It’s been a great week for hypocrisy, especially in Australia. The uranium industry, facing the continuing dizzying fall in prices, and investment, and the backdown of several projects in Australia – nevertheless comes up with a load of propaganda about its coming great future. ( Google “uranium” and you’ll see loads of this). Today we learn that ‘community education’ is about to happen - so uranium mining will become popular. And Paladin Energy’s Matthew Keane agrees, ( never mind that Paladin lost $39 over the 9 months to March 12).
South Australia’s Premier Jay Weatherill deserves a medal for hypocrisy. Today he’s saying that uranium sales are beneficial to the world, cutting carbon emissions. And says Weatherill, (THE AUSTRALIAN, 16/08/12) “”we should join others in the world in respecting India’s reasons for not signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and in respecting India as an international citizen.” Meanwhile India is going gung ho testing nuclear missiles, and launching nuclear attack submarines.
But – let’s give the top medal to Bob Carr, Julia Gillard‘s government, and all who sail in it. Not a peep out of them, as UK is about to raid the ecuador Embassy, to make sure that Australian citizen Julian Assange can be delivered unto the USA – to be made an example of – a la the atrocious treatment of Bradley Manning?
On the world scene – Japan is very quiet on the health effects of Fukushima radiation. Nuclear lobby writers are out in force – attempting to discredit ionising radiation “low levl” as a cause of cancers and genetic malformations. Indeed they’re still pushing the “hormesis” idea – (“low level” radiation is good for you) meanwhile scientific findings on butterflies in Japan reveal the harmful effects of low level radiation, that are passed down through generations.
In USA the mainstream media are putting a calm face on the decision by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to halt licensing of nuclear reactors, because – well, a court has ruled that there’s no confidence in the NRC’s Waste Confidence Rule. That rule has allowed nuclear reactors to be licensed, even though nobody knows what to do with the radioactive wastes. There is also a calm face on the USA’s current extreme heat wave, which is causing one nuclear reactor after another to slow down , or shut down – due to problems of hot cooling water.