Quest for uranium underlies France’s military intervention in Central African Republic
Paris is focusing on the uranium deposits in the Bakouma sub-prefecture of the Mbomou prefecture, in south-eastern CAR.
The primary sources of France’s uranium in southern Algeria and northern Mali and Niger are increasingly threatened ….
escalation of jihadist operations added a sense of urgency to the French quest for the uranium resources
Behind France’s intervention in CAR: Uranium supply security WorldTribune.com By Yossef Bodansky, Senior Editor, Global Information System/Defense & Foreign Affairs 17 Dec 13 Operation Sangaris (a local exotic butterfly) — the French and MISCA (the French acronym for the International Support Mission to the Central African Republic) military intervention in the Central African Republic (CAR) — is escalating.
The French contingent will now be 1,600-troop strong, rather than the 1,200 agreed-upon at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The African Union’s (AU’s) MISCA force will grow to a total of 6,000 troops from Francophone African states, rather than the original estimate of 3,500 troops.
The hasty deployment of these forces only aggravates an already explosive situation in the country and region, and sparks new fighting where none existed before the international intervention had been announced. Most notably is the sudden resumption of fighting in Bangui, a city and region which had been completely quiet and secure literally until the day before the arrival of the new French forces.
The French-led Operation Sangaris had nothing to do with the oft-declared threat of “seeds of genocide” in the CAR. The French administration of President François Hollande is driven by the French desire for uranium ores. Continue reading
Bankruptcy looms for uranium company USEC
Uranium company USEC says expects to file for bankruptcy Dec 16, 2013 Dec 16 (Reuters) – USEC Inc, a supplier of enriched uranium for commercialnuclear power plants, said it expected to file for bankruptcyprotection as part of a deal with its bondholders, sending the company’s shares down as much as 52 percent.
USEC, which has been struggling to fund projects and has posted losses for the past four quarters, said it expected to file a prearranged Chapter 11 petition in the first quarter…….
The company
said in November that government funding for its $350 million American Centrifuge Project in Ohio would end in January.
The project, which is 80 percent funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is designed to produce low-enriched uranium used to make nuclear fuel. It was scheduled to be completed this month.
USEC wound down operations at another uranium enrichment plant earlier this year. The company is in the process of handing over the plant in Paducah, Kentucky to owner DOE.
Although power companies are building five reactors in southeastern United States, nuclear power generation is expected to decline. This will lower demand for uranium…
Moreover, uranium prices are yet to recover after they plummeted following the March 2011 meltdown at Japan‘s Fukushima Daiichi atomic power plant…..http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/12/16/usec-bankruptcy-idUKL3N0JV2CI20131216
Shut down Lynas! Call from Malaysians after 3rd death at rare earths plant
Calls renew for Lynas shutdown after third death at plant Malaysian Insider, 14 Dec 13 Opponents of the Lynas Advance Materials Plant in Pahang have renewed calls for the closure of the controversial rare earth refinery following the death of an engineer who drowned in a pond at the facility yesterday. The Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) movement said the fatal accident, the third in two years at the plant near Kuantan, Pahang, should be viewed seriously, and warranted a full investigation.
“This is very serious. We are demanding the government shut down the Lynas Advance Materials Plant immediately and cease all activities in the plant until a full and comprehensive independent investigation is completed by the relevant authorities like the Department of Occupational Safety and Health to establish the nature and cause/s of the fatal accident,” its chairman Tan Bun Teet said today…….
The plant in Gebeng has been mired in controversy after residents claimed it emits the hazardous thorium compound that can cause cancer among humans. It is known that the processing of rare earth materials would produce a thorium by-product.
The Australian-owned plant’s ability to obtain a temporary licence, despite not revealing a waste disposal facility, has enraged activists who have opposed the company’s practices and the government for allowing such a plant within a 30km radius of 700,000 residents.
Groups have called for the government and Lynas shareholders to remove the company’s operations from Malaysia amid the company’s poor performance in the Australian bourse due to weakened rare earth prices.
SMSL said although previously some of the firm’s shareholders had wanted to conduct best practices in its operations abroad, it has been business as usual for Lynas.
However, yesterday’s death has given the group more cause to question the plant’s operational procedures and safety hazards……http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/calls-renew-for-lynas-shutdown-after-third-death-at-plant
Libya’s uranium stockpile a cause of anxiety
Concerns Grow Over Libyan Uranium Stockpiles, VOA, Jamie Dettmar, 10 Dec 13, December 10, 2013 WASHINGTON — Inspectors from the United Nations nuclear agency will soon begin an assessment of the adequacy of security arrangements for thousands of barrels of yellowcake uranium stockpiled in Libya. The inspection comes amid rising anxiety among Western powers and Libya’s neighbors at the lawlessness disrupting the transition from dictatorship to democracy since the ouster two years ago of Moammar Gadhafi.
