nuclear-news

US warned on mining

AUSTRALIAN Aborigines, a French physicist and a US actor have joined indigenous peoples from Africa and the US to send legislators a stark warning about the dangers of uranium mining………………………

On Friday representatives of the Tuareg nomads of Niger, Native Americans and Australian Aborigines told US legislators of the ravages of uranium mining on their communities.

Australia is the world’s biggest producer of the mineral.

Sidi-Amar Taoua, a Tuareg who has lived in the US for seven years, said Areva had been mining uranium in Niger for more than 40 years with “no regard for the environment, people’s heath (or) animals”…………………..

Native American environmental activist Manny Pino said though most have been closed, the mines’ legacy included contaminated drinking water and illnesses from cancer to kidney disease.

“In this process of nuclear renaissance, it’s almost like the US Federal Government is ignoring the historical legacy of uranium mining in the past and prioritising the economic benefits of nuclear power in the future at the expense of our land, our water and our people,” Mr Pino said.

Actor James Cromwell, who played George H.W. Bush in the film W, said when the price of the mineral peaked at about $215.52 a pound in 2007, mining companies descended “like vultures” on uranium-rich areas, 70 per cent of which were situated on land inhabited by low-income indigenous

Activists warn US lawmakers of uranium mining perils
18 hours WASHINGTON (AFP) 1 March 09 — A French physicist and a US actor have joined representatives of indigenous peoples from Africa, Australia and the United States to send US lawmakers a stark warning about the dangers of uranium mining.”We want US lawmakers to understand that uranium mining is highly pollutant and that there is currently no scientific answer to the question of radioactive waste containment,” Bruno Chareyron of France’s CRIIRAD laboratory, which measures radioactivity in the environment, told AFP Friday.”We want them to know that the information they are given by the mining companies is not wholly reliable,” he said.Representatives of the Tuareg nomads of Niger, Native Americans and Australian aborigines told of the ravages of uranium mining on their communities.In Niger, French company Areva has been mining uranium for more than 40 years with “no regard for the environment, people’s health, animals,” Sidi-Amar Taoua, a Tuareg who has lived for seven years in the United States, told AFP……………………….. Native American environmental activist Manny Pino.

“In this process of nuclear renaissance, it’s almost like the federal government is ignoring the historical legacy of uranium mining in the past and prioritizing the economic benefits of nuclear power in the future at the expense of our land, our water and our people,” he said.

Mitch, an aboriginal militant against radioactive waste dumps and uranium mining in Australia, currently the world’s biggest producer of the mineral, said: “Short term monetary gain will leave us with long-term deadly waste for generations to come.”

Bay radiation: ‘It’s more serious than we had thought’
 Dunfermline Press By Ally McRoberts 26 Feb 09 THERE’S “enough evidence” to designate parts of Dalgety Bay as ‘radioactive contaminated land’ and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) has warned they’ll be forced to do it if the Ministry of Defence doesn’t take decisive action
That’s the view of Sepa’s radioactive substances unit manager, Byron Tilley, and a Sepa scientist said the problem was “much more serious than anyone thought” and particles which could give a radiation dose far higher than ‘safe’ levels have been found on the town’s beach.

Raise nuclear waste tax  
 The Salt Lake Tribune Claire Geddes 02/27/2009 06:23: EnergySolutions is so desperate for money that it will turn Utah into the world’s nuclear dumping ground and share a portion of the “profits” with Utah if lawmakers endorse its plan to take Italy’s nuclear waste.What profits? The company’s stock is tanking, its balance sheet is in the red, and its chief executive, Steve Creamer, has a history of failure (remember Syncrete?).Reportedly, Utah’s profits could be $100 million a year for a decade. This gives you some idea of the huge cost of shipping foreign nuclear waste to Utah.The $100 million question is why would any country be willing to spend so much to rid itself of this nuclear waste if it were so safe to store?

If the Legislature truly wants to raise money, it could adequately tax the nuclear waste that is already coming here. This private company has used Utah for far too long, making huge profits off state trust lands that were sold for a small portion of their value.

If EnergySolutions really cared about Utah’s economy, it should just donate to the state the amount it spends on lobbyists and public relations.

Russian “Nuclear Renaissance” Hits RoadblockFinancial resources and technical capabilities thwart ambitious plans msnbc Feb. 26, 2009 function UpdateTimeStamp(pdt) { var n = document.getElementById(“udtD”); if(pdt != ” && n && window.DateTime) { var dt = new DateTime(); pdt = dt.T2D(pdt); if(dt.GetTZ(pdt)) {n.innerHTML = dt.D2S(pdt,((”.toLowerCase()==’false’)?false:true));} } } UpdateTimeStamp(‘633712603800000000’);

WATERLOO, CANADA – Russia’s ambitions for its “nuclear renaissance” face many obstacles, concludes a report released today by The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI).

The Russian Nuclear Industry: Status and Prospects provides a detailed analysis of the current state of the nuclear power industry in Russia and shows that although this industry has recently been greeted with renewed funding and enthusiasm, achieving its ambitious plans will require it to overcome considerable problems and limitations.

“Continuing a tendency from Soviet-era days, the Russian government has shown a predilection for developing grandiose plans for the expansion of the nuclear energy sector that are not fulfilled,” writes Miles Pomper, author of the paper. “While the first post-Soviet nuclear plans called for a total of 38 new nuclear reactors to be built, only three have actually been constructed and with capabilities that are not superior or even equal to its Western competitors.”