Nuclear Warships

On Saturday 20 January, 2001 an article appeared in The Age about the visit of a US warship at Station Pier in Port Phillip Bay. The government claims that Victoria can still be Nuclear Free whilst have these warships visit us.

This is plainly wrong. They are either nuclear powered armed, or supply ships for ships that are. The vessel that visited Melbourne the USS Shiloh was an escort for the USS Abraham Lincoln, a nuclear powered warship in the Persian Gulf.

Victorian Premier Steve Bracks was the first to climb aboard the nuclear bandwagon, declaring in State Parliament that he had no problem with US nuclear vessels docking in the Port Phillip Bay. In fact when questioned as to his intent, Premier Bracks clarified his comments by saying "The next Nuclear powered warship to visit Victoria I will in fact personally welcome".

It has surprised some Victorians that a Labour leader has made comments so clearly out of step with Labour Party Policy to keep Victoria nuclear free. Mr Bracks comments are interesting in that they came shortly after a visit from Admiral Blair, a senior US Military officer responsible for naval defence links. Was this what they talked about?

In the eighties thousands of people gathered on docks around Australia to oppose nuclear warships. Unions, churches, and peace groups united to prevent the docking of nuclear ships in Victoria. For good reasons, nuclear powered ships pose a significant risk to the health and safety of all Victorians. A nuclear meltdown could have catastrophic effects on the Victorian population. Communities in the US who have refused to let there own warships dock in local ports echo the concerns.

Australia should be encouraging nuclear disarmament. Providing docking for nuclear powered warships runs counter to community opposition to nuclear weapons and Australia’s supposed commitment to nuclear disarmament.

Maintaining Victoria’s nuclear free status has never been more important as a principled statement against an industry that creates both radioactive waste and nuclear weapons. The nuclear industry is currently expanding in Australia at the fastest rate since British nuclear testing at Maralinga. The Australian Government is pushing new uranium mines, radioactive dumps, nuclear reactors and increased military reliance on the US nuclear arsenal.

Nuclear free means an absence of trade in all nuclear materials. It is impossible to know whether these ships are nuclear armed. It is standing policy of the United States to refuse to confirm if their ships are nuclear armed.

It has been some time since Victorians have had to deal with the nuclear issue in their own backyard. Other states have copped the brunt of the expansion of the nuclear industry in Australia.

If Steve Bracks thinks that the absence of community protest when this ship came in means that Victorians support having these kinds of warships dock in our ports he is wrong. We are organising and will mount as much resistance as we can.

Every time nuclear powered and or armed warships and submarines enter your port they endanger your life.

• They emit small quantities of radioactive gases and liquids during operation at sea and occasionally in harbours.
• Monitoring this can only indicate the disastrous release of such pollutants, it is not capable of rectifying or controlling these leaks.
• Naval reactors run on uranium (U235) fuel enriched 90 — 95%. Civil reactors run on only 3-5% uranium enriched fuel.
• Naval reactors do not have emergency core cooling (ECCS) which is standard on civil reactors. If a reactor should rupture, radioactive components of the fuel would be released to the atmosphere, components such as iodine, which attacks the thyroid of human beings, and ruthenium that predisposes to lung cancer

What is a nuclear reactor?

A nuclear reactor is a power plant, which is fuelled by uranium. Uranium is brought together at a core to sustain a chain reaction. The neutrons to produce smaller atoms, called fission products split atoms. Heat and neutrons are released which split the atoms and keep the chain reaction going. Heat from the chain reaction is absorbed through the reactor. The heat from the coolant is used to produce steam, which turns a turbine to generate electricity.

Protecting Australia?

The Australian Government takes up a high profile in international forums on nuclear disarmament, and in the campaign for a Nuclear Free Pacific, yet it bows to the increasing demands for port facilities, land bases and uranium supplies for the global war machines of major nuclear powers.

The Victorian State Government conforms to the stand taken by the federal government by providing state facilities for port visits by nuclear warships. This is in stark contrast to its proclamation that Victoria is a "Nuclear Free State".

Nuclear powered and or armed warships visiting Port Phillip Bay represent two dangers. One is the fact, that they are continuously tracked and targeted. Thus, wherever such a vessel is berthed, the surrounding area is a nuclear target.

Secondly, like all ships, they can be involved in collision, which could damage the nuclear reactor, or the weapons being carried. Although the reactor can not explode like a nuclear bomb, and it is extremely unlikely that a nuclear weapon would explode accidentally, both if severely damaged could release significant amounts of radioactive materials into the bay. Some of the substances remain radioactive for a very long time and could concentrate in fish and shellfish, making them unfit for human consumption. This would destroy the already declining bay fishing industry. Other countries, including some ports in the USA have had the common sense to ban the visits of nuclear powered or armed warships.

What you can do to keep victoria Nuclear Free

• Write to Premier Steve Bracks, Parliament House, Spring Street, Melbourne 3001
• Find out if your council is nuclear free, if not write a letter urging them to become nuclear free to stop the expansion of the nuclear industry