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Uranium mining could poison Roanoke River for generations

“This uranium operation would generate millions of tons of toxic, cancer-causing waste,” said Peter Raabe of American Rivers. “We’re talking about a radioactive legacy that would last for generations.”

The General Assembly banned uranium mining soon after the uranium was discovered more than 25 years ago.

Possible uranium mining puts Roanoke River on nation’s ‘most endangered’ list, The Washington Post, By Anita Kuma, 18 May, The mere threat of possible uranium mining in Southside Virginia has landed the Roanoke River on a list of the nation’s most endangered waterways.The conservation organization American Rivers said the possibility of lifting a statewide ban on uranium mining would threaten the river and other rivers as well as drinking water supplies in the region. Continue reading →

May 19, 2011 Posted by | environment, USA | Leave a comment

Dead radioactive nuclear reactors will NOT be transported through Great Lakes

the controversial shipment,..would have essentially seen 1,600 tonnes of radioactive waste transported across the lakes for the first time..…

Bruce Power scraps plans to ship generators through Great Lakes, Vancouver Sun,  By Mark Iype, Postmedia News May 16, 2011  Ontario utility company Bruce Power has withdrawn its request for approval from the U.S. to transport 16 decommissioned nuclear reactors across the Great Lakes for recycling, despite permission from Canadian regulators, according to a Michigan state lawmaker. Continue reading →

May 17, 2011 Posted by | Canada, environment | Leave a comment

World’s biggest uranium hole and mountain of radioactive wastes planned

“This Environmental Impact Statement shows the company has designed Olympic Dam to leak up to eight million litres of liquid radioactive waste per day.  BHP Billiton plans to dump radioactive tailings on the surface and leave them there forever, rather than pay to isolate the toxic waste from the environment.”


BHP Billiton has released a multi-phonebook-sized environmental impact statement to support its proposal to make Olympic Dam the world’s largest uranium project, but the EIS does not address the risks that go along with Australian uranium when it is used in nuclear reactors overseas.

The Australian Conservation Foundation has challenged the company to re-do its environmental assessment to take account of disasters like Fukushima. Continue reading →

May 16, 2011 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, environment | Leave a comment

Like Ukraine’s Pripyat Iitate becomes Japan’s nuclear ghost town

Fukushima village on way to becoming ghost town. By DAVID MCNEILL.  The Japan Times, 14 May 11, IITATE, Fukushima Pref. — Sleepy, idyllic and dangerously irradiated, the village of Iitate is preparing to evacuate. The junior high school is closed, its children bused every day to nearby towns. Tractors sit idle, and weeds poke through rice and cabbage in the fields. Half-empty shelves greet customers at the A-Coop supermarket.

By the end of the month, this mountainous farming village of 7,000 people in Fukushima Prefecture, recently voted one of Japan’s most beautiful places, will join the Ukrainian ghost town of Pripyat on the planet’s short list of nuclear casualties….. Continue reading →

May 15, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Toxic radioactive effects of thorium, uranium in rare earths

Environmental groups have long criticised rare earths mining for spewing toxic chemicals and radioactive thorium and uranium into the air, water and soil, which can cause cancer and birth defects among residents and animals…..

China pays price for world’s rare earths addiction, By Allison Jackson (AFP) – Google News, 7 May 11, BAOTOU, China — Peasant farmer Wang Tao used to grow corn, potatoes and wheat within a stone’s throw of a dumping ground for rare earths waste until toxic chemicals leaked into the water supply and poisoned his land.Farmers living near the 10-square-kilometre expanse in northern China say they have lost teeth and their hair has turned white while tests show the soil and water contain high levels of cancer-causing radioactive materials. Continue reading →

May 8, 2011 Posted by | China, environment, health | Leave a comment

Nuclear reactors are the biggest water guzzler

Heat Waves Putting Pressure on Nuclear Power’s Outmoded Cooling Technologies, REUTERS By Lisa Song at SolveClimate,  May 4, 2011 “……Climate change studies published in research journals such as Science and the Journal of Climate project longer and more intense heat waves over the next century worldwide, adding constraints to water-intensive power systems.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, thermoelectric generation in the U.S. from coal, natural gas and nuclear withdraws more freshwater per year than the entire agricultural sector. Overall, nuclear plants consume up to 25 percent more water than fossil fuel plants…..http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/04/idUS163919996420110504

May 5, 2011 Posted by | USA, water | Leave a comment

Uranium mining threatens Grand Canyon’s water, and itseconomic viability

Polluting the Grand Canyon with uranium mines and radioactive tailings would have a drastic, negative effect on the area’s economic viability.

Uranium mining and Grand Canyon, Salt Lake Tribune, BY WALKER MACKAY 1 May 11, “……..Uranium mining in the Grand Canyon area will have a huge impact on the area’s watershed. The uranium excavation process known as “breccia pipe-type” results in ore and waste rock being piled on the land’s surface, where precipitation and run-off waters can transport it into the Grand Canyon via aquifers, springs, and drainages. There is a real potential for uranium contamination to occur in the creeks, seeps, and other tributaries that supply water to Grand Canyon National Park. Continue reading →

May 2, 2011 Posted by | Uranium, USA, water | Leave a comment

India’s Environmental Body Urges Delay in Nuclear Power Program

the Environment Appraisal Committee said the data provided by India’s state-run monopoly nuclear power producers, NPCIL, were from 2004 and hence dated.

