Let’s bust the nuclear spin about Thorium
THORIUM REACTORS? http://fairewinds.org/demystifying, 8 Dec 12 by Peggy Conte
The latest nuclear power industry proposals focus on smaller reactors and the possibility of thorium fueled reactors. As the nuclear industry explores other fission products, Fairewinds Energy Education has been peppered with hundreds of questions regarding the feasibility and safety of thorium reactors that the nuclear industry is touting as a newer safer form of nuclear power.
The Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) is being sold as a “market based environmental solution” and advertised by the nuclear industry as cheaper than coal. Molten Salt Reactors (MSR) use a molten salt mixture as the primary coolant, and sometimes the molten salt is even mixed directly with thorium in the reactor fuel.
Since Fairewinds has received so many questions regarding Thorium Reactors, let’s look at the facts about Thorium: Continue reading
Church rock uranium radiation disaster – never ending tragedy
The Curse of the Yellow Powder, Bacon’s Rebellion, by Rose Jenkins December 2, 2012 Is it possible to restore a landscape damaged by uranium? Ask the Navajo in New Mexico.
This fall, near Teddy Nez’s house on the Navajo reservation near Gallup, N.M., men in earth-moving equipment were scraping away the topsoil, up to three feet deep, which had been contaminated by radioactivity from abandoned uranium mines. In earlier phases of this project, starting in 2007, crews had torn out 100-year-old junipers and piñon pines and had clawed earth away from the remainingtrees, which weakened them, even after replacement soil was trucked in. The machines had flayed hillsides, whose cover of flowering shrubs and fragrant herbs has yet to grow back. “It looks like a B-52 hit it,” Nez told me, recalling an image from his service in Vietnam.
On our way to his house, Nez pointed out a notch in a bank of yellow grassland at the head of an arroyo. That’s where the Church Rock uranium mill tailings dam broke in 1979, releasing over 1,000 tons of radioactive wastes and millions of gallons of highly acidic water into the Puerco River, an intermittent stream that flows toward the Colorado River. The Church Rock dam failure was the largest radioactive release in U.S. history, by volume — larger than the Three Mile Island disaster the same year.
Nez’s house was upstream of the breached dam but the ground around it was contaminated by dust drifting off of the mountainous piles of waste rock from two nearby uranium mines, which have been out of production for almost 30 years. Nez believes that the continuous exposure has made him and his family sick. His whole family suffers from respiratory problems, he says — himself, his five children, and his seven grandchildren.
For years, he and his neighbors fought for a clean-up, he says, but nothing happened. Finally, in 2007, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) informed them that their situation was an emergency. Radiation levels at Nez’s home measured up to ten times higher than normal background levels for the area……
what I saw in Navajo country made me wonder how much you can really clean up after uranium, if contaminants get into the soil, the water, the air, the plants, the animals……http://www.baconsrebellion.com/2012/12/the-curse-of-the-yellow-powder.html
Cameco and AREVA ‘s deal with indigenous people, to silence criticism of uranium mining
The agreement would prohibit Pinehouse from criticizing the companies now or in the future, a measure that amounts to an indefinite “gag order”
- Pinehouse promises to “fully support” Cameco and Areva’s current, proposed and future projects in public, to investors, to regulators and with other groups. Pine-house leaders must make reasonable efforts to ensure community members “do not say or do anything that interferes with or delays” the companies’ operations.
- Pinehouse agrees to not make any future financial requests or claims against the companies.
Uranium firms offer deal to Sask. community Agreement sparks opposition By Jason Warick, The StarPhoenix November 27, 2012 An offer by uranium giants Cameco Corp. and Areva could soon deliver jobs, cash payments and other benefits to the northern community of Pinehouse, but some residents worry it’s a thinly veiled attempt to buy their silence. Continue reading
What uranium mining and milling have done to Navajo lands
The Curse of the Yellow Powder, Bacon’s Rebellion, by Rose Jenkins December 2, 2012 Is it possible to restore a landscape damaged by uranium? Ask the Navajo in New Mexico. “……There are 520 abandoned uranium mines in the Navajo Nation. Navajo territory extends over 27,000 square miles in the Four Corners area of the American Southwest. In this sparsely populated desert, approximately 30% of the population is not connected to a public water supply, so people drink from the sources available, including springs and private wells.
Out of approximately 375 Navajo water sources tested by various agencies, according to data compiled by SRIC, more than a quarter contain excess levels of contaminants that could derive from uranium operations — including arsenic in 17% and uranium in 10%.
In response, the EPA shut down three of the most contaminated sources. The agency is also working with local partners, including SRIC,to publicize warnings about hazardous water sources and to provide safe drinking water for thousands of homes. That addresses people’s immediate needs, but it doesn’t resolve the underlying problem — the polluted groundwater.
