Japan’s space junk falls on aboriginal land
Joy and delight, it seems, greets the fall of the asteroid bit, onto already contaminated Aboriginal land at Woomera!
Now I ask you – who, other than the Aborigines, would we expect to be delighted about a bit of metallic junk being flung onto their property?
First the Aborigines got atomic bombs, then uranium mining, now radioactive wastes, now space junk…!
Space probe returns to Earth from trip to asteroid, Google hosted news, By TANALEE SMITH (AP) –14 June 2010,”… It is the first time that a spacecraft has successfully landed on an asteroid and returned to Earth……
Japanese space probe to land in Australian outback, news90, June 13, 2010 · “…local Aboriginal elders,.. will fly out in a helicopter to check it has not damaged any sites sacred to the local indigenous people. – (and what if it has? – too late now!)
Smart grid – Australia’s opportunity to develop efficient renewable energy
Australia going smart-grid | Green Tech – CNET News, by Candace Lombard, 9 June 2010, Newcastle, in the state of New South Wales, will be the first Australian city to move onto a smart grid in what the government says could be a nationwide change……. Continue reading
Renewable energy option for Australians
Green becomes an easier option, Sydney Morning Herald, June 10, 2010 All power companies must offer renewable energy options, writes Keeli Cambourne. With environmental awareness increasing, most energy companies are responding to demands from consumers for green power options. Continue reading
Ranger uranium mine’ s salty leak into freshwater creek
Uranium mine caused abnormal salt levels in Kakadu creek – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting
Corporation) 12 June 2010, The company that operates the Ranger uranium mine has confirmed higher-than-normal salt levels in a creek in Kakadu National Park is a result of its operations.Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) has investigated two salinity spikes in Magela Creek downstream of the mine in April.Chief executive Rob Atkinson says run-off water from the mine had flowed into the creek….
Uranium companies pressuring Aboriginals in Australia’s Kimberly region
Green group on ‘uranium awareness’ tour » Kimberley Page, 10 June 2010, Uranium Awareness Community Forums planned for July While the proposed construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility at James Price Point attracts widespread media attention, an increase in uranium exploration is underway and under the radar in the Kimberley.
Presently there are numerous uranium tenements covering the Kimberley . This spike in activity is the result of the Barnett Government’s move to overturn the long-standing ban on uranium exploration and development held by the previous Labor Government.Already Traditional Owners across the Kimberley are under pressure to allow exploration activities. Meanwhile uranium companies are talking in glowing terms about the Kimberley as Australia’s new uranium province. Continue reading
BHP Billiton fudges radiation exposure levels of uranium mine workers
The whistleblower produced documents that show BHP uses manipulated averages and distorted sampling to ensure the figures are below the maximum exposure levels set by government…..managed to manipulate the sampling by transferring workers, whose exposures were escalating, to a different area
Radiation unsafe at BHP’s Olympic Dam: whistleblower, Sydney Morning Herald, June 4, 2010 Workers at BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam are being exposed to unsafe levels of radiation, according to a company whistleblower. Continue reading
USA finally supports South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty
POLITICS: US MOVES TO SUPPORT NUCLEAR FREE ZONE TREATY, Islands Business, Nic Maclellan, 11 June 2010, In a major policy change, the US government has announced it will move to support the Rarotonga Treaty for a South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone (SPNFZ)—25 years after the treaty was first signed by Pacific nations. Continue reading
Australia to fund renewable energy for Observatory
Govt to Fund Renewable Energy to Power Observatory | theangle.org By Rich Bowden 11 June 2010, The Australian Government has announced that it will release $47.3 million to the CSIRO to fund renewable energy solutions for a radio observatory.The funding will go towards supporting “renewable energy infrastructure projects for the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory and the Pawsey High-Performance Computing Centre for SKA Science in Perth,” Continue reading
Whistleblower on ANSTO’s nuclear radiation leak now dubbed a “security risk”
Ansto whistleblower now ”security risk’‘ St George & Sutherland Shire Leader, BY ROSITA GALLASCH, 09 Jun, 2010 DAVID Reid, the whistleblower who raised safety concerns about yje Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation’s radiopharmaceuticals and industrials (ARI) facility last month, is now regarded as a security risk.
ANSTO’s chief executive officer Adi Paterson said Mr Reid, who was a safety officer for six years and an employee for 28, now posed a security threat.
“I cannot be satisfied, from a security point of view, of him entering a nuclear facility,” Dr Paterson said. Continue reading
Australia-Russia uranium dealings
The machinations have been going on for many years. One way or another, Australian uranium is getting under foreign control – take the current Russian situation. Negotiations with Russia’s Roasatom nuclear tsar, Sergei Kiryienko went on, secretly, between Kiriyenko and BHP Billiton. over many years.
Kiriyenko was to quietly visit Australia, but apparently did not. A former Prime Minister of Russia, Kiriyenko has, in recent years, guided the State nuclear agency, Rosatom, with the aim of becoming the world’s most powerful uranium and nuclear power company.
Honeymoon uranium mine to be controlled by Russian govt
Moscow moves on global uranium mines The Australian * June 10, 2010 RUSSIA has moved to boost its holdings in global uranium mines, with state-owned Rosatom agreeing to take a controlling stake in Canada’s Uranium One……If the deal goes ahead, it will put the Honeymoon uranium project in South Australia, scheduled to come into production at the end of the year, under the control of the Russian government.…. Continue reading
Australian uranium will help Russia to run Iran’s nuclear plant
Rosatom Agrees to First Asset Sale to Foreign Investor, The Moscow Times, 09 June 2010By Anatoly Medetsky “…..Kiriyenko announced that Russia and Iran would jointly run Iran’s first nuclear power plant that Rosatom plans to launch in August…..
Under a deal signed in 2007, which Australia also has yet to ratify, Russia will be able to import Australian uranium for use at its own nuclear power plants after enrichment…….Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said at the end of April that the country would ratify the agreement. He didn’t say when.Rosatom Agrees to First Asset Sale to Foreign Investor | Business | The Moscow Times
Review: resources tax, India’s dilemma, oil gusher
Australia: a seemingly quiet week. Obama cancels visit to Australia. Mainstream media continue to ignore Senator Scott Ludlam’s penetrating questioning on matters nuclear – (the taxpayer funded Uranium Council lobby, Muckaty nuclear waste plan, nuclear weapons proliferation..) BHP and Rio spend a sizable little of their massive profits to fight the govt’s super profit resources tax. These corporations fear that other countries might take up the idea too. Union push against health danger of uranium mining.
International: Dow Chemical Company escapes justice after 25 years, and hundreds of thousands of deaths from the Bhopal gas disaster. A portent for India’s nuclear energy future? Meanwhile USA seeks to prosecute BP over oil spill. U.S looks like getting useless Climate legislation. Pointless debate over nuclear bombing as a solution to BP’s oil gush .
Australia will not sell uranium to India, will sell gas
Mr Smith reiterated that his country will not change its stand on uranium exports.
Australia keen to supply gas but baulks on uranium , The Hindu Business Line K Giriprakash Perth, June 7 Australia on Monday said it is willing to supply more gas to Indian companies but remained firm on its stand on supplying uranium to only NPT-signatory countries. Continue reading
Australia-wide campaign on action on Climate Change
climate action groups around the country, .. launched a national 100% renewables campaign on May 2.……..For more details visit 100percent.org.au.
Climate groups campaign for 100% renewables, Green Left Weekly, June 5, 2010 By Simon Butler The Rudd ALP government was elected on a promise to take serious action on climate change. Yet it hasn’t acted and Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions — already the developed world’s worst per person — are on the rise again….. Continue reading
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