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Q&A : ‘Nuclear Energy Is Not a Solution to Climate Change’ - IPS ipsnews.net
As the threat of nuclear weapons looms large over the very existence of life on earth, Dr Sue Wareham, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear weapons’ (ICAN) Australian board member, is calling for a speedy abolition of these weapons and the rejection of nuclear power as a solution to climate change.
Speaking at the sessions on nuclear abolition and disarmament at the 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions here, Wareham said the power of religion should be harnessed to bring peace in the world through disarmament, abolition of nuclear weapons, eradication of poverty and action on climate change.
The six-day Parliament, which ends on Dec 9, is a gathering of religious and spiritual communities from different parts of the world to discuss issues relating to peace, diversity and sustainability.
Nuclear Energy Renewable Energy
The nuclear debate once again risks becoming simply caught up in the pros and cons of nuclear technology itself, missing the vital point that, in Australia, we have a host of safe, environmentally sustainable, economically viable alternatives to reduce our carbon emissions.
Given that renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions can be deployed now, at a scale and volume large enough to make a sizable dent in greenhouse gas emissions, reopening the conversation around nuclear is surely a debate and a distraction we don't need.
Coalition's nuclear play to inflate power bills
THE Opposition's desire to embrace nuclear power in the absence of an emissions trading scheme or carbon tax would result in electricity price rises of between 10 per cent and 33 per cent, according to estimates by the Howard government's nuclear energy expert, Ziggy Switkowski.
In a report for John Howard in 2006, Dr Switkowski found nuclear power would never be commercially viable unless fossil fuel-generated electricity was made more expensive using an ETS or carbon tax.
This resulted in Mr Howard embracing an emissions trading scheme as a way to reduce greenhouse gases while keeping open the nuclear option for the future.
Protests continue over uranium mine proposal - 24/11/2009
Protestors in Alice Springs say opposition is growing to a proposed uranium mine close to the town.
Jess Abrahams, from the Arid Lands Environment Centre, says they believe industries like cattle grazing and ecotourism will be at risk should the mine go ahead.
He says they're calling on the government to reject any application for a mining lease at Angela Pamela, 25 kilometres south of Alice Springs.
We will quit if uranium mine opens, say doctors
DOCTORS at the only Aboriginal medical service in Alice Springs have threatened to leave if the Federal Government allows a Canadian company to mine uranium near the town.
Protesters will press Northern Territory MPs to stop their support when Parliament sits in Central Australia tomorrow. They say it threatens the town's future and could set a precedent for other urban centres.
France backs Aussie nuclear power industry | The Australian
FRANCE, the world's most nuclearised country, has backed a nuclear power industry in Australia.
The French government's environment ambassador Laurent Stefanini says nuclear power is a good fit for a country that has the world's largest uranium reserves.
Mr Stefanini said that going nuclear is a reliable and useful way to avoid greenhouse gas emissions, and there have been no major accidents in France.
Nearly 80 per cent of France's electricity comes from nuclear reactors and its emissions are about one-third of Australia's on a per capita basis.
Green Left - Nuclear debate: A dangerous option that wont solve climate change (Jim Green)
There are three main problems with the nuclear “solution” to climate change — it is a blunt instrument, a dangerous one, and it is unnecessary.
First, nuclear power could at most make a modest contribution to climate change abatement. The main limitation is that it is used almost exclusively for electricity generation, which accounts for about one-quarter of global greenhouse emissions.
Doubling global nuclear power output by mid-century at the expense of coal would reduce greenhouse emissions by about 5%.
AdelaideNow... Alarm over radioactive waste plan
ABOUT 80 drums of radioactive waste has been earmarked to be shifted 450km from Edinburgh RAAF base to a new waste dump at Woomera.
The Defence Department is seeking licence approvals to turn an old explosives storage building into the Koolymilka Waste Storage Facility in the Woomera Prohibited area.
Defence has told The Advertiser that it also plans to shift 206 44-gallon (194 litres) drums – or about 40 cubic metres – from a nearby Woomera site for the new "temporary" waste dump.
Uranium to Exceed $50 on Olympic Dam Slowdown, Macquarie Says - Bloomberg
Uranium will rise above $50 a pound in coming weeks because of reduced production at BHP Billiton Ltd.’s Olympic Dam mine in Australia, Macquarie Bank Ltd. said.
Prices have added 9.8 percent over the past two weeks on concern about reduced supply following an accident at Olympic Dam, the world’s fourth-largest producing uranium mine. Uranium oxide concentrate for immediate delivery traded at $47.75 a pound on Oct. 19, Roswell, Georgia-based UxC said in a weekly report.
“Uranium will go up into the low $50s over the next month,” Max Layton, an analyst at Macquarie in London, said by phone today.
Probe into uranium mine leak continues - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
The Commonwealth supervising scientist of the Ranger uranium mine at Kakadu National Park says investigations are continuing into water contamination at the site.
Alan Hughes has told a Senate estimates committee that Energy Resources of Australia has conducted geophysical surveys to determine the impact and extent of leaking from a tailings dam at the mine.
Mr Hughes says the company has only preliminary results from the surveys and is not sure if ERA will make the findings public.
"I understand that they are having significant discussions with the traditional owners and the Northern Land Council about tailings and seepage issues on an ongoing basis," he said.
