Indigenous peoples fight against nuclear waste dumping on their land
No nuclear Northwest: Grand Chiefs Kenora Daily Miner and News, By Jon Thompson, 10 Jan 12 Grand chiefs representing every inch of Northwestern Ontario are publicly taking a hard line against burying nuclear waste in their traditional territory, claiming it would violate international law. Read more »
Radioactive shipments: Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission did not consult First Nations
The Council of Canadians is calling on the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to hold another public hearing on the matter before renewing Bruce Power’s permits to ship the nuclear waste across the Great Lakes to Sweden.
the CNSC has not fulfilled its duty to consult with First Nations by obtaining free, prior and informed consent.
Bruce Power cannot ship nuclear waste until permit is renewed, Rabble Ca, BY EMMA LUI | DECEMBER 30, 2011 Bruce Power will not be able to ship 16 radioactive steam generators until they renew their permit with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) As of tomorrow, December 31, 2011, the Welland Canal is officially closed to all vessels, preventing Bruce Power from proceeding with the nuclear waste shipment until the spring.
Bruce Power had planned to ship 16 bus-sized radioactive steam generators from Owen Sound, through Lake Huron and Lake Erie, then along the Welland Canal and
through Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence Seaway. The shipment would end up in Sweden where Studsvik, the Swedish company contracted by Bruce Power, would decontaminate the waste in order to sell the scrap metal back onto consumer markets.
On February 4, 2010, Bruce Power had received the necessary CNSC permits to ship the nuclear waste to Sweden. However, the permits are only good for one year and will expire on February 3, 2012 — before the Welland Canal re-opens again for the shipping season. The Canal generally re-opens for shipping sometime in March….. Read more »
Risk of radioactive uranium pollution on indigenous Americans’ land and water
Uranium Mining Could Leave Toxic Waste in Occoquan Watershed LakeRidge-Occoquan Patch. 31 Dec 11 The Fairfax County Water Authority assesses the risks of uranium mining in Virginia.Lifting Virginia’s ban on uranium mining could open the door to toxic and radioactive waste in the Potomac and Occoquan Watersheds, according to a recent study by the Fairfax County Water Authority.
Though mineral mining occurs throughout the U.S. near water supplies, the study said, “Uranium mining and milling represent unique risks that require additional process controls to prevent impacts from toxic and radioactive byproducts.”…. ”uranium mining and milling activities initiated in the Potomac and/or Occoquan watersheds have the potential to increase the risk of negative impacts to Fairfax Water’s source water quality and water supply reliability.”
The Washington Post reported that the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering also found that “steep hurdles” would need to be crossed before the ban should be lifted.
“A study commissioned by the Danville Regional Foundation also came out this month,” the Post article read. “It concluded that uranium mining could have economic benefits but also environmental risks.” http://lakeridge.patch.com/articles/uranium-mining-could-leave-toxic-waste-in-occoquan-watershed
Canadian tribes say NO to nuclear waste
No nuclear waste here, North Shore Tribal Council says,SooToday.com, December 20, 2011 Chiefs of the North Shore Tribal Council say no! to a multi-billion dollar nuclear waste disposal project in their territory CUTLER, ON – The First Nations of the North Shore Tribal Council strongly reject the prospect of the North Shore of Lake Huron becoming a site for the long-term storage of nuclear waste for the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO). The City of Elliot Lake has publicly expressed interest in possibly becoming one of the sites for the long-term disposal of nuclear waste for Canada’s nuclear industry.
Elliot Lake has a long history of uranium mining that resulted in the boom and bust of the city, as well as significant and lasting environmental damage to the local watershed and nearby ceremonial grounds. In addition, there are dozens of tailings ponds surrounding Elliot Lake currently waiting for a solution for their safe disposal.
“We cannot idly stand by and watch as they inject Mother Earth with this cancer,” says Chief Lyle Sayers, chairman of the North Shore Tribal Council. “We must ensure that the future natural resources of this area are there for our children, generations to come, and businesses alike.”
The half-life of this material is hundreds of thousands of years old and could impact generation after generation. No site can ever be totally safe for nuclear waste storage. “Natural disasters sometimes happen, such as we’ve seen in Japan. It could make this whole area a nuclear wasteland suitable for only that industry,” says Chief Sayers.
Our statement to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization is: Do not waste your financial resources if you plan to conduct a study in this area because a nuclear waste dump is not going to happen here.
The North Shore Tribal Council represents seven First Nation communities across the North Shore of Lake Huron.Chief Lyle Sayers is the chief of the Garden River First Nation and also the chairman of the North Shore Tribal Council. http://www.sootoday.com/content/news/details.asp?c=37141
American Indians enthusiastic about potential for renewable energy industris
Indian Country welcomes renewable energy by Martin LaMonica December 4, 2011 JEMEZ PUEBLO, N.M.–American Indian tribes see renewable energy as a way to capitalize on their natural resources.
The Department of Energy last week proposed a rule that would speed up decisions regarding land used for renewable energy projects, many of which have been derailed by bureaucracy. The rule would require decisions within a 60-day limit for business-related leases, such as developing solar and wind projects on Indian land.
“It will require the government to act,” said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last Monday, according to reports. “The government cannot sit on its hands, as it has often done.” Indian lands have significant resources, including solar and wind, but little has been developed, according to the National Congress of American Indians. “We’re ready to strengthen our economies now and jumpstart the clean energy economy in Indian Country. This is something the entire country can get behind,” said NCAI president Jefferson Keel in a statement….
For tribes with the resources, renewable energy holds the prospect of bringing in much-needed tax revenue, jobs, and potentially lower electricity costs, said Carolyn Stewart, managing partner at Red Mountain Energy Partners, which advises tribes on renewable energy.
“[Tribes] are very interested in controlling the pace of the development on the reservation, which they have not been able to do in the past for the most part with oil and gas, coal, or uranium mining [which] had significant environmental impacts,” she said….. http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-57335065-54/indian-country-welcomes-renewable-energy/
500 abandoned uranium mines contaminated Navajo land
Summit focuses on uranium contamination on Navajo land, News 13 FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) - Tuesday marks the start of a yearly summit focused on the Navajo Nation’s problems with uranium contamination. Six federal agencies, along with tribal officials and others are gathering in Farmington, N.M., for the 3-day summit. Jared Blumenfeld of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Navajo President Ben Shelly are set to give keynote speeches.
The reservation has more than 500 abandoned mines. Federal and tribal officials have screened hundreds of structures for potential contamination, replacing some of them. They’ve also tested unregulated water sources. Officials who developed a 5-year plan to address the contamination are expected to give progress reports this week.
Concerns over safety and the health of its people led the Navajo Nation to ban uranium mining on the reservation in 2005. http://www.kold.com/story/15983987/summit-focuses-on-uranium-contamination-on-navajo
Finally some justice for Spokane Tribe uranium workers
a recently completed epidemiology study of the 2,700-member tribe conducted by the state Department of Health and the Northwest Indian Health Board concluded there were high rates of cancer among tribal members who worked at the mine.
Women of the tribe have contracted cancer from cleaning the clothes of the men who worked in the mines,
Progress made toward cleaning up uranium mine, Canadian Business By AP | November 06, 2011 SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — The Spokane Tribe of Indians has recently won big victories in its long fight against uranium contamination, including a deal reached this fall between the federal government and mining companies to clean up the long-closed Midnite Mine on the reservation.
In addition, tribal members in September became eligible to receive federal compensation if they became sick while working at the mine. Read more »
At last, efforts to rebury the poisonous monster of uranium, in Navajo land
Cleanup takes on uranium monster in Monument Valley, By Judy Fahys, The Salt Lake Tribune, Oct 16, 2011 Monument Valley • An old story tells how the first Navajos made a choice that shaped their destiny.
They embraced yellow corn pollen over yellow uranium. And they concluded unearthing the radioactive rock would unleash evil from the underworld.
But in the rush to fuel atomic weapons and nuclear reactors, Navajo lands yielded tons of the yellow rock, and the heavy machinery that dug it up left behind a hazardous legacy.
Here, below the Skyline Mine, about a mile from the famous Goulding’s Trading Post, the Navajos’ worst fears about uranium came true. Tumors and cancer and a host of other maladies plagued families living on the valley floor in Skyline’s shadow. So did a nagging fear.
In some people’s minds, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cleanup this summer signaled the federal government has at long last started owning up to its obligations to the Navajos. Next week dump trucks and dozers will be done stuffing the evil back into the redrock.
And the unseen demons will be vanquished from the mythic landscape……
The $7.5 million Skyline cleanup is part of EPA’s effort to address uranium problems all over the reservation. About $22 million is slated for addressing water contamination. A total of $60 million is planned for five years to identify and deal with contaminated homes and mine sites.
The Skyline cleanup is the first of four that EPA has planned so far,….. A few weeks ago, Tenley announced the next cleanup on the reservation: a $44 million project to address contamination at the largest uranium mine on the Navajo Reservation, Northeast Church Rock, New Mexico. And, unlike the Skyline cleanup that taxpayers paid for, this one will be on the tab of the company that mined it, a subsidiary of General Electric Co….http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home2/52705676-183/uranium-mesa-cleanup-skyline.html.csp
Australian Aboriginal response to BHP’s plan for world’s biggest uranium hole
THE LIZARDS REVENGE, DLF – Desert Liberation Front, Response to the governments decision to expand Olympic Dam mine. Sleeping underneath the ground there is an old lizard, Kalta the sleepy lizard. The lizard ain’t so sleepy anymore.
BHP is mining right into that Lizards body. The government has just approved an expansion of the Olympic Dam uranium mine, making it the biggest uranium mine in the world.
Kalta is angry and wants revenge. Arabana elder Kevin Buzzacot is calling the people of the world to help the lizard shut down the mine. He is calling for people to come and heal the land in the name of peace and justice for the next 10,000 generations to come.
The land is being irreversibly poisoned in and around Roxby Downs by the tailings dam causing dust and ground water contamination, and contamination of its workers.
The uranium is taken all over the world and used to kill the land and all its creatures. It’s destroying lives not only in Fukashima, with the reactor meltdown, but in the depleted uranium shells that children play with in the streets of Iraq and Kosovo.
With the governments numerous attempts to put a nuclear waste dump at Muckaty in the Northern Territory there is a danger that radioactive waste will be brought back, opening Australia up to accepting nuclear waste from all over the world. Lets stop the deadly cycle where it starts.
The land the lizard and the creatures of this earth are summoning everybody who gives a shit to the gates of Roxby Downs on the 14th of july 2012 for The Lizards Revenge – This is an open invitation to all people and a special call out to artists, musicians and activist community groups and media to get involved in the creation of this autonomous zone for the peace and healing of this land.
Party in a Dangerous Planet with Theatre, Cabaret and Art installations. Over 20 musical acts. Solar Powered sound system extravaganza and wind powered cinema. More to be anounced.. Stand up and boogie down at the Gates of Olympic Dam 14th July 2012for more info email- izzybrown@live.com
Rio Tinto, uranium miners, and nuclear colonialism
situation isn’t all rosy for the multinational, which has long faced allegations of widespread environmental destruction and labor and human rights abuses in Africa, Asia and even the U.S.
Foreign control of metals and other natural resources in African and other developing countries is increasingly seen as a new form of colonialism, wherein locals work for relatively low wages and often in grueling, repressive conditions for companies that take most of the profit from the resources and labor out of the country.
Namibian Uranium Miners vs. Rio Tinto, IN THESE TIMES, BY KARI LYDERSEN, OCT 3, 2011 Namibian union uranium miners on strike against international mining giant Rio Tinto alleged in late September that a week into the strike, the company was violating mutually agreed upon conditions of the strike by hiring nonunion workers at its Rossing uranium mine.
Rio Tinto says it is not hiring nonunion workers and is demanding written proof from the Namibian Miners Union.
Miners have demanded payments of $2,557 (USD) each to end the strike over union allegations of unfair bonus payments and other grievances. Rio Tinto has asked the country’s labor court to rule that the union’s complaints are not grounds for a strike. Read more »
Lengthy and costly cleanup of uranium contaminated site
Largest abandoned uranium mine cleanup on Navajo Nation announced An important milestone in the effort to clean up of Navajo trust lands contaminated by historic uranium mining will be achieved in the cleanup of the Northeast Church Rock Mine in New Mexico., Mineweb, Dorothy Kosich, 30 Sep 2011 RENO, NV - The U.S. EPA announced Thursday it has approved a plan to clean up 1.4 million tons of radium and uranium contaminated soil at the Northeast Church Rock Mine, the largest and highest priority uranium mine on the Navajo Nation. Read more »
A start to addressing the scandal of Navajo radiation contamination from uranium mining
The cleanup at the Skyline Mine represents not only a reduced risk of exposure for Begay and her family, but marks the first significant remediation of a mine on the country’s largest American Indian reservation where such sites number in the hundreds.
Tests have found gamma radiation activity greater than two times the background level at 80 locations on the site. In the traditional Navajo home where Begay once lived with two of her sons, the radiation levels were up to 100 times the acceptable level. The two sons have died — one of lung cancer and the other from a tumor.
Navajo woman helps prompt uranium mine cleanup, Houston Chronicle, FELICIA FONSECA, September 5, 2011 MONUMENT VALLEY, Utah (AP) — The stretch of high desert on the Arizona-Utah border gives way to towering rock formations that resemble huge mittens, chimney spires and castles. But to the west of Monument Valley lies a reminder of what has been blamed for much heartache and tragedy in Elsie Mae Begay‘s family: A mesa stained with a gray streak where uranium was mined decades ago. Read more »
Indigenous peoples cop the uranium pollution by rich corporations
“The biggest problem of uranium mining is slow and constant emission of radiation which leads people to suffer from cancer, kidney problems, and other respiratory diseases.Future generations would be the worst sufferers,” she said. Due to uranium mining, groundwater level goes down, while water, used for agriculture and drinking, is polluted.
”Rich countries encourage uranium mining in poor nations”, IBN Live,,Aug 07,2011, Kadapa(AP), Aug 7 (PTI) Developed nations are taking up uranium mining in third world countries despite themselves being endowed with rich deposits of the mineral to avoid possible environmental pollution, Read more »
EPA study into uranium contamination of Navajo land
The Mariano Lake Mine is one of a handful of sites that the EPA and its Navajo Nation counterpart have targeted for investigation or cleanup so far. They’ve been assessing hundreds of abandoned uranium mines to address what has become a legacy of death and disease across the reservation.
EPA announces deal for uranium contamination probe, Canadian Business, August 01, 2011 FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is overseeing an effort to determine the extent of contamination at a former uranium mining site on the Navajo Nation that marked a high priority for assessment. Read more »
AREVA trying to stop Aboriginal land becoming World Heritage listed
Areva formally requested Australia to withdraw its nomination for heritage listing from the agenda of the 35th World Heritage Committee meeting, which will be held in Paris this week…..
…Jeffrey Lee, the sole member of the Djok clan and senior custodian of the land that includes the 12.5 square kilometre Koongarra project area, has also travelled to Paris hoping to speak at the meeting. Mr Lee, 40, who would be one of Australia’s richest people if he allowed the mine to go ahead, told The Age he wanted to tell the story of his country, which he wanted to see protected forever in the park.
French uranium challenge to Kakadu heritage listing, Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin,The Age, June 20, 2011 A FRENCH government-owned company attempted to block countries discussing an Australian request to expand the World heritage-listed Kakadu National Park to include land that contains uranium worth billions of dollars. Read more »
1 THIS MONTH
Uranium mining in Namibia http://namibian.me/group/canwin2?commentId=4103091%3AComment%3A47391&xg_source=msg_com_group
Nuclear industry is moribund, despite 2 new reactors licensed in USA http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2012/s3428147.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2012/s3413882.htm Is the world facing a groundwater crisis?
of the week http://climaterealityproject.org/thin-ice/
and another WEBSITE : - New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution http://www.necnp.org/
EVENT
February 18 Hindsdale, Chicago American Association of University Women - nuclear disaster preparedness H.OB.aauw.reservations@gmail.com.
March 2012 is “March Against Nuclear Madness” and Beyond Nuclear has created a new March Against Nuclear Madness Facebook page.
March 8th & 9th – Cape Town, South Africa - The Global Conference: Nuclear Power For Africa? http://koebergalert.org/npfree/
May 31 USA - Portland, Maine, Bonnie Raitt benefit concert for New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution
Nuclear power and water – theme for February 2012
FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR PLANT and WATER – present state
That nuclear core is in direct contact with tons of water. And that containment, while not leaking down, is leaking out the sides. That contaminated water is going into every other building on site. And there is literally thousands and thousands of tons of water in other buildings. That water contains radioactive cesium, radioactive strontium, and it also contains nuclear fuel. There will be uranium in that water and plutonium in that water as well. We know for sure that that water is leaking into the ground water and into the Pacific Ocean. So while it is important to know that we are not going to release the nuclear core directly into the center of the earth, the problem is not over. And as a matter of fact, the problem will last for tens, perhaps even as long as 30 years because this contaminated water is in the basements of all the buildings on site. And not only does it contain cesium (that hangs around for 300 years), strontium (hangs around for 300 years), but it also contains plutonium and uranium and they have half lives of tens of thousands of years.
So the problem is, what do we do with all that water that is contaminated? It is already leaking into the groundwater. It is already leaking into the ocean. TEPCO is frantically catching it and putting it into tanks. But just today, TEPCO announced that they are running out of tank space on site, and eventually they are going to have to release those tanks into the Pacific Ocean. Now they will try to clean up some of the isotopes like cesium. But they have been unable to capture all the strontium. Strontium is a bone seeker that causes leukemia… http://fairewinds.com/content/fukushima-could-it-have-china-syndrome
NUCLEAR REACTORS - WATER USE : Per megawatt existing nuclear power stations use and consume more water than power stations using other fuel sources. Depending on the cooling technology utilised, the water requirements for a nuclear power station can vary between 20 to 83 per cent more than for other power stations.”- Dep of Parliamentary Services research note, 4 December 2006, no. 12, 2006–07, ISSN 1449-8456 Water consumption figures:
Nuclear: 2.3 L/ kWh
Solar (PV): 0.110 L/ kWh
Wind: 0.004 L/ kWh
(American Wind Energy Association estimate & US DOE)
A typical 1000-megawatt pressurized-water reactor (with a cooling tower) takes in 20,000 gallons of river, lake or ocean water per minute for cooling, circulates it through a 50-mile maze of pipes, returns 5,000 gallons per minute to the same body of water, and releases the remainder to the atmosphere as vapor. A 1000-megawatt reactor without a cooling tower takes in even more water–as much as one-half million gallons per minute. The discharge water is contaminated with radioactive elements in amounts that are not precisely known or knowable, but are biologically active.
Some radioactive fission gases, stripped from the reactor cooling water, are contained in decay tanks for days before being released into the atmosphere through filtered rooftop vents. Some gases leak into the power plant buildings’ interiors and are released during periodic “purges” and “ventings.” These airborne gases contaminate not only the air, but also soil and water. http://www.nirs.org/factsheets/routineradioactivereleases.htm
NUCLEAR REACTORS -IONISING RADIATION to GROUNDWATER In USA the nuclear industry has contaminated groundwater with radioactive tritium at nuclear power plant sites all across the country. Nuclear plants that have admitted leaking tritium into the groundwater include:
- Braidwood, Byron, Dresden and Quad Cities in Illinois;
- Indian Point and Fitzpatrick in New York;
- Yankee Rowe and Pilgrim in Massachusetts;
- Three Mile Island and Peach Bottom in Pennsylvania;
- Callaway in Missouri
- Catawba in South Carolina
- Oyster Creek in New Jersey
- Hatch in Georgia
- Palo Verde In Arizona
- Perry in Ohio
- Palisades in Michigan
- Point Beach in Wisconsin
- Salem in Delaware
- San Onofre in California
- Seabrook in New Hampshire
- Shearon Harris in North Carolina
- Watts Bar in Tennessee
- Wolf Creek in Kansas
- Connecticut Yankee in Connecticut
- Vermont Yankee in Vermont
URANIUM MINING – OPEN CUT or UNDERGROUND It is very difficult to find figures on the amounts of water used. All mining is water intensive, but uranium mining is the greatest guzzler Water is extensively used to suppress airborne dust levels, to try to reduce the radioactive clouds that would otherwise emanate constantly from the uranium tailings.IN SITU LEACHING – Uranium Mining Process in-situ leaching uses a hydrogen peroxide mixture to strip the uranium from the rock, which kills tissue and destroys cells in human and animal life. The addition of oxygen and sodium bicarbonate called oxygenates causes uranium and other radioactive substances and trace metals to be liberated from the rock into the groundwater.
.. judges have too often taken the stance that they are judges who know nothing of the mining industry and accept the data of corporations, claiming the corporations are in the know.
..the water taken from the extremely pristine Westwater Canyon Aquifer near Crownpoint for uranium mining and used for flushing out chemicals would not be replaced in our lifetimes.
It takes hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, to transform aquifer water back into a drinkable condition. Virginia Against Uranium Mining: Scientists Back Navajos’ Uranium Mining Fight: Tribe fears contamination of drinking water
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