According to Mr. Mitri, 6,400 barrels of yellowcake uranium are stored in a facility near Sabha, a desert town in the south that has witnessed episodic clashes between Tubu and Abu Seif tribesmen. Libyan intelligence officials say Al Qaida-linked Tuareg fighters fleeing the French intervention in Mali have moved into Libya’s south to set up camps.
Allow Iran a modest uranium enrichment program – Obama
Obama says Iran could be allowed a modest nuclear enrichment program President Obama says that it isn’t realistic to try to force Iran to dismantle its entire nuclear complex, but that strong monitoring would be needed. LA Times, By Paul RichterDecember 7, 2013, WASHINGTON — President Obama signaled Saturday that he was prepared to allow Iran to enrich uranium on its own soil, saying that a final deal could be structured to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb.
Obama also put the odds of success for the upcoming international negotiations with Iran at not “more than 50-50.”…….
But Obama is struggling to sell the deal in the face of intense resistance from Congress, Israel, Saudi Arabia and others who fear it will leave Iran with the ability to secretly edge toward a nuclear weapons program. Congress may adopt new sanctions in the coming weeks that Obama fears could upset the fragile diplomacy before negotiations resume.
The comments marked the first time that Obama has acknowledged Iran could be granted international approval to enrich uranium to low levels, provided it satisfied world concerns about its nuclear program and agreed to intrusive monitoring. ……….http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-obama-us-mideast-20131208,0,2891554.story#axzz2mzg6eYug
Cover-up of effects of depleted uranium weapons on West’s soldiers and Iraqui citizens
West covering up depleted uranium use in wars: Webre http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/12/05/338390/west-covering-up-depleted-uranium-use/ 6 Dec 13 Press TV has conducted an interview with Alfred Lambremont Webre, an international lawyer in Vancouver, concerning the rising number of suicide rates among Canadian war veterans.
The following is an approximate transcription of the interview.
Press TV: Mr. Webre, first of all, who would you blame for this rising trend that we are seeing among these war veterans? Is it because the situation is not being treated when they come back home? Can this issue even be pursued through legal channels?
Webre: Yes, the cause of this was very squarely pointed out in the final opinion of the Tokyo International Tribunal for war crimes in Afghanistan. In their final opinion, they stated that the US forces used depleted uranium weapons in Afghanistan in the manner that Zyklon B gas was used across Europe as a weapon of mass murder in Afghanistan calculated to destroy all the living species exposed.
And so what has been found is that exposure to the ionizing radiation in depleted uranium weapons has been felt both by the targeted victims of Afghanistan but also by the Canadian, by the US and by the UK troops who have had to handle the depleted uranium weapons and who have been in the proximity of the ionizing radiation there.
And it is now known that the [Persian] Gulf War syndrome was caused by large-scale use of depleted uranium weapons against Iraq in 1991 so that 70 percent of [Persian] Gulf War veterans have now had children born after the [Persian] Gulf War with mutations, deformities, genetic [dis]orders and suffer from the same syndromes that go on to produce suicides.
And omnicide is a word, the killing of all living things, the genome of all living things including humans, animals and plants and now this is coming home with the suicides of the Canadian forces and the suicides in the American and the British forces and all of the deformed babies and offspring in these soldiers but the greatest tragedy is in Iraq and Afghanistan itself.
Press TV: With what you are saying and the evidence to support it, do you think this issue can be raised in international courts? Or do you think the US could be standing accountable for the use of depleted uranium and the effects that it is having or is going to have?
Webre: Both Iraq and Afghanistan, in my judgment, should immediately go at the international level and break open the courts of justice at the International Criminal Court and other venues and we know those successful legal venues in international organizations to secure damages for what has been called a silent genocide.
This is a complete cover-up by the US, the UK and Canadian forces and also because Canadian uranium has been exported illegally against the Canadian nuclear commission regulations in which no Canadian uranium may be used in weapons and all depleted uranium in US and UK depleted uranium weapons is Canadian uranium and Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada, has knowingly allowed this to go forward.
Catastrophic radioactive spill at Rio Tinto’s Rossing uranium mine
Rössing shuts operations after ‘catastrophic leak’ Namibia Times, December 6, 2013 By Jade McClune & Marshallino Beukes All milling operations at Rössing Uranium Mine ground to an immediate halt after “a catastrophic structural failure” at one of twelve leach tanks in the processing plant on Tuesday.
