Uranium- No Thanks, say Danville and Pittsylvania County residents
Poll: uranium mining ban should remain in place Go Dan River 14 Sept 12, The majority of Danville and Pittsylvania County residents do not want to see the state ban on uranium mining lifted.
That was the bottom-line result of a poll taken by Virginia Commonwealth University’s Survey and Evaluation Laboratory for the Alliance for Progress in Southern Virginia, which was released at a news conference in downtown Danville on Thursday.
More than 550 Danville and Pittsylvania County residents participated in the poll.
Jay Poole, a spokesperson for the alliance, said he was surprised by two things the survey revealed: the number of people who were aware of the issue, and the number of people who had already formed an opinionon the issue.
“The overwhelming margin of support in opposition to the proposed uranium mine in Pittsylvania County was striking,” Poole said.
Although 54 percent of respondents said they thought a mine might help the local economy, they clearly felt that was offset by potential risks, with 53 percent saying they do not want uranium mining in their backyards, compared to 29 percent who support the idea of a uranium mine at Coles Hill near Chatham.
When asked how they thought agriculture and the wood products industry would be affected, 63 percent said they felt it would be negatively impacted.
Sixty-three percent of respondents also said they are concerned about the affect such a mine could have on water quality, and 60 percent said they believe it would reduce property values in the region…. http://www2.godanriver.com/news/2012/sep/13/poll-uranium-mining-ban-should-remain-place-ar-2202990/
Lynas rare earths plant – troubles are far from over
The world will witness one of the biggest civil disobedience events in this nation”
Mr Ibrahim has demanded that Australians ”hear the frustrations of Malaysians” over the project.
First Weld war looms – Malaysians mobilise to fight Lynas plant, The Age, September 13, 202 Lindsay MurdochACTIVISTS are planning a multi-pronged attack to try to stop the Australian miner Lynas Corp opening a rare earths
processing plant in Malaysia.
Opposition parties, led by Anwar Ibrahim, are also planning to make the $230 million plant a key issue of the country’s national elections, which must be held by April next year. They have vowed to shut the plant if they oust the government. Continue reading
Thorium’s radioactive fission products
the fission products from a Thorium reactor are a worry, Technetium-99 has a half life of 220,000 years, uranium-232 produces thallium-208 (a nasty wee gamma emitter), Selenium-79 (another gamma emitter with a 327,000 year half-life), evenThorium-232 is a problem with its half life of 14 Billion years (and while the T-232 isn’t a major worry, all the time during this 14 Billion years it will be decaying and producing stuff that is!).
Thorium Cycle questions and problems http://daryanenergyblog.wordpress.com/ca/part-8-msr-lftr/8-3-thorium-lftr/ Questions have also been raised by some nuclear scientists about the Thorium cycle, in particular the proposed one that the LFTR would use. I’m not a nuclear physicist so I’ll merely forward you on to the relevant paper here , and a rebuttal here . The crux of the argument seems to be the proliferation risk (I’ll come back to that one later), the fact that a number of its spend fuel outputs (such as Technetium-99) are “nasty stuff” with a long half life and the fact we’ll still need supplies of Uranium to get Thorium reactors going again whenever we have to turn it off (which will happen at least once a year or so during its annual maintenance shutdown). They also highlight a number of technical issues, which I discussed in the chapter on HTGR’s. Continue reading
Toxic thorium wastes linger after 40 years: cleanup unaffordable
40 years later, toxic waste still haunts pockets of DuPage County Thorium cleanup nears finish line, but federal funds are in doubt January 21, 2012|By Erin Meyer, Chicago Tribune reporter Lurking beneath the surface of the West Branch of the DuPage River are the remnants of radioactive contamination left behind by a
factory that was shuttered almost four decades ago.
The Rare Earths Facility in West Chicago not only was a major employer in its heyday, but also became the site of a large mound of discarded radioactive waste that locals called Mount Thorium. The notorious impact the radiation from the factory had on the area eventually led to lengthy cleanups that have cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
The final phases of efforts to remediate the waste from Rare Earths are in sight, but officials say funding sources they have relied on in the past have dried up or are becoming increasingly uncertain due to changing priorities and congressional squabbling.
About $21 million is needed for work scheduled this year on the West Branch of the DuPage River and an adjacent creek, officials say. But more than a third of that is still up in the air….. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-01-21/news/ct-met-superfund-cleanup-20120118_1_thorium-cleanup-kress-creek-radioactive-waste
Lynas rare earths gets temporary license, but strong opposition persists
Protests Promised Over License for Malaysia Rare Earth Plant NYT, By LIZ GOOCH KUALA , 6 Sept, LUMPUR — Activists who have waged a lengthy campaign against a rare earth refinery in Malaysia refused to back down Thursday after the authorities gave the Australian company behind the project the green light to proceed.
One group has vowed to blockade the port in the Malaysian town of Kuantan, near the plant, if the company, Lynas, tries to import raw earth materials from Australia.
“We are prepared to paralyze the whole port until the raw materials leave our port,” said Wong Tack, chairman of the group, Himpunan Hijau. “The world will witness one of the biggest civil disobedience events in this nation.”…. Lynas said that it would address the “principal cause of the community anxiety” — what to do with the radioactive byproducts from the plant — by turning the material into “processed co-products” for use mainly in manufacturing, like materials for roads and buildings. The materials would be exported, the company said. The company’s statement did not say to which countries it might export the products……
activists are not satisfied that the plant, estimated to cost 2.5 billion ringgit, or $802 million, will be safe.
“We will not allow an ounce of raw material to reach our shores,” said Mr. Wong, adding that Himpunan Hijau would recruit “thousands of people” to block the port 24 hours a day when the raw earth material arrived.
“We need to send the strongest warning to Lynas — don’t even dream about operation. This is an all-out war,” he said.
Another group, Save Malaysia Stop Lynas, said it was considering filing for a court injunction to try to stop the plant from operating.
Tan Bun Teet, the group’s chairman, said Save Malaysia Stop Lynas had already obtained leave from the courts for a judicial review of both the Atomic Energy Licensing Board’s approval of the temporary operating license and of the decision by the minister of science, technology and innovation not to revoke the license.
He insisted that the board should have waited for the outcome of those judicial reviews before issuing the license…… The committee’s findings — that Lynas should receive the license because it had fulfilled legal provisions and standards more stringent than international standards — were dismissed by activists who claimed the committee was an attempt to “whitewash” the issue. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/07/business/global/protests-promised-over-license-for-malaysia-rare-earth-plant.html?_r=1
Suffolk Council joins Virginia Beach and Norfolk in opposing uranium mining
Councils in Virginia Beach and Norfolk adopted similar resolutions earlier this summer. Chesapeake’s council is set to take up the matter Tuesday.
Suffolk council OKs resolution against uranium mining By Jeff 
Sheler The Virginian-Pilot September 6, 2012 SUFFOLK The City Council added its voice to those of other Hampton Roads cities calling for the continuation of a 30-year ban on uranium mining in Virginia.
By a unanimous vote, the council adopted a resolution Wednesday that opposes the mining and milling of uranium in Pittsylvania County, which it described as a potential threat to the region’s water supply. Continue reading
Kazakhstan’s nuclear fuel bank or nuclear graveyard?
Nuclear fuel bank or nuclear graveyard? Asia Times, 5 Sept 12, By Zhulduz Baizakova Kazakhstan plans to build an international nuclear fuel bank in Ust-Kamenogorsk (Oskemen), in the country’s east, at the site of Ulba Metallurgic Plant, part of the giant national company Kazatomprom, which produces fuel tablets for nuclear power plants.
While the authorities are keen on the plan, some citizens are seriously questioning it – questions that are likely to remain largely unanswered. Continue reading
Uranium mining from the oceans doesn’t make financial sense
“…….. Ocean-mined uranium feasible, but not economical The Street By Resource Investing News 08/29/12 – If uranium buyers can’t find enough U308 on land, perhaps they can turn to the sea; or so say scientists from the University of Alabama and the American Chemical Society. “The ocean actually contains more uranium, although very dilute, than you can find in any land source in total,” said chemist Robin Rogers in a recent news conference, “which means we have a wonderful resource; it’s just always been very expensive to get it out.”
On and off over the past half century, scientists have been researching ways to extract uranium from seawater, but the process has always proved so costly and laborious that no one in the industry took it seriously. The US Department of Energy recently funded a project to develop a more cost-efficient process, and as a result researchers were able to decrease the cost estimate for ocean-mined uranium by over 46 percent to $300 per pound. Unfortunately, that’s five times costlier than traditional mining and a far cry from economical.
