Failing nuclear industry is on subsidised life support
In no deregulated energy market, anywhere in the world, is the private sector putting up its own money to build nuclear power stations. The industry remains on subsidised life support everywhere and is making headway only in a tiny handful of countries with state ownership of generators and command and control energy networks.
Old-tech nuclear power is not the answer Scott Ludlam : The Australian * September 17, 2010 “………….An apparent blindness in the boardrooms and editorial desks of Australia is preventing the acceptance of this basic fact: the nuclear industry, at heart, is a military industry holding up a battered commercial facade.
Nowhere is this more true than in the new markets of China, Russia and India – nuclear weapons states – all of which the Australian mining industry is desperate to access. Continue reading
Pro nukes stack Western Australia’s uranium study panel
We still do not know whether or how key issues – such as workers’ health and safety, tailings rehabilitation, transport and groundwater impacts – will be addressed by the panel. We fear that crucial issues, such as impacts on workers’ health and communities and nuclear weapons proliferation, will not be addressed at all.
The panel excludes experts in relevant areas such as occupational health and safety, transport, Aboriginal heritage and native title, non-proliferation and safeguards.
Uranium industry’s record raises doubts, The West Australian, By Mia Pepper, September 16th, 2010, The Barnett Government recently announced that the Australian Centre for Geomechanics had won a tender to form an “independent panel on uranium mining regulations”. Sitting on the panel are pro-nuclear lobbyists and behind the scenes are corporate sponsors including some that are anything but independent.
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are two of the sponsors – companies with operating uranium mines in Australia and uranium interests in WA. Continue reading
The plot thickens in promotion of Olympic Dam Uranium Mine
Last month the Australian government set up a Mines Tax policy team. It is led by Don Argus, former chairman of uranium miner BHP Billiton. Other members are former uranium company Rio Tinto executive David Klingner, Erica Smyth, chairman of uranium explorer Toro Energy.
So, Australia’s mining tax policy is guided by uranium mining representatives.
And now, in a bold statement in facvour of a carbon tax, BHP Billiton’s Chief Executice officer Marius Kloppers sets the scene for BHP to increase its influence over Australia’s government.
It all sounds so good. But note that, in supporting action on Climate change, Kloppers promotes “alternative” energies to take over from coal.
I’ll bet that “alternative” will turn out to be one of those words like “renewable” and “clean” that are applied to nuclear power. And all in such good timing, as BHP Billiton is desperate to get its Olympic Dam uranium mine expansion happening.
Liberal MP in Northern Territory plans to betray Aboriginal Jeffrey Lee
Member for Katherine Willem Westra van Holthe wrote: “People like Mr Lee won’t be around forever so I believe it will be easier to ‘unreserve’ a piece of land than mine it inside a park boundary or excise it … at a later time.”….
CLP digs up new uranium policy | Northern Territory News | Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia | ntnews.com.au, BEN LANGFORD, September 16th, 2010 PLOTTING is afoot within the Territory Opposition to change its policy on uranium mining at Koongarra, a leaked email shows. Continue reading
BHP’s Marius Kloppers accused of having “nuclear agenda”
Business Spectator, Sept 16 10, “……Liberal senator Cory Bernardi said Mr Kloppers was speaking out of self-interest because BHP Billiton was keen to pursue a nuclear agenda.”In sharemarket parlance, people talk up their own book and that’s what Mr Kloppers is doing,” he told Sky News, adding the resources giant’s chief executive officer was pushing alternative sources of energy such as uranium. Greens welcome Kloppers’ remarks | News | Business Spectator
Australian Greens support BHP chief’s carbon price statement
Senator Brown said the businessman’s remarks legitimised the federal government’s promised climate change committee of MPs and experts that will work towards pricing carbon.
Greens welcome Kloppers’ remarks Business Spectator, 16 Sep 2010 BHP Billiton Ltd chief executive Marius Kloppers’ support for a carbon price is music to the ears of Australian Greens leader Bob Brown. Continue reading
Hydro electric power plan for Queensland
The proposal would generate 1,800 MW of renewable baseload electricity travelling via undersea cable to Weipa and could potentially plug directly into Townsville as early as 2020.