The incident triggered a veritable crisis, reinforcing widespread fears of a radioactive leak.
Sources at the mine told the Namib Times on Tuesday that they had heard some “kind of explosion”.
The mine has since confirmed that a leak was detected near one of the leach tanks and said there was “a very serious incident”, but did not mention any explosion.
A Red Banner Health and Safety Alert was sent out to all employees of the mine on Wednesday, confirming that there had been a “leach tank failure” at around 18:30 on Tuesday, 3 December.
The actual outcome of the incident was described as “serious” and the “maximum reasonable outcome: critical”……..http://www.namibtimes.net/forum/topics/rossing-shuts-operations-after-catastrophic-leak
Call for a fair deal from AREVA, for Niger
Niger says seeks better uranium terms from French Areva au news 6 Dec 13Paris (AFP) – Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou said in Paris on Friday that his country wanted to renew its uranium mining agreement with French nuclear giant Areva, but on more equitable terms….. Areva’s contract to extract uranium in the west African country expires on December 31, after more than four decades of mining at two sites on the southern edge of the Sahara, with a third under development………http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/business/world/a/20197961/niger-says-seeks-better-uranium-terms-from-french-areva/
The future of the uranium market melting away
Of course, the nuclear lobby is well-heeled and has its silver-tongued apologists who will do their best to discredit such stories. Beyond the despicable aspects of this, you should consider, from an investment point of view, the risk that the industry loses control of the public relations battle as more stories emerge – and legal consequences ensue……uranium stocks are a no-go as a long-term investment.
Meltdown Coming? The Uranium Story You Haven’t Heard Money 
Morning 27 November 2013 by Chris Mayer “……You remember the nuclear disaster at Fukushima? It was a horrible human tragedy that is still playing out – and in ways I am sure you will be surprised to learn.
The disaster also set back the so-called nuclear renaissance that was then in swing. Uranium prices fell like a piano tumbling down a flight of stairs, only recently crashing down to five-year lows and laying waste to uranium stocks.
But it’s been over two years since the meltdown at Fukushima, and memory is short. Here is Barron’s over the weekend, on its optimistic appraisal of Cameco, the world’s largest publicly traded producer of uranium:
‘Cameco shares recently rallied after stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings, but are still flat for the year. They fetch just 15.2 times what the company has earned, well below its decade median of 24 times, and the low-cost producer generated net profit margins near 22% even when uranium prices slumped. Improving prices can only energize the stock.‘
Among the ‘reasons for optimism‘, Barron’s included ‘gradual progress toward the cleanup in Japan‘.
Barron’s piece inspired me to write to you today. As a long-term investor, I am not tempted – at all – by the apparent bargain in uranium stocks. Continue reading
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy wants to build a laser uranium enrichment facility in Kentucky
GE Hitachi, Energy Dept. in talks over Ky. uranium Chron, By DYLAN LOVAN and ROGER ALFORD, Associated Press | November 27, 2013 LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Energy said Wednesday that it is entering negotiations with General Electric’s nuclear division on a proposal to replace an aging uranium enrichment plant in Kentucky with a new facility.
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy wants to build a laser enrichment facility that would make use of the depleted uranium kept at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The Energy Department announced that it has selected GE Hitachi to begin exclusive negotiations for the sale of the uranium inventory.
GE Hitachi spokesman Chris White said Global Laser Enrichment that uses a unique laser technology would extract natural uranium from Paducah’s stores of depleted tails. The uranium would be used to fuel commercial nuclear reactors in the U.S., he said.
The negotiations are just beginning and there is no timetable on building a new plant, White said…….http://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/GE-Hitachi-Energy-Dept-in-talks-over-Ky-uranium-5017015.php
Navajos copped uranium pollution, now they’re to do the clean-up
they always give the dirty jobs to indigenous people
NAU seeks Navajos for uranium cleanup training http://www.sunherald.
com/2013/11/25/5146098/nau-seeks-navajos-for-uranium.html BY FELICIA FONSECA Associated PressNovember 25, 2013 FLAGSTAFF, ARIZ. — Northern Arizona University is using federal grant money to address two of the most widespread problems on the Navajo Nation — unemployment and uranium contamination.
A $200,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will allow the school’s Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals to train up to 40 people over three years to safely handle radioactive materials and to find a job in a place where the unemployment rate hovers around 50 percent.
