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Wellington set the trend for 105 local nuclear free zones

Wellington: 30 years proudly nuclear-free Capital was a benchmark for other cities The Dominion Post, MICHAEL FORBES   14/04/2012 Wellington became a benchmark for others. By the end of 1984, 40 local authorities had nuclear-free policies and by 1988, 72 per cent of the population was living in 105 locally declared nuclear-weapon-free zones.

“The declaration had repercussions way beyond anything I anticipated at the time,” Ms Ritchie says. “I’m pleased that it has stood the test of time. To have it stop at Wellington would have been insufficient.”

To even be able to put such a motion before council was a privilege, Ms Ritchie says; in today’s climate of local government being told to keep their nose out of non-essential matters, it probably would not have happened.

“It was in the days when we could actually do this sort of thing politically, which was great. We could move a motion that was not related to rubbish, rates or drains. Not even related to the agenda. Now, you can’t do that.”….. http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/6743621/Wellington-30-years-proudly-nuclear-free

April 14, 2012 Posted by | New Zealand, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

New radiation monitoring dosimeter technology

The way in which radiation workers are monitored is set to change with the introduction of a new and very different type of dosimeter that has just been approved for legal use in New Zealand. 

Instead of waiting months for information about a possible exposure, radiation workers can now plug their dosimeter directly into a USB port of an Internet-connected Windows or Maccomputer and get an instant readout of any dose received.

Exposure information now available for radiation workers http://www.voxy.co.nz/business/exposure-information-now-available-radiation-workers/5/120503, 13 April, 2012 – We tend to think of New Zealand as nuclear-free but the reality is quite different. Radioactive material produced in nuclear reactors in other parts of the world is imported into the country on a near daily basis and thousands of x-ray generations are at work up and down the country. X-rays, gamma rays and radiopharmaceuticals are used extensively in human and animal health and radioactive sources are deployed in a plethora of industrial and research applications.

Human senses cannot detect the presence of ionising radiation and over time the cumulative effects of undetected radiation exposure become a threat to health. This is of particular significance for the thousands of workers whose occupation brings them into close and frequent contact with sources of ionising radiation. Continue reading →

April 13, 2012 Posted by | New Zealand, technology | Leave a comment

U.N. to investigate effects on Marshall Islanders of USA’s atomic bomb tests

UN to assess Marshall Islands nuclear effects ABC Asia Pacific News,  22 Mar 2012  A United Nations expert will visit the Marshall Islands next week to assess adverse effects of the nuclear testing undertaken by the United States between 1946 and 1958.

”It will be an exceptional opportunity to assess how the Marshallese peoples’ basic rights including the right to food, adequate housing and health have been affected,” Calin Georgescu, special rapporteur on the human rights obligations related to environmental issues, said in a press release.

Mr Georgescu is to present the conclusions of his March 26-30 visit to the UN Human Rights Council in September, possibly including recommendations to the governments of the Marshall Islands and the United States. http://abcasiapacificnews.com/stories/201203/3461159.htm

March 24, 2012 Posted by | environment, OCEANIA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Epidemic of cancer from nuclear bomb testing in Marshall Islands

“Today we are witnessing an exploding epidemic of cancer cases,” … “Cancers, birth anomalies and other radiogenic diseases make a compelling argument for the United States to reopen the nuclear issue,”

RMI CRITICIZES U.S. OVER NUCLEAR COMPENSATION PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West CenterWith Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i

‘Exploding epidemic of cancer cases,’ $2 billion in unpaid claims

By Giff Johnson SAIPAN, CNMI (Marianas Variety, March 6, 2012) – Marshall Islanders accused the United States government of refusing to provide adequate nuclear test compensation on the 58th anniversary of the largest American hydrogen bomb test that exposed thousands of islanders to radioactive fallout. Continue reading →

March 7, 2012 Posted by | health, OCEANIA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

25 renewable energy projects getting underway in New Zealand

Several New Zealand Renewable Power Projects Scheduled to Begin Construction in 2012-13, an Industrial Info News Alert Market Watch, PERTH, AUSTRALIA, Mar 06, 2012  — Researched by Industrial Info Resources Australia  — Industrial Info is currently tracking 25 New Zealand renewable energy projects in the planning and engineering phase that are scheduled to begin construction from 2012 onward. The projects total more than US$4.87 billion in investment value and indicate that New Zealand is predominately investing in wind, geothermal and hydro generation projects…..http://www.marketwatch.com/story/several-new-zealand-renewable-power-projects-scheduled-to-begin-construction-in-2012-13-an-industrial-info-news-alert-2012-03-06?reflink=MW_news_stmp

March 7, 2012 Posted by | New Zealand, renewable | Leave a comment

Danger of uranium and plutonium use by terrorists

Resolution on the use of uranium, plutonium to be tackled at summit, Business World, Philippines, 5 Mar 12, THE GOVERNMENT will be pushing for an international resolution that would tighten security measures and prevent nuclear resources such as uranium and plutonium from being used for terrorist activities, a high-ranking Executive official said late last week.

  “In the case of the Philippines, we have decided to push for a resolution at the [2012 Nuclear Security] Summit calling for a much stricter monitoring and supervision in the transport, safekeeping and using of these resources,” Vice-President Jejomar C. Binay told BusinessWorld in an e-mail last Friday.
“That resolution should call for [International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)] Member States to give as much attention to these small high-grade uranium and plutonium resources as those being kept and safeguarded by Member States which are in large quantities,” added Mr. Binay who was appointed by President Benigno S. C. Aquino III to lead the Philippine delegation to the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit to be held in Seoul, South Korea on March 26-27.
Mr. Binay remarked that with the pressing threat of nuclear terrorism, member states of the IAEA — a specialized United Nations body comprising 153 countries and aims to promote safe and peaceful nuclear technologies — “should not only focus on the possibility of terrorists being able to use nuclear bombs in the future, but should urgently improve their respective security and safety measures in the storing and keeping of their uranium and plutonium resources.”…. http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Nation&title=Resolution-on-the-use-of-uranium,-plutonium-to-be-tackled-at-summit&id=47788

March 6, 2012 Posted by | - plutonium, 2 WORLD, Philippines, safety, Uranium | Leave a comment

Climate change tragedy of the Torres Strait islands

A SINKING FEELING IN THE TORRES STRAIT, ABC Radio National,  Hagar Cohen.4 March 2012, There are six islands in the Torres Strait facing inundation from tidal flooding. The encroaching sea is slowly washing away everything from building foundations to ancestral graves, and mosquitoes are thriving. One island has had its worst malaria outbreak in 50 years. There is a temporary solution—building seawalls—but the federal and state governments are showing little interest in paying for that, and in the meantime these island communities have a sinking feeling that relocation may be the only option left for them.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/2012-03-04/3857272

March 6, 2012 Posted by | climate change, OCEANIA | Leave a comment

Tonga aiming for 50% renewable energy by 2015

Tonga has set its renewable energy target at 50% by 2015, and already has a plan
(the Tonga Energy Roadmap) for how it will achieve this lofty figure.

Tonga is receiving financial support from New Zealand and technical support from the Renewable Energy & Efficiency Program (REEP) in the development of its renewable energy projects

Tonga Starts on its Plan to Achieve 50% Renewable Energy by 2015, Oil Price, By Charles Kennedy , 24 February 2012 As oil prices increase, steady oil supplies become more uncertain, and CO2 emissions continue to increase, many countries around the world are trying to invest in renewable energy sources. Continue reading →

February 25, 2012 Posted by | OCEANIA, renewable | Leave a comment

Asia and Pacific powering ahead with decentralised renewable eneergy

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) released the report “Green Growth, Resources, and Resilience” this week.

On the road to green economies, Malaya Business Insights, 24 Feb12, Net metering is empowering electric consumers in the Philippines. The scheme is embodied in the Philippines’ Renewable Energy Act of 2008 – considered to be the most comprehensive renewable energy law in Southeast Asia.

It allows electric consumers to sell power to the grid at an approved feed-in tariff and buy power as necessary at the normal retail tariff. The feed-in tariff will provide a guaranteed fixed price for at least 12 years for electricity produced from emerging renewable resources: wind, solar power, ocean, run-of-river hydropower, and biomass.

With net metering, the consumer generates electricity at the point of use, and is able to supply excess electricity generated into the grid, either earning revenue or reducing net payable consumption.

