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.
Two soldiers killed fighting wildfires around Russia’s nuclear sites
..Two members of the Russian armed forces were killed Monday fighting wildfires around the major nuclear research centre in Sarov, a town still closed to foreigners as in Soviet times.
Russia battles to defend nuclear sites from fires, Google hosted news, By Stuart Williams (AFP) – 11 Aug 2010, MOSCOW — Russia fought a deadly battle Tuesday to prevent wildfires from engulfing key nuclear sites as alarm mounted over the impact on health of a toxic smoke cloud shrouded over Moscow. 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
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
Information on Nagasaki radiation effects has been censored
Nagasaki was “forgotten” from the very start, thanks to a blatant act of press censorship…..the real reason for the censorship was the United States did not want the world to learn about the morally troubling radiation effects
Press Censorship: How the Truth Was Hidden About Nagasaki | The Nation, 9 Aug 2010, Greg Mitchell “………..many who support the first atomic bombing have expressed severe misgivings about number two because of the failure of United States to give the Japanese at least a few more days to consider surrender after the first blast (and the Soviets’ declaration of war). Kurt Vonnegut Jr. once said in an interview that the “nastiest act by this country, after human slavery, was the bombing of Nagasaki.” Continue reading
Russia’s wildfires cause radiation concerns
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
Nuclear Concerns as Russian Wildfires Spread Near Chernobyl, The Atlantic Wire, By Max Fisher , August 06, 2010 The hundreds of wildfires still spreading through Russia are beginning to approach areas affected by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. Continue reading
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
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
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
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
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
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
Radioactive wastes could truck through Riverina, NSW
“We’re talking about literally hundreds and over time thousands of trucks of radioactive waste passing through these transport corridor communities.”
Residents warned of radioactive transport corridor, ABC Riverina NSW – Australian Broadcasting Corporation August 3, 2010 The group Friends of the Earth has warned that the city of Wagga Wagga could be affected by Commonwealth plans to move nuclear waste from Lucas Heights to a new dump in the Northern Territory. Continue reading
A “dirty bomb’ could be made from medical radioactive isotopes
since cesium can be stolen from a hospital and thus can be more easily acquired than, say, uranium or plutonium, it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine a terrorist group acquiring enough cesium to construct a barrage of low-explosive, highly radioactive bombs and blanketing a major city with them.
The Real Deal With Cesium,THE HUFFINGTON POST, Rizwan Ladha, 2 Aug 2010, The idea has been floated for a long time of using cesium in a radioactive “dirty bomb,” which wouldn’t have the same explosive power as a uranium or plutonium nuclear bomb but would contaminate land, water supplies and living organisms, including people. Continue reading
France leads in nuclear financial disaster
Last week, AREVA posted a massive operating loss of 485 million euros for the first half of 2010…..Electricite de France (EDF) finds itself in a similar predicament. In the first half of 2010, the company saw its profits slashed by almost half.
France leads the way in the nuclear debacle Greenpeace International, by jmckeati – August 2, 2010 If you want to know why the so-called nuclear ‘renaissance’ is never going to happen, you need only look at the news that’s been coming out of France in the last few days. Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
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