Antinuclear

Australian news, and some related international items

Pro nuclear indoctrination needed in Indonesia?

‘near-fraudulent accounting practices endemic within the nuclear industry that continue to blind people to the true economic costs and penalties involved in nuclear power’? If nuclear power was really as safe, clean, cheap and reliable as its supporters insist, there’d be no need to ‘socialize’ anybody.

Socializing the dangers of nuclear power Greenpeace International, by jmckeati – May 18, 2010

Indonesia is committed to have a nuclear power plant soon as new source of energy, officials said here on Monday. For the purpose, Indonesia has allocated 7 billion rupiah (about 769,633 U.S. dollars) for nuclear power plant socialization to curb fear among people. Continue reading

May 19, 2010 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , | Leave a comment

Review: Nuke waste resisted, Radiation and Breast Cancer

Australia: Muckaty Aboriginal owners take their fight internationally. To public outcry, Paul Howes pushes for uranium mining in Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary. Martin Ferguson manages to avoid supporting real progress in renewable energy. Tony Abbott promises to slow renewable energy.  Calls to phase out Victoria’s brown coal, and move to  job intensive renewables.

International: Renewed concern over special cancer dangers for women and the young, from ionising radiation. Water issues threaten nuclear industry’s future. UK’s new govt raises doubts on new nuclear. Iran does uranium swap deal with Turkey. Cannes film festival launches “Countdown to Zero”. Indian community action stops uranium mining in National Park.

May 18, 2010 Posted by | Christina reviews, uranium, water | , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Muckaty nuclear waste battle goes to a global audience

YouTube – Muckaty Voices

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcuNpT84Ov

The proposed waste dump law excludes the Muckaty Traditional Owners from procedural fairness and appeal rights, removes Aboriginal Heritage and environmental protections and overrides any Commonwealth, State and Territory laws that could be used to oppose or challenge the dump plan.

From the campfire to cyberspace: Radioactive waste concerns go global, Natalie Wasley, 18 May 2001 Aboriginal Traditional Owners opposed to a radioactive waste dump at Muckaty Station in the Northern Territory of Australia have taken their campaign to a global online audience. Continue reading

May 18, 2010 Posted by | aboriginal issues, AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, uranium | , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Nuclear industry’s future in UK looking doubtful

nuclear plants are not needed if the government will invest enough in energy conservation.

Will the new U.K. government support nuclear energy? The Energy Collective,  by Dan Yurman, 17 May 2010, Energy & Climate Minister pledges “not one atom of help” from the government The future of nuclear energy in the U.K. does not look bright based on the rhetoric coming from Chris Huhne, the new government’s Energy & Climate minister and key advisor to Conservative Party coalition partner David Cameron. Continue reading

May 18, 2010 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , | Leave a comment

Paul Howes, like Martin Ferguson, a Nuclear Salesman

A loyal class-war warrior | The Australian, 18 May 2010,  “ THE Secretary of the Australian Workers’ Union, Paul Howes, …….. Perhaps the most controversial position Howes has taken, one that puts him at odds with the Labor government, is his staunch support for nuclear energy in this country.He has spoken on the issue in a number of public forums, and received front-page newspaper coverage for the stance, including in The Australian. Continue reading

May 18, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, people, uranium | , , , , | Leave a comment

An Inconvenient Film about Nuclear Weapons

Queen Noor –  “I believe this film needs to be seen throughout the world, and help those populations mobilize to put pressure on political leaders or support political leaders who support the elimination of nuclear weapons.”

Cannes 2010: Queen Noor and Valerie Plame Wilson on Nukes – THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, May 17, 2010 Continue reading

May 18, 2010 Posted by | uranium | , , , , | Leave a comment

Save Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary from uranium mining, says Liberal Senator

Arkaroola too precious to mine: Minchin , The Independent Weekly, 14 May, 2010 South Australia’s Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary is too precious to turn over to uranium mining, South Australian Senator Nick Minchin says.

The Liberal Senator says he is appalled that the Australian Workers Union is in favour of opening the sanctuary to the uranium industry. Continue reading

May 15, 2010 Posted by | environment, South Australia, uranium | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Uranium salesman Paul Howes calls for Arkaroola mining

powerbroker and AWU national secretary Paul Howes said he had been convinced of the merits of mining during talks with Marathon Resources, a uranium explorer which had previously lost its licence over breaching of waste disposal conditions…………

Union calls for uranium mining in Arkaroola sanctuary | Adelaide Now, Christopher Russell, 14 May 2010, ONE of the nation’s most powerful unions says uranium miners should be allowed to exploit a huge deposit of the mineral in the Arkaroola reserve in the northern Flinders Ranges…..the union and the miners face a bitter battle to develop the pristine wilderness and popular film setting known as one of the state’s natural geological wonders.