Net metering provides a regulatory basis for distributed and decentralized energy systems and at the same time provides a powerful incentive for end-use efficiency improvements. Net metering can be combined with feed-in-tariffs to promote renewable energy generation in decentralized applications. Continue reading →

February 24, 2012 Posted by | ASIA, decentralised, Philippines | 1 Comment

Polynesian nuclear victims distrust French government on compensation

PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i 

TAHITI NUCLEAR ATOLL COMPENSATION CHANGES DISMISSED
French president’s amendments ‘an election-related move’ WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, Feb. 15, 2012) – The Moruroa e tatou veterans group in French Polynesia is dismissive of a French decree loosening the compensation criteria for victims of the nuclear weapons tests. Continue reading →

February 17, 2012 Posted by | OCEANIA, politics | Leave a comment

Polynesia’s radioactive pollution from France’s nuclear bomb tests

France’s upper chamber approved a motion that provides for Mururoa and Fangataufa, currently under the control of the defence ministry, to be restored to the Polynesian public domain, though the bill stands little chance of becoming law. “We realise that they are the two largest nuclear dumps in an ocean environment. But in Oceania you cannot separate human beings from their ecosystem,” says the author of the bill, Senator Richard Tuheiva. “Restitution [of the atolls] is a way of soothing the psychological wounds [caused by the nuclear era].”

about 5kg of plutonium is trapped in the sediment at the bottom of the Mururoa and Fangataufa lagoons, ……. There is no question of them returning to “normal” use.

 

France urged to clean up deadly waste from its nuclear tests in Polynesia, Guardian UK,  7 Feb 2012, 193 nuclear tests carried out on the Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls between 1966 and 1996 have left a dangerous legacy. Continue reading →

February 8, 2012 Posted by | - plutonium, environment, OCEANIA | Leave a comment

Worry over nuclear transport through Caribbean Sea

Hazardous waste through the Caribbean Sea a concern The Barbados Advocate, 1/23/2012 There is concern over the transportation of hazardous nuclear waste and other hazardous material through the Caribbean Sea which are potential threats to lives, health, the environment and our economies.

This comes from Ambassador Raymond Wolfe, speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to the General Assembly’s Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee….

He said that the focus on shipping and maritime commerce must also include improved measures, regulations and standards governing maritime safety, the training of seafarers and the safety of navigation at sea, including the safety of shipping vessels… while CARICOM acknowledges the rights of Member States to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, there still remains a concern,” he stressed…….. http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/newsitem.asp?more=local&NewsID=22326

January 29, 2012 Posted by | OCEANIA, safety | 1 Comment

French Polynesia to regain islands, France to provide radiation protection

most of the radioactive material was transported into the upper atmosphere and dispersed.”….
 in August 2006, an official report by the French government confirmed the link between an increase in cases of thyroid cancer on the atolls and France’s atmospheric nuclear tests.

French Senate OKs Return of Nuclear Test Atolls to French Polynesia PARIS, France, January 19, 2012 (ENS) http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2012/2012-01-19-01.html  – The Senate of France has passed legislation that transfers two Pacific atolls used for atmospheric and underground nuclear testing back into the public
domain of French Polynesia….

…If the proposed legislation becomes law, the atolls would be returned to French Polynesia, but France would continue environmental remediation and monitoring of radiation
and geomechanics there “in a sustainable manner.” Continue reading →

January 21, 2012 Posted by | OCEANIA, politics international | Leave a comment

Fiji, Pacific Islands adopt International Renewable Energy Agency program

Fiji, PICs go for renewable energy Fiji Times, Tevita Vuibau, January 21, 2012 FIJI has joined other Pacific Island countries (PICs) in adopting the Abu Dhabi Communique on Accelerating Renewable Energy Uptake for the Pacific.

According to a statement, Fiji adopted the communique at the conclusion of the Pacific leaders meeting, which preceded the second session of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) assembly.

Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama headed the country’s delegation to the meeting in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

As part of the communique, the Pacific Island countries resolved to use the large and under-utilised potential for renewable energy in the Pacific region….. He said it… was imperative that Fiji develop a meaningful relationship with IRENA. http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=191377

January 21, 2012 Posted by | OCEANIA, renewable | Leave a comment

Time France gave back its atomic test islands to their Pacific peoples

The two atolls Moruroa and Fangataufa were ceded to France at no cost in 1964 to allow its military to begin testing its nuclear weapons.

The two islands were used as nuclear weapon testing sites in the late 1960s by the French government which made use of ship-based, bomb, and atmospheric detonation trials. 

TAHITI LEADER PUSHES FOR RETURN OF NUCLEAR ATOLLS President calls for France to give back Moruroa and Fangataufa  WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, ) 19 Jan 12, Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i – The French Polynesian president Oscar Temaru has called for street protests should France refuse to return the two atolls used for its nuclear weapons tests.

Mr. Temaru made the call as one of the territory’s senators, Richard Tuheiava, is to submit a proposed law in Paris seeking the atolls’ return and a review of the compensation offered for the tests’ impact. Continue reading →

January 19, 2012 Posted by | OCEANIA, politics international | Leave a comment

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