Australian yellow cake.

[devance]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HD01Df04.html

Australia has some 40% of the world's uranium deposits but no nuclear power plants. China has nine civilian nuclear power plants and is planning to build 30 more over the next 15 years to meet a rapidly growing appetite for energy. However, supplying uranium to China will have serious strategic implications for regional geo-politics, indeed for the world. Therefore these agreements should not be seen as strictly commercial arrangements. <___base_url___>/uploads/emoticons/default_innocent_n.gif

[botanika]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HD01Df04.html

Australia has some 40% of the world's uranium deposits but no nuclear power plants. China has nine civilian nuclear power plants and is planning to build 30 more over the next 15 years to meet a rapidly growing appetite for energy. However, supplying uranium to China will have serious strategic implications for regional geo-politics, indeed for the world. Therefore these agreements should not be seen as strictly commercial arrangements.

We should be selling them green technology. Environmental pollution and energy are big problems for them.

On one hand we are ripping up our environment to sell them a non renewable energy source that will fuel manufacturing industries, contributing to their environmental problems, which in turn can be sold back to us in australia as products with inflated prices should the cost of energy go up. We dont exactly win in that situation and not only is it geopolitical implications but environmental (think about all the pollution russia, japan and korea get from china, not to mention higher levels of mercury and sulphur being found on the west coast of the US, blown across the pacific). On the other hand if they manage their nuclear energy well and cleanly it might give them a window of time and opportunity to begin transitioning their industries into more environmentally friendly ones and in seeking alternative sustainable power sources. Some effort has been made from the top down already and many heavily polluting industries are already being halted, controlled or fined. If this is the case, australia could help with green technologies, environmental planning and further trade partnerships, possibly winning out of it all.

China truly does have an opportunity to be a world role model in environmental restoration and leading greener technologies but its got a lot of catching up to do and a load of people to keep warm and employed. I may not be optimistic about the region or whether it will happen, but I am optimistic about what their government/population can do when put to a task and australia's skill potential in helping acheive such a vision.

I dont know if Howard has this vision, it sounds like a quick buck for him.

[Rev]

howard has no vision

why is china a nuclear threat? the only country to have ever used nukes is the USA

China has won the war already. and without bloodshed. we just havent realised yet

Its the perfect nation state of the 21st century. organised cut price skilled labour socialist unified.

their economy shits gold bricks on demand

look around at all you buy from low end to high end - china leads

we are being pushed back down the economic scale back to mere agricultural exporter

Edited April 3, 2006 by Rev

[trixxy3]

I think we should figure out how to stop a nuclear reaction effectively (if we even can at all, I don't think we can yet) before nuclear power is used as a main power source, or uranium is sold enmass. nuclear powered cars would be kinda cool, unless you had crash.

But that is Australias goldmine for sure, we should hold off selling any uranium at least until the Americans try to invade (theyre already here, so maybe further? Smart thinking yanks), cash in on it like the oil tycoon countries and all live in gold palaces.

[Rev]

why dont we leave it in th eground.

study it

assess its levels on a per barrell crude oil basis and use it as a currency standard

then we have its benefit, investors have the security and we never have to actually use it

Au is shite

energy is the new gold standard

Edited April 3, 2006 by Rev

[Auxin]

why is china a nuclear threat? the only country to have ever used nukes is the USA

That is quite debatable. Granted we are the only ones to ever have used them on civilian population centers or military targets but setting off a nuke has more 'uses' than killing people. Consider the arms race, everyone who had nukes were "testing" every bigger and better one knowing other governments had satalites that could spot nuclear detonations- the bigger a bomb a country could set off in an uninhabited region the more political power they obtained as a result. And whenever a new country developed nukes just one test disrupted the global balance of power and vastly reduced the likelyhood of people invading them.

Again 'tests' arent against civilian populations, nor are they against military populations. They are against the whole damn world! Inspiring fear, terror, and ill will in all other countries as well as making the county who did the test get more full of themselves, more arrogant and less likely to follow normal codes of morality and diplomacy. Not to mention the environmental effects of setting off nukes by the hundreds on islands, in the oceans, up in the sky, and under ground.

I live near a nuke plant. While the news papers who pander to their governments say accidents are rare and (except in chernobyl) are always got under control that is not the case. Small level spills are quite frequent, high level spills happen about every 20 years (±5yrs), and the plant I live by (back in the 50's or so) had such incompotent scientists working for them that they convinced the higher ups that in a desert Near a River! there is no ground water. They dug wells and reverse-pumped high level nuclear waste straight into the rock just a bit above the water table. If thats not enough read up on the storage of by-product U238, they store it as compressed UF6 gas in the open air in steel cannisters and, when they are backlogged, wait for one to actually start leaking before transfering it to yet another steel cannister.

