Once again, Dr. Helen Caldicott has spelt out for us the facts that the Howard government and the nuclear lobby really don't want us to understand.
Amidst the smoke and mirrors of their occasional mention of the wonderful GNEP (Grandiose, Nonsense,Exaggeration, and Propaganda), the facts on the dangers, the costs, and the deceptions of the government's plans are made clear for us.

It was the work of Dr. Caldicott which led to the public's awareness of the hazards of radiation from the French nuclear testing - way back. Who would have thought that she would be needed so much again. in this time of the so-called "nuclear renaissance"?

As all the facts emerge, (even with the US government subsidising nuclear as a "renewable" technology) there is already a groundswell of world opinion against this toxic technology.

People can understand what Dr. Caldicott says, - it's so much clearer than the Ziggy Switkowski jargon and half-truths.

The nuclear lobby fears a "stillbirth", rather than a "renaissance" - and with good reason - as the only real justification for nuclear is for weapons, - and the nuclear lobby's time is running out. With the world's 441 reactors ageing, there is no interest from investors in new ones. Hence the frenzy of the nuclear lobby and their political puppets - to try and distract us all from the 21st century wave of truly renewable energy souces.

What I'd like is for the Liberal party to follow what's supposed to be its policy - a free market.

Let's remove all subsidies from all power generators. No subsidies for coal, oil, gas, solar, wind or nuclear. Oh and those limited liability laws the nuclear industry gets the US and France etc to pass in their parliaments? None of them, either - that's another subsidy, subsidising their insurance premiums.

Then let's have them all compete in the free market, and see which wins. I've a funny feeling that it won't be nuclear. Not one nuclear power plant has ever been built entirely with private capital, or without limited liability laws. Funny how coal and solar and everything else can often do it with private money only, and don't require limited liability laws.

It is not so long ago that a Liberal PM, John Gorton, took the opportunity to develop a site in NSW for a nuclear power plant to produce nuclear weapons. Fortunately the incoming Liberal PM, Billy McMahon, who rightly thought the whole concept was nutty, scotched the idea.

Being a dyed in the wool chicken hawk, John Howard has revived the idea of the Oz Nuke Bomb and as a pay-off to George Bush for hoped nuke support, he will make Oz the nuclear waste dump of the world. That is fortunate for the US who can't dispose of it safely despite over sixty years of trying.

There is nothing new for Mr Howard and he cannot learn from the past. If he could, he might remember the conservative governments that welcomed the Brits to test nuclear weapons in Oz. It was done gratis and all in the hope that the Poms would give nuke secrets to the aussies. Kids as far away as Brisbane all got a dose of radioactivity from the tests.

Of course the Poms never handed over any secrets but they did get to leave their rubbish behind - the nuclear waste is in pits and mounds with a light dressing of soil for the wind to blow around.

We lost our sons fighting their wars and we took their rubbish. All for what? Again with Mr Bush, our sons are at risk on his behalf and we are also bending over backwards to take his dumpsters of waste. All for what?

I sense that the inheritance of nuke waste pits that Mr Howard would leave for future generations will be huge, very long-lasting and very poisonous.

A geologically unstable region! I had no idea that Helen Caldicott achieved a doctorate in geology, I assumed it was in witchcraft and deception both of which are sprinkled liberally in this article. Serieously though, the author really should stick to commentary about warts and appendicitis which are her stock in trade.

I am equally disappointed to see that one of her disciples has cast aside Australia’s pre-eminent nuclear physicist ( perhaps the author thinks physician and physicist are the same) by writing ‘People can understand what Dr. Caldicott says, - it's so much clearer than the Ziggy Switkowski jargon and half-truths.’

Sadly it was another barely sapient leader of our people, Pauline Hanson who ‘only said what people think’.

The article and the comments do nothing to add to the debate they simply dress up their own argument in a cloak of insincerity. Shame.

Dr Helen Caldicott can hardly be considered insincere given her exhaustive involvement in educating people all over the world of the hazardous and expensive nature of the Nuclear Industry that in the short term will enrich the mining industrialists whose prime concern is deriving a profit out of the Uranium.

As a Harvard professor of Pediatrics she was also a bit more than a 'warts & appendics' practicioner before she embarked on warning the world of the dangers of the Nuclear Industry.

I recall hearing her speak in the 80's when we in the N.T. opposed the mining and export of Uranium but capitulated in the face of a back-down by our National Union leadership who were concerned at the prospects of massive fines under secondary boycotts and the Trade Practices act.

One fact that I cannot dismiss is the matter of a retrospective study on the deaths of some 29 ex miners from the Rum Jungle Uranium mine who succumed to cancer.

Keep up the good work Dr Caldicott, we do need plain language facts before us in preference to the well paid mouthpieces for the Nuclear lobby ,particularly at a time when safer alternatives have not been seriously promoted.

AUSTRALIAN INDIGENOUS NUCLEAR BOMBS PLEASE

Are we to be the white trash of Asia without the ability to defend ourselve against the growing number of nuclear armed countries in our region?

Does Caldicott descend from the fully nuclearised country of her own choosing (America) to tell us we can't have more than one test reactor (Lucas Heights)?

Is she part of a US campaign to deny Australia independent defences?

It may take 15 years for an Australian nuclear weapons capability - should we just keep on waiting like nice little (but shot dead) Gandhis?

If we listen to Helen of America we'll always be dependent on America - wherever America wants to send our troops.

As suggested in my blog Australia has the right to defend itself with its own indigenous nuclear weapons http://spyingbadthings.blogspot.com/2007/06/australia-to-go-nuclear.html.

Pete