OCEANIA « nuclear-news

New Zealand MP seeks inquiry on Australia’s nuclear shipments

Uranium passing through NZ ports, Sky News October 30, 2011 A Greens MP has called for an inquiry into Australian shipments of radioactive uranium passing through New Zealand waters and ports in breach of its anti-nuclear stance.

Fortnightly shipments of Australian yellowcake uranium, totalling five thousand tonnes annually, are being shipped through New Zealand ports, according to documents provided to the Sunday Star Times by Green MP Gareth Hughes.

The paperwork shows the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) was unaware of the shipments for 13 years, until late 2009.

That agency had since been replaced by the new Environmental Protection Authority, and an EPA spokeswoman told the newspaper that even though ERMA was unaware of the shipments, the regime that permitted them to pass through New Zealand’s ports had still followed international best practice…..

A spokesman for Prime Minister John Key told the Sunday Star Times yellowcake was ‘Australian dirt, which is essentially harmless’…..

Hughes is calling for an independent inquiry, saying the shipments had no place in a nuclear-free country.

‘Why did the authority fail to approve it for so long, do we have adequate safeguards and response strategies, and what role is New Zealand playing in the international nuclear cycle?’ he said. http://www.skynews.com.au/eco/article.aspx?id=679499&vId=

October 31, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | New Zealand, politics international, Uranium | Leave a comment

Cook Islands must develop renewable energy

The Cook Islands lacks major natural resources and regularly experiences natural disasters. Climate change spurred on by rapidly increasing levels of greenhouse gases is expected to heavily impact the region, with salt intrusion into ground water from rising seas a major concern.

Renewable Energy An Imperative For The Cook Islands, Renewable Energy News, by Energy Matters, 4 Oct 11 The Cook Islands, Japan and Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat have stated renewable energy is no longer an optional energy solution for the Pacific region, but an imperative.

Speaking at a signing ceremony for the Rakahanga $1m PV Project, a project designed to reduce the need for generator fuel, Cook Islands Prime Minister Hon Henry Puna, the Forum Deputy Secretary General and Ambassador of Japan said the region must invest heavily in renewable energy – and that investment must be backed by strong political will. Continue reading →

October 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, OCEANIA, renewable | Leave a comment

Stop shipments of nuclear wastes, say Caribbeans

Caribbean objecting to nuclear waste shipment, Bloomberg, 21 July 11, KINGSTON, JAMAICA, Caribbean officials are calling for an immediate halt to a European shipment of reprocessed nuclear waste that will pass near the islands on its way to Japan. They contend the practice poses a major risk.

Caribbean Community spokesman Leonard Robertson says regional officials have been told by British authorities that the shipment of radioactive waste will be soon. He says they gave no specifics about the vessel for security reasons.

Waste from Japanese nuclear reactors has for years been sent on specially equipped ships to Britain and France for reprocessing, then returned for storage in Japan….http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9OK9ARO0.htm

July 22, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | OCEANIA, opposition to nuclear, wastes | Leave a comment

France’s tardy response to Pacific nuclear test victims

FRANCE RESPONDS TO TAHITI ON NUKE COMPENSATION
French Polynesia outcry registers in Paris, ,PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT, Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center, With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, July 7, 2011) – The French authorities have responded to a claim by a French Polynesian assembly vice president, Hiro Tefaarere, that the territory’s Social Welfare Fund was to seek millions of dollars in compensation for illnesses caused by France’s nuclear weapons tests…..

The defence ministry in Paris says work has been started between the French state and the Fund in Tahiti on how those deemed eligible for compensation can be paid.

The ministry says France is yet to get a response to its initiative.

Two years ago, France recognised for the first time that its weapons tests weren’t clean but to date only one compensation claim has been recognised.

France tested nearly 200 nuclear weapons in French Polynesia before winding up its programme in 1996…..http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/pireport/2011/July/07-08-14.htm

July 9, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, OCEANIA | Leave a comment

New Zealand joins International Renewable Energy Agency

NZ becomes member of energy agency, NewsTalk ZB, 2/05/2011 , New Zealand has become a full member of the International Renewable Energy Agency, which is dedicated to the rapid development of renewable energy worldwide.