Oh and theres also the whole depleted uranium "conventional" munitions industry which almost inherently causes heavy metal poisonings in any areas where its used.

I like that aus is wise enough not to use nuclear energy <___base_url___>/uploads/emoticons/default_smile.png but why in the fuck are you giving nuclear energy to people, well, dumber than you!? <___base_url___>/uploads/emoticons/default_blink.png

Not every resource on the planet needs to be pillaged to the detriment of humanity as a whole, leave the stuff in the ground and take pride that in 150 years history books will look at australia and say when the shit was about to hit the fan at least One Nation had the strength and wisdom to set aside greed in favor of morality.

[Rev]

thanks auxin . you are right. a lot of places have used (tested) them france china pakistan india etc

my oversight

[botanika]

but why in the fuck are you giving nuclear energy to people, well, dumber than you!?

Not every resource on the planet needs to be pillaged to the detriment of humanity as a whole, leave the stuff in the ground and take pride that in 150 years history books will look at australia and say when the shit was about to hit the fan at least One Nation had the strength and wisdom to set aside greed in favor of morality.

China's not full of dumber people, its just full of more people and has a strong economy that needs power. It wants the uranium for energy, we want the money to make our own economy strong so we can continue wearing made in china billabong shorts while driving fords and toyotas around - it's an inevitable trade deal. Supply demand. China already has a few hundred nukes and doesn't even need to use them because its strategic strength lies in its booming trade economy. Look at how submissive Google had to be to get a cut in its market.

Uranium is not a hazard free energy source but it is cleaner and more efficient than most of the current alternatives for such a huge nation. China doesn't really need to do any more nuclear detonation tests, its learnt what it needs from its own soviet inspired past and everything else its learnt from the Americans and french blowing up the pacific. They want to make their military more high tech not more nuclear. Any testing they do will be in line with a goal of clean, safe, high tech power. Ethical peace, love and happiness statements are not going to come from Howards mouth and unfortunately I doubt there are many economic or political leaders around anywhere in the world that consider what the history books will be printing in 150 years. Its a nice thought but nice thoughts dont make your computer work and light your home, right here now, so until society as a whole chooses to or has the opportunity to lead a different lifestyle, consumption and management of energy dictates the commercial and environmental texture of the world. A good choice in changing this lifestyle is keeping an open mind towards asia: what we can learn from it and what we can teach it.

If you were a smart australian you could foster creative and positive change from our asia region. Many australian's already are. Linking it all back to SAB, If I was in the business of australian medicinal plant trade, I would be embracing china as a market of huge potential. They all love their natural healing remedies and spiritualism beliefs. China loves australia. I'd be getting onto that instead of worrying about nuclear holocausts. None of us can stop the uranium deal now but we can help shape emerging green technologies and more sustainable forms of energy and development.

The middle of the world is a good place to be IMHO. East of us lies the united states of bubblegum-paranoia and south america struggling to keep up with everything. West of us lies poor africa, shattered middle east and aging west europe. In the middle of the world you have australia, NZ, asia, india and eastern europe - dynamic and full of potential. On a world scale we have awesome neighbours. If only Canada was closer to us in the pacific and still had its snow...

Edited April 4, 2006 by botanika

[devance]

http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/200603070...trunc_sys.shtml

"Now however, Northern Arizona University biochemist Diane Stearns has established that when cells are exposed to uranium, the uranium binds to DNA and the cells acquire mutations, triggering a whole slew of protein replication errors, some of which can lead to various cancers. Stearns' research, published in the journals Mutagenesis and Molecular Carcinogenesis, confirms what many have suspected for some time - that uranium can damage DNA as a heavy metal, independently of its radioactive properties."

[botanika]

Great, more carcinogens to the system. this wont stop it being mined, like oil. maybe the sooner all these non renewable sources are used up the better, force us to move onto better safer energy?

[devance]

http://www.epartyunlimited.com/dna-immortality-kit.html

"With the DNA Immortality kit you can:

* Store your DNA for ever

* Unravel the secrets of DNA

* save your DNA for future generations "

Getem while you got nonmutant DNA.

Your future clones will thank you! :saufen2:

[botanika]

Haha cool, i wouldnt mind holding onto mutations if they made me like wolverine from the xmen though!

[ramon]

I am all for nuclear energy under ideal conditions.

But as auxin mentions people living near power plants understand that currently nuclear powerplants are not run under ideal conditions.

Not every resource on the planet needs to be pillaged to the detriment of humanity as a whole, leave the stuff in the ground and take pride that in 150 years history books will look at australia and say when the shit was about to hit the fan at least One Nation had the strength and wisdom to set aside greed in favor of morality.

Wish this was true but unfortunately due to the current leader of Australia greed is our moralility