What is wrong with thorium nuclear reactors? Well, a lot, really
Thorium: Why We Don’t Want It http://nowarnow.wordpress.com/2012/08/03/thorium-why-we-dont-want-it/ By No War Now / 3 August, 2012
“….. Thorium is just another nuclear industry way of persevering their jobs in an energy production method that does not make sense for our planet. Thorium requires mining rare earth elements. Thorium requires the changing of laws to process monazite, currently categorized as “‘prescribed substance’ and the sole domain of the government” per the Atomic Energy Act (Canada and China work in thorium, http://nextbigfuture.com/2012/08/canada-and-china-work-on-thorium-candu.html).
Thorium continues the predatory practice of extracting public money to support its development and operations. Of course, you won’t learn this from the schills and trolls who want to convince you that thorium is the answer to our energy needs and ought be part of our “clean energy” package. Mining is not, and has never been, a clean energy production practice. Especially when it involves uranium. Continue reading
In Africa – uranium mining down: solar energy up
Areva suspends Trekkopje uranium mine project, Paul Langley’s Nuclear history Blog, 24 Aug 12 Areva has decided to suspend the Trekkopje uranium mine project. …. Rumours already started in October Areva planned to abandon the Trekkopje uranium mine project as part of a massive restructuring program that is to be set up in reaction to a drop in demand caused by the German nuclear phase-out and the Fukushima disaster….
Solar Project Aims to Becomes Largest in West Africa By Steve Leone, Associate Editor, RenewableEnergyWorld.com October 25, 2011 DALLAS, Texas — An American-based investment group has secured a power purchase agreement with the Namibian government to build a 500-megawatt photovoltaic power plant near the capital of Windhoek.
If built, the plant would represent the largest solar installation in West Africa, and could eventually include wind generation and grow up to 1 gigawatt. The group, led by Washington-based project developer SSI Energy Solutions (SSIES), is the parent company of Africa Energy Corp., which was set up for the Namibia project. Partners in the project include former SunEdison CEO Jigar Shah, Tom Amis and Nik Patesh of clean-energy law firm Cooley LLP, Eric Henderson of the Beacon Group and Adam Stern and Gary Kleiman of The Gemstone Group……. The project is far bigger than any solar project currently online in the southern hemisphere. South Africa, which borders Namibia, has garned the most interest in the region for large-scale developments…. http://nuclearhistory.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/areva-suspends-trekkopje-uranium-mine-project/
Court ruling on uranium company’s insurance policies
Court rules in uranium mine cleanup dispute http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/aug/23/court-rules-in-uranium-mine-cleanup-dispute/#ixzz24VeeQu7N
– vcstar.com The Associated Press VCStar.com August 23, 2012 SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) – The state Supreme Court has ruled a uranium company’s insurance policies may cover costs of cleaning up contamination at a former mine in northwestern New Mexico.
The ruling on Thursday sends the dispute back to a district court to
determine what insurers must pay for, if any, involving a cleanup by
United Nuclear Corp. at the Northeast Church Rock mine near Gallup.
The site is adjacent to the Navajo Nation.
The court decision hinged on an insurance provision excluding coverage
for pollution damages unless the discharges were “sudden and
accidental.” The court concluded the term “sudden” meant unexpected
rather than happening over a short period of time. An insurance
company had contended its policies provided no liability coverage
because environmental damage at the mine happened over many years.
Why molten salt nuclear reactors and thorium nuclear reactors are duds
Thorium: Not ‘green’, not ‘viable’, and not likely Oliver Tickell, April / May 2012. 1. Introduction ”With uranium-based nuclear power continuing its decades-long economicPoisonous legacy of rare earths mining in China
Rare-earth mining in China comes at a heavy cost for local villages Guardian UK Pollution is poisoning the farms and villages of the region that processes the precious minerals , 7 August 2012 From the air it looks like a huge lake, fed by many tributaries, but on the ground it turns out to be a murky expanse of water, in which no fish or algae can survive. The shore is coated with a black crust, so thick you can walk on it. Into this huge, 10 sq km tailings pond nearby factories discharge water loaded with chemicals used to process the 17 most sought after minerals in the world, collectively known as rare earths.
The town of Baotou, in Inner Mongolia, is the largest Chinese source of these strategic elements, essential to advanced technology, from smartphones to GPS receivers, but also to wind farms and, above all, electric cars. The minerals are mined at Bayan Obo, 120km farther north, then brought to Baotou for processing.
The concentration of rare earths in the ore is very low, so they must be separated and purified, using hydro-metallurgical techniques and acid baths. China accounts for 97% of global output of these precious substances, with two-thirds produced in Baotou.
The foul waters of the tailings pond contain all sorts of toxic chemicals, but also radioactive elements such as thorium which, if ingested, cause cancers of the pancreas and lungs, and leukaemia. “Before the factories were built, there were just fields here as far as the eye can see. In the place of this radioactive sludge, there were watermelons, aubergines and tomatoes,” says Li Guirong with a sigh.
It was in 1958 – when he was 10 – that a state-owned concern, the Baotou Iron and Steel company (Baogang), started producing rare-earth minerals. The lake appeared at that time. “To begin with we didn’t notice the pollution it was causing. How could we have known?” As secretary general of the local branch of the Communist party, he is one of the few residents who dares to speak out.
Towards the end of the 1980s, Li explains, crops in nearby villages started to fail: “Plants grew badly. They would flower all right, but sometimes there was no fruit or they were small or smelt awful.” Ten years later the villagers had to accept that vegetables simply would not grow any longer. In the village of Xinguang Sancun – much as in all those near the Baotou factories – farmers let some fields run wild and stopped planting anything but wheat and corn.
A study by the municipal environmental protection agency showed that rare-earth minerals were the source of their problems. The minerals themselves caused pollution, but also the dozens of new factories that had sprung up around the processing facilities and a fossil-fuel power station feeding Baotou’s new industrial fabric. Residents of what was now known as the “rare-earth capital of the world” were inhaling solvent vapour, particularly sulphuric acid, as well as coal dust, clearly visible in the air between houses.
Now the soil and groundwater are saturated with toxic substances. Five years ago Li had to get rid of his sick pigs, the last survivors of a collection of cows, horses, chickens and goats, killed off by the toxins.
The farmers have moved away. Most of the small brick houses in Xinguang Sancun, huddling close to one another, are going to rack and ruin. In just 10 years the population has dropped from 2,000 to 300 people…… http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/aug/07/china-rare-earth-village-pollution
Tanzania uranium project held up till Australian company Mantra pays taxes
Tanzania: Uranium Project Licence Shelved Till Tax Bill Paid, Beyond Nuclear 12 Aug 12, Dodoma – A SPECIAL mining licence to allow Russian firm, Uranium One start mining at Mkuju River in the Selous Game Reserve buffer zone, will not be issued until Australian Mantra Resources pay over 180 million US dollars (approx. 292.12bn/-) in taxes, the Parliament was told.
Call to protect Selous Game Reserve from uranium mining
The radioactive wastes pose a serious threat to Selous Game Reserve which is home to the world’s largest elephant population and other wildlife. No proven methods exist to keep the radioactive and toxic slush and liquids from seeping into surface waters, aquifers or spreading with the dry season wind into the Reserve.
The environmental groups urge the World Heritage Committee to reconsider its decision on the Selous Game Reserve Boundary Change and call upon the Government of Tanzania to refrain from licensing a uranium mine in Selous Game Reserve or on lands cut out from it.
World Heritage Comittee Decision on Selous Game Reserve Boundary Changes uranium-network.org, Freiburg, Germany Gunter Wippel , Elephants, Rhinos and the environment under threat from 60 million tons of radioactive waste as World Heritage Committee agrees boundary change that will allow uranium mining at the Tanzania Selous Game Reserve – a World Heritage site. Freiburg, Germany, July 30, 2012
A foreign uranium mining conglomerate will be allowed to exploit the precious Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania after the World Heritage Committee (WHC) decided, at its July 2012 session in Russia, to accept what was described as a “minor boundary change” of the site. The change had been requested by the Government of Tanzania, in order to make way for the development of a major uranium mine, Mkuju River Uranium Project, owned by Russian ARMZ and Canadian Uranium One.
The decision to allow the boundary change would allow the Mkuju River uranium project, situated in the South of the Selous Game Reserve at its transition to the Selous Niassa Wildlife Corridor, to go forward. The Tanzanian Government lobbied heavily for the boundary change, after declaring its intent to ” win the battle” against the UNESCO WHC.
Dozens of environmental groups around the world, many of them members of the German-based Uranium Network, decried the WHC decision which could lead to the creation of 60 million tons of radioactive and poisonous waste by the mine during its 10-year lifespan (139 million tons if a projected extension of the mine should be implemented) Continue reading
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