“Due to various environmental problems including the adverse impact on the marine life, the present proposal is not acceptable,”

India green panel recommends deferment of nuclear plant plans, By Krittivas Mukherjee, NEW DELHI, April 28 , (Reuters) – A panel backed by India’s environment ministry has suggested holding off green approvals for four proposed nuclear reactors on concerns over coastal degradation and safety that intensified after last month’s nuclear disaster in Japan. Continue reading →

April 29, 2011 Posted by | environment, India | Leave a comment

Jaitapur nuclear project threatens rich agricultural region

is it fair to label the fears of the people of Jaitapur as anti-national because they do not want radioactive nuclear waste in their backyard?

Different rules for different people, Bahar Dutt, Hindustan Times, April 27, 2011 “……the problems for the people in Jaitapur are far more complex: a thriving vibrant economy, rich in natural resources, is being destabilised and only a handful of people have been offered employment……. Continue reading →

April 28, 2011 Posted by | environment, India | Leave a comment

Radiation in seafoods

“[People] should not venture into the ocean [where the radioactive materials are being released]; they should not eat any fish or seaweed from the ocean.

“The living species likely to be most affected are shellfish because they are stationary whereas fish that swim may pass through the area and out again. The shellfish such as mussels, oysters and clams certainly accumulate high levels of radioactivity….

Japanese earthquake | what Japan’s new nuclear crisis rating means, Sydney Morning Herald, Glenda Kwek April 12, 2011 As Japan raised the severity level of its nuclear crisis to match Chernobyl’s seven, an Australian scientist explained what that meant. Continue reading →

April 19, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

World Heritage Kakadu parkland poisoned by Rio Tinto’s uranium wastes

For 30 years about 100,000 litres of contaminated water a day has been leaking from the tailings dam into fissures beneath Kakadu

Radioactive water threatens Kakadu, The Age, Lindsay Murdoch, April 16, 2011 Radioactive water is in danger of spilling into an Aboriginal community and Kakadu’s World Heritage-listed wetlands if record rainfalls continue to deluge the vast Ranger uranium mine. Continue reading →

April 16, 2011 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, environment | 2 Comments

Radiation contamination in Grand Canyon

Uranium Mining Threatens Grand Canyon Communities | Truthout Cathie Bird, 14 April 11, Over a thousand uranium mines have al­ready con­taminated water ac­ross the Southwest, poison­ing com­munit­ies with radia­tion that leads to canc­er, harm­ing the bi­odivers­ity of riv­ers and dis­sipat­ing toxic ore dust into the air. De­spite the im­measur­able damage the mess of these ab­an­doned mines has in­flic­ted, in­clud­ing the of­fici­al de­sig­na­tion of the Four Cor­n­ers as a “nation­al sac­rifice area,” the feder­al govern­ment and foreign min­ing com­pan­ies want to con­tinue uranium min­ing in the Grand Canyon… Uranium Mining Threatens Grand Canyon Communities | Truthout – MicroHawk’s NewsScan

April 14, 2011 Posted by | environment, USA | Leave a comment

The spread of radiation from Fukushima

Fish in nearby waters are now being measured at 4,000% above the Codex Alimentarius limits for Iodine-131 and 447% of Caesium-137. Radioactive caesium has a half-life of 30 years. Radiation levels for the isotope are not considered “safe” for 10 to 20 times longer. The caesium released today will remain dangerous six centuries from now.

Radiation Spreads Worldwide. The Poisoning of Mother Earth, Global Reseach Ca,by Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT), 14 April 11, “………Radiation in milk in Hawaii is now at least 2,033% above Federal drinking water safety limits. The US safety limit is 3 pCi/l (picoCuries per litre). Note this is the minimum percentage found over EPA requirements. This figure is reached by adding together the Caesium-134 (800%); −137 (633%); and Iodine-131 (600%) levels und in milk. Continue reading →

April 14, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, 2 WORLD, environment | Leave a comment

Increased radiation in Ontario since Fukushima disaster

Radiation in Ontario higher since Japan crisis: officials TheRecord -, 12 April 11, TORONTO — Elevated levels of radiation have been found in Ontario since the Japanese nuclear disaster but health authorities say people should not be alarmed.On Tuesday, Energy Minister Brad Duguid said radiation levels have gone up slightly since a devastating earthquake struck off the northeast coast of Japan on March 11 crippling the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors.Some U.S. states have also found elevated radiation levels, Duguid said. But he added there is no reason for alarm here as officials regularly test the air, water and food.The news comes the same day that Japan increased the severity rating of the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant to the same level as the Chornobyl disaster…. TheRecord – Radiation in Ontario higher since Japan crisis…

April 13, 2011 Posted by | Canada, environment | Leave a comment

Radioactive Cesium in Hawaii and other USA locations

AUDIO Japan Nuclear Radiation In Hawaii Milk At LEAST 600% Above Federal Drinking Water Limits : The Intel Hub By Alexander Higgins – Contributing Writer April 12, 2011 Title of article now represents the minimum percentage that the radiation found in Hawaii is over EPA standards.

New EPA milk samples in Hawaii show radiation in milk at 800% above limits for Cs-134, 633% above limits for Cs-137 and 600% above EPA maximum for I-131 for a total of 2033%, or 20.33 times, above the federal drinking water limits.

New readings have also been posted for Phoenix AZ with milk being above the federal limit and Los Angeles with milk being slightly below the limit for Iodine.

Montpelier VT milk has tested positive for radioactive CS-137, above about 2/3rds the EPA maximum and Spokane WA milk testing less than half the limit for i-131….Japan Nuclear Radiation In Hawaii Milk At LEAST 600% Above Federal Drinking Water Limits :

 

April 12, 2011 Posted by | environment, Resources -audiovicual, USA | 1 Comment

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