Acting energy minister Hekia Parata says we’re one of the leading countries in the area, with 74% of our electricity last year coming from renewable sources.

By joining this organisation, Ms Parata says, we have the opportunity to contribute to international efforts to increase the deployment of renewable energy technologies and drive down their costs… http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=195799

May 2, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | New Zealand, renewable | Leave a comment

Tonga leads Pacific push for renewable energy

AUDIO Tonga steps up its renewable energy push Radio Australia:Pacific Beat: April 11, 2011 There is a growing push towards renewable energy in the Pacific with both Cook Islands and Tuvalu setting ambitious targets to achieve 100 percent renewable energy networks.Tonga too is moving down the same road, having just been admitted as the Pacific’s sole representative on the council of IRENA, the International Renewable Energy Agency.And tomorrow the country’s first sustainable energy expo will open.It’s been organised by TERM – the Tonga Energy Road Map.
Radio Australia:Pacific Beat:Story:Tonga steps up its renewable energy push

April 12, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | OCEANIA, renewable, Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

Tonga to represnt Pacific islands on International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)

Tonga appointed to global energy agency, Australia Network News:, 11 April 11, Lano Fonua from the Tonga Energy Road Map says the small islands of the Pacific will now have a platform to rub shoulders with decision makers. Tonga has been appointed as the Pacific’s sole representative on the International Renewable Energy Agency’s council (IRENA).A renewable energy organisation in Tonga says the Pacific will receive more global recognition concerning climate change now it has been appointed to an international energy agency…..
Australia Network News:Stories:Tonga appointed to global energy agency

April 11, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | OCEANIA, renewable | Leave a comment

Top scientists research radioactive waste in Pacific Ocean

“The levels that we observe are not likely to be dangerous to humans at present, but of course over time the levels will be magnified in the food web and with time the levels in the upper level of the food web and the higher predators will probably lead to levels that might be in conflict with human use of those organisms,”

VIDEO Mid-Pacific search for Japan nuclear water : World News Australia on SBS, *By Jenny Curtis, 8 April 11, A Spanish research vessel that’s just finished testing the waters off the South coast of Australia, will head to the Pacific Ocean to search for traces of radioactive waste from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant. Hesperides research vessel is part of the Malaspina expedition that’s analysing the quality of the oceans around the world.Costing around 23 million dollars, it’s an ambitious project with hundreds of the world’s top scientists involved. Continue reading →

April 9, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, OCEANIA | 2 Comments

Pacific peoples endangered by radiation in fish

claims by some Japanese scientists said that the radioactivity found in fish will be concentrated in the bones, and thus not harmful to humans, didn’t make sense. “Each year, thousands of tons of fish and their bones are processed into fish meal, animal food and in part to fish sticks,”

Radioactive Decay an Emerging Threat for Pacific People, Online Journal Apr 5, 2011, by David Hope Radioactive decay is looming as a tremendous threat to the Pacific people. Radioactivity unleashed by the Japanese Fukushima reactor into the Pacific Ocean endangers the livelihoods of millions of people, Continue reading →

April 7, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, OCEANIA | 2 Comments

Revelations of cancer caused by radiation from Antarcic nuclear plant

Other McMurdo veterans across the US have now been revealed to have cancer………The first thing the doctors asked me was, well, that’s the type of cancer you typically get from exposure from radiation,” Boyles said.

Health fears around polar nuke leak | Stuff.co.nz, by Michael Field, 7 Mar 11, A small nuclear power plant used at McMurdo Sound near New Zealand’s Antarctic Scott Base is being implicated by US media in unusual cancers in men who worked on it in the 1960s.It has also been revealed the PM-3A nuclear power plant – known at MacTown as “nukey poo” for the way it leaked – had 438 malfunctions in its life between 1964 and 1973. Continue reading →

March 8, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ANTARCTICA, health, New Zealand, USA | 2 Comments

Jamaica aims for renewable energy and energy efficiency

According to the PCJ, the seminars seek to foster behaviour change in energy use, encourage conservation measures, and support the increased adoption of energy efficient products and building practices….

