Adelaide Advertiser, mouthpiece of the nuclear lobby, excels itself in sycophancy

I knew that The Advertiser was the mouthpiece of the nuclear lobby, anyway, but their latest effort wasreally sick-making. A rave which portrays Premier Weatherill as some kind of democratic champion, and which is pushing the soft sell that the decision on nuclear waste importing will not happen soon, but be dragged on for years.  (They  don’t say this, but in the interim, the nuke lobby has time to get secret arrangements made – and money lent to South Australia, so that ultimately, it might all be just too committed to turn back.)

A Premier with any spine might make a decision, a soon decision, and a wise one, to say no to the whole noxious scheme, – send home the business lobbyists and the propaganda spruikers like Geraldine Thomas, put the lid on the shonky Nuclear Royal Commission’s biased report, stop the silly nuke spinning Forums, and get on with running South Australia properly.   Such an opportunity that State has, as a world leader in renewable energy!

 

Lack of trust more toxic than nuclear dump notion: Daniel Wills, The Advertiser September 23, 2016   “South Australia is still at the stage where it needs reassurance about the science, as well as the competency and motivations of a government that would oversee its administration.

No site has been selected to house the world’s high-level international waste for profit, should the state choose to build one, nor any explanation of how one would be picked. The State Government is yet to overturn laws that ban public money being spent on investigating the establishment of a nuclear dump or even to pick up the phone to ask places like Japan what they would pay…….
The Finnish operators say they would jump at the chance to form an alliance with SA to build a dump here…..

Mr Weatherill is likely to confirm before Christmas that the Government will begin the serious work of developing a robust business case…….

Expect the Government to seek money from overseas to undertake a major geological survey that rules out places too unsafe for disposal to occur. At a cost of up to $1 billion, this is too expensive for SA to fund itself, but could have the benefit of doubling as a discovery tool for new mining deposits.

From there, it is likely the offer will be thrown open to communities to show an interest, and estimates made of what they could receive. Even on the most extremely rapid timeline, that point is unlikely to have been reached by the time voters head to the polls in March 2018.

This project is multi-generational, with a point of no return years away. But it is a doubtful and open question as to whether our politics are up to the job…….Mr Weatherill has framed this as a great test of our democracy’s ability to consider difficult questions and come to wise solutions. … http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/lack-of-trust-more-toxic-than-nuclear-dump-notion-daniel-wills/news-story/e927e455e6f244f35a8b6743bc791adb

Last week in nuclear and climate news Australia

Once again, I have to admit, that however terrible the nuclear industry is, the climate threat is the currently urgent global danger. That’s because the “window of opportunity” to contain it is near to closing.    Global warming will accelerate as oceans reach limits of remediation. Climate change action can be stopped by Trans Pacific Partnership.

Internationally, the nuclear industry, notably in China, got  a boost from the UK government’s decision to go ahead with the Hinkley Point C project. Not everyone was happy about that. Russia felt the need to warn of the negative effect that would resound around the world, if the Hinkley project stuffed up.

AUSTRALIA

NUCLEAR

South Australia.  Premier Jay Weatherill wrote a deceptive pro nuclear article. (I’ll be writing more about this at a later stage). However, the comments below his article showed that not all registered Advertiser readers were taken in. Weatherill has gone to Finland accompanied by pro nuclear advocates.  Jay Weatherill’s plan is not only ridiculously long term, but also political dynamite. Meanwhile, Finland companies keen to market their nuclear waste technology to South Australia. In that same article Weatherill mentions the next step in his campaign –  to change South Australia’s law against nuclear waste storage 

The SA government runs a nuclear “Your Say” site. People must register to comment. And they do. Some critical comments are posted.  80 % of ABC North and West listeners oppose South Australia’s nuclear waste import plan.

The SA government continues its nuclear roadshow. Very little media information. Facebook can be a source of news, e.g.Nuclear Fuel Cycle Watch South Australia and Fight to Stop Nuclear Waste Dump in Flinders Ranges SA

CLIMATE. Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) lodges appeal against Federal Court’s approval of giant Adani coal mine.

Renewable Energy. Business Investment in Renewable Energy hit by government cuts to Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

INTERNATIONAL

Another secret and dangerous trade deal – the Trade In Services Agreement.

Risk of another Chernobyl or Fukushima type accident is plausible, experts say.