Lined up against developers are film-maker Rolf de Heer – who calls the site “the single most extraordinary piece of South Australia in existence” Continue reading

May 14, 2010 Posted by | politics, South Australia, uranium | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ionising radiation a greater cause of breast cancer than previously thought

“Our work shows that radiation can change the microenvironment of breast cells, and this in turn can allow the growth of abnormal cells with a long-lived phenotype that has a much greater potential to be cancerous,”

Study Raises New Concerns About Radiation and Breast Cancer « Berkeley Lab News Center, 14 May 2010, “………It is well established that exposure to ionizing radiation can result in mutations or other genetic damage that cause cells to turn cancerous. Now a new study led by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has revealed another way in which radiation can promote cancer development. Continue reading

May 14, 2010 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , , | Leave a comment

Labor breaks election promise to set up inappropriate nuclear waste dump

Medical experts – including nuclear medicine practitioners – confirm that Australians can continue to have unimpeded access to diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicines without the need for this dump.

Labor reneges on nuclear waste promise, The Age, DAVE SWEENEY, May 14, 2010 Before the 2007 election, federal Labor promised a new approach to the management of radioactive waste, Continue reading

May 14, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ionising radiation double the cancer risk for the young

Younger Patients Face Double Radiation Risk from CT Scans: Study, Ethiopian Review, May 13th, 2010 Younger patients run a higher risk of health problems from radiation exposure caused by computed tomography (CT) scans, according to a new study. Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina found that the radiation risk for younger patients were double those of older patients in a CT radiation exposure study presented last week at the American Roentgen Ray Society 2010 annual meeting in San Diego, CA. Scientists say that the findings indicate that age is another factor that doctors should consider when ordering CT scans. Younger Patients Face Double Radiation Risk from CT Scans: Study

May 14, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics, uranium | , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nuclear industry can no longer hide radiation danger to workers

The “Silkwood Syndrome” of denial by employers and governments has dogged Australia since the 1950s….the nuclear industry must realise it risks embarrassment on a global scale should it persist in these tactics.

Things are always officially perfectly safe –  nuclearhistory « Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog, 14 May 2010, ….In late July l996 the Australian Democrats raised the issue of radiological safety in the SA State Parliament.The Democrats report that workers employed at Roxby Downs were contaminated while performing nuclear duties in relation to radioactive waste owned by the Commonwealth. Continue reading

May 14, 2010 Posted by | secrets and lies, South Australia | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Britain’s new coalition govt a big worry for nuclear industry

“No private sector investor has built a nuclear power station anywhere in the world without lashings of government subsidy since Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. The World Bank refuses to lend on nuclear projects because of the long history of overruns. Our message is clear, No to nuclear, as it is not a short cut, but a dead end.”

Britain’s nuclear industry wakes up to an explosive problem as Chris Huhne moves in – Telegraph Blogs, 14 May 2010, “…………there remains a sizeable threat that the Liberals could force a time-consuming and costly public inquiry that delays the new build. Continue reading

May 14, 2010 Posted by | uranium | , , , , | Leave a comment

Methinks the uranium corporations do protest too much

Australia’s media is awash with the anger of BHP Billiton and other uranium miners, (even weird little Cauldron Energy), about the government’s super profit resources tax. Their threat is to wind down uranium mining, leave Australia etc.

But uranium mining is winding down anyway. BHP Billiton’s Grat Big New Mine is far from happening, as Olympic Dam still producing about a quarter capacity, with a damaged main shaft.

Recent Nuclear Non Proliferation arrangements mean that countries can get nuclear fuel from old nuclear weapons (no uranium mining needed for that).  And the famous Nuclear Resuscitation (sorry, did I mean Renaissance?) – is not really happening.

And – it’s rude to mention this – but just one nuclear mishap like the current oil mishaps, and nuclear power is dead in the water forever.

May 13, 2010 Posted by | Christina reviews, energy, uranium | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bad news for the uranium market

bad news for the uranium market.

Uranium threatened by political shake-ups FP Trading Desk May 12, 2010,   by Peter Koven It has been a week of political overhaul in Europe, and one of the victims in the fallout could be the continent’s nuclear renaissance. Continue reading

May 13, 2010 Posted by | uranium | , , , | Leave a comment