Mood:
irritatedTopic: nuke threats
YouTube has serialised parts of this chilling BBC classic
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Australia May Sign Up to US World Nuclear Energy Partnership - Bloomberg - 9 hours ago
Australia won't become nuke waste dump: PM - Melbourne Herald Sun - 2 hours ago
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[Media Releases]
Friday, 20 July 2007
Howard-Bush nuclear deal puts Australia at risk - Greens
The Prime Minister's plan to sign a nuclear pact with President Bush risks Australia's future security and environmental wellbeing, Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.
"A thirty percent reallocation of current electricity supplies through energy efficiency, to meet future industrial, retail and domestic needs is a much safer, cleaner, cheaper option to dangerous nuclear power," Senator Brown said.
"Mr Howard's proposed pact with President Bush will anger neighbours like Indonesia and Malaysia and foster nuclear installations in our neighbourhood. The massive radioactive leak in Tokyo Electrics' giant nuclear plant this week shows how dangerous nuclear power stations on Java could be."
"The Howard move will inevitably bring Australia under pressure to become a global nuclear waste dump. It will increase terrorists' focus on Australia and will create a direct incentive for nuclear power plants to be built near our major cities, like Sydney and Melbourne," Senator Brown said.
Further information: Ebony Bennett 0409 164 603
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Howard’s US nuclear push turns up heat on Iemma’s weak laws
Media release: 20 July 2007
Greens NSW MP John Kaye said he would be pushing ahead with his
legislation to trigger a plebiscite in the event that the federal
government tried to impose a nuclear facility on this state.
Dr Kaye said: “The only way to counter John Howard’s desperation to
join President George Bush’s nuclear club is to allow the people of NSW
to have their say.
“The problem is that the existing state laws that supposedly protect
the state from nuclear facilities are toothless.
“The construction of the OPAL reactor at Lucas Heights proved how
little power or political will there is in the NSW government to oppose
the expansion of the nuclear industry in this state.
“We have given notice of legislation that would automatically trigger a
referendum if any federal government tries to force this state to accept
a nuclear facility.
“Our bill is a direct challenge to the Iemma government to strengthen
their stand against nuclear power by giving the people a direct say in
their own future.
“The Greens are confident that there would be an overwhelming vote
against any move to impose nuclear reactors, enrichment, reprocessing or
storage onto a neighbourhood in this state.
“No community wants to risk poisonous waste, toxic leakages and
devastating accidents.
“No society should tolerate the economic damage and geopolitical
destabilisation that a nuclear industry would bring.
“If Premier Iemma is serious about keeping NSW safe from John Howard’s
nuclear ambitions, he will join with us in strengthening state laws and
making sure that the people have a say before they end up with a reactor
in their back yard,” Dr Kaye said.
For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455
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"the confrontation of good and evil"
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This via Benny Zable long time peace activist we have adopted as patron of ecology action australia
Sent: Sunday, July 22, 2007 10:17 AM
Subject: Australia poised to sign nuclear deal with US
This email .....confirms what has been going on behind the
scenes of clearing the way for Nuclear Dumps and the railway links
Halliburton is building.
We need to highlight the ramification of what this deal is truly about, of
why produce more radioactive waste products.
"Fueling a new breed of Nuclear Weapons."
I am heading off to New York City on Wednesday and will be discussing this
matter with Nanci Callahan who produces and directs ECOFEST at the Lincoln
Center. <http://www.ecofest.com/
I will also be performing in New Jersey on Hiroshima Day.
Yours Benny Zable
US
Alice Slater
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, New York
446 E. 86 St.
New York, NY 10028
212-744-2005
646-238-9000(cell)
..
www.wagingpeace.org
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Friday, July 20, 2007 7:13 PM
Subject: Australia poised to sign onto GNEP with US
[Sydney Morning Herald writer Anne Davies article follows:]
Australia poised to sign nuclear deal with US
Anne Davies, Washington
July 20, 2007
According to draft plans seen by The Age, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer
and Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane want the deal announced when US
President George Bush comes to Australia in September for the APEC leaders'
summit.
The deal could advance Prime Minister John Howard's push for Australia to
embrace nuclear power, including providing access to the latest
technological advances.
"The proposed action plan would help to open the way for valuable nuclear
energy co-operation with the United States," a briefing note says.
"It would also be consistent with the Government's strategy for the nuclear
industry in Australia. An action plan on nuclear energy would also have
bilateral advantages further broadening our relationship with the United
States.
"While the US has not raised the possibility, the action plan may be a
possible 'announceable' for President Bush's visit in September."
But the proposal appears to stop short of recommending Australia sign up
with the controversial club of nuclear nations, the Global Nuclear Energy
Partnership (GNEP), being championed by Mr Bush.
An initiative of Washington, the GNEP is seeking to control the
distribution, reprocessing and storage of nuclear fuel around the world.
Member nations include Russia, China, the US, Japan and France.
Mr Bush has said the initiative is central to tackling climate change, and
that its aim is to ensure the safe growth of the nuclear industry while
limiting the risk of proliferation of nuclear material for weapons.
US officials have indicated that Australia's status as a "totally reliable
and trustworthy" nation could allow its inclusion in the plan as a fuel
supplier.
But the proposal is controversial for Australia partly because storage of
nuclear waste by GNEP partners is an integral part of the arrangement.
The Federal Government has repeatedly said Australia will not take other
countries' waste.
The GNEP countries met in Washington in May and agreed to work on plans that
control the supply of all nuclear fuel and its reprocessing and waste
disposal. Non-partnership countries would be leased fuel only if they
complied with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Australia, the world's biggest exporter of unprocessed uranium, and Canada,
another big supplier, have expressed interest in GNEP.
But GNEP is seen by some developing nations as highly divisive, and
Australia's membership could alarm neighbours including Indonesia.
It would also rekindle heated debate in Australia over the development of
nuclear power, and would inevitably raise the spectre of a nuclear waste
dump.
Officials working on the US-Australia initiative flag this concern in their
note, saying that signing "a joint nuclear energy action plan would be on
the basis that this would not limit possible future choices regarding
Australia's nuclear industry. It will be important also to ensure there is
no misperception on the United States' part that conclusion of an action
plan could have implications for the Government's policy of not taking other
countries' radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel."
A US Energy Department spokeswoman, Angela Hill, said: "The vision of GNEP
is something we would hope Australia and other countries can support."
A spokesman for Mr Downer confirmed that discussions on an agreement were
under way, focusing on safeguards and research and development.
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Alfred Meyer, Program Director
Alliance for Nuclear Accountability
322 4th Street NE
Washington, DC 20002
202-544-0217
202-544-6143 fax
www.ananuclear.org
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