Practically permanent plunge for the uranium market.

EUROPE. European Court of Auditors see nuclear decommissioning funds shortfall.

UK.  A second successful nuclear convoy holdup by intrepid Scottish pensioner.   BBC and Science Media Centre (SMC UK) are pro nuclear spruikers. Liberal Democrats oppose Hinkley nuclear plan – ‘very poor value for money’. Theresa May caved in, approving Hinkley nuclear, but the nuclear debate is far from over. Major challenges ahead for Britain’s new nuclear plans – warns EDF chief.  Scotttish politicians slam the danger, secrecy, of hazardous air transport of nuclear wastes.

JAPAN. Area not far from Tokyo hit by 6.4 earthquake. Failure of Japan’s 20 year, costly, Monju nuclear reprocessing project   Fukushima. Underground Water Now Surfacing in Fukushima Daiichi.  Panel to examine options for wrecked Fukushima plant. Fukushima unveils grand plan for alternative energy transmission line networks.

USA.

• Nuclear weapons cuts for USA? Obama tries, but has limited options.  USA and South Korea to conduct mock attack on nuclear facility, (with North Korea in mind).
• US taxpayers up for huge costs for accident at Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP).
• Alarm, and lawsuit, over dangers of trucking nuclear waste interstate in America.
• USA could lend $billions to India – anything to sell nuclear reactors!
• New York congressman questions impact of climate change on nuclear facilities.
• Factor climate into national security policy – executive direction by President Obama.
• Wind energy getting popular with USA Republicans.

SOUTH AFRICA. High Court in South Africa to hear case against government’s nuclear power plan. . President Zuma signs secret Russian nuclear deal   South Africa’s Energy Minister is asked to release all nuclear-bid information. South Africa has no plan for dealing with nuclear waste.

CHINA. Further nuclear power development in China will require local public consent

CANADA. Canada’s SNC Lavalin marketing nuclear reactors to China.

Climate, Nuclear news – focus on Britain

CLIMATE.  Approaching the First Climate Tipping Point — On Track to Hit 1.5 C Before 2035.   Low Arctic sea ice in 2016 – close to record low level. Marshall Islanders culture threatened: emigration as sea level rises.   Polar bears losing habitat as sea ice melting earlier, and refreezing later. Extreme drought: the impact of climate change and El Nino on the Amazon rainforest. Climate change endangers nuclear facilities, as water supplies heat up and evaporate.

NUCLEAR. In Britain, Prime Minister Theresa May finally gave the go-ahead for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power project. This decision, like New York’s decision to subsidise the nuclear industry, will have global effects.

The decision was probably inevitable, given the circumstances. The factors at play were:

• UK government under strong pressure
• Global nuclear lobby’s pressing need for a new ‘poster’ project to start happening. American  corporation General Electric ready for contracts.
• For France’s nuclear company EDF ,  the Hinkley project is their last chance to regain credibility, market their wares, and avoid bankruptcy.
• For China it’s an important overseas marketing coup, and a prelude to more, and lucrative, nuclear projects in Britain.
• Conflicts of interest: Costain engineering company is in Theresa May’s constituency, and is receiving contracts for work in the Hinkley C nuclear project. Top level former UK advisers and civil servants are linked with EDF, former MPs, especially, (but not only) Tories, now work as nuclear lobbyists and advisers to EDF.  May’s husband, Philip, works for investment company Capital Group. It, in turn, has a nearly 10% stake in French company Schneider Electric, which has been awarded a contract at Hinkley.

For everyone else, especially the British public, it’s  a very bad deal. –  E3G, a leading climate change think tank sets out reasons why going ahead with Hinkley is a massive mistake. It is  a megaproject which could become a “stranded asset”.  After all, Hinkley still might not ever happen.  Renewables are faster and better.

AUSTRALIA

SOUTH AUSTRALIA. Jay Weatherill dithering on when to make a decision about nuclear waste importing for South Australia.  South Australian Premier off to Finland to visit unfinished and costly nuclear waste facility. A nuclear -led economic recovery for South Australia starting 15 years away – no way! says Liberal leader. Taxpayers up for huge costs in South Australia – just for the PLANNING for nuclear waste importing, before any decision. .

Turnbull govt slashes half-a-billion dollars from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency,but doesn’t actually kill it.