Development of renewable energy sources top priority – Broderick, Jamaica Information Service, 4 March 11, Minister of State in the Ministry of Energy and Mining, Hon. Laurence Broderick has reiterated the government’s thrust towards the further development of renewable energy sources, while it also focuses on demand reduction……. Continue reading →

March 5, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | OCEANIA, renewable | Leave a comment

Nuclear power not cost effective for the Philippines

Nuclear power deemed not a viable option for Mindanao, BusinessWorld, 13 Feb 2011, DESPITE THE NEED to look beyond hydro power as a source of electricity for Mindanao, there is just not enough demand on the island to justify the cost of building a nuclear plant there, the top executive of a major power producer told reporters late last week. Continue reading →

February 15, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Philippines | Leave a comment

Lack of civil liberties on a national scale – Philippines and nuclear weapons

The problem is that under the US-RP Visiting Forces Agreement, which allows US military forces to enter the country supposedly for specific non-combat activities for a limited period, Philippine authorities are not allowed to inspect America’s military vessels....This is aggravated by the US’s standard policy on these matters, which is to neither confirm nor deny whether its visiting military vessels and aircraft are nuclear-armed or not..

China, US making Southeast Asia a nuclear neighborhood, JUN VERZOLA, GMANews.TV , 3 Feb 2011, “…..According to Roland G. Simbulan, a long-standing advocate of nuclear disarmament: “Given the nuclear-free policy laid down by the Philippine Constitution, even transient visits by nuclear-armed vessels or aircraft are prohibited. Continue reading →

February 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Philippines, politics international | Leave a comment

The Southeast Asia nuclear weapons free zone

China, US making Southeast Asia a nuclear neighborhood.JUN VERZOLA, GMANews.TV, 3 Feb 2011, “……...The Southeast Asia nuclear weapons free zone The prohibition of nuclear weapons in Philippine territory is, in fact, not only mandated by the 1987 Constitution but by the Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (SEANWFZ), forged in Bangkok in 1995 by 10 Southeast Asian member-states: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The SEANWFZ or Bangkok Treaty of 1995, which took effect in 1997, commits its members to the following (Article 3):

Anywhere inside or outside the nuclear weapons-free zone (NWFZ), not to develop, manufacture, acquire, possess or have control over nuclear weapons; not to station or transport nuclear weapons; and not to use or test nuclear weapons.
In each member’s territory, not to allow any other state to develop, manufacture, acquire, possess or have control over nuclear weapons, nor to station nuclear weapons, nor to test or use nuclear weapons.

In short, the Bangkok Treaty binds all 10 member-states not to allow nuclear weapons—whether self-acquired or held by any other state—within their combined territory………….
Since China has rapidly increased its military strength in the past decade, its naval fleets have been projecting Chinese armed might—and presumably, its nuclear capabilities—beyond the internationally-recognized Chinese coastline, into the high seas beyond.

This problem is further aggravated in the case of the Philippines, where the most basic questions about the area of Philippine jurisdiction remain ambiguous. As discussed in his recent book, veteran diplomat Rodolfo Severino said, “Philippine law enforcement agencies have not been sure of what to allow and what to prohibit, particularly by way of sea passage, overflight, fishing activities, and environmental protection.” (See: Veteran diplomat asks: Where in the world is the Philippines?)
China, US making Southeast Asia a nuclear neighborhood – Nation – GMANews.TV – Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs – Latest Philippine News

February 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ASIA, Philippines, politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Smuggling of uranium in Philippines

WikiLeaks document claims uranium smuggled out of PH, By Jerry E. Esplanada, Philippine Daily Inquirer 02/02/2011 MANILA, Philippines—A smuggling incident involving uranium, a nuclear material, took place in the Philippines in 2007, according to a cable from the US Embassy in London that was released by the online whistle-blower WikiLeaks……..
The release of the WikiLeaks files comes at a crucial moment for Philippine-US ties when the Visiting Forces Agreement is being reviewed by Malacañang…..WikiLeaks document claims uranium smuggled out of PH – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos