Tag Archive: Sustainability

Friends of the Earth Adelaide > Sustainability

Media Release: Nuclear is the wrong direction for SA

August 13, 2015

MEDIA RELEASE     13 August 2015

Three leading environmental organisations – Conservation SA, the Australian Conservation Foundation and Friends of the Earth, Australia – have submitted a detailed joint submission to the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission which forensically details an extensive series of nuclear myths and false assumptions.

“South Australia’s future lies in renewable energy, not nuclear.  It’s cheaper, safer and quicker to roll out,” said Conservation SA Chief Executive Craig Wilkins.

“This week’s axing of hundreds of jobs from Olympic Dam should raise huge questions about growth potential in the nuclear industry. With renewables, we can be in charge of our own destiny, not dependent on decisions made in corporate boardrooms on the other side of the world,” he said.

“Much of the nuclear promotion in SA is premised on the idea of a global nuclear ‘renaissance’, said lead submission author Dr Jim Green. “In fact, the nuclear renaissance is stone cold dead.

There are fewer reactors now than there were a decade ago. Nuclear fuel cycle markets for enrichment, conversion and fuel fabrication are oversupplied. And as the continuing job losses at Olympic Dam demonstrate, the uranium market is extremely weak and will remain so for years,” he said.

As well as highlighting the contested and constrained status of the current nuclear sector the 248 page report makes a compelling case that the industry’s future will be no brighter.

“So-called Generation 3 reactors projects such as the French EPR and Westinghouse AP1000 are in trouble, with multi-year delays and multi-billion dollar cost blowouts,” said Dr Green. “So-called Generation 4 reactors are decades away and, as a recent report by the French government concludes, safety claims made by Generation 4 advocates do not stand up to scrutiny.”

Many environment, public health and Aboriginal groups have expressed concern that the Royal Commission is being used by the nuclear industry as a Trojan Horse in an attempt to open national and international radioactive waste dumps in SA.… Read more >>

Clean Futures, FoE, Media releases, Mining, Nuclear, Old_Notes, Reports, Weapons proliferation

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FoE Submissions to the Royal Commission into the Nuclear Fuel “Cycle”

August 13, 2015

Friends of the Earth Adelaide have been busy the last few months preparing submissions to the Royal Commission into the Nuclear Fuel Cycle.

The issues papers are on the Royal Commission website along with many others.

Issues Paper 1: Exploration, Extraction and Milling

FOE Issues Paper 1: Mining Expansion Submission Final July 2015

Appendix 2 Pt Augusta Statement

 Issues Paper 2: Further Processing and Manufacturing

FOE Issues Paper 2: Enrich-Final
Issues Paper 3: Electricity Generation

FOE Issues Paper 3: Electricity Generation Final July 2015

Appendix 1: Nuclear Power – Still Not Viable Without Subsidies

report by the Union of Concerned Scientists

 Issues Paper 4: Management, Storage and Disposal of Waste

FOE Issues Paper 4: Nuclear Waste Submission

Appendix 1 Pt Augusta Statement

CFC member Philip White’s individual submission addressing Issues Paper 3: Philip White Submission

Clean Futures, FoE, Mining, Nuclear, Old_Notes, Publications, Renewables, Reports, Weapons proliferation

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Anti-nuclear coaliton meeting 20 August

August 10, 2015

The next antinuclear coalition meeting will be this Thursday 20th August 6pm start at Mad Mouse Alley, 58 Light Square, City (on the eastern end of the square, along the alley to the north of the People’s Choice Credit Union building).  Mad Mouse is a DIY not-for-profit social centre.

Enquiries robyn.wood@foe.org.au or 0423 219 096

Clean Futures, Mining, Nuclear, Sustainability, Weapons proliferation

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Make a submission to the Senate Inquiry on the Murray River

July 26, 2015

The Murray needs water, not politics

Submitted by Cam Walker on Sat, 25/07/2015 – 15:45

Opposition to the Murray Basin Plan is mounting, and the stakes are very high. Rogue Senators and angry irrigators from the South Basin have managed to mount a Senate Select Committee Inquiry into the Basin Plan. The Inquiry will look into the social and economic impacts of the Plan’s implementation. Essentially, though, it is about attacking the river-saving buyback of water for the environment. Some farmers and Irrigators believe that water buybacks are destroying communities and, somewhat surprisingly, hurting the environment. 

A Public Meeting was held in Barham NSW on July 8th and was just the beginning of what could be another protracted political argument over how our largest river system is managed. But while the politics roll on, Basin ecosystems continue to face threats, including a looming drought and a Federal Government proposal to cap water buybacks. 

The Basin Plan already represents a huge political compromise. The 3200GL of environmental water promised in the Plan is barely enough to keep the iconic ecosystems of the Basin alive, especially given the uncertainties of climate change.

Can we risk more meddling in this historic agreement? Please consider making a submission to the Senate Inquiry on the Governments proposal to cap water buybacks for the environment.

Submissions close 31st July 2015.

Water Amendment Bill 2015 – Brief guide to writing a submission.

 

Climate, Old_Notes, Sustainability

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New website/enewsletter – One Step Off the Grid

July 22, 2015

FOE members and friends who are interested in renewable energy and off grid living might be interested in this new website being set up by the excellent RenewEconomy – One Step Off the Grid. Enjoy!

Introducing our new sister site – One Step Off The Grid

“RenewEconomy is proud to announce the launch of One Step Off The Grid, our sister site that will focus on the consumer side of the energy market, and how the uptake of rooftop solar, battery storage and other technologies will usher in a dramatic transformation of our energy system”.

“Australia is at the cutting edge of this revolution. Already, it has more “pro-sumers” – consumers that produce at least some of their own electricity needs – per head of population than any other country. The advent of battery storage will offer even more choice. For some, it will mean the ability to leave the grid.

“But what are the social, economic, and business impacts of this transformation? How do consumers navigate their way through the complexity of tariffs, policy changes, and new technologies, and make the choice that suit their needs? Do we really want suburban households to quit the grid? Will the utilities evolve their business models?

“That is why we have created One Step Off The Grid. It is a free website and will have a weekly newsletter (click here to sign up for the newsletter), although it will be updated daily.

“It will provide information to consumers – in households, business and communities – on all of the latest developments, such as these new projections on commercial solar uptake, and the latest on solar, battery storage, tariff and policy changes.

“It also will focus on stories of what families, businesses, communities and townships have done, and are doing”.

Clean Futures, Climate, Divestment, Old_Notes, Renewables, Sustainability

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