INTERNATIONAL

 DNA damage, cancer caused by ionizing radiation identified.   Linear No Threshold Theory (LNT) of ionising radiation is backed by new research.

Gloom pervades The World Nuclear Association (WNA) Symposium 2016.

USA.  Hillary Clinton’s role in the Fukushima nuclear disaster cover-up. Illegal hiding of emails.  Nuclear industry will grind to a halt, if no waste disposal solution.   America giving up on the Mixed Oxide Nuclear Fuel (MOX) nuclear reprocessing boondoggle.

UK. It could have been an ISIS terrorist. Lucky it was only a peace protestor holding up nuclear weapons convoy

SOUTH AFRICA  South Africa’s economy could be destroyed by this unnecessary nuclear power build.

IRAN. West not keeping its commitment for Iran trade, in nuclear deal.

RUSSIA. Russia has not changed its nuclear weapons doctrine -Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) conference

SOUTH KOREA. Earthquakes cause South Korea to halt four nuclear reactors.

CANADA. Canadian political parties forced to reimburse illegal SNC-Lavalin donations.

Australia’s pro nuclear lobbyists more interested in Small Modular Nuclear Reactors than in waste storage

Back on the radar: Developing nuclear reactors along with storing nuclear waste, Independent Australia  Noel Wauchope 7 September 2016,  “……..recent pro-nuclear submissions to the South Australian Parliament’s Joint Committee on Findings of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission have instead focussed on the benefits of “new nuclear” technology, particularly “small modular reactors” (SMRs) — note how the word “nuclear” is left out since people distrust it.
The global nuclear lobby is keenly interested in the South Australian government’s plan to import nuclear waste, because it would solve the waste problem for nuclear companies wanting to sell reactors and particularly, new types of nuclear reactors, to Asian countries.

This idea was pioneered by Australians and spelt out early in 2015, just as the NFCRC was starting, in an ABC Radio National talk by Oscar Archer. Since then, we haven’t heard any more about this, as the whole emphasis in SA government propaganda, has been on the billions supposedly to be made by that state from importing nuclear wastes. The idea of developing new nuclear technology is mentioned in the NFCRC report (p56 and p63) but very much played down and not recommended for South Australia.

Still, for foreign nuclear companies, the underlying aim is to further, or more correctly, to save, the nuclear industry by setting up new nuclear reactors, in particular SMRs.

It is vital for the nuclear industry to have a nuclear waste disposal plan. The industry has pretty much given up on selling nuclear reactors to countries that already have nuclear power and they are struggling with the waste problem. The big hope is to sell to “new” countries.

They are clearly looking to South Asia, as shown at the conference, The Prospects for Nuclear Power in the Asia Pacific Region, held in August, in Manila. The deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mikhail Chudakov said that IAEA sees South Asia as a region where nuclear energy is “high on the agenda” and could be one of the drivers for global nuclear power deployment.

The thing is, no country is going to embark on the nuclear power path – for small or large reactors – unless they have a prior plan for the disposal of radioactive wastes. This is vital for the nuclear industry — which is where Australia comes in…..

despite the NFCRC’s distinct lack of enthusiasm for new nuclear technology, three of the only five pro nuclear submissions were focussed, not on waste importing, but on new nuclear reactors.

Ben Heard‘s whole argument is directed at new reactors:

Our research indicates that South Australia could make a significant contribution in this technology development beginning at a modest reinvestment of revenues from used fuel.

Many nations in this region already exploit nuclear technology however this use is constrained by lack of a back-end solution…… The availability of a multinational solution for the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle could change these investment decisions profoundly.

Heard backs up his argument by playing the climate card of nuclear being “low carbon” and so on.

Dayne Eckermann writes:

‘The main motivation for myself and others to embrace and openly support this technology is its immense power output from a relative small facility.’

And the South Australia Chamber of Mines and Energy’s (SACOME‘s) view:

Australia’s well-equipped political, legal and educational structures mean that a reactor program could – with the support of experienced international partners – be started swiftly

SACOME strongly believes that the advances in small modular reactors and advanced reactor designs will provide the necessary facilities…..

I understand that, for the Parliamentary Committee, all submissions were actually published. This is in contrast to the NFCRC process, in which submissions from interested parties such as foreign nuclear companies were kept confidential……..

 Like Oscar Archer, at the beginning of the NFCRC saga, the Australian nuclear lobby is primarily keen for “new nuclear”, with the waste import as a necessary prelude……

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/back-on-the-radar-developing-nuclear-reactors-along-with-storing-nuclear-waste,9437

Nuclear power as climate treatment – a cure worse than the disease

Let’s pretend that nuclear power is really “zero carbon” (which it isn’t)

Let’s pretend that thousands of “conventional” nuclear reactors, or millions of little geewhiz new Small Modular Nuclear Reactors could be set up within just  a few years, in time to be effective against climate change ( we know they would take from about 70 years at the earliest)

Do we need a dirty,  dangerous, unsafe, land and water polluting industry as an environmental cure?

(Especially when clean renewable energy and energy efficiency can be set up quickly)

Climate and nuclear news to September 10

NUCLEAR The world was jolted into a renewed awareness of nuclear war danger, today, as North Korea conducted another nuclear bomb test. It may also be miniaturising nuclear warheads, to fit on a missile.  President Obama has stated that America will stick to the principle of being willing to make a pre-emptive nuclear strike.

However, the “Red Button” nuclear war system can be reformed: Donald Trump’s rise illustrates the need for this. Nuclear war risks lessened by Iran nuclear deal, which should continue in USA’s next administration. Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty has enduring value.

CLIMATE. The world had better pay attention NOW – to soaring ocean temperatures.  Effect of Global Warming on World’s Ocean Circulation is an unknown quantity. More frequent, more powerful Super Typhoons, with climate change. Flooding – a dire hazard to nuclear power stations.  USA and China formally ratify Paris climate agreement. Coal lobby is urged to copy tactics of the tobacco lobby!

AUSTRALIA

French anti-nuclear activists force Australian delegation to leave National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (ANDRA).

Australian govt uses out-dated terminology, to disguise reality of High Level Nuclear waste. Confusion about the two South Australian nuclear waste dump plans.

Australia’s nuclear lobby wants waste dump as a prelude to setting up ‘new nuclear’ in South Asia

Australian uranium companies notorious for exploitation of African communities.

South Australia. Hawker in the middle of the earthquake hazard zone, close to federal govt’s planned nuclear waste dump site.

CLIMATE   High Profile Members of Climate Change Authority slam ‘Untrue and Dangerous’ report. Climate Change Authority Special Review: Minority Report. Meaningless climate weasel words from Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg. Australia the Pacific Pariah as it idolises coal.  Australia an international pariah? as other nations ratify Paris Climate Agreement.

ENERGY

South Australian govt makes a change- to purchase 75 per cent of its long-term electricity needs.

Queensland. Renewable energy future – Hybrid Solar and Wind Systems ? Queensland is getting one. Queensland University of Technology to divest its fossil fuel shares.

ENERGY Sharp falls predicted for Australia’s thermal coal exports.    

Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) funding 12 large scale solar projects. Australian Renewable Energy Agency negotiating with govt, trying to save its funding. Farmers get economic safety net, thanks to wind farms. Solar power in Australia working better than expected. Geothermal energy – not necessarily renewable, nor environmentally benign.

Australian business leaders support UN Sustainable Development Goals.  Poll shows broad support for green groups using ‘lawfare’ to challenge mining ventures.

INTERNATIONAL

CANADA. Nuclear company SNC-Lavalin‘s sorry history of corruption.

UK.   Britain’s national disgrace: nuclear reprocessing at Sellafield.

• UK’s Hinkley nuclear deal teetering, but PM Theresa May claims good relations with China.
• At G20, British PM Theresa May confirms that UK is reviewing Hinkley nuclear project.
• Energy chief says Hinkley Point is a deal out of date and too expensive.
• French Unionists take legal action to stop Hinkley nuclear power project.

Celtic Union of Renewable Energy Launched By Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland.

JAPAN. The end of the line for Japan’s super expensive nuclear reprocessing project?   To secure 2020 Olympics Japan’s PM Abe lied about Fukushima nuclear plant being ‘under control’. Concern as leaky ‘ice wall’ around Fukushima nuke plant resembles ‘bamboo screen’. Robot to probe nuke fuel debris in Fukushima No. 2 reactor. 10% return to Fukushima town since evacuation order lifted in ’15.

USA. As nuclear costs rise, top economist urges nuclear operators on early decommissioning of reactors. Outcry over secret trucking of weapons grade nuclear waste to South Carolina. Hypocrisy of big USA companies on climate change.

