2009 July 17 « nuclear-news

Too hot for nuke power

Too hot for nuke power Deseret News 16 July 09
Proponents of nuclear power in Utah probably have not noticed an article in the UK Times (July 13, 2009) regarding the problems France is having with its nuclear-power plants, problems that bear on the feasibility of nuclear power in Utah.

France is in the grips of another hot summer, with air temperatures in the 80s. Water temperatures have exceeded the limits under which plants cooled by river water can safely operate.As a result of the heat, France has had to reduce power generation by one-third and is now importing power from England. Much the same thing happened during the heat wave of 2003.

Reading this, I couldn’t help thinking about the nuclear plant proposed for Green River, where summer temperatures are regularly in high 90s. T

he water temperature of the Green River at Jensen on July 13, 2009, was 23.5 degrees Celsius, almost as high as the maximum allowed for water returned to rivers from France’s nuclear plants. During the drought of 1999-2005, Green River water temperatures reached 25.4 degrees.

As the earth warms, high river temperatures will become commonplace. Nuclear plants, especially those dependent on rivers, will become untenable. Utah should avoid this boondoggle now.

Deseret News | Too hot for nuke power

July 17, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, environment, USA | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

No nukes for Taidong

No nukes for Taidong
David on Formosa 16 July 09 a”………………………About the search for a nuclear waste storage site in Taiwan. ………….. it is no accident that nuclear waste is imposed on the poorest and most marginalised communities. The pattern of buying off people with promises of infrastructure and jobs continues.

The process of developing a nuclear waste storage site also shows a frightening disregard for democratic process. In December the Presbyterian Church reported that the government was spying on church activities in Taidong. In particular government authorities made enquiries about church activities opposed to nuclear waste. At a public hearing on nuclear waste storage in Taidong in April two environmental activists were illegally detained by police for two hours to prevent them from protesting or speaking at the meeting.

I offer no solutions to the intractable problem of nuclear waste storage. The continuing presence of nuclear waste on Orchid Island is an abomination. The relocation of the waste to another indigenous community on the mainland is also unacceptable. How can governments allow the construction of nuclear power plants when they have no clear plan for the long-term storage of nuclear waste?

No nukes for Taidong – David on Formosa

July 17, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ASIA, indigenous issues | antinuclear, indigenous, nuclear, nuclear wastes, radioactive, uranium, wastes | Leave a comment

Uranium & Nuclear: Most Dangerous Con Job

Most Dangerous Con Job Burke Connection Elmer M. Savilla 16 July The biggest and most dangerous con job ever dealt the American people happened in 1953, when the federal government told the people that nuclear generated electrical power was safe power, and would be so cheap that it would not pay to put it through your home’s meter. The electricity may be safe power, but it is not cheap. But the nuclear power used to generate that electricity is the world’s most dangerous threat to mankind today and will remain so for millions of years, if we last that long. The plutonium created by the process of nuclear fission is indestructible and exposure to it can kill in a minute. The results of that scam has cost thousands of innocent Americans, Pacific Islanders, Utah Downwinders and others in our world their lives and that of their families, as well as their property…………………
……………..The serious accident that I refer to here happened the same year as Three Mile Island on July 16, 1979 near the little Native American community of Church Rock, N.M., where the Pueblo people had lived for centuries, peacefully tending their sheep and raising their crops with water from the Puerco River.

On July 16, 30 years ago, a dirt dam built by a uranium mine and milling facility was filled to capacity, yet continued to discharge uranium mill waste into the dam. The dam burst its banks and 90 million gallons of liquid radioactive waste, and 1,100 tons of solid mill waste created a flood of deadly material that has permanently contaminated the Puerco River bed with radioactivity.

The spill formed toxic ponds where children splashed unaware of the danger. The flood washed across fields where animals grazed. The tribe’s water supply has been permanently damaged. Flood waters continued downstream into Arizona, contaminating more communities. This was an unpublished tragedy and went unnoticed by most Americans

Yet, five weeks after the dam burst, the mine and mill operator was back in business, while the Church Rock community had to truck in water.

The Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency share responsibility here, but to this date, nothing has been done……………………………………….Three Mile Island received media attention, but in this case, it only involved a Native American community. Could it be that because it was a politically powerless Native American tribe unable to prevent race-based discrimination, that the DOE, EPA, HHS and IHS, all of whom have a trust responsibility for the people, their environment and their safety, do not feel an obligation here? I ask the American people to join in demanding an answer.

LETTER: Most Dangerous Con Job

July 17, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Navajos mark 30th anniversary of uranium spill

Navajos mark 30th anniversary of uranium spill

By SUE MAJOR HOLMES (AP) – CHURCH ROCK, N.M. —

The leader of the Navajo Nation marked the 30th anniversary of a massive uranium tailings spill by reaffirming the tribe’s ban on future uranium mining.Speaking in Navajo and English, President Joe Shirley Jr. addressed about 100 people who made a seven-mile walk Thursday to the site of the July 16, 1979 spill and to the land of Navajo ranchers who live near another contaminated site.

What Shirley called “the largest peacetime accidental release of radioactive contaminated materials in the history of the United States” occurred when 94 million gallons of acidic water poured into the north fork of the Rio Puerco after an earthen uranium tailings dam failed.Within days, contaminated tailings liquid was found 50 miles downstream in Arizona.

Shirley said the spill — the same year as the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania — barely registered on the consciousness of the United States but will not be forgotten by the by Navajo and non-Navajo residents “who still worry today about the potential impacts of this tragic accident.

“It also helped mobilize the effort that resulted in the Navajo Nation’s 2005 ban on uranium mining and processing until adverse economic, environmental and human health effects from past uranium activities are eliminated or substantially reduced to the satisfaction of the Navajo Nation Council, Shirley said.”We will stand our ground until the terms of the Dine (Navajo) Natural Resources Protection Act are met,” he said……………

………Shirley said decades of mining activity in the Church Rock area “contributed more radioactivity than the spill did,” adding to the difficulty of tracking the effects of uranium mining and milling and discharges over a long period of time.

The Associated Press: Navajos mark 30th anniversary of uranium spill

July 17, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | indigenous issues, USA | antinuclear, indigenous, nuclear, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment