Australia considering Nukes....

This is not good. I am proud of the fact that Australia is Nuclear free.
Times are changing and they are changing very fast. The day that we move into the finality of a purchase such as this is sad day for us Aussies. (IMO only)

www.news.com.au...

Nuke free? You have reactors, one in Sydney IIRC?

I guess noone is truely nuke free, not even new zealand 'looks at the smoke alarm in the hallway'

I hope aussie doesn't get nukes but really it is not my call in the end, it is that of the public of the country concerned. No different to Iran, North Korea (not much public say there though..), India, Pakistan etc...

edit: www.invap.net... open pool reactor at lucas heights just out of 'Seedney' Another one is the alledged reactor at pine gap D.U.M.B.

[edit on 15/12/09 by GhostR1der]

I have been arguing this for years, Australia needs a Nuclear deterrence to our Northern Asian countries that see us as easy pickings. Our North West gas/oil shelf is our richest turf and we should protect it vigorously.

A missile Silo based in the central desert of Australia would be the safest region on Earth for one and could provide us with massive savings on other military spending cuts to platforms that are purely token efforts.

reply to post by GhostR1der


NZ is definitely nuclear free - and I hope that Australia does not get nukes.

Why get nukes, Aus? You would get nuked first anyway, so there is no point.

Remain nuclear free, and make our corner of the world nuclear free.

Nukes are evil - let's try and save the world instead of wrecking it even more than we have already.

Quoted by Tara Lou Why get nukes, Aus? You would get nuked first anyway, so there is no point.

Too late, Australia has been a First Strike target of Russia since the early 70's because of the U.S. bases here on our soil. Facts from "Can Australia survive WWIII" from the late 70's or early '80's.

More importantly.......

To share this story I am going against not only the standard official secrets act that all members of the armed forces in Oz have to sign before leaving the services, but also the 2nd and more important one that covers what I saw on bivouac at Woodside ( I think it was called) army base during our basic training for the air force in 1978.

I was 18 and leading a small night march of 6 recruits using a compass and designated points to be "destroyed" on the base while their security forces were doing their rounds, knowing that we were in the area. If caught we were to be detained as prisoners of war. So the training was conducted much like a mini war game.

For some reason I never understood, the last leg of our march should have taken us back to where we were camped for the night, but it didn't. Instead we found ourselves creeping around earthworks with large concrete pads that had massive holes in the top. I was the only one who wanted to look inside the holes, and what I saw was nothing short of a missile silo. It was over 100 feet deep, there were walkways at various levels, etc.

I panicked, thinking I knew what I was looking at, so when we finally did make it back to camp I informed my Sargeant immediately about what I saw. He led me well away from the camp before telling me he will report this and that I am not to say a thing to anyone else until I am questioned about it.

It wasn't long after we arrived back at Edinbirgh AFB that I was picked up by the Provo (sp) Martial and questioned, so I made a point of playing dumb and not understanding what I saw that night. Which went in my favour, but I was going to be discharged anyway.

Two nights later I went for my meditation lessons with a Zen master who also worked at the Weapons Research Establishment as a physicist. I told him what I saw and he said, "I can't tell you a thing. But I will say, do not believe we are not capable already." End of discussion.

So when I was discharged I had to sign the 2nd secretive act, and it is something no other military person I've spoken with, except one, who thinks it possible that there was a 2nd secret act hardcopy to sign!! And that other person who knew about the 2nd form was a 20 year veteran of our own elite forces who I interviewed in the 1990's.

What I am saying is this; we already have some nuclear capability now, and for the past 30 years or so. Maybe this is more about acceptance by the public of something being put forward as necessary now given our new role as the Pacific Police in unison with U.S. support.






[edit on 15-12-2009 by Tayesin]

[edit on 15-12-2009 by Tayesin]

Does Australia have rockets to throw a nuke far enough to matter ? Seems to be a much better first step .

OZ needs some Nukes, what the USA and other Nations do can be described as Overkill but if the US ever rolls into with China your dead in the Water...

You need some, in part for defense against a Naval attack

In part as a deterrent that would cost anyone that tries some cities, OZ is too easy pickings.

Like the bloke mentioned above...Australia has had a secret nuclear capability at least from the mid to late 60's....until the Australian Government "officially" disbanded the nuclear weapons program back then, Australia has the most highly skilled nuclear scientists in the world....there would be no way they would have given them up and thrown them loose....it all went under ground.

In regards to the rocket technology, we have very sofisticated rockets beleive you me.....

Just because we dont use our military so "hardcore" like the Yanks do at every corner of the world dont mean we dont have a very strong deterence here.

Ive spoken to people here who swear they have seen missile silos on the outskirts of major capital cities hidden within warehouses and the like....

Nuclear power on the other hand for electricity is long overdue....there no pollution, the current generation of nuclear power plants partly recycles its own wastes and leave a very small amount of waste compared to previous generations of power plants....

I strongly support this move whole heartedly and they can put it in my backyard if they want!

Originally posted by Melbourne_Militia
Like the bloke mentioned above...Australia has had a secret nuclear capability at least from the mid to late 60's....until the Australian Government "officially" disbanded the nuclear weapons program back then,

Bull#. Care to show the government announcement when they disbanded their nuclear programme? You do not know anything about nuclear weapons - when and were where the so called Australian rockets tested? When and where the bombs made, where were they tested?

Australia has the most highly skilled nuclear scientists in the world

why do you think that? We only have one research reactor - we never even built it ourselves, Argentina built all of it!

In regards to the rocket technology, we have very sofisticated rockets beleive you me.....

No we do not, care to show us what rockets Australia makes?

Ive spoken to people here who swear they have seen missile silos on the outskirts of major capital cities hidden within warehouses and the like....

Garbage, care to point out the locations of these missile silo's in suburban areas...

In Australia we get Kangaroos and stick gun powder in there bums then put the nukes in there pouches! We call them Kangabooms! Science hey ya just can't beat it!

[edit on 15-12-2009 by MOTT the HOOPLE]

reply to post by MOTT the HOOPLE


Hahahaha man, I had to laugh out loud on that one! Thats hilarious

reply to post by MOTT the HOOPLE


To Mott and Nomad,

May you get nukes right up there where you wished the kangas got them.

I would be ashamed to be Oz, judging by you.

I always thought Australia already had nukes considering it allies.
But it guess I was wrong.
Maybe they already had secret nukes, it is the kind of stuff u don't want to many people to know about.

But I prefer we if didn't have nukes.

I think people forget that the Brits/Australians did some testing there in Australia

Montebello Islands, Australia

The site of Operation Hurricane, the first British nuclear weapons test on October 3, 1952. There were two further tests on Alpha and Trimouille Islands in 1956.
(20.399130°S, 115.565768°E)

Emu Field, Australia

The site of the Operation Totem, a pair of atmospheric nuclear tests conducted by the British government in October 1953.
(29.363027°S, 131.473389°E)

Maralinga and Woomera Test Sites, Australia

The site of the Operation Buffalo, a series of four atmospheric nuclear tests conducted in 1956. Operation Antler followed in 1957 with three nuclear tests.
(29.856724°S, 131.598358°E)


Woomera is obviously the most famous Austrialian test site, akin to Area 51 to some people, it is the largest land based defence area in teh world (roughly the size of england)

reply to post by The_Seeker


Do not even start with the rubbish that aussie land is nuke free.

Waste of time news.

reply to post by andy1033


OK, that leaves clean green NZ.

How soon before someone nukes us to teach us a lesson?

WARNING: Nuke NZ = end of the world.

What would the point of having secret nuclear weapons?

Besides being against god knows how many treaties and agreements, the second most important reason for having nuclear weapons is to let everyone know...that you have nuclear weapons.

Am I not right?

Originally posted by Chadwickus
What would the point of having secret nuclear weapons?

im sure the israelis could answer that one!

reply to post by Melbourne_Militia


Look I'm sure Israel do have secret nukes, maybe even India and USA.

BUT. Those countries are already known to have nukes, Australia is known to NOT have nukes.

Like I said, the second mot important reason for having and letting everyone else that you have nukes is for bluffing purposes.

[edit on 15/12/09 by Chadwickus]

In regards to the comment that Australia doesnt have rocket technology we assisted the developement of a medium range ballistic missile back in the 50's which was designed to carry a nuclear warhead.

en.wikipedia.org...

During the 1950s, Australia participated in the development of the Blue Streak missile, a Medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) intended for delivery of a nuclear warhead.

The following info i find interesting -

During the 1970s and 1980s, ANSTO scientists developed centrifuge enrichment technology, claimed to be comparable with the commercial URENCO centrifuge technology of the time. Such technology, if deployed on an industrial scale, would have been capable in principle of producing highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons. The research lost government funding in the mid-1980s.

and

An Australian company has been actively developing a novel process for uranium enrichment, Separation of Isotopes by Laser Excitation (SILEX).

Even thou we dont publicly make or support nuclear weapons can anyone positively tell me that we dont have a nuclear weapons program run by private corporations.....with the government funding and supporting it from a distance so as not to be tarnished with the same brush?

In regards to Argetina making our reactor...well, yes, the new one thats replacing the old one at Luxas Heights is Argentinian and is the same one that the private firm Silex is "researching" new methods of cost effective and quick enrichment of Uranium.

www.globalcollab.org...

The earlier secret enrichment research of the AAEC was terminated, but it was later substituted by an equally secret project conducted by a private company called 'Silex' using leased premises at Lucas Heights to enrich uranium by lasers. And a new light water research reactor of 20 MW power designed by the Argentine firm INVAP has almost been completed to replace the aging HIFAR reactor.

Officials from ANSTO and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade avoid any suggestion that the INVAP reactor has anything to do with weapons technology. They claim that as an up-to-date research vehicle, it will give Australian diplomats more credibility to pursue Australia's nuclear interests (and non-proliferation credentials) in international forums. Also, that it will improve public health in Australia by producing a guaranteed supply of nuclear diagnostic and radiation treatment generators for use in hospitals, and allow sophisticated research in many areas of nuclear science.

Sounds like a good cover story to me....we are using this reactor for "research" and "medicine"........

Ill try and get more info when I have more time......