Earth Hour 2009 aims to reach more than one billion people in 1000 cities around the world, asking communities, business and governments to switch off the lights at 8.30pm on March 28th, for 1 hour. WWF want this historic, global event to send a strong message to our global leaders that, together, our small actions will represent a global vote for action on climate change,

Algerians mull French nuclear test compensation google.com hosted news By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU – 25 March 09 ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algerian officials and activists said they hoped France’s pledge Tuesday to compensate victims of its nuclear tests in the Sahara Desert would be a first step toward broader atonement and reparation. French Defense Minister Herve Morin said the draft law he presented provides for euro10 million ($13.5 million) in compensation for the first year and targets people with health problems linked to nuclear tests — including Algerians.The proposal for compensation over the tests in Algeria and the South Pacific is a first by France, nearly 50 years after the country conducted its first atomic tests.”It’s a good first step but I’m not satisfied, because we’ve suffered so much that money can’t compensate all,” said Abderahmane Laksassi, head of Algeria’s “February 13, 1960” association — named after the date of the first French military nuclear test in the Sahara………………………………….

France tested dozens of bombs near the Sahara Desert town of Reggane in Algeria, both before and after the former French colony won independence in 1962. Other tests followed in the Pacific Ocean atolls of French Polynesia.

There are no official tallies of the number of Algerian victims of the tests.

Laksassi said that even now an average of 50 people die each year of cancer because they were exposed to radiation. He estimated that 10,000 people have suffered disease or material losses because of the tests — including tribes of nomads whose herds could have been exposed for years.

French government still faces court action over nuclear testing RADIO NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL  25 March, 2009 French Polynesia’s nuclear test veterans’ group, Mururoa o Tatou is calling on people to attend an April court date with the French Government.The French government will answer charges it failed to protect its French Polynesian workers from fall-out during 30 years of nuclear tests.The industrial relations tribunal in Papeete has found that France must account for the consequences of nuclear testing on the health of people in its Pacific territory.

Roland Oldham, the president of Mururoa o Tatou says they need people power at the hearing.

“All we are looking for is justice and truth, and the pressure from the people is one of the things that we are really counting on, because actually, we don’t have much faith in out institutions. We don’t have much faith in justice, we don’t have much faith in some of our politicians that [change their] shirts every second day.”

That court hearing is on April the 27th.

French nuclear compensation ‘too late for dead’ ABC News 25 March 09 By  Kerri Ritchie  Greenpeace says the French Government’s decision to compensate people made sick by its nuclear testing in the Pacific has come too late.France carried out 210 tests of nuclear bombs in Algeria and French Polynesia from 1960 until the mid 1990s.Some civilian and military workers who took part in the testing have since suffered from radiation-related illnesses.After long denying any official link between the tests and the serious health problems of veterans and workers, France has now agreed to an initial compensation package of $19 million.Former Greenpeace campaign leader Stephanie Mills says while it is a good gesture, the money will not go far.

“And [the compensation is] possibly overdue of course because many of the veterans and test site workers have already died,” she said.

Ms Mills says up to 150,000 people were exposed to the nuclear tests.

Nuke plants ran at disappointing 60% efficiency in 2007 The Japan Times 25 march 09 Kyodo NewsFacility utilization rates were stagnant at about 60 percent at the nation’s nuclear plants in fiscal 2007, the Japan Atomic Energy Commission said in an annual white paper released Tuesday.Nuclear energy has failed to live up to society’s expectations, the report says, citing the suspension of the trial operation of a spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture………………………….The report says nuclear plant operators are having difficulty finding locations where they can dispose of highly radioactive waste material

Chashma nuclear power plant closed The News  March 25, 2009 By Khalid MustafaI SLAMABAD: Chashma Nuclear Power Plant of 325 megawatts (MW) has been closed due to some technical problems in a special motor, which is responsible to provide cooling to the reactor.According to a well-paced source in the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), Chashma Nuclear Power Plant-1 (ChashNuPP-1) has been closed down as some faults have been detected in the special motor, which ensures the cooling of reactor as without cooling it is not possible to make the plants operational.

EARTH HOUR DECCAN HERALD 24 March  Earth Hour is all about the small changes that everyone is capable of making in their lives and building those habits into everyday living. The celebration of Earth Hour is a demonstration of humankind coming together to make a positive impact on global warming.Earth Hour 2009 is expected to be the biggest voluntary power shutdown in history. On March 28, 2009, at 8.30 pm local time, in what WWF has called “the largest climate event in history”, citizens of 1,637 cities around the globe will take a step towards a better world and switch off all lights and non essential electrical appliances for 60 minutes. Are you in? The author leads Research at Frogg, India’s Environment Resource Centre

No uranium mining for QLD Australian Mining 23 March 09 Uranium mining will not be given the go ahead in Queensland after the Labor government was re-elected for the fifth consecutive term at the state election on Saturday.
The win means there will be no uranium mining in the sunshine state until at least 2012.
Queensland contains an estimated $20 billion in uranium reserves. However, Labor’s policies allow only exploration and not mining of the resource……………….Premier Bligh says yellowcake mining requires “huge capital for infrastructure” and is standing by her decision to oppose it.
Labor’s uranium mining policies will remain unchanged in the next term.
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The Bligh government has turned its focus to low-carbon initiatives and is working to introduce higher energy efficiency standards to create a ‘greener Queensland’.

Brisbane urged to remain nuclear free Sydney Morning Herald March 17, 2009 Brisbane City Council (BCC) is expected to reaffirm the city’s status as a nuclear-free zone following the Liberal National Party’s (LNP) pledge to allow uranium mining if it wins government this weekend.Lord Mayor Campbell Newman and his LNP councillors are expected to abstain from Tuesday’s vote.Council’s Labor Party leader Shayne Sutton says the motion follows LNP leader Lawrence Springborg’s recent vow to lift a ban on uranium mining if he’s elected on Saturday.”It will be disappointing if the lord mayor chooses to abstain from this vote,” Ms Sutton said.”He’s the lord mayor of this city – he should be taking a position on this issue.”Brisbane has been declared a nuclear-free zone since 1995.”That declaration has been unanimously supported by all councillors in a bipartisan manner, but now in the context of an election campaign where Campbell Newman is trying to help his LNP leader, he seems to be walking away from that declaration,” she said.Ms Sutton has accused Mr Newman of trying to muddy the waters by saying Brisbane has never been nuclear free because of the equipment in medical facilities and scientific tools.”However, it has always been understood that type of equipment has been exempt from this policy,” she said.”As we come into the Brisbane city limits there are signs all around the city that say welcome to Brisbane – a nuclear free zone.”If the lord mayor doesn’t support the policy will he be seeking to take those signs down?”Brisbane was declared a nuclear free zone in 1995 after becoming an inaugural member of the Australian Nuclear Free Zones Secretariat in 1983 at a meeting in the Sydney Town Hall of councils around Australia.