[Oz-envirolink] Re: NOW or NEVER - have your say on Nuclear power

[hugh spencer]

>THIS IS AN URGENT MESSAGE calling  people to send one simple, important
>email. We only have two  days left to respond to Howard's nuclear power
>report. The  closing date for submissions is Tuesday 12 December.

Tomorrah!!!!!


>
>Please make a  submission (either a simple NO NUCLEAR or a more extensive
>email letter) on the  draft report of the Ziggy Switkowski panel (UMPNER)
>
>To make a  submission please email to:

umpner at pmc.gov.au

>
>You can either simply cut and paste the following  words:
>
>To whom it may concern, I oppose nuclear power in  Australia,
>especially without an objective and detailed inquiry  into better, safer,
>cheaper and more sustainable methods of generating  power for Australians
>eg wind, solar, wave, biomass and geothermal  energies.

>Yours sincerely,  (Please ensure you add your full name and  address)  

 or you can write a more personalised  and/or longer submission which is
always better.

 Here my first draft for your  inspiration (feel free to copy or rephrase
from it as well):  

 To whom it may concern,

1) I ask this commission to please ask  the government to widen the very
narrow set of references given  to this commission which does not allow the
consideration of possibly  or even probably much better, cheaper, safer,
more sustainable and more  effective energy sources like wind, solar,
biomass, wave and geothermal  (the latter two can reliably provide base
loads). These options should  be considered in this or an equal commission
and their costs and  development potentials should be compared before any
commitment to nuclear  energy is made.  Once we use wind, solar and
wave energy  we can enjoy 2,000,000,000 years of secure energy (vs. ~200 to
2000 years for nuclear and fossil fuels) and we'll actually take  energy
out of the weather engine rather than adding to  it! It would be totally
irresponsible  for us to risk nuclear holocaust and to commit hundreds of
future  generations to live with our nuclear waste, especially if there
is one or more viable alternatives!

2) I ask that this commission to please estimate  the costs
of decommissioning nuclear plants and the total costs  (including
inflation) for the long term safe storage and safeguarding of nuclear
waste for the entire time that it radiates dangerous levels of
radioactivity and I ask this commission to include those  costs into the
estimated consumer costs of nuclear power.

 3) I ask that this commission provide an estimate  of known uranium
reserves (in Australia and worldwide) and how long they  could supply the
world at present technology and usage and at the expected  worldwide
increased usage (with and without an Australian nuclear industry  as
envisioned by the draft report).

 4) I ask this commission to please consider the  worldwide political
implications of going nuclear at a time when we  want Iran and South
Korea to stop their nuclear programs and when we  would not want most other
countries to go nuclear. I further ask this commission  to consider the
availability (or rather lack) of nuclear scientists and  technicians in
Australia and worldwide, the state of technological knowledge in  both
nuclear and solar and other alternative technologies in Australia  and
their respective prospects for fast commercialisation and mass energy
production (either centralised or through micro systems).

 5) I ask this commission to please clarify and  consider that after over
60 years of nuclear industry there is still not a  single safe long term
deposit for highly radioactive waste anywhere in the world  and no widely
accepted evidence that there will ever be one. In  no case should we start
using nuclear energy before safe long term storage  of waste can be assured
for the hundreds or thousands of years they will be  radioactive for.

Yours sincerely Svargo Freitag
>
>For people who are interested and/or want to make a more extensive
>submission, you can find more information here:
>http://www.pmc.gov.au/umpner/index.cfm (The UPMNER website)
>http://nuclear.wilderness.org.au/
>http://www.nuclearpolicy.org/
>http://www.foe.org.au/nc/nc_nuke.htm#subs (Friends of the Earth website -
>includes  extensive submissions on nuclear issues)
>http://www.energyscience.org.au (For a critique of the UMPNE Report:)
>http://www.geocities.com/jimgreen3/nnn6.html
>http://www.helencaldicott.com/articles.htm (Articles published with
>Helen Caldicott -  nuclear activist / doctor / lecturer)
>
>To voice support for the 'no new  uranium mines' policy by Labor, send
>an email to Kevin Rudd by following this  link:
>http://melbourne.foe.org.au/letters/index.php?p=letter&l=6
> original email forwarded from:
>Rainforest Information Centre
>Box 368 Lismore
>NSW  2480
>AUSTRALIA
>61 2 66897519
>johnseed1 at ozemail.com.au
>www.rainforestinfo.org.au