Uranium and nuclear news under the radar in Australia
I do aim to post significant international news here. But – so much uranium and nuclear stuff is going on without media mention, here in Australia. Today we have two courageous Aboriginals – Michael Anderson, and Jeffrey Lee, standing up for their people and for Country, against the uranium industry.
The USA and Australia are soon to ratify a new nuclear agreement, – yet we Australians HAVE NOT HEARD A WORD ABOUT THIS.
Tony Abbott’s telling Catholic schoolkids how all we need to do is follow USA’s lead on selling uranium to India (never mind about the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty)
Anyway, I’ve had to confine myself today to mentioning the frightening events in Russia, where a very little amount of news is getting out about the wildfires around the nuclear facilities near Moscow, and the uncertain facts on radioactivity in smoke. Christina Macpherson 11 Aug 2010.
Aboriginal Senate candidate opposes nuclear industry
Michael Eckford (aka Anderson) stands for the Senate on a platform of developing a real balance between sustainable economic development and Caring for Country. He is uncompromising in his stand against the exploitation of Aboriginal people by the nuclear industry. ..Nuclear Free | Michael Eckford Euahlayi Nation
All Aboriginal agreements in relation to mining uranium in this country have not been be done with full free, prior and informed consent but rather by bribery and coercion.URANIUM MINING
- Oppose existing uranium mines: Beverley, Roxby Downs (Olympic Dam) and Ranger.
- Oppose new uranium mines
- Oppose expansion of existing uranium mines
- Oppose radioactive liquid waste dumping at Beverley and proposed in-situ leach uranium mines.
- Oppose uranium mining at Jabiluka………………Nuclear Free | Michael Eckford Euahlayi Nation
See www.choosenuclearfree.com for the nuclear policies of the other political parties.
Nuclear AREVA’s uranium $billions, or Koongarra’s environmental richness?
AREVA is currently seeking legal advice…..Jeffery Lee is the senior custodian of the land and the sole member of the Djok Clan. He feels that the land would be better off with the National Park than with the uranium mining company
Uranium mining would then be banned in the wetlands Continue reading
Labor govt will back Aboriginal Jeffrey Lee against nuclear giant AREVA
if re-elected, Labor would accept Mr Lee’s offer to incorporate the 1228 hectares of environmentally sensitive land he owns into world heritage-listed Kakadu.The move would block plans by French nuclear energy giant Areva to extract 14,000 tonnes of uranium from its mineral leases in the area
Aboriginal custodian turns back on riches, The Age, LINDSAY MURDOCH, DARWIN, August 11, 2010 AN ABORIGINAL traditional owner who could have become one of Australia’s richest people if he had allowed uranium mining on his land near Kakadu National Park says he is not interested in money. Continue reading
Nuclear deal between USA and Australia very quietly going ahead
President Obama transmitted the proposed text of the latest renewal agreement to Congress on May 5, 2010,……..If not opposed by a joint resolution of disapproval or other legislation, then the agreement will be considered approved at the end of this time period.
CRS – U.S.-Australia Civilian Nuclear Cooperation: Issues for Congress, Docuticker 10 Aug 2010, (PDF)Source: Congressional Research Service (via Secrecy News)
Australia and the United States have cooperated in the peaceful use of nuclear energy since the mid-1950s. The framework for this cooperation is a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement as required by section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act. President Obama transmitted the proposed text of the latest renewal agreement to Congress on May 5, 2010, Continue reading
Sturt Highway to be Australia’s radioactive waste route?
Dr Jim Green says the Government is unlikely to favour a route through Queensland because it is impractical and communities through Dubbo and Broken Hill have previous expressed strong opposition.
Sturt Highway likely route for nuclear waste – ABC Western Plains NSW – Australian Broadcasting Corporation 11 Aug 2010, An anti-nuclear group claims the Sturt Highway is likely to be the route that will be used to shift radioactive waste if a proposed dump in the Northern Territory goes ahead. Continue reading
Nuclear processing, wastes, threatened by wildfires in Russia
Nearby the town of 90,000 is the large-scale Mayak facility, once a source for Soviet plutonium and now processing nuclear waste and materials from old nuclear weapons.