Nuclear power: not clean, not cheap, not safe
My students usually identify the seven fatal flaws in nuclear energy (''Nuclear power the way to cut emissions'', October 14) within 10 minutes of discussion:
1) the still unsolved problem of safely dealing with the radioactive waste; 2) the huge amounts of carbon released into the atmosphere during the mining, transport and processing of the ore; 3) the extraordinarily high costs of building the plants; 4) the massive amounts of water required for their operation; 5) hostile attack; 6) peak uranium and, finally, what all the advocates never mention, 7) the crippling costs of decommissioning the obsolete plants that will sit where they are until kingdom come.
Court hears uranium protesters locked in container - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Court hears uranium protesters locked in container
Civil action starts over uranium protest in 2000
A civil trial has started in the SA Supreme Court over police treatment of protesters at an outback uranium mine.
Ten protesters who were locked in a shipping container at Beverley in South Australia in 2000 are claiming damages from the government for injury and suffering caused by their allegedly false imprisonment.
The government has already settled out of court with three other plaintiffs who had been part of the class action.
A lawyer for the remaining plaintiffs, Brian Walters, told the court the protesters were given no warning before police beat them with batons, used capsicum spray and locked them in a shipping container with no water or toilet facilities for up to eight hours.
They are now suing the state government over their treatment by police.
Danger in nuclear waste move: ACF - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Nearly 10,000 barrels of nuclear waste will be moved again in the Woomera prohibited area, to a more suitable storage facility.
The Defence Department is planning to move the barrels a few kilometres from where they are stored in an old aircraft hangar, to an explosives storage building.
David Noonan from the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) says the Federal Government needs to find a permanent site for the waste.
AdelaideNow... Call to refine our own uranium
HEATHGATE Resources wants to build a uranium conversion plant at its Beverley mine to add greater value to the raw material it mines at the site.
Heathgate president David Williams said it was time to consider conversion, which is the stage before uranium is enriched in preparation for use as a nuclear fuel.
"You are still not into the contentious stage. Why couldn't we do a conversion in Australia?" Mr Williams says in an interview in today's SA Weekend magazine. "Why couldn't we do that value add in Australia?
"I think that will be an interesting debate to go forward. Are we simply going to stay as an exporter of the raw material or are we going to do a bit more?"
Labor's uranium policy flawed: Bowler - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
The Independent Member for Kalgoorlie, John Bowler, expects the Labor Party will eventually abandon its anti-uranium stance.
The Opposition Leader, Eric Ripper, has rejected reports of an internal rift over the issue.
It comes after the shadow treasurer, Ben Wyatt, said a future Labor Government would not shut down mines approved by the current Government.
Uranium royalty changes 'will exploit Aboriginals' - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Anti-nuclear activists in Alice Springs say changes to uranium royalties in the Northern Territory will make way for the exploitation of Aboriginal communities.
The bill extends the royalty system so miners pay a fixed rate only if they are making profits, rather than basing the rate on production.
The bill was passed in the federal Senate earlier this week.
Jimmy Cocking from the Arid Lands Environment Centre says the Federal Government has bowed to industry pressure and Aboriginal people will suffer.
"It's going to be easier for companies to get it up so you might find that companies who are more marginal - not the big producers but the more marginal companies - will start digging and then find out that they can't even pay for the rehabilitation costs," he said.
"That's of concern because you end up with a big radioactive hole and no money to fill it with."
China nuclear firm swoops on Australia uranium firm | Markets | Reuters
Chinese state-owned power producer China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co. Ltd has agreed a takeover bid for Australian uranium explorer Energy Metals (EME.AX), the Australian company said on Tuesday.
Under the deal, the Chinese firm will buy up to 70 percent of Energy Metals for A$1.02 per share and underwrite a 1-for-9 rights issue by the Australian firm at 90 cents a share.
Energy Metals's 40 percent shareholder, Jindalee Resources (JRL.AX) Ltd, intends to accept the Chinese bid, in the absence of a superior offer, Energy Metals said. Energy Metals shares last traded at 86 cents a share, giving it market value of about A$100 million ($86 million). ($1=1.169 Australian Dollar) (Reporting by Mark Bendeich; Editing by Jonathan Standing)
Faragher urged to review uranium mine - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Several appeals have been lodged against the planned environmental review of the Yeelirrie uranium mine in Western Australia's Goldfields.
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) released its environmental review and management program for public comment, which closed on Monday.
The Greens joined the Conservation Council and seven others in seeking to change the way the environmental impact of the mine is assessed.
Greens MP Robin Chapple says the Environment Minister, Donna Faragher, should conduct a ministerial review of the project.
Nationals split over nuclear power | Telstra BigPond News and Weather
Another split has emerged in the coalition, this time over nuclear power.
Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce told his party's annual federal council meeting in Canberra at the weekend that a referendum should be held asking voters if they want nuclear power in Australia.
When asked if nuclear power was a Liberal Party policy, the opposition's environment spokesman Greg Hunt said it was not.
'It's not on our plans, it's not on the table at the moment, and it won't be until such time as there is bipartisan support,' Mr Hunt told ABC Radio on Monday.
Green Left - A uranium hole in the heart
A typically dusty drive 25 kilometres south of central Australia’s Alice Springs brings you to an unlocked gate beside the old Ghan railway line.
Behind the fence, among the rolling red desert hills, drilling workers are boring 120 holes into an area of earth said to contain about 12,000 tonnes of uranium oxide. The ore is worth up to $2.5 billion.
The uranium deposits, named Angela and Pamela, were first discovered in the 1970s and ’80s, but lay dormant until a new exploration licence was granted by the Northern Territory government late last year.
Canadian company Cameco and Australian-owned Paladin, the two businesses involved in the joint venture, hope to build Australia’s fifth uranium mine — well inside the Alice Springs water catchment boundary.
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