water « nuclear-news

AREVA’s uranium enrichment plant a danger to Idaho’s groundwater

Areva uranium enrichment plant in Idaho would threaten aquifer, Beyond Nuclear, 28 May 2010, The $2 billion in federal loan guarantees just awarded to Areva by the U.S. Department of Energy for a new uranium enrichment plant in Idaho, will produce depleted uranium (half-life of 4.5 billion years) and will threaten the Snake River Aquifer, say leaders of the Snake River Alliance.

Areva plans to build a new uranium enrichment plant “on the upstream end of the Snake River Aquifer a few miles east of the Idaho National Laboratory,” stated the Alliance in a press release. “INL’s nuclear activities have already contaminated the aquifer and have left substantial radioactive waste behind. Addressing these environmental challenges has already cost billions of taxpayer dollars and will continue for decades”. Continue reading →

May 29, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, water | antinuclear, AREVA, depleted, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

State legal proceedings looming for uranium company, over water contamination

Mountain State Nixes Plan For Cleanup Of Colo. Uranium Mine, cbs4denver.com, DENVER (AP) May 20, 2010 ― State regulators have rejected a plan by Cotter Corp. to clean up contamination from a closed uranium mine that has flowed into a creek that feeds a Denver-area reservoir.The Colorado Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety said Thursday it doesn’t believe the plan would prevent uranium from contaminating Ralston Reservoir, which supplies some of the Denver area’s drinking water. Continue reading →

May 21, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, water | Leave a comment

Tribal women’s campaign for uranium-mining free water

….only the federal legislature can provide for the land’s permanent protection from mining…….

Grand Canyon uranium threatens tribal water, High Country News, Caitlin Sislin | May 18, 2010 Last week, a delegation of leaders from Arizona’s Havasupai Tribe traveled to Washington D.C., to advocate for the protection of the Grand Canyon region from a potential onslaught of uranium extraction activities. These four women – tribal council members and traditional elders – voiced their concern for the safety of the land, the purity of the water and the health of the community, and called for the passage of the Grand Canyon Watershed Protection Act (H.R. 644). Introduced in 2009 by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) this law would ban mineral exploration and the establishment of new mining claims pursuant to the 1872 Mining Law, on about one million acres of public lands surrounding Grand Canyon National Park. Continue reading →

May 20, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, water | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radioactive, uranium, water | Leave a comment

It could be the water problem that finishes off the nuclear industry

“The best alternatives from a water perspective are wind and photovoltaics, that require effectively no water.”

Water Adds New Constraints to Power, NYTimes.com By ERICA GIES May 17, 2010 “……In the United States, thermoelectric power generation — mainly coal, nuclear and natural gas — accounted for 41 percent of U.S. freshwater withdrawals in 2005, U.S. Geological Society data show………..

But there is a growing awareness in California and throughout the United States that the use of water for energy generation may be reaching its limits.

California has extensive experience with water shortages, resulting in its adoption of a policy, included in the energy commission’s 2003 Integrated Energy Policy Report, that discourages freshwater use for power plant cooling…….“If you want to build a big central power plant, whether it’s oil, gas or nuclear, you can’t take the water for granted.” Continue reading →

May 18, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, water | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, climate change, global warming, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, reactors, renewable energy, renewables, solar, uranium, water, wind | Leave a comment

Despite radioactive pollution, right wing USA wants more nuclear testing

Over 41 years, the federal government detonated 921 nuclear warheads underground at the Nevada Test Site, 75 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Each explosion deposited a toxic load of radioactivity into the ground and, in some cases, directly into aquifers… In a study for Nye County, where the nuclear test site lies, Buqo estimated that the underground tests polluted 1.6 trillion gallons of water. That is as much water as Nevada is allowed to withdraw from the Colorado River in 16 years — enough to fill a lake 300 miles long, a mile wide and 25 feet deep……

Right Makes Nuclear Testing A Priority, Wonk Room, By Max Bergmann on May 13th, 2010 Continue reading →

May 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, water | Leave a comment

Radioactive water reaches aquifer

Tainted nuke plant water reaches major NJ aquifer, Google hosted news, By WAYNE PARRY (AP) –9 May, 2010, LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Radioactive water that leaked from the nation’s oldest nuclear power plant has now reached a major underground aquifer that supplies drinking water to much of southern New Jersey, the state’s environmental chief said Friday.The state Department of Environmental Protection has ordered the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station to halt the spread of contaminated water underground,……….. Continue reading →

May 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, water | antinuclear, nuclear wastes, radioactive, reactors, water | Leave a comment

Impact of uranium mining on Grand Canyon’s watersheds

Ecoflight Grand Canyon Trust YouTube – Ecoflight Grand Canyon Trust

Aerial view of uranium mines threatening Grand Canyon watersheds, Grand Canyon Trust News, April 29, 2010 by gctrust Roger Clark, Grand Canyon Trust’s Air and Energy program director, recently flew with EcoFlight over uranium mining sites situated around the Grand Canyon and its watersheds that supply water for 25 million people. This bird’s eye view will allow you to understand the potential impact of uranium mining on the water supply for Arizona, southern California and Nevada. Click here to view the video. Aerial view of uranium mines threatening Grand Canyon watersheds « Grand Canyon Trust News

April 30, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, water | antinuclear, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Don’t add radioactive tailings to already polluted streams

What would the mining activities of two huge open-pit uranium mines, with a reported possible third mine at Coles Hill, do to the streams and rivers of Southside Virginia over the proposed mining span of 30 years?

Study links stream pollution to higher cancer rates, Star Tribune, , April 27, 2010 Researchers at West Virginia University and Virginia Tech now have the study findings to show a causal link between West Virginia streams, those polluted by coal mining activities, and premature cancer deaths in the humans who live near them. Continue reading →

April 29, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, water | antinuclear, nuclear, radiation, reactors, uranium, water | Leave a comment

Virginia Beach uranium mining could contaminate drinking water

The city is concerned about uranium mining and milling because Lake Gaston, a major source of its drinking water, is located downstream from Coles Hill, site of the proposed uranium mine and mill.

Lawmaker: Spending more for uranium socioeconomic study ‘not wise’ GoDanRiver, By John Crane April 27, 2010 If a Virginia Beach study finds uranium mining and milling detrimental to Lake Gaston, then a socioeconomic study of the industry would be pointless, said a member of the Virginia Tobacco Commission’s executive committee. Continue reading →

April 28, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, water | antinuclear, nuclear secrecy, radiation, reactors, uranium | 1 Comment

A somewhat limited study on uranium mining and groundwater

CU study looks at impact of proposed uranium mine on groundwater, The Coloradoan, BY BOBBY MAGILL • BobbyMagill@coloradoan.com • April 25, 2010 A University of Colorado study may soon shine more light on how Powertech’s proposed uranium mining northeast of Fort Collins might affect groundwater and the aquifers beneath the mine. Continue reading →

April 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, water | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, uranium, water | Leave a comment

Groundwater threatened by nuclear plants: public justifiably suspicious

while nuclear plants have permits that allow them to emit material into surface water and the air, they do not have permits that let them release material to groundwater, which is where the tritium is going……………

Has Trust Leaked Away With the Tritium? NYTimes.com, By MATTHEW L. WALD, April 20, 2010, A panel of experts convened on Tuesday by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to discuss how the agency should approach tritium leaks at reactors suggested that the biggest risk that nuclear operators faced was the erosion of public trust…… Continue reading →

April 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, water | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology | Leave a comment

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concerned about in-situ uranium mining

The federal agency is concerned that injecting wastewater underground could pollute drinking water supplies.

Wyo. OK’ing uranium permits despite EPA concerns, THE HUFFINGTON POST, 16 April 2010, CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality is proceeding with permits to allow uranium developers to inject wastewater underground despite federal regulators’ concerns. Continue reading →

April 17, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, water | antinuclear, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Uranium mine contaminating water in Denver

Defunct uranium mine contaminating groundwater near reservoir, The Denver Post,By Bruce Finley, 04/16/2010 A defunct uranium mine in Jefferson County is contaminating groundwater near a reservoir, but government regulators and mine executives have yet to settle on a plan for cleanup.Uranium concentrations in groundwater 30 feet beneath the brim of the Schwartzwalder Mine exceed the human health standard for uranium by more than 1,000 times, according to state records reviewed Thursday.Unhealthy concentrations also were detected in Ralston Creek, which eventually enters Denver Water’s Ralston Reservoir. The reservoir supplies water to Denver and Arvada.

Defunct uranium mine contaminating groundwater near reservoir – The Denver Post

April 17, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, water | antinuclear, nuclear, uranium, water | Leave a comment

EPA issues warning on in-situ uranium mining and water safety

Water concerns delay Wyoming uranium projects By DUSTIN BLEIZEFFER -Star-Tribune , March 26, 2010 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to go back to the drawing board with its site-specific environmental reviews of three proposed in-situ uranium mines in Wyoming. Continue reading →

April 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, water | antinuclear, nuclear costs, uranium, water | Leave a comment

Radioactive legacy continues to affect Navajo people

Toxic legacy for tribes, High Country News, Caitlin Sislin | Mar 26, 2010 Earlier this month, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals approved a controversial permit for uranium mining operations at sites in Church Rock, New Mexico. The operation includes a site associated with the largest release of liquid radioactive waste in United States History — a catastrophe which continues, a generation later, to negatively impact the lives and health of Navajo people residing near the spill site. Continue reading →