About 4 million tons of uranium ore were mined from the reservation from 1944 to 1986 for wartime weapons, leaving a legacy of death and disease. Families still live among the contamination that the tribe and federal government are working toward cleaning up. The top priority is the former Northeast Church Rock Mine near Gallup, N.M. Continue reading
Uranium market not a good prospect – Goldman Sachs gets out
Goldman Sachs to sell uranium unit BUSINESS DAY, BY SCOTT DISAVINO AND DAVID SHEPPARD, NOVEMBER 25 2013 NEW YORK — US BANK GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP HAS PUT ITS URANIUM TRADING BUSINESS UP FOR SALE, A SOURCE FAMILIAR WITH THE MATTER SAID ON FRIDAY, THE LATEST SIGN THAT WALL STREET’S MOST STORIED COMMODITY TRADER IS PARING BACK PARTS OF THE BUSINESS.
The move comes as other US banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, look to exit physical commodity trading in the wake of increased government scrutiny, squeezed trading margins and forecasts for tepid demand in certain markets……
The move to sell also comes as uranium prices languish at their lowest since 2005. Spot prices of U3O8 (triuranium octoxide), a material that is converted to uranium hexafluoride for the purpose of uranium enrichment, have ranged from $34-$35 a pound since September, less than half the price prior to the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011……
Financial firms started to get into the uranium business in the mid-2000s when prices were rising on expectations demand would grow with the nuclear renaissance. Reuters http://www.bdlive.co.za/world/americas/2013/11/25/goldman-sachs-to-sell-uranium-unit
Another delayed hearing about Rapid City uranium mining plan
Water board delays Rapid City uranium mine hearing http://www.seattlepi.com/news/science/article/Water-board-delays-Rapid-City-uranium-mine-hearing-5010884.php, November 25, 2013 PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A second state panel has delayed hearings on a proposed uranium mine in the Black Hills until two federal agencies decide on the project.
The South Dakota Water Management Board on Monday postponed its second week of hearings scheduled for the week of Dec. 9 in Rapid City.
The Board of Minerals and Environment earlier delayed its second round of hearings on Powertech Uranium Corp.’s application for a mine near Edgemont.
Both state boards say they’ll reschedule after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Environmental Protection Agency rule on the project and establish financial surety. The Water Management Board says the delay was in response to a request from Powertech and other parties. The panel must decide whether to grant water rights permits and a groundwater discharge plan.
Ruptured pipeline leaks radioactive water from old uranium mill
Pipeline blamed for spill at former uranium plant in Colorado http://trib.com/business/energy/pipeline-blamed-for-spill-at-former-uranium-plant-in-colorado/article_de1c924f-92ae-5df5-b0d8-e5be8d2282da.html By the Associated Press, 25 Nov 13, CANON CITY, Colo. — A pipeline rupture led to a spill of an estimated 4,000 to 9,000 gallons of contaminated water spilled at a former uranium mill near Canon City, but an on-site collection system contained the spill, officials told residents.
A joint on the underground pipeline broke Nov. 5, unleashing the spill at the defunct Cotter Corp. mill, Jennifer Opila, a radioactive materials monitor for the state health department, told the Thursday meeting. The pipe was repaired and operable by Nov. 6, Opila said.
Cotter safety officer Jim Cain said between 4,000 and 9,000 gallons of water spilled. A sample showed traces of uranium and molybdenum were found, Cain said.
John Hamrick, vice president of Cotter Mill operations, said there have been three leaks “in three different years, all for different reasons.”
Cotter once processed uranium for weapons and fuel at the mill. Federal authorities placed the mill on a national list for Superfund cleanups in the 1980s after radioactive materials traced to the mill were found to have contaminated the soil and groundwater. Part of the neighboring Lincoln Park community also is a Superfund site.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency eventually turned oversight of cleanup work to state officials.
Uranium hasn’t been processed at the mill since 2006. The state requires mill sites that are being decommissioned to be thoroughly cleaned up and restored at the operator’s expense. It’s expected to be a multimillion-dollar effort.
Non Proliferation Treaty allows Iran to enrich uranium
Legal right to enrich uranium for Iran http://www.tehrantimes.com/politics/112302-uranium-enrichment-is-a-right-hans-blix 23 Nov 13, TEHRAN — Hans Blix, the former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says his interpretation of Article IV of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is that uranium enrichment is a “right”.
The remarks by Blix come as Iran and the six major powers (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, known as the 5+1 group) are negotiating in Geneva.
1 This Month
of the week – Shut Down Drone Warfare!
Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko
Petition to revoke the licensing of the Near Surface Nuclear Disposal Facility (NSDF) at Chalk River. https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-7247
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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