Antinuclear

Australian news, and some related international items

A nuclear war cannot be won: nuclear weapons do not deter terrorists

The Concerned Scientists established the Nuclear Nights and Nuclear Winter paradigm in 1985, declaring that a nuclear war cannot be fought, nor can it be won. Moscow and Washington, having signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, nevertheless face the costly problem of keeping thousands of decommissioned nuclear warheads safe.

Do nations need nuclear weapons?, The Hindu, Dhirendra Sharma, 9 Aug 2010, “………….Once a nuclear war begins, there will be no struggle between good and evil, the jihadis and the infidels, dharma and adharma. “Survivors will envy the dead,” as Nikhita Khrushchev warned…… Continue reading

August 9, 2010 Posted by | Uncategorized | , | Leave a comment

On Nagasaki Day – a call for Australia to help abolish nuclear weapons

There is another step that Australia could take also to help rid the world of this scourge – to refuse to supply nuclear fuel to any nation that has nuclear weapons.

(at left, a church in Nagasaki, 9 Aug, 1945)

Sixty-five years of living under the threat of the mushroom cloud – On Line Opinion, Dr Sue Wareham,  – 6/8/2010 Two things pose an overwhelming threat to the planet as we know it, climate change and nuclear weapons, and neither is receiving a serious commitment to action by the two contenders for the position of Prime Minister of Australia. While effective measures of the magnitude needed to address climate change are nowhere to be seen in their policies, nuclear weapons haven’t even rated a mention in the campaigning.
Perhaps August 6 and August 9, the 65th anniversaries of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, will serve to remind Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott of the 23,000 weapons that continue to threaten the destruction of cities around the globe, including in Australia. Continue reading

August 9, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, uranium, weapons and war | , , , , | Leave a comment

Bristish govt fights against compensation as nuclear vets die

Since making the appeal, a further 39 veterans have passed away and others continue to die at a rate of three a month.

Nagasaki 65 years on: British nuclear test vets push for MoD   compensation,  Metro.co.uk John Higginson – 8th August, 2010, Britain’s nuclear test veterans who are battling to secure £20million in compensation are urging the government to pay up before any more of them die. Continue reading

August 8, 2010 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , | Leave a comment

Black rain – Hiroshima survivors tell

It was a black rain with big drops……

This It How It Feels To Be Under A Nuclear Attack | Gizmodo Australia, By Akiko Takakura and others on August 6, 2010 “………..Since Hiroshima was completely enveloped in flames, we felt terribly hot and could not breathe well at all. After a while, a whirlpool of fire approached us from the south. Continue reading

August 7, 2010 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , | Leave a comment

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

August 7, 2010 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Greens’ Dr di Natale calls for Australia to commit to Nuclear Weapons Convention

Dr di Natale said Australia must commit to an international Nuclear Weapons Convention (NWC) by no later than 2015.

ALP stormwater cash splash for Melbourne, Sydney Morning Herald, August 6, 2010 “………Greens Senate candidate for Victoria Richard di Natale has used the 65th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings to call for an end to nuclear weapons.

Dr di Natale said Australia must commit to an international Nuclear Weapons Convention (NWC) by no later than 2015.”Sixty five years marks the year of retirement. Today the Greens are asking Australia to commit to retiring nuclear weapons,” he said….. ALP stormwater cash splash for Melbourne

August 6, 2010 Posted by | General News | , , | Leave a comment

Hiroshima children plead for nuclear disarmament

VIDEO  MillionPleas A reminder of the real significance of today: 65 years since Hiroshima August 6, 2010 –, by Croakey Today is an important day. And not because, as some people are saying, the election campaign has finally become interesting.Thanks to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons for reminding us of the day’s significance.
The first pleas come from Japanese children at the Hiroshima Peace Park together with one of the survivors of the original nuclear attack. Join them at http://www.millionpleas.com.” MillionPleas

A reminder of the real significance of today: 65 years since Hiroshima – Croakey

August 6, 2010 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , , | Leave a comment

Australia ‘inactive’ on Nuclear Disarmament

“At the May 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, Australia was noticeably inactive, failing to walk the talk, merely aligning itself with the United States……..

Hiroshima Day – and still 23,000 loaded weapons! « Darren Churchill: Australian Democrats Senate Candidate for the ACT 6 August,  2010 The Australian Government is playing games on the issue of nuclear disarmament says the Australian Democrats’ lead Senate candidate in the ACT, Darren Churchill Continue reading

August 6, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, weapons and war | , , , , | Leave a comment

Australia’s Hiroshima Day TV message

A television commercial featuring atomic bomb survivors at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park appealing for the abolition of nuclear weapons will be broadcast in Australia on Friday, the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing.

Ban, Okada confirm effort to eradicate nukes,The Japan Times Online, Aug. 4, 2010, By MASAMI ITOS U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon confirmed Tuesday with Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada that Japan and the world body will aim for the abolition of nuclear weapons…. Continue reading

August 4, 2010 Posted by | General News | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Muckaty nuclear dump – a foot in the door for international wastes

Senator Brown says it is only a matter of time before Australia’s first nuclear waste dump stores high level waste from overseas.

“Wait for it, it will become high level further down the line as the waste problem for China, for the US, for the USSR ,as it used to be, Russia, for Europe, for Taiwan.

Store nuclear waste at source, not in NT: Brown,  ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) By Jane Bardon, 4 August 2010, “….After launching the Greens campaign in the Territory, Greens leader Senator Bob Brown has called for nuclear waste to be stored where it is produced, such as Lucas Heights in Sydney. Continue reading

August 4, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, wastes | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How the USA Hollywoodised the bombing of Hiroshima

The Hollywoodization of the bomb had begun. Even in minor details, the film now justified the bombing…….. the White House demanded further changes; among them, deleting a reference to morally concerned scientists who favored demonstrating the bomb for Japanese leaders in a remote area before dropping it on a city……

WHITE HOUSE COVER-UP: How Truman Edited Hollywood’s First Movie About the Atomic Bomb,  The Nation, Greg Mitchell and Robert Jay Lifton, 4 August 2010,  “……Here’s a close-up look at the “coverup”–led by the Truman White House–of the first “Hiroshima movie,”  some of it based on material we were first to discover at the Truman Library in Missouri. Continue reading

August 4, 2010 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , , | Leave a comment

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

August 4, 2010 Posted by | General News | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

August 4, 2010 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Governments shut people up about nuclear veterans

More than 20,000 servicemen witnessed hundreds of atom tests in Australia, US and South Pacific in the Fifties and Sixties – now 3,000 survivors say they are riddled with cancers.

(UK) The Ministry of Defence  wants to gag MPs over scandal of Britain’s nuclear test veterans   mirror.co.uk, By Susie Boniface 1/08/2010, The MoD wants to gag MPs over the scandal of Britain’s nuclear test veterans. Continue reading

August 2, 2010 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

USA govt put soldiers at risk from depleted uranium

DU is a dense metal added to munitions and bombs to pierce tanks and armor, and the military seems to chose unrestricted use of the radioactive substance over its soldiers’ safety.

(USA) Document Reveals Military Was Concerned About Gulf War Vets’ Exposure To Depleted Uranium, CounterCurrents.org, By Mike Ludwig29 July, 2010 For years, the government has denied that depleted uranium (DU), a radioactive toxic waste left over from nuclear fission and added to munitions used in the Persian Gulf and Iraq wars, poisoned Iraqi civilians and veterans. Continue reading

July 30, 2010 Posted by | uranium | , , , , , | Leave a comment