I asked the EPA if there was any chance the groundwater could ever be treated enough to be safe to drink.
“Our first goal is to make sure people are not being exposed to contaminated groundwater,” Rusty Harris-Bishop, an EPA spokesperson, told me………
In Yellow Dirt, journalist Judy Pasternak describes how thoroughly the leavings of uranium operations infiltrated Navajo people’s lives. Pregnant women drank water from lakes left by pit mines. Families built foundations and stucco walls out of the sandy mine wastes. Children played on tailings piles. Livestock grazed around the mouths of unreclaimed mines (and still do, according to a recentNew York Times article). Pasternak chronicles case after case of lung cancer, stomach cancer, children with deformities — death after death.
The Navajo decided that they have reason enough to be done with uranium extraction, at least while so many problems remain. In 2005, the tribe passed the Diné Natural Resources Protection Act, banning uranium mining and milling on their lands. The act states as its purpose: “to ensure that no further damage to the culture, society and economy of the Navajo Nation occurs because of uranium mining… [and] processing, until all adverse environmental, economic and human health impacts from past uranium mining and processing have been eliminated or substantially reduced.”……” http://www.baconsrebellion.com/2012/12/the-curse-of-the-yellow-powder.html
The cost of cleaning up after uranium mining and milling
The Curse of the Yellow Powder, Bacon’s Rebellion, by Rose Jenkins December 2, 2012 Is it possible to restore a landscape damaged by uranium? Ask the Navajo in New Mexico. “…….The Navajo Nation was the fourth uranium clean-up site I visited in the West.
In Cañon City, Colo., where a uranium mill shut down last year, the state of Colorado has estimated that a clean-up will cost $43 million, but it allowed the Cotter Corporation, which is responsible, to put up less than half of that amount in surety bonds, according to the Denver Post. Unless plans change, groundwater below the site will stay contaminated, leaving many private wells unusable.
Elsewhere in Colorado, the clean-up of uranium mills after the companies went bankrupt has cost taxpayers $950 million, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. At one of these sites, in Uravan, Colo., both the mill and the town around it were dismantled, buried, and permanently fenced off. That clean-up, or eradication, cost taxpayers $120 million.
The Atlas Mill, in Moab, Utah, which closed in 1984, is one of a few sites where tailings are being relocated, because contamination from them was leaching into the Colorado River, the source of drinking water for Los Angeles and other cities. A suitable repository was located just 30 miles away—but the clean-up will still cost taxpayers a solid $1 billion…….” http://www.baconsrebellion.com/2012/12/the-curse-of-the-yellow-powder.html
Lynas to meet more opposition to rare earths processing in Malaysia
They will continue to pursue the judicial review cases to get the court to revoke the temporary licence given to Lynas on the grounds that Lynas still has no safe solution to tackle their radioactive waste,’
Lynas plant on line, protests to continue, SMH December 1, 2012 Glenda Kwek A MALAYSIAN environment group says it plans to continue campaigning for the closure of Lynas’ controversial rare-earths processing plant, as the Australian miner announced it had started production. Continue reading
Uranium mining a threat to agriculture in Virginia
Farm lobby wants Virginia uranium ban to stay, PilotOnline.com By Steve Szkotak The Associated Press November 29, 2012 RICHMOND The Virginia Farm Bureau Federation is backing the continuation of the state’s 30-year ban on uranium mining, concluding that the mining and milling of the radioactive ore is a threat to Virginia’s multibillion dollar agricultural industry. Continue reading
Depleted uranium’s radioactive dust – the forgotten pollutant
The problem is, when DU armor piercing projectiles penetrate their targets, they become incendiary spewing radioactive dust
The Toxic Legacy of Depleted Uranium Weapons 11-26-2012, EcoWatch, By Paul E McGinniss “……… how many of us know about the current manufacturing and active use of depleted uranium (DU) weapons? DU (Uranium 238) is a radioactive waste by-product of the uranium enrichment process. It results from making fuel for nuclear reactors and the manufacturing of nuclear weapons.
In a frightening adaptation of the “Cradle to Cradle” philosophy in manufacturing, which seeks to use waste in the manufacturing process to create other “useful” products, militaries around the world have come up with the “brilliant” idea of taking DU and making “conventional” weapons with it.
According to BanDepletedUranium.org, approximately 20 countries are thought to have DU weapons in their arsenals. Nations known to have produced these weapons include UK, U.S., France, Russia, China and Pakistan.
DU is well liked by armed forces Continue reading
Call for General Electric to remove uranium processing facility from populated area
“The question is, is this the right kind of operation that should be in the middle of people’s backyards?”