IRAN. IAEA confidential report shows Iran is Not Cheating on Nuclear Deal. Attempts to sabotage Iran nuclear deal – who stands to gain in this?

SWITZERLAND. Renewable energy heading to replace nuclear power in Switzerland.

SOUTH AFRICA. Nuclear power procurement costs for South Africa could cost triple the estimate.

SOUTH KOREA. Push for South Korea to get nuclear-powered submarines.

CHINA. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) concerned about nuclear safety in China.

UKRAINE. European financiers very worried about Ukraine’s dire nuclear industry problems.

BELARUS.  problems, secrecy, ignorance on nuclear unsafety

Climate and nuclear threats this week – Australia

NUCLEAR.  It is generally acknowledged that the risk of nuclear war is greater right now than it was at the height of the Cold War, and that includes the risk of a nuclear war started by accident.  Some “nuclear umbrella” States feel trapped by their nuclear weapons protection.

CLIMATE. It is also becoming acknowledged that the tipping point is approaching, might even be upon us already. Unprecedented pace of global climate change – NASA. $8.8 Trillion Climate Tab left for next generation, if climate “business as usual”.

Governments, media, the public still see these issues in terms of “national interest”, but haven’t made that necessary leap of understanding that demands a global  collaborative approach. Pope Francis gets it. So do those most sober and deliberative of scientists – geologists. At the  International Geological Congress in Cape Town, on 29th August, an official expert group recommended that a new geological epoch be defined – the Anthropocene epoch.  Human impact on Earth is so profound that the most recent epoch, the 12,000 year Holocene, must give way to an epoch defined by nuclear tests, environmental pollution, and changing climate. The most appropriate commencement marker would be the spread of radioactive elements from the nuclear bomb tests beginning in 1950s.

AUSTRALIA

CLIMATE We Aussies are so mad keen to be TOPP, of anything. If we couldn’t top the gold medal tally at the Olympics, well, we’ve managed to top the list of the worst performer on climate change, in every category!. That”s the Australian score from Climate Transparency‘s comprehensive assessment of nations’ climate policies before the G20 summit in China.

The Turnbull government is celebrating this international leadership at the bottom, by gutting the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.   This will mean scuppering the solar power industry, and the loss of many jobs, including from CSIRO, and also a damper on the Australian Capital Territory‘s (ACT’s) world-leading push towards 100% renewable energy. Turnbull has also appointed Craig Kelly MP, an outspoken climate denialist, as  chairman of the backbench environment and energy committee, that advises the government on environment and energy policies.

Still, there are some silver linings. In ACT the Liberals are backing the ACT government’s renewable energy targets! The Victorian government is banning  unconventional gas exploration – fracking and CSG extraction. In South Australia, a State-commissioned report recommends a transport revolution that would cut greenhouse gas emissions, and supply thousands of jobs.

NUCLEAR.  South Australia It all fizzes along, with the government’s propaganda forums not always turning out quite the way they wanted. Intrepid souls are attending, and asking awkward questions. This site shows the progress at some forums. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1021186047913052/  The government arranged a secret one for schoolchildren and teachers – secret in order to protect them from anti nuclear activists, (such a dangerous species!)   Meanwhile the nuclear-free movement organises its own educational forums. 

Federal govt slashes safety checks at Ranger uranium mine. Uranium miner ERA forced to cut its assets value.

INTERNATIONAL

CLIMATE.

• Catholic churches and other religions taking action against climate change, switching to green energy.
• 30 megacity  leaders join forces to urge for climate change action at the G20 in China.
• Polarisation on climate change is now worse than ever in America.
•  Climate change is affecting the marine ecosystem – krill disappearing from Antarctic waters.
• China’s glaciers– the “third pole” are losing ice mass.

NUCLEAR. An awful lot in the media about marketing of nuclear reactors, especially to South Asia. China’s aggressive nuclear marketing is causing it some problems.

UK. PM Theresa May to be pressured at G20, by China, to approve Hinkley nuclear power project. Chinese build nuclear project at Bradwell, Essex, UK might be postponed. Great danger in air transport of nuclear wastes: anger in Aberdeen.

JAPAN. 

Fukushima:

• Typhoons cause ‘ice wall’ to melt at Fukushima nuclear plant. Underground Ice Wall is Japan’s gamble to contain Fukushima’s irradiated water.
• Public Cost of Fukushima Cleanup Tops $628 Billion and Is Expected to Climb.  
• Problems persist at Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear reactors.
• Niigata prefecture governor Hirohiko Izumida not seeking re-election: new hope for restarting Fukushima nuclear plant.
•  Radioactive Boar Are Thriving And Causing Havoc Near The Fukushima Power Plant.< Japan Extends Reactor Lifetimes for First Time Since Fukushima. Japan considers scrapping fast-breeder reactor as costs mount.

USA.  Legal challenges to New York nuclear power subsidies.  Watts Bar nuclear reactors shut down indefinitely, following transformer fire. Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant to shut down permanently on October 24.

NORTH KOREA‘s  grandiose plans for ‘nuclear backpack’ squad, and giant submarine.

SOUTH KOREA  worried about North Korea, plans its own Missile Defense System

PHILIPPINES   bishop, climate movement, oppose revival of mothballed nuclear plant

ISRAEL under pressure from UN to ratify nuclear test ban treaty.

South Australian government’s secret nuclear forum for schoolchildren

The South Australian government is going to a lot of trouble to set up a forum for 160 students and 60 teachers to hear  a presentation from the former Nuclear Royal commissioner, Kevin Scarce, and the Chief Executive of the Nuclear Consultation and Response Agency, to tell them all about the plan for South Australia to import foreign nuclear waste.

They are also to hear from “a range of experts”.

It is very concerning that this plan is so secretive. Neither the time nor the place of this forum has been divulged, nor any details about the experts presenting the information.

The reason for this secrecy has been given as safety concerns, following anti nuclear protests in June. The agency’ s director of engagement, John Phalen , explained that “the safety of our students is our number one priority”

Are South Australia’s anti nuclear protestors actually a danger to schoolchildren?   It sounds more likely that  the government is keen to protect the children from information  that might cause them to ask difficult questions about the plan to make South Australia rich by importing foreign nuclear waste.

This Week in Nuclear and Climate News

NUCLEAR Articles on weapons and disarmament dominate the nuclear news this week. On Monday 29 August,  an international conference entitled ‘Building a Nuclear Weapons Free World’ will take place in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. That day will also be the 25th anniversary of of the closure of the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site – largest in the world, where 456 weapons tests happened, leaving  a terrible legacy for the people.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls for eradication of nuclear weapons.   The nuclear working group at the UN concluded its work in Geneva, and the majority of governments voted to recommended that the UN General Assembly set up a conference in 2017 to negotiate a new treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons, despite the Australian government’s best efforts to sabotage this. This is one of those times when I am ashamed to be Australian.

CLIMATE. A new study declares that human-caused climate change began at around 1830.  (I’ve always thought that it was 1801, because of the 1801 painting Coalbrookdale by Night – attached). Research indicates that the difference between 1.5 C and 2C  rise in global  temperatures will be significant, and in only 20 years’ time. Huge volume of Greenland Ice Sheet lost each year, due to global warming.  Again this year, Indonesia’s blanket of smoke is back.  India floods: Over 300 dead, millions affected  Louisiana National Guard Rescues 19,000 in Flood-Affected Areas.

AUSTRALIA

NUCLEAR Details on Australia’s disgraceful performance at UN in Geneva can be read here and here. It was pretty stupid and counter-productive, too – made Australia unpopular, and cemented the resolve of other countries for a disarmament conference in 2017. Secretive Pine Gap remains an integral part of USA’s nuclear ‘star wars’ plans (an old newspaper article, still relevant, but now removed from their website)

SOUTH AUSTRALIA‘s nuclear waste dump plan not economically viable? The global nuclear lobby doesn’t care.  Roger Cross: Reasons to Reject a Medium and High Level Radioactive Waste Dump in South Australia.  SA govt going allout with pro nuclear propaganda forums.

Energy Resources of Australia unable to meet costs of cleaning up Ranger uranium mine. (What a surprise – not)

In Greenland, Indigenous people oppose Australian company’s plan for massive uranium mine in Greenland

CLIMATE CHANGE  154 scientists press Australian government for urgent action on climate change.  Australia in grave danger if global warming exceeds 2 C.  Adaptation – South Australia in the lead.  Australian Government quietly removes Clive Hamilton’s page that listed climate deniers. Adani court decision: Traditional Owners say fight to stop QLD’s Carmichael mine continues.