Russia Declares Emergency in Nuclear Town – Novinite.com – Sofia News Agency, August 9, 2010 On account of the raging wildfires Russian authorities declared a state of emergency in the town of Ozersk, where a large Russian center for processing of nuclear materials is located. Continue reading
Dianne Stokes questions Prime Minister on nuclear waste dump
VIDEO Nuclear Waste Dump – QandA Community Video, 9 Aug 2010, My name is Dianne Stokes NampinI am a Traditional Owner for Manuwangku, the Muckaty Land Trust where you want to put a nuclear waste dump.We have told Minister Ferguson over and over that we do not want it.That country is very important to us and we want to keep it clean.My question is, why are you not listening to the Traditional Owners and Elders who say we do not want the waste dump? Nuclear Waste Dump – QandA Community Video
Opposition to uranium mining in Western Australia
Politicians of the opposition Labor Party, who put the ban in effect when they were in power, agree.”We know that all mining is dangerous but we know that mining uranium is off the scale,”
Uranium mining in Australia opposed, The PoliJAM TIMES, 9 Aug 2010, “……….The Australian mining company BHP Billiton plans to develop a uranium deposit near the town of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in 2011 in a $15.6 billion project. Continue reading
Northern Territory against federal govt imposing nuclear waste dump on NT
Greens leader Bob Brown says his party would try to ensure that any federal decision to override Territory law would have to be ratified by both houses of Parliament.
Chief Minister welcomes Greens’ dump stance – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), By Jane Bardon Aug 5, 2010 Chief Minister Paul Henderson has welcomed the Greens’ promise to try to stop a proposed nuclear waste dump at Muckaty Station if the party claims the balance of power in the Senate. Continue reading
lingering radiation from Pacific nuclear bomb tests
the continued presence of radioactive contaminants in the Marshall Islands meant the US still had a special responsibility towards its people who continue to be adversely affected.
Pacific leaders criticise US over atomic legacy, ABC Radio Australia News, Sean DorneyL 6 Aug 2010, Leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum have taken the United States to task over the lasting impact of its nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands. Continue reading
Russian fires re-ignite Chernobyl’s radiation danger
Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu said heat from fires in the Bryansk region, which already has nuclear contamination from the Chernobyl disaster more than 20 years ago, could release harmful radioactive particles into the atmosphere.
Russia fires pose nuclear threat, death toll hits 50 | Reuters, 6 August 2010, Emergencies Ministry warns of nuclear threat By Amie Ferris-Rotman MOSCOW, – The Russian government warned on Thursday that the country’s deadliest wildfires in nearly four decades posed a nuclear threat if they are not contained, as the death toll rose to 50 and the blazes continued to spread. Continue reading
Western Australian govt prepared to compulsorily acquire Aboriginal land
WA still prepared to acquire LNG site, Sydney Morning Herald, August 4, 2010 The threat of compulsory acquisition continues to loom over the site of a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub in far north Western Australia, Premier Colin Barnett says. Continue reading
Maralinga Aboriginal victims call on Australian govts for help
“When you’ve got families that lose their sight or they’ve got crippling and terminal cancers because of these tests, you know you’ve got fundamental problems,” he said.
“We can’t continue to only give access to justice for non-Aboriginal people.”
Indigenous group still fighting for Maralinga compo, ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) 3 August 2010, The Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement says it needs $500,000 to continue its fight for compensation for Aboriginal people affected by British nuclear tests at Maralinga in the 1950s and 1960s. Continue reading
The cry of a bereaved Hiroshima father
“I wanted to pass on the fact that the atomic bombing does not end only with the sufferings of the generation of people who were directly exposed.”
Hibakusha writes to his dead child, BY HAJIMU TAKEDA THE ASAHI SHIMBUN, 3 Aug 2010, An 81-year-old survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima has written a letter addressed to his stillborn daughter, expressing his anguish at the possibility that his exposure to radiation was responsible for her fate. Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 