Queensland plugs in to hydro power, Architecture and Design 16 September 2010 Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has backed a multi-billion dollar hydro power project in PNG that would plug directly into Townsville, providing green energy to Queensland. Continue reading
BHP Billiton chief’s agenda in Climate Change statements
Reading between Kloppers’ lines, Sydney Morning Herald, ELIZABETH KNIGHT, September 16, 2010 BHP Billiton’s Marius Kloppers is engaged in the mother of all juggling acts. He is attempting to keep the Rio Tinto iron ore joint venture ball up in the air while competition regulators around the world are tying one hand behind his back.He is also desperately trying to appease shareholders who are unconvinced about the strategy behind BHP’s $42.8 billion purchase of Potash Corp…….
He made it clear enough that BHP Billiton was looking to have a say in what kind of scheme the government could be considering before any decisions were made. Reading between Kloppers’ lines
Uranium mining should be included in Australia’s mining tax
Australia Greens Want Mining Tax Raised, Uranium Added in Gillard Hurdle, Bloomberg, By Marion Rae – Sep 16, 2010 The Australian Greens Party wants Prime Minister Julia Gillard to increase a proposed levy on coal and iron ore profits and expand it to include uranium, underscoring the pressure on her two-day old minority government……
The Greens Party won a record 12 percent of the national vote at last month’s national elections, giving them nine seats in the upper house Senate and one in the lower house. Gillard’s Labor Party must placate the Greens to pass legislation and do so without alienating three independent lawmakers who also helped her secure a parliamentary majority…….Australia Greens Want Mining Tax Raised, Uranium Added in Gillard Hurdle – Bloomberg
South Australian Liberal Party will reject uranium mining in Arkaroola Wilderness
- “The state Liberal Party has decided very clearly that it will reject any move by the State Government to change the environmental status of Arkaroola
- Isobel Redmond vows to block uranium mining in the Arkaroola mining Adelaide Now, Daniel Wills, September 14, 2010 OPPOSITION Leader Isobel Redmond has declared her party will block any future moves to allow uranium mining in the Arkaroola Wildness Sanctuary. Continue reading
Sinking prices, not the Greens, threaten Australia’s uranium industry
“In contrast to claims put out by the uranium industry about its supposed financial benefits, we have seen proposed uranium projects on increasingly shaky financial ground.
“They won’t admit it, but right now volatility in global uranium prices is probably a bigger worry for the industry than the Greens,”
Greens to Stick to Uranium Mining Ban Policy, Mathaba, 15 Sept 10, The Australian Greens have confirmed they will continue to push for a ban on uranium mining across Australia, in line with long-held Greens policy. Continue reading
Australian Greens are upfront in their opposition to uranium mining
..“The Greens have never used their balance of power in the past to do secret backroom deals or cross-trades on unrelated policy issues–and neither will we do so in the future,”
Australia’s Greens vow no secret uranium deals – MarketWatch, Sept. 14, 2010, By Rachel Pannett, CANBERRA Continue reading
Nuclear war danger escalates as India gets nuclear fighter jets
The most likely candidates to unleash an atomic holocaust are rivals India and Pakistan, who share a border, a legacy of war, and a tendency to test nuclear weapons.
India’s Nuclear Weapons Take to the Skies, 
TakePart – Adam Trunell 15 Sept 10, With most of the Armageddon-fearing planet apparently losing its taste for nuclear weapons, India’s upped its investment in the end of civilization with the planned purchase of 40 nuclear-capable fighter jets. Continue reading
Concern about nuclear weapons make Greens oppose uranium to India
India has never signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty,
Greens party says no to uranium export to India. ZEENEWS.com, September 14, 2010, Melbourne: Australia’s Greens party which sent its first lawmaker to the parliament this election, has strongly opposed uranium mining and its export to non-Non Proliferation Treaty countries like India, saying the move could have global repercussions. Continue reading
Anti-nuclear sentiment building in Germany
apparent skipping of parliamentary process in such a significant policy for Germany’s energy future will form the crux of the anti-nuclear lobby’s opposition
The Social Democratic Party and the Greens have made it clear that if the deal goes ahead they will make it a major issue in the next election and overturn it if elected.
Germany’s ‘hot autumn’ of nuclear discontent, Sydney Morning Herald, James Norman and Dave Sweeney, September 15, 2010, AUSTRALIA we often view Germany as at the forefront of the global green energy revolution. So the news that Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrat coalition will move a new accord to extend the life-span of Germany’s 17 existing nuclear power plants by 12 years has been reverberating here.
The move has signalled a new “hot autumn” of anti-nuclear sentiment in Berlin and beyond. The German policy shift back toward nuclear energy also has clear implications for the country with the world’s largest uranium reserves — Australia. Continue reading
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