RENEWABLE ENERGY South Australia: Future Business Council calls for National smart energy grid.  Canberra heads to 100% renewable energy, helped by wind power from South Australia. Community solar fund shares sold out in nine minutes!.

Landmark payout for Aboriginal custodians who have lost their native title rights.  BUT Suppression of native title for the Mirarr people= extinguishment of rights?

INTERNATIONAL

UN Security Council warned on danger of nuclear drone terror attacks.

Global nuclear industry ponders ways to get taxpayers to pay up for Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs)

USA America could take a practical first step towards nuclear disarmament. Stuck in the past – America’s nuclear weapons policy. USA’s National Nuclear Security Administration approves controversial B61-12 nuclear bomb.  USA pushes India and Pakistan to join nuclear testy ban treaty.  Groundwater infiltrates turbine building in Vermont Yankee nuclear station. Preparing for hurricane risk to Turkey Point nuclear reactor. US Border Patrol Spots EnergyFuels Uranium Mine Fire in Texas. Fire at Vogtle Nuclear Power Station on the Savannah River in Georgia, USA (23 Aug. 2016)?  Three More Fires at the Savannah River Nuclear Site: August 16, 17, 18   USA govt censoring severity of WIPP nuclear waste problem, $2 Billion Cleanup.   3.7 million documents now publicly available on Yucca nuclear waste dump plan.

UK. New report shows that Britain’s Hinkley Point C nuclear station is not essential. UK figuring out how to get out of the Hinkley nuclear power deal.  Britain’s nuclear industry in turmoil over botched contracts. UK Nuclear Submarine HMS Ambush: Smashing Collision With Merchant Vessel.

JAPAN. Anti-nuclear activists’ tents forcibly removed from economy ministry premises after years long battle .   Halt Sendai nuclear reactors says Kagoshima Governor , following nearby earthquakes. 10,000 tons of toxic water pools in Fukushima nuclear plant trenches. Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s “frozen wall of earth” failing at Fukushima.   Succession of earthquakes in the Sanriku Oki area (epicenter in the ocean off Fukushima).  Tokyo 2020 Games prep beset with problems

NORTH KOREA ‘s submarine – launched missile. North Korea’s ‘Military First’ celebration enhanced by nuclear missile test.

SOUTH KOREA ‘s nuclear weapons advocates are now more vocal since North Korea’s missile test

CHINA. Public opposition threatens China’s grandiose nuclear power plans. China really part of the global nuclear marketing conglomerate.

TAIWAN‘s First Nuclear Decommissioning Project

SOUTH AFRICA nuclear electricity company non compliant with govt rules on advertising. Nuclear is not the cheapest source of electricity for South Africa. African countries are the least compliant in implementing global nuclear security safeguards.

FRANCE   to launch 6 tenders for solar energy projects

GERMANY ‘s green power going strong, with more renewable energy than it ever had nuclear

BULGARIA  Bulgaria seeks solution for costly blowout for Belene nuclear power plant

UKRAINE . Westinghouse puts on hold plans to build nuclear fuel plant in Ukraine

Global nuclear lobby doesn’t care if South Australia’s radioactive trash dump is not economically viable

The global nuclear lobby surely does not care about whether or not the South Australian nuclear waste importing scheme is economically viable. Their fairly desperate need is to sell nuclear reactors to those countries that don’t already have them. In particular, the ‘small nuclear” lobby sees an urgency now, with ‘big nuclear’ failing, to get their industry happening.

A commitment by an Australian State to take in nuclear waste could do the trick for them – as Oscar Archer put it – by unblocking the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle.

Mixed motives in South Australia’s nuclear waste import plan. Online Opinion, Noel Wauchope, 23 Aug 16  In South Australia the continued nuclear push focusses solely on a nuclear waste importing industry. Yet that might not be economically viable. Behind the scenes, another agenda is being pursued – that of developing new generation nuclear reactors.

First, let’s look at the message. The message from the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission (NFCRC) is clearly a plan to make South Australia rich, by importing foreign nuclear wastes. …..This theme has been repeated ad nauseam by the NFCRC’s publicity, by politicians, and the mainstream media.…..

