Initially announced in September 2021, the AUKUS trilateral "security" partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, involves two lines of effort referred to as pillars. Pillar 1 focuses on Australia acquiring nuclear-powered attack submarines and the rotational basing of US and UK nuclear-powered attack submarines in Australia.This week we spoke with Tim Deere-Jones the author of a detailed new report released this month on the British nuclear submarine experience that has been written for Friends of the Earth Australia. Tim Deere-Jones has a B.Sc. degree in Maritime Studies and has operated a Marine Pollution Research Consultancy since the 1980s focusing on Nuclear and Radioactive Marine Pollution, causes/outcomes of hazardous cargos and shipping accidents, marine hydrocarbon, and chemical spills.Dr. Jim Green, National Nuclear Campaigner with Friends of the Earth Australia, said that “The report reveals disturbing patterns of unacceptable safety risks, an appalling lack of transparency, cost-blowouts and delays". Green calls for the Australian Government to "immediately initiate a thorough, independent review of the AUKUS submarine project and this report should be an important input into that inquiry.”The report also details deadly collisions between civilian vessels and nuclear submarines; radioactive discharges to the environment from Nuclear Sub bases; and highlights the eye-watering amounts of money involved in the building,  maintaining and then disposing of these vessels which have a fairly short shelf life. The estimated cost to the UK's ministry of defense to fully disposing of one submarine is £96 million or $200 million AUD.The full report, ‘The British experience with nuclear-powered submarines: lessons for Australia’, is available online at nuclear.foe.org.au/nuclear-subs.If what you have heard has concerned you, and you want to get involved, there are a number of ways to take action:IPAN has a petition on their website: Public Call to the Australian Government to cancel the AUKUS - find this at ipan.org.au.There is a National Anti-AUKUS Day of Action coming up on the September 21 on the International Day of Peace.  Find or promote a local event at antiaukuscoalition.org.

Recordings from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Australia online event that brought together survivors, artists, campaigners and parliamentarians to reflect on Hiroshima’s legacy - and the urgent task of disarmament on the 80 th Anniversary of the US bombing of Hiroshima on Wednesday 6 August,  2025.Featuring MC Scott Ludlam - Writer, former Greens Senator and lifelong national and international campaigner for peace and climate justice; Isao Morimoto – Second-generation Hibakusha and son of the late author/illustrator Junko Morimoto, sharing personal reflections on his mother’s life and survival; and Gem Romuld – Director, ICAN Australia, leading national efforts to promote the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and challenge Australia’s support for nuclear militarism.

Today we continue to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the first use of nuclear weapons in war. On August 6 1945 the US army dropped the first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima Japan with devastating effect. The intergenerational effects of the atomic bomb are ongoing and first up we'll hear from Kazuyo Yamane daughter of a Hibakusha speaking at speaking at a forum called Remembering Hiroshoma held by the Nuclear Truth Project last year.Next we delve into the Radioactive Show archives and bring you an interview with Jack Sennet who was based in Hiroshima with the Australian airforce just after the bombing. In March 1946, Australia was assigned to Hiroshima and the surrounding area as part the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF). The program was first broadcast on the Radioactive Show on August 6 1994.  Thanks to Eric Miller for the archives and Sam Gibbard for making those available to us.In Naarm Melbourne there is a 80 years since Hiroshima - day of commemoration: Morning vigil as part of a global week of action to commemorate the terrible atomic bombings in Japan and to collectively remember that something like this should never happen again.  8-9 am: In the morning of Wednesday August 6 there will be a silent vigil from 8-9am (8.15 am was the time of the actual bombing on the day) at St Paul's Catherdral for a time of commemoration.12-1 pm: The Peace Choir will be singing in front of the State Library Victoria.1-1.15  pm: procession to Trades hall1.15-1.30pm: Group photo in front of the huge ICAN banner at Trades Hall1.30-2 pm: Tea and snacks at Trades Hall with a speaker from the Japanese community.All the details can be found at melbournefoe.org.au/events.The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons has webinar on Sunday 3rd of from 4-7pm 'Victims of Nuclear Weapons and Testing'.And from 7-8pm on Wednesday 6 August a webinar 'The Fire Still Burns, Hiroshima Disarmamanet and Resistance'.  You can find all the details and links to registar for these events at icanw.org.au/action.

On the 16th of July, 1945 at 5.30am the US detonated the first atomic weapon in the Jornada del Muerto desert over the lands of the Pueblo, Navajo, and Apache peoples of what's now know as New Mexico.  No one was evacuated from the area and the people living downwind are still suffering to this day due to the intergenerational impacts of exposure to radiation. And whilst their campaigning has seen some compensation delivered it is still not sufficient.The atomic bomb had been developed by the US military at the secret scientific Los Alamos laboratory under the name the Manhattan Project.  Scientists had identified two fissile isotopes for potential use in bombs: uranium-235 and plutonium-239. Uranium-235 became the basis of the 'Little Boy' bomb, first used (without prior testing) in the bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945; and the design used in the Trinity test, and eventually used in the 'Fat Man' bomb dropped on Nagasaki on 9 August 1945, was based on plutonium.There are now over 12,000 nuclear weapons around the world and with the doomsday clock set to 89 seconds to midnight, the closest its ever been, they threaten all our lives.For the last 80 year people around the world have been working to eliminate this terrible invention.  Today we speak with Dr. Margie Beavis from the Medical Association for the Prevention of War and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) about their current work and events planned to commemorate these horrific events.ICAN is holding a 'Week of Action for Abolition' from August 2-8 and you can find all the details and links to registar for events at icanw.org.au/action.We also bring you part of a speech from nuclear disarmament campaigner and Hibakusha, Setsuko Thurlow who was 13 year old school girl that survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. This was recorded at the ICAN Nobel Peace Prize celebrations in December 2017.

Have you been thinking about AI aka Artificial intelligence, or AGI aka Artificial General Intelligence recently? It’s moving so fast and I think it’s vital that we engage critically with it. Today I’ll bring you audio thanks to Democracy Now, an interview with Karen Hao, the author of a recent book ‘Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares and Sam Altman’s Open AI.’ I found it to be a pertinent conversation, I’m sharing some excerpts of it here, but recommend checking out the full interview at democracynow.org

For this year's NAIDOC theme 'The Next Generation: Strength, Legacy & Vision' we hear two generations of Googatha (Kokatha) people discussing caring for country.  Aunty Sue Haseldine is a Googatha elder that has been leading 6 monthly Rockhole Recovery trips to care for sacred waterholes, part of the Seven Sisters songline.  She outlines the importance of the country and current threats from Southern Launch's rocket testing range.  We hear from two grandchildren Wayne and Wana about what these trips means to them and their vision for the future as young Kokatha people.Support the Googatha Mula country by donating toward the Rockhole Recovery trips.Support the Australian Nuclear Free Alliance.Learn more about Southern Launch's rocket testing range and the documentary coming soon Native Title Rockets.

This weeks episode we gratefully share Travis Lovett's speech from the Yoorrook Walk for Truth. Songs by Barkaa and Kee'ahn. Ngā mihi nui.

This week we look at the Future Funds investment in weapons companies involved in the genocide in Palestine and producing illegal nuclear weapons.  Among many unethical investments, the Australian state’s ‘sovereign’ (stolen) wealth fund invests in weaponscompanies arming Israel to murder tens of thousands of people in Gaza and the West Bank.Elbit Systems - Israel’s largest privately-owned arms company - is the fastest-growing company on the list of companies Future Fund invests in.  A research report produced by the Elbit Out of Victoria campaign reveals an increase of 449.9 % within the last 15 months. The report was launched at the Future Fund Head Office, 447 Collins St, Naarm-Melbourne at an after work rally demanding Future Fund divests from Elbit Systems on Thursday 26 June.We bring you some excerpts of speeches from the rally by Krauatatungallung elder Djuran Bunjileenee Robbie Thorpe (Crime Scene Australia),  Nat (Elbit out of Victoria), Dr Max Kaiser (Jewish Council of Australia) and Romina Beitseen (Campaign for International Cooperation and Disarmament).Then we speak with Dr.Margie Beavis from the Medical Association for the Prevention of War and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons about investment in nuclear weapons producing companies and what you can do about it.More information about divesting from nuclear weapons can be found at quitnukes.org and dontbankonthebomb.com.

In today’s show we learn about the staunch organising, support and action for Palestine that continues to take place on Dharawhal Country, in the area around Wollongong, NSW. There have also been direct actions and 6 community pickets against the nearby company Bisalloy, which organisers found out producers armoured steel for the IDF. Now in June 2025, the devastating genocide continues, but so does the resistance, and I’ve spoken to organisers wit the local group, Wollongong Friends of Palestine, about how they have built a hive of resistance in the area.