Anti-nuclear movement in Australia
Nuclear testing, uranium mining and export, and nuclear energy have often been the subject of public debate in Australia, and the anti-nuclear movement in Australia has a long history. Its origins date back to the 1972–73 debate over French nuclear testing in the Pacific and the 1976–77 debate about uranium mining in Australia.[1][2]
Several groups specifically concerned with nuclear issues were established in the mid-1970s, including the Movement Against Uranium Mining and Campaign Against Nuclear Energy (CANE), cooperating with other environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth and the Australian Conservation Foundation.[3][4] But by the late 1980s, the price of uranium had fallen, and the costs of nuclear power had risen, and the anti-nuclear movement seemed to have won its case. CANE disbanded itself in 1988.[5]
About 2003, proponents of nuclear power advocated it as a solution to global warming and the Australian government began taking an interest. Anti-nuclear campaigners and some scientists in Australia emphasised that nuclear power could not significantly substitute for other power sources, and that uranium mining itself could become a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions.
As of 2010, Australia has no nuclear power stations and the current Rudd Labor government is opposed to nuclear power for Australia.[6] Australia has three operating uranium mines at Olympic Dam (Roxby) and Beverley - both in South Australia's north - and at Ranger in the Northern Territory. As of April 2009, construction has begun on South Australia's third uranium mine—the Honeymoon Uranium Mine.[7] Australia has no nuclear weapons.
Groups and Organizations
References
- ↑ Jim Green. Australia's anti-nuclear movement: a short history Green Left Online, 26 August 1998. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
- ↑ Jason Koutsoukis. Rudd romps to historic win The Age, 25 November 2007. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
- ↑ Roy McLeod (1995). "Resistance to Nuclear Technology: Optimists, Opportunists and Opposition in Australian Nuclear History" in Martin Bauer (ed) Resistance to New Technology, Cambridge University Press, pp. 171-173.
- ↑ Hutton, Drew and Connors, Libby (1999). A History of the Australian Environmental Movement, Cambridge University Press.
- ↑ Roy McLeod (1995). "Resistance to Nuclear Technology: Optimists, Opportunists and Opposition in Australian Nuclear History" in Martin Bauer (ed) Resistance to New Technology, Cambridge University Press, pp. 175-177.
- ↑ Support for N-power falls The Australian, 30 December 2006. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
- ↑ Work begins on Honeymoon uranium mine ABC News, April 24, 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2009.