Whereas other countries are compelled to develop nuclear waste facilities, to deal with their waste production from civil and military reactors,that is not a necessity for Australia, (with the exception of relatively tiny amounts derived from the Lucas Heights research reactor).

So, the only reason for South Australia to develop a massive nuclear waste management business is to make money.

If it’s not profitable, then it shouldn’t be done.

Or so it would seem.

There is another, quieter, message. When you read the Royal Commission’s reports, you find that, while the major aim is for a nuclear waste business, in fact, the door is kept open for other parts of the nuclear fuel chain………

Nowhere in the NFCRC report, do they make a link between establishing the waste repository and planning for nuclear reactors. It is as though the two projects are not related. But they are.

The clearest explanation of this came early in 2015, just as the NFCRC was starting, in an ABC Radio National talk by Oscar Archer. He outlined a plan:

Australia establishes the world’s first multinational repository for used fuel – what’s often called nuclear waste. This is established on the ironclad commitment to develop a fleet of integral fast reactors …The development of the intermediate repository and the first reactors is funded by our international partners……

By unblocking the back end of the nuclear fuel cycles for our international partners and customers, rapid development in conventional Generation III+ nuclear technology receives a strong boost …

Each PRISM “power block”, or set of twin reactors, adds 622 megawatts of saleable zero-carbon generation to Australia which further improves the revenue position. …….The transition to PRISM world-wide is under-way on the back of Australia’s pioneering embrace of this technology with support of key partners.

Archer’s plan is significant because it illustrates a very important point about South Australia’s nuclear waste plan – IT SOLVES A GLOBAL NUCLEAR INDUSTRY PROBLEM. Both in ‘already nuclear’ countries, especially America, and in the so far non nuclear counties, such as in South Asia, the nuclear industry is stalled because of its nuclear waste problem. In America, the “new small nuclear”, such as the PRISM, technologies (Power Reactor Innnovative Small Module) cannot even be tested, without a definite waste disposal solution. But, if South Australia provided not only the solution, but also the first setting up of new small reactors, that would give the industry the necessary boost……..

Once Australia has set up a nuclear waste importing industry, the nuclear reactor salesmen of USA, Canada, South Korea, will have an excellent marketing pitch for South Asia, as the nuclear waste problem has been removed from their shores.. And South Asia is exactly the market that the NCRC has in its sights. The NFCRC eliminated most of the EU, Russia, China, North America as customers. This was explained by Dr Tim Jacobs, of Jacobs Engineering, (financial reporters to the NFCRC), at the recent hearing of the South Australian Parliamentary Joint Committee on Findings of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission .

Globally, the ‘conventional’ nuclear reactor business is struggling, The ever escalating costs of USA’s nuclear reactorsbeing built, of France’s Flamanville reactor, and most notable lately, Britain’s Hinkley C nuclear fiasco, have cast a gloom over ‘big nuclear reactors’

However, this is quite good news for the ‘small nuclear’ lobby. In the USA, the charge is led by Bill Gates, and a bunch of billionaires, who work to get governments, and taxpayer funding to support their novel nuclear reactor projects. In Britain, the nuclear charity (yes, it has charity status!) the Alvin Weinberg Foundation , and 33 new nuclear companies are practically ecstatic at the news that Teresa May’s government is having doubts about Big Nuclear.

Australia has its own cadre of small nuclear enthusiasts. These individuals have, in a short period of time, achieved world recognition as advocates for the various types of new small nuclear reactors. On the international scene, leading lobbyists are the Breakthrough Institute, with their Ecomodernist Manifesto. (They put in a submission to South Australia’s NFCRC), and Australian lobbyists Barry Brook and Ben Heard……..

South Australia’s government is influenced by a strong nuclear lobby push and the Royal Commission advocacy for solving that State’s present financial problems by a futuristic nuclear waste repository bonanza scheme.

The global nuclear lobby surely does not care about whether or not the South Australian nuclear waste importing scheme is economically viable. Their fairly desperate need is to sell nuclear reactors to those countries that don’t already have them. In particular, the ‘small nuclear” lobby sees an urgency now, with ‘big nuclear’ failing, to get their industry happening.

A commitment by an Australian State to take in nuclear waste could do the trick for them – as Oscar Archer put it – byunblocking the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle. The NFCRC plan also promises the chance of a market in Australia for the mini nuclear reactors.  http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=18465&page=1