Nuclear Energy

ANSTO

Estimates Transcripts | Spokesperson Scott Ludlam
Thursday 20th October 2011, 8:29am
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Wednesday 19 October 2011 - Economics Committee


Senator LUDLAM: I have a bunch of questions, and I might put some of them on notice. Regarding COMCARE investigation 4245, which I guess you are reasonably familiar with, ANSTO alleged a denial of procedural fairness. The COMCARE review found that not to be the case. What were ANSTO's grounds for alleging a denial of procedural fairness?


Dr Paterson : COMCARE case 4245 denied ANSTO procedural fairness on a number of grounds. First of all, during the course of that investigation, from its beginning to its conclusion, 22 ANSTO staff members were named in the report. None of those staff members were afforded the opportunity of being interviewed in relation to the statements that were made in the report, which purported to represent their views. We took the view that if a report was to be done in a correct and investigatorily sound manner, it would be usual to interview people who are named in reports to determine the substantive context and the environment in which that took place. So that was one element of procedural fairness.

NT uranium mine workers still not on national radiation register

Media Release | Spokesperson Scott Ludlam
Wednesday 19th October 2011, 1:17pm
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Uranium mine workers in the Northern Territory are still not on the National Radiation Dose Register, five months after their exclusion was revealed by the Australian Greens.


Greens Senator Scott Ludlam exposed the information black hole during Estimates hearings in May, and today while quizzing representatives from the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency discovered that nothing had been done to fix it.

Long campaign of deception by nuclear industry exposed

Media Release | Spokesperson Scott Ludlam
Monday 3rd October 2011, 3:56pm
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The nuclear industry's long-term campaign of deception exposed by an independent investigation in Japan is almost certainly not an isolated case, the Australian Greens warned today.


Greens spokesperson for nuclear affairs Senator Scott Ludlam said it would be surprising if Japan was the only victim of corrupt and dishonest tactics from the nuclear industry.


"The stacking of public meetings by nuclear sector stooges and collusion with corrupt officials to suppress opposition to nuclear power in Japan is a case study in the lengths to which this industry is prepared to go. In the globalised economy, the idea that these kinds of practices would only be occurring in Japan is an example of extreme optimism."


Senator Ludlam said the nuclear industry campaign went beyond stacking public meetings with company goons.


"As though infiltrating community meetings with nuclear industry employees pretending to be farmers and other local residents wasn't nefarious enough, evidence shows officials as high up as the Governor of Kyushu have been working with the industry to manipulate public opinion and promote the nuclear sector.


"Worse still, another investigation has found that a number of nuclear firms colluded with the Nuclear Safety Agency - the very body charged with regulating the industry - to rig public forums on the issue. Japan is one of the world's leading industrialised powers - what is the nuclear industry getting away with in other countries?"


Senator Ludlam said vigilance was especially needed now that the nuclear industry is in retreat.


"The nuclear industry is dying but the company bosses are being dragged kicking and screaming to the funeral. They will fight hard to promote their business, and truth is often the first casualty."



Media Contact: Giovanni Torre - 0417 174 302


 

Six months since Fukashima - time to shut you down

Greens TV | Spokesperson Scott Ludlam
Thursday 22nd September 2011, 2:07am
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Six months since Fukashima, the true tragedy of the disaster is still becoming apparent. Senator Ludlam reflects on the global need to transition from dangerous  toxic energy sources.


"You dont have an image problem, you have a reality problem"

Urgency debate on the implications of Fukushima Daiichi and the 22 Sept. UN High Level meeting on Nuclear Safety & Security

Speech | Spokesperson Scott Ludlam
Wednesday 21st September 2011, 6:12pm
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Senator LUDLAM (Western Australia) (16:35): I move:


That the Senate discuss the implications of the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and Australia's participation at the High Level Meeting on Nuclear Safety and Security to be held on 22 September 2011 at the United Nations Headquarters.

Fukushima silence must end at last

Media Release | Spokesperson Scott Ludlam
Wednesday 21st September 2011, 5:22pm
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The Australian Greens today called for the Senate to finally break the silence around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in the shadow of tomorrow's high level United Nations meeting on nuclear safety and security.


