2015 January 24 « nuclear-news

Renewable energy market growing in India – India seeking support from USA

India to push renewable energy drive during Obama visit BY VALERIE VOLCOVICI AND ADITYA KALRA (REUTERS) 23 Jan 15 -India will look to the United States for more private sector partnerships and technology to support a drive to expand its use of clean energy, as Washington looks to secure political support for a global climate change deal in 2015…….

The U.S.-India talks will focus on supporting Indian efforts to electrify the country by boosting emissions-free energy and building manufacturing capabilities for solar and wind energy, said two officials familiar with the matter and several climate experts.

India needs $200 billion of investment in renewables by 2022 – half of it from abroad – to raise its solar power capacity by 33 times to 100 gigawatts and its wind power capacity to 60 GW.

U.S.-based First Solar and SunEdison Inc are among the renewable energy companies already active in India, but the market is growing rapidly…….http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/01/22/india-usa-climatechange-idINKBN0KV0SA20150122

January 24, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Ohio’s State legislators call for more funding for uranium site cleanup

Lawmakers seek more funding for Ohio uranium site cleanup Ohio.com By Kantele Franko
Associated Press January 23, 2015 PIKETON, OHIO: The state’s congressional delegation is urging the White House to fully fund the decontamination and decommissioning of a Cold War-era uranium plant in southern Ohio where hundreds of workers feared layoffs last fall amid budget concerns………

The lawmakers’ letter says decontamination and redevelopment of the site is critical for southern Ohio, and it asks that the president’s next annual budget provide full funding for the cleanup……..http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/lawmakers-seek-more-funding-for-ohio-uranium-site-cleanup-1.560851

January 24, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Cameco struggles with continued saga of falling uranium prices

Uranium Producers Continue to Sruggle With Low Prices CKRM, 24 Jan 15, The oil market has seen a decline for about 3 months, but Cameco’s CEO says the uranium industry has seen dropping prices for more than 3 years.

Tim Gitzel told a conference in Whistler, BC, that the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima more than three years ago continues to have a ripple effect on the industry, and many companies have struggled with the drop in prices.

Gitzel says it will be a tough test for Cameco in both the short and medium terms while they wait for Japan to restart two reactors and construction continues on 70 reactors in Asia.

January 24, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Research into problem of uranium mining & processing causing contamination of groundwater

SLAC Scientists Search for New Ways to Deal with U.S. Uranium Ore Processing Legacy New Field Project Tests Link Between Organic Materials and Persistent Uranium Contamination
22-Jan-2015 Source Newsroom: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Newswise — Researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory are trying to find out why uranium persists in groundwater at former uranium ore processing sites despite remediation of contaminated surface materials two decades ago. They think buried organic material may be at fault, storing toxic uranium at levels that continue to pose risks to human health and the environment, and hope their study will pave the way for better long-term site management and protection of the public and environment.

The contaminated sites, on floodplains in the upper Colorado River basin, operated from the 1940s to the 1970s to produce “yellowcake,” a precursor of uranium fuel used in nuclear power plants and weapons. In the 1990s, site surfaces were cleaned up, and remaining uranium in the ground was expected to flush out over time due to natural groundwater flow across the sites.

Uranium dissolved in groundwater flows slowly into nearby rivers, where it becomes diluted below the uranium concentrations naturally present in river water,” says John Bargar, SLAC’s project lead and researcher at the lab’sStanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL), a DOE Office of Science User Facility. “However, studies have shown that the groundwater contamination is unexpectedly long-lived.”……..

A deeper understanding of the various factors controlling uranium mobility could potentially lead to better ways of cleaning up the nation’s legacy of contamination from uranium mining and processing, and may help researchers devise new remediation strategies for contaminated sites in the upper Colorado River basin and elsewhere……..http://www.newswise.com/articles/slac-scientists-search-for-new-ways-to-deal-with-u-s-uranium-ore-processing-legacy

January 24, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment