threatens Australia’s ports, power stations
Threats looming fast for vital facilities Sydney Morning Herald MARIAN WILKINSON ENVIRONMENT EDITOR November 14, 2009 Continue reading
Rudd anxious to sell uranium to India?
Four Mile uranium mine held up in legal dispute
- Miners clash on native title Sarah-Jane Tasker
- From: The Australian
- November 13, 2009
THE joint-venture partners in what is expected to be Australia’s next uranium mine are locked in a legal dispute over a native title agreement on the project.
Alliance Resources, a 25 per cent stakeholder in the Four Mile project in South Australia, has moved in the Supreme Court against joint-venture partner Quasar Resources, an affiliate of US-based Heathgate Resources.
Alliance is accusing Quasar and Heathgate of negotiating a native title agreement combining the Four Mile project with Heathgate’s Beverley mine.
The company said it was not involved in negotiations on the agreement and was concerned it exposed Alliance to liabilities that might apply only to the Beverley operation.
“As the native title mining agreement hasn’t been registered, a mining lease can’t be offered to the joint venture at this time, and therefore onsite construction at Four Mile can’t commence,”Alliance said………..http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/miners-clash-on-native-title/story-e6frg9dx-1225797126479
Smart grid will enable small and large renewable power sources
The CSIRO has launched a new research centre aimed at helping transform Australian electricity networks and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
The Renewable Energy Integration Facility based in Newcastle, NSW, will develop grid management technologies that will allow greater penetration of renewable, low-emission energy resources into electricity networks. The facility will also be used to develop automatic fault detection techniques to help improve electricity supply reliability and reduce blackouts, according to the CSIRO…………..
“The facility demonstrates how electricity networks will work in the future where the electricity supply mix will include greater numbers of small power sources in conjunction with large, centralised power sources.”CSIRO scientist, Dr David Cornforth, said………..http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/326046/csiro_opens_renewable_energy_integration_facility.
Maralinga aboriginal land still contaminated by radioacticity
Tjarutja people ‘at risk’ from contaminated land ABC News 11 Nov 09
A South Australian ex-serviceman who was exposed to radiation during the Maralinga atomic tests in the 1950s and 60s says land should not be handed over to the traditional owners until a contaminated area is cleaned up or fenced off. Continue reading
India aiming to persuade Rudd on Australian uranium
Continued secrecy, denial, about radiological warfare
Before the Bomb – book review – On Line Opinion, by Noel Wauchope – 9/11/2009 Where do we go, to find out about the radiological effects of atomic weapons?We usually seek out the rather patchy and incomplete stories of the victims – those at the “receiving end” of bombing, at Hiroshima, or of the atomic tests of Nevada, of Mururoa, Montebello, Maralinga. These have been covered in several books.But, how much was known about these radiological effects before the Bomb?
Here, at last, is the book that answers this question. And Paul Langley’s book The Prediction of the Radiological Effects of Atomic Bombs From Knowledge Published Prior to August 1945 answers it with evidence in forensic detail, a plenitude of exact primary documentary evidence, including digital evidence available on the Internet.
This is also a book that raises questions: questions that matter very much right now. Today, World War II veterans, Pacific Islanders, Navajo people and Australian Aborigines seek acknowledgment and justice for their diseases from exposure to radiation. Iraqi doctors and communities, and US, Canadian and UK Gulf War veterans claim health damage from depleted uranium. Where is the truth?…………..
It is an Australian shame that recognition has not been given to aboriginal victims. The reaction of Australian authorities has been a record of “lies, denial, racial taunts and suppression of evidence.” In Project Sunshine’s calculations of exposure dose to Australians, two population groups were excluded. These were: Aborigines living in remote areas around the bomb test sites, and the soldiers and others involved in the tests. In other words the two most affected groups.
A later health study continued to exclude the Aborigines, ignoring the testimony of survivors, their memory of the “Black Mist”, and even of those with Beta burns. Secrecy surrounded the investigation. Professor Ernest Titterton, Chairman of the Australian Atomic Weapons Test Safety Committee, kept project information from the Committee. As he stated “I was subject to American control on information.”
Review: fossil fuel puppets, ANSTO’s poll, France’s nuclear doubts
Review. Australia: Fossil fuel lobbyists using their muscle on Rudd govt to further weaken the already pathetic Emissiosn Trading Scheme. Meanwhile Rudd govt ignores Australia’s chance for solar energy leadership. ANSTO’s latest opinion poll results show overwhelming opposition to nuclear power. A Labor politician claims that South Australians wants a nuke waste dump, just to add to their existing radioactive contamination.
International: world-wide push by well-paid puppets of fossil fuel industries, in order to ruin December’s Copenhagen talks. Continued agonising in USA over mounting nuclear waste. Japan embarks on dangerous trip towards fast breeder nuclear reactors. France’s nuclear export industry has dubious future as safety concerns rise. – the week that has been.
Uranium projects uneconomic due to weak uranium prices
DJ ERA: Weak Uranium Prices, Weak USD Makes Projects UneconomicMon. TRADING MARKETS November 09, 2009; SYDNEY, Nov 09, 2009 Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex) – Uranium miner Energy Resources of Australia Ltd. (ERA.AU), a unit of Rio Tinto Plc (RTP), said Tuesday weak uranium prices as well as the weak U.S. dollar would render new mining projects uneconomic in the longer-term.
This would leave the market heavily dependent on expansions in Kazakstan, in an industry where the global financial crisis was likely to slow new reactor build……………………
1 This month
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
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