Nuclear

Friends of the Earth Adelaide > Nuclear

What Remains: Nuclear Legacies of the Montebello Islands

September 7, 2025

ICAN is hosting a Zoom discussion on this Tuesday, September 09, 2025 • 6:30pm – 7:30pm Adelaide

In the 1950s, the Montebello Islands off the Pilbara coast in Western Australia were the site of three British nuclear tests. The first, in 1952, detonated inside a warship anchored off Trimouille Island, followed in 1956 by two larger blasts as part of Operation Mosaic.

In July 2025, a group of artists, writers, researchers, and nuclear survivors travelled to the Montebello Islands to explore the lasting impacts of British nuclear testing there. They will come together in a conversational panel to reflect on what they witnessed and experienced, and discuss what they will carry forward from their time on the islands.

Featuring:

  • Jesse Boylan – Artist and ICAN Media and Comms Adviser (Convener).
  • Maxine Goodwin – ICAN Ambassador and nuclear veteran descendant.
  • Dr Liz Tynan – Writer and Academic. Tynan is author of The Secret of Emu Field: Britain’s Forgotten Atomic Tests in Australia & Atomic Thunder: The Maralinga Story. Her new book on the history of the Montebello Islands nuclear tests is due out in 2026.
  • Merilyn Fairskye – Visual artist living in Sydney. Her work explores the relationships between technology, atomic landscapes and community and have taken her on location to the Polygon in Kazakhstan, Sellafield, Chernobyl, and other key nuclear sites.
  • Paul Grace, Writer and nuclear veteran descendant. Author of Operation Hurricane: The story of Britain’s first atomic test and the legacy that remains.
  • Gary Blinco – Nuclear veteran descendant.
  • Tobias Holden – Student

The discussion is open to all. Please register at the link below.

       

Sponsored by

register via ICAN Australia

Adelaide FoE Notes, Nuclear

AUKUS – End it now

September 7, 2025

On the 4th Anniversary of Scott Morrison’s infamous, autocratic commitment of Australia to AUKUS without any public or parliamentary discussion…
IPAN, the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network, are holding a seminar with Guest Speaker Jim Green on AUKUS and Nuclear Waste, and reports from Anti-AUKUS activities around Australia.

That’s 6:30 to 8pm, Monday September 15th, Adelaide time for the talk and discussion on building the movement to cancel AUKUS and the Force Posture Agreement.

 

 

REGISTER via QR code (left) or
https://events.humanitix.com/aukus-end-it-now

Adelaide FoE Notes, Nuclear, Weapons proliferation, Zoom talks

Say No to Nuclear Financing – World Bank and ADB

September 1, 2025

Until now the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have not provided finance for nuclear energy projects.
 
However, on June 10 the World Bank’s Board decided to lift its ban on financing nuclear projects. The ADB is currently reviewing its energy policy, and indications suggest it may also move to allow support for nuclear power.
 
This international petition, which is endorsed by a large number of organisations including Friends of the Earth Australia and the Australian Conservation Foundation, is now open for individual signatures.
 
 
Please sign on.

Adelaide FoE Notes, FoE, Nuclear

AUKUS Submarine Regulations: FoE Adelaide submission

July 24, 2025

Friends of the Earth Adelaide today (24 July 2025) sent a submission in response to the government’s call for public comments on draft Australian Naval Nuclear Power Safety Regulations. These Regulations were drafted under the Australian Naval Nuclear Power Safety Act, which was passed in October last year. Our submission can be accessed here.
 
The consultation is open until 30 July 2025. Details can be found on the following web site:
 
 
FoE Adelaide’s submission can be summarised as follows:
 
— AUKUS should be cancelled. It compromises Australia’s sovereignty and is not in our strategic, economic, or environmental interests.
— If it is not cancelled, there should be a proper consultation about the Stirling and Osborne designated zones, which were declared in the Australian Naval Nuclear Power Safety Act without consultation.
— The principles of “free, prior and informed consent” should be followed in siting any site for storage and disposal of radioactive waste.
— That includes respecting laws of State and Territory governments that restrict or prohibit siting of nuclear waste facilities.
— The Regulator must be completely independent of the Defence portfolio. In the current proposal it will be answerable to the Minister for Defence.
— All submissions should be published in full, unless the submitter specifically requests otherwise. Government representatives informed us on 17 July at a public forum in Port Adelaide that they only intend to publish a summary put together by bureaucrats.
 
Philip White

Adelaide FoE Notes, FoE, Nuclear

Coalition Lost its Nuclear Referendum

May 12, 2025

Last year, after announcing his nuclear energy policy, Peter Dutton said that the next election would be a referendum on this policy. Well he lost the referendum. Let that be the end of discussion of nuclear power plants in Australia.

Instead, the lesson the Coalition should learn from this election is that it is time to end the climate wars. The Coalition’s obstruction of real action on climate change has done untold damage. Even if Peter Dutton isn’t sure if climate change is real, after severe droughts, bushfires and floods, the public wants action.

No one is saying the transition to a carbon-neutral economy will be easy. To make it work and to capitalise on the opportunities it presents requires bi-partisan support and an end to mischievous misinformation campaigns.

Adelaide FoE Notes, Nuclear, Publications