Mining and nuclear

Moratorium on deepwater drillingLink to full story

The Guardian

The US government has ordered a six month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico pending new safety standards, which are to be drawn up by a presidential special commission into the recent BP oil spill, which has devastated the area.  The moratorium will halt work on 33 drilling platforms.  Industry figures say 46,000 jobs could be jeopardised.  The move has been applauded by environmentalists.

Traditional owners to grow KakaduLink to full story

Australian Conservation Foundation

Aboriginal Traditional Owners the Djok clan have offered to fold the Koongarra region into the surrounding World Heritage listed Kakadu. Koongarra includes the famous Nourlangie Rock (Burrunggui/Anbangbang) and is important in the Rainbow Serpent and lightning storylines. It is also home to an estimated 15,000 tonnes of uranium that French nuclear and mining giant Areva has long wanted to dig up.

The senior Traditional Owner Jeffrey Lee has spoken powerfully against uranium mining and consistently rejected Areva’s development applications.

Nuclear stockpile plan revivedLink to full story

BBC News

A plan to have a central nuclear stockpile overseen by the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), originally formulated by President Eisenhower following WW2, has been revived.  Under the plan, stockpiles are created for developing countries planning to use nuclear power in the near future to divert them from Iran’s path and the possibility they might enrich their own uranium. Adhering to IAEA regulations, nuclear fuel supplies are guaranteed regardless of the applicant country’s politics or human rights record.

Israeli anti-nuclear spokesman arrestedLink to full story

ABC News

Israeli police have again arrested nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu for violating a ban which prohbits him discussing his former work at Israel’s Dimona nuclear reactor.  Vanunu has already served multiple jail terms as a traitor for discussing the nuclear reactor with foreign press. Vanunu says that he poses no security threat to the Israeli government, and that he want to pursue his anti-nuclear activities abroad.

Dust storm raises radioactive threatLink to full story

ABC News

Dramatic dust storms hitting Sydney this week have raised concerns that radioactive dust from BHP Billiton’s planned Olympic Dam mine expansion could pose a serious threat to the city’s population.

Green light for Gorgon LNGLink to full story

The Age

Australia’s largest ever resource deal, the Gorgon LNG project on Barrow Island, off the Western Australian coast, cleared it’s final hurdle today when the Federal Environment Minister, Peter Garret, approved the project. The project, a joint venture between Shell, Chevron and ExxonMobil has a contract to sell $50Bn worth of gas to China’s state owned  PetroChina.

Barrow Island is home to much endangered fauna , rare and endemic , including the Barrow Island Mouse, the Spectacled Hare-Wallaby, the Golden Bandicoot and the threatened Flatback Turtle.

Senator Joyce supporting Nuclear dissing TurnbullLink to full story

The Age

Outspoken Queensland National Party Senator, Barnaby Joyce, has lashed out at coalition leader, Malcolm Turnbull, pledging his allegiance solely to the leader of the National Party, Warren Truss at the sacrifice of Turnbull. Joyce, speaking at the Nationals’ Federal Council Meeting, has also vowed to dismatle any ETS the coalition inherits and has put Nuclear power back at the center of the climate debate.

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