Greens nuclear affairs spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam moved an Urgency Motion in the Senate calling for a genuine discussion of the implications of the disaster and Australia's involvement in the meeting at UN headquarters in New York.


"The IAEA and Japanese authorities have done medical tests on children in three towns near Fukushima. 45 per cent of those surveyed - children up to 15 years old - have had thyroid exposure. Radioactive iodine is something to which children and babies are much more susceptible. Tests on products such as spinach, tea, milk and fish 360 kilometres from the plant show contamination from iodine and caesium."


"The situation in Japan is dire and no amount of PR spin from the nuclear industry - including uranium mining companies - will convince the Japanese people and people around the world otherwise."

Uranium sales fall as smart companies pull the plug on nuclear power

Media Release | Spokesperson Scott Ludlam
Monday 19th September 2011, 12:16pm
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A big drop in the value of Australia's uranium exports is a further sign the nuclear industry is crumbling, the Australian Greens said today.


The Greens spokesperson for nuclear affairs Senator Scott Ludlam said figures from the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics showing a 19 per cent fall in the value of Australian uranium exports from 2009-10 to 2010-11 could not be ignored.

Adjournment speech - Fukushima 6 months on - Australia's Nuclear Free Alliance

Speech | Spokesperson Scott Ludlam
Wednesday 14th September 2011, 9:24am
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Senator LUDLAM (Western Australia) (20:58): by leave-I rise to acknowledge that on Sunday we passed an important anniversary, the 10th anniversary of the horrific attacks on New York City and the aircraft that were flown into the twin towers and the Pentagon and one that crashed on its way to its intended target. We pause to reflect on the extraordinary violence unleashed on the people of the United States and on citizens from countries all around the world in those attacks.


I also acknowledge that 11 September this year was the six-month anniversary of the disaster on the Pacific coast of north-east Japan in which one of the most powerful earthquakes in the country's history, followed by a 15 metre tsunami, caused horrific loss of life, wrecking the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex. This is an appropriate time to pause and remember the extraordinary loss of life and the ongoing disaster that has been caused there.

Australia-France statement on Nuclear Safety a ‘declaration of delusion’

Media Release | Spokesperson Scott Ludlam
Tuesday 13th September 2011, 10:43am
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The Australian Government needs to drop the platitudes and commit to the only real nuclear safety policy - the permanent closure of the nuclear industry - in the wake of another accident at a nuclear plant, the Australian Greens said today.


Greens spokesperson for nuclear affairs Senator Scott Ludlam said the Australia-France Joint Statement on Civil Nuclear Safety, issued on September 11th - the day before an explosion rocked the French nuclear plant of Marcoule - was a "declaration of delusion".

Western Australia can do without Rio Tinto’s nuclear hallucinations

Media Release | Spokesperson Scott Ludlam
Tuesday 30th August 2011, 5:14pm
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Rio Tinto's embarrassing foray into Western Australian energy policy is a striking example of why mining companies should stay out of politics, say the Australian Greens.


"A uranium mining company advocates nuclear power - hold the front page," Greens Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam said today. "This is commercial self-interest masquerading as energy policy."


"Even the State Government recognises that the Western Australian electricity market is too small for nuclear generators, and Rio Tinto is silent on the real-world consequences of bringing nuclear energy to WA.


"Those calling for nuclear power ignore the reality of what is happening around the world: every year for the last 15 years the growth in renewable energy's capacity has outstripped the growth in nuclear capacity, and last year investment in renewable energy over-took investment in nuclear and fossil-fuelled energy combined.


"Because Rio Tinto doesn't own the sun, there's an institutional blindness to any form of energy generation that doesn't involve digging something up, selling it and burning it. History is moving on and so should Rio Tinto.


"In the United States of America - the world's largest economy - the share of renewables in new capacity additions boomed from two percent in 2004 to 55 percent in 2009, with no new nuclear capacity whatsoever added in that time.


"Forget nuclear. We're now in the century of renewable energy."



Media Contact: Giovanni Torre - 0417 174 302