Councillor asks uranium plant to shut down Facility on Lansdowne has been quietly processing nuclear fuel for decades Toronto NOW, 23 Nov 12 By BEN SPURR Amid mounting concerns from his west downtown community, a city councillor is asking controversial uranium plant on Lansdowne Ave. to pack up and move out of his ward.
Martinsville City Council to stand against uranium mining in Virginia
City to oppose lifting uranium mining ban , November 22, 2012 Martinsville Bulletin, By MICKEY POWELL – Bulletin Staff Writer Martinsville City Council is ready to take an official stand against allowing uranium mining in Virginia.
The city’s proposed legislative agenda for 2013 asks the General Assembly to continue the current moratorium on uranium mining because allowing mining “would result in highly damaging effects on all other economic development efforts in the region, excluding the jobs created by a mine itself.”
“If it makes us a less attractive community,” said Councilman Gene Teague, the need to keep the mining ban is “something we should weigh in on.” He said residents have asked the council to support continuing the ban.
State lawmakers will reconvene in Richmond in January. The council will consider adopting its legislative agenda at its meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the municipal building on West Church Street uptown. In 1983, the General Assembly banned uranium mining statewide.
Scientists have voiced concerns that the mining could harm the environment and public health….. http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=35649
Weapons proliferation concern about laser uranium enrichment technology
U.S. approval for laser enrichment – could spur new clandestine research and construction in other nations that might make bomb-building efforts by nuclear-arms aspirants easier to conceal.
Decision on Proliferation Assessments Pending at Nuclear Agency, Nov. 20, 2012 By Elaine M. Grossman Global Security Newswire
A roadway marker points to nuclear fuel operations at a GE-Hitachi campus in North Carolina. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission might soon decide whether to demand proliferation threat assessments from firms seeking licenses for new fuel-making activities, such as a commercial laser uranium-enrichment approach proposed by the energy conglomerate
Continue reading
Obama very close to Honeywell uranium plant chief
In Leaked Documents, Honeywell Cites Obama Ties as Key to Anti-Union Strategy Truth Out , 17 November 2012 By Mike Elk, In These Times “……Indeed, President Obama and Honeywell CEO Dave E. Cote have a very close relationship. Cote visited with Obama at the White House this past Wednesday to push him to cut budget spending. Cote is considered one of Obama’s closest allies in the business community. In January of 2009, Cote introduced Obama’s stimulus package in a White House speech. Cote was subsequently appointed by Obama to serve on the Deficit Commission. President Obama even flew with Cote to India while a lockout at Honeywell’s Metropolis, Ill. uranium plant was ongoing. Cote returned the favor by giving heavily to the Democratic Party. In the 2010 election cycle when the Met, Honeywell was the top corporate PAC contributor to the Democratic Party…..” http://truth-out.org/news/item/12799-in-leaked-documents-honeywell-cites-obama-ties-as-key-to-anti-union-strategy
Close uranium plant – call from Toronto rally
Large crowd calls for closure of uranium plant, Inside Toronto, 17 Nov 12 The GE-Hitachi facility at 1025 Lansdowne Ave. presses uranium powder into the pellets used to power Ontario’s nuclear reactors. The plant releases tiny amounts of radiation into the air and water each year …by Lisa Rainford
Following a march from the GE-Hitachi uranium plant at Lansdowne Avenue and Dupont Street, a capacity crowd of protesters filled the Davenport-Perth Neighbourhood Centre sanctuary for what organizers are calling the first of many meetings to come about the nuclear facility.
Decked out in costume, the “Raging Grannies,” a group of older women who use song to protest and raise awareness of environmental and social justice issues, kicked off the Nov. 15 meeting that brought out local politicians from all levels of government, as well as several guest experts. “If you love your neighbourhood, no uranium… Kick GE out for good, no uranium,” sang the trio to rousing applause.
Facilitated by the Ontario Clean Air Alliance’s Angela Bischoff, the meeting brought together a host of speakers, Continue reading
Keep uranium mining ban – Virginia Municipal League and Virginia Association of Counties
2 statewide groups back Va. uranium ban, CBS News 16 Nov 12 RICHMOND, Va. — Two groupsrepresenting hundreds of Virginia cities, counties and towns are recommending that the General Assembly keep a 30-year ban on uranium mining in place. Continue reading
Legal action against approval of Wyoming uranium mine
Group sues over planned Wyo. uranium mine, Wyoming Business Report By MJ Clark November 12, 2012 — CHEYENNE — The Biodiversity Conservation Alliance filed suit in federal court in Cheyenne last week to contest federal approval of a uranium mine in southwest Wyoming…. Continue reading
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PETITION: “Global Appeal to Endorse Palestinian Right of Return of Refugees”
of the week– Nuclear Reactor Information Task Force
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