AUSTRALIA « nuclear-news

Iran claiming that U.S. kidnapped nuclear scientist

Iran presses case of nuclear scientist it says held in US By Jay Deshmukh, Google hosted news, (AFP) – 10 June 2010, TEHRAN — Iran said Tuesday it will use legal channels to secure the release of its nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri, who in a video clip screened on Iranian television channels said he was kidnapped by US agents.Foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said the film confirmed Tehran’s charges that Amiri had been “kidnapped by US and Saudi intelligence services.”But Washington denied the accusation…………. Continue reading →

June 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Iran, secrets,lies and civil liberties | AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin | Leave a comment

Inida’s nukes planned for populated areas, despite poor radiation safeguards

Radiating error, THE WEEK, Mayapuri incident exposes chinks in the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board’s armour. By Payal Saxena, June 12 India plans to have 20,000MW of nuclear energy by 2020 and triple that by 2032—an ambition that would translate into 31 nuclear reactors in all. Most plants are planned in areas with high population density, Continue reading →

June 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, safety | AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

BHP Billiton’s deceptive recording of uranium radiation exposures

The whistleblower produced documents that show BHP uses manipulated averages and distorted sampling to ensure the figures are below the maximum exposure levels set by government,…to manipulate the sampling by transferring workers, whose exposures were escalating, to a different area

Radiation unsafe at BHP’s Olympic Dam: whistleblower, Sydney Morning Herald, June 4, 2010 Workers at BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam are being exposed to unsafe levels of radiation, according to a company whistleblower. Continue reading →

June 11, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, secrets,lies and civil liberties | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear secrecy, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Australia’s nuclear agency calls radiation leak whistleblower a “security risk”

Mr Reid made the safety allegations about the ARI facility on the ABC on May 4…The industry watchdog the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) found five safety and procedural concerns in its report released in January……………

Australian Nuclear Science and Technology whistleblower now ”security risk” St George & Sutherland Shire Leader, BY ROSITA GALLASCH, 09 Jun, 2010 DAVID Reid, the whistleblower who raised safety concerns about ANSTO’s radiopharmaceuticals and industrials (ARI) facility last month, is now regarded as a security risk.ANSTO’s chief executive officer Adi Paterson said Mr Reid, who was a safety officer for six years and an employee for 28, now posed a security threat. Continue reading →

June 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, secrets,lies and civil liberties | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive, reactor | Leave a comment

USA national photo petetition for truly clean energy, not nuclear

Dirty Energy Hunt in Florida through 1Sky, CleanEnergy Footprints , June 9th, 2010 › by Debbie Attiasa A nationwide “Dirty Energy Hunt” organized by 1Sky to form a national photo petition from dirty energy sites, such as coal and nuclear power plants, as well as protests on beaches where oil from the recent Gulf oil spill is beginning to wash up. These photos are a visual reminder to U.S. Senators that we are not happy they have included incentives and support for such sources of (dirty) energy in proposed federal energy bills…. Continue reading →

June 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | AUSTRALIA, climate change, energy efficiency, global warming, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, renewable energy, renewables, solar, wind | Leave a comment

Australian uranium mine to come under Russian control

Moscow moves on global uranium mines The Australian June 10, RUSSIA has moved to boost its holdings in global uranium mines, with state-owned Rosatom agreeing to take a controlling stake in Canada’s Uranium One……If the deal goes ahead, it will put the Honeymoon uranium project in South Australia, scheduled to come into production at the end of the year, under the control of the Russian government…… Uranium One has sold its recently acquired 3 per cent stake in Australia’s Paladin Resources,…….Uranium One owns 51 per cent of Honeymoon Well mine, which means it will come under Rosatom’s control.Honeymoon Well, 75km northwest of Broken Hill, is expected to cost $138m to develop.The other 49 per cent is owned by Japan’s Mitsui…. Moscow moves on global uranium mines | The Australian

June 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international, Russia | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Russia’s nuclear agency Rosatom involved in Iran, France, Australia

Rosatom Agrees to First Asset Sale to Foreign Investor, The Moscow Times, 09 June 2010By Anatoly Medetsky “…..Kiriyenko (pictured) announced that Russia and Iran would jointly run Iran’s first nuclear power plant that Rosatom plans to launch in August. Iran agreed to establish a joint venture with Rosatom to operate the plant because the country doesn’t have enough experience in maintaining such facilities, he said.In other news, Rosatom signed an agreement with the French Atomic Energy Commission to expand cooperation on reprocessing, decommissioning and isotopes technology.

In what could further extend Rosatom’s international reach, the State Duma is scheduled to ratify an accord between Russia and Australia on peaceful nuclear cooperation on Wednesday. Continue reading →

June 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international, Russia | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, enriched, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, reactors, recycling, reprocessing, uranium | Leave a comment

At least the USA TALKS about nuclear wastes!

Christina Macpherson's websites & blogs

This website might well give the impression that it is anti-American, anti-British etc, – especially on the subject of nuclear wastes.

But – spare a thought for those two countries. At least the nuclear waste subject is RAISED there. (That’s how we can publish it)

Very hard to get a few lines about Russia’s nuclear wastes.

As for China, France and also a few other countries (India, Korea, European states , Israel...) – well there’s nary a word about their nuclear wastes! What do they do with radioactive wastes? It’s a worry. And it seems to me to be complete lunacy for countries like Australia to piously claim safety policy, while selling uranium to such countries.

June 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, reactors | Leave a comment

Some responses to the idea of “nuking the oil spill”

Using a nuclear device in an attempt to shut down the GOM oil spill seems like using a battleship to cross a river.Success is not guaranteed and the side effects could be horrendous.”

Nuking The Oil Slick? The Oil Drum by Big Gav on May 31, 2010 – ]A recent interview with Matthew Simmons on Bloomberg discussed the possibility of a nuclear explosion being used to seal the leaking Macondo oil well. Continue reading →

June 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

One Australian Aboriginal thwarts AREVA’s uranium mining plans

”Jeffrey Lee has put country and culture ahead of personal profit and his vision means this magnificent place will be protected for all people and all time,”

Owner wants uranium-rich land to be added to Kakadu, Sydney Morning Herald, LINDSAY MURDOCH IN KAKADUMay 29, 2010 The world heritage-listed Kakadu National Park will be expanded to include thousands of hectares of ecologically sensitive land that contains uranium worth billions of dollars. In a generous act, the Aboriginal traditional owner, Jeffrey Lee, has offered the land to the federal government so that it can become part of Kakadu, where he works as a ranger. Continue reading →

May 29, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, indigenous issues | antinuclear, AREVA, AUSTRALIA, indigenous, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

World’s biggest uranium mine will be at risk from earthquakes

Edward Cranswick, a geophysicist and expert on earthquakes, has warned the South Australian and federal governments of the earthquake danger for the Olympic Dam uranium mine area.

This risk has been ignored in BHP Billiton’s Environmental Impact Statement for its proposed gigantic expansion which would form the world’s biggest mining hole.

The Kalgoorlie Earthquake and the Proposed Olympic Dam Mine Expansion. by Edward Cranswick, 25 May 2010, BHP Billiton has proposed to dig the largest open pit mine on the Earth at Olympic Dam, 4.1 km long, 3.5 km wide, 1 km deep. As a geophysicist who investigated earthquakes for the US Geological Survey for 22 years [1], I strongly criticised BHP’s Olympic Dam Expansion Draft Environmental Impact Statement 2009 (ODXdEIS) [2] because it omitted consideration of seismicity, i.e., rockbursts or earthquakes, caused by open pit mining, despite the fact that seismic hazard is well-known in the Australian mining industry (Hudyma et al. 2003 [3], Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM) [4]).

The recent Kalgoorlie Earthquake emphasises the probability and consequences of these seismic events as mines grow larger and deeper – the ODXdEIS needs to be re-evaluated because it does not address this issue at all. I discuss the connection between mining and seismicity and how it is obscured in Australia, particularly the seismic hazard of the Olympic Dam mine, and I make recommendations about these matters. Read on for the complete submission. Continue reading →

May 28, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, safety | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear costs, uranium | Leave a comment

Uranium mining’s radioactive pollution of World Heritage National Park

Mine fears grow as pollutants flow to Kakadu, Sydney Morning Herald, LINDSAY MURDOCHMay 24, 2010

MILLIONS of litres of radioactive water from the Ranger uranium mine have flowed into internationally acclaimed and World Heritage-listed wetlands in Kakadu National Park. Continue reading →

May 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, environment | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Realistic fears that North Korea might use nuclear weapons

A diplomatic black hole, guardian.co.uk, 24 May 2010, Having accused North Korea of sinking its warship, Seoul finds its options severely limited “……The threat of annihilation is fairly par for the course for Pyongyang, the equivalent of a demarche from any other government. A year ago, the regime threatened the US with a “fire shower of nuclear retaliation” and an “annihilating blow” in response to any attack, at a time when an American naval vessel was shadowing a North Korean cargo ship suspected of carrying banned goods off the Chinese coast.Just because a threat is used frequently does not mean it can safely be ignored, however. Pyongyang is very unlikely to court its own destruction by launching a nuclear attack, but no responsible government in Seoul can bet on that. There is always the small chance that Kim Jong-il has descended into total madness or a struggle for power in Pyongyang has unleashed a strain of suicidal militarism…… A diplomatic black hole | World news | guardian.co.uk

May 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | North Korea, weapons and war | AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | 1 Comment

It could be the water problem that finishes off the nuclear industry

“The best alternatives from a water perspective are wind and photovoltaics, that require effectively no water.”

Water Adds New Constraints to Power, NYTimes.com By ERICA GIES May 17, 2010 “……In the United States, thermoelectric power generation — mainly coal, nuclear and natural gas — accounted for 41 percent of U.S. freshwater withdrawals in 2005, U.S. Geological Society data show………..

But there is a growing awareness in California and throughout the United States that the use of water for energy generation may be reaching its limits.

California has extensive experience with water shortages, resulting in its adoption of a policy, included in the energy commission’s 2003 Integrated Energy Policy Report, that discourages freshwater use for power plant cooling…….“If you want to build a big central power plant, whether it’s oil, gas or nuclear, you can’t take the water for granted.” Continue reading →

May 18, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, water | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, climate change, global warming, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, reactors, renewable energy, renewables, solar, uranium, water, wind | Leave a comment

Australian Aboriginals fight Govt’s draconian nuclear waste plan

YouTube – Muckaty Voices

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcuNpT84Ov

The proposed waste dump law excludes the Muckaty Traditional Owners from procedural fairness and appeal rights, removes Aboriginal Heritage and environmental protections and overrides any Commonwealth, State and Territory laws that could be used to oppose or challenge the dump plan.

From the campfire to cyberspace: Radioactive waste concerns go global, Natalie Wasley, 18 May 2001 Aboriginal Traditional Owners opposed to a radioactive waste dump at Muckaty Station in the Northern Territory of Australia have taken their campaign to a global online audience. Continue reading →

May 18, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, indigenous issues | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, indigenous, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium, wastes | Leave a comment