Thorium nuclear reactors – not all they’re cracked up to be
What you then get, as well as heat energy, radiation, and fission products from the Plutonium and Uranium, is U232. U232 (and its decay products) emit very hard gamma radiation.
will anyone really trust the nuclear lobby when it says ‘we have the answer’, as so often before?
Nuclear Problems, Environmental Research Web, 12 Feb 12,”……With uranium fired reactors out of favour after Fukushima, for the longer term, some in the nuclear lobby have been promoting thorium as an allegedly safer fuel- looking at molten flouride salt systems.
The Weinberg Foundation was launched last year to promote the Liquid Flouride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) Continue reading
Cameco uranium company cuts production in view of nuclear industry slowdown
Cameco outlook sours amid doubts on nuclear’s future * Company sees 2012 revenue flat to down 5 percent
* Eyes lower production in 2012
* Shares down 1 pct at C$23.12
TORONTO, Feb 10 (Reuters) – Uranium producer Cameco forecast lower sales and highlighted doubts about the takeup of nuclear power in its stronger than expected quarterly results, and its shares edged lower on Friday, ……
Cameco, the world’s No.1 publicly-listed uranium producer, also lowered its 2012 uranium production outlook by 3 percent to 21.7 million pounds and said delays and cancellations after last year’s Fukushima nuclear disaster could hit prices.
Germany, which represents about 5 percent of the global market for uranium, plans to phase out its reactors by 2022.
Japan shut down most of its reactors for testing after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that crippled the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, and is expected to take its remaining three reactors offline for maintenance in the next few months.
“It remains unclear what level of nuclear power Japan itself – which represents 12 percent of global nuclear generating capacity – will depend on in the future,” Cameco said.
Process for terminating Cotter company’s radioactive license in Colorado
The majority of the documents being reviewed currently concern characterization of the soil and groundwater contamination on site and cleanup criteria.
Cotter documents under review, Company in process to terminate radioactive materials license, Canon City Daily Record, By RACHEL ALEXANDER 02/10/2012 A public meeting was held Thursday with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and Cotter Corp. to discuss three upcoming department decisions.
The documents currently under review by CDPHE, the Environmental Protection agency and the public are the New Evaporation Pond
Conceptual Design; the Onsite Soil Excavation and Groundwater Characterization Process Plan; and the Soil Remediation Criteria
Selection.
This is the first round of documents that are being developed by Cotter as part of the process to terminate its radioactive materials
license and the deletion of the site from the Superfund list. Continue reading
Virginia Uranium’ s lavish gifts to law-makers
Va. Uranium tops in 2011 gifts to state lawmakers, By David Sherfinski-The Washington Times, February 7, 2012 Virginia Uranium, which is pushing to mine a 119 million-pound deposit in southside Pittsyvania County, gave more than $120,000 in gifts and trips last year to state lawmakers — tops in Virginia — according to figures released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project.
Lawmakers reported receiving a total of nearly a quarter million dollars’ worth of gifts.
The top five donors were Va. Uranium ($120,336) , Dominion Power ($16,916), Jonnie R. Williams Sr ($15,233). Alexander B. McMurtrie Jr. ($12,322) and the State of Taiwan ($11,000.)
Virginia Uranium flew 15 lawmakers to examine mines on fact-finding missions in France and/or Canada. Continue reading
Iran says enriching uranium under IAEA supervision
Iran Starts Uranium Enrichment at Underground Complex, VOA, January 9th, 2012 Iran on Monday confirmed it has started uranium enrichment at a second facility where the material can be upgraded quickly for potential use in a nuclear bomb.
Iran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said Tehran is refining uranium at the newly-launched Fordo complex and an older facility in the city of Natanz. He told Iran’s Arabic language al Alam TV network the work was taking place under thesupervision of the United Nations atomic agency.
Diplomats with ties to the IAEA confirmed that Iranian centrifuges have begun refining uranium to a purity of 20 percent at Fordo, an underground complex near the Shi’ite holy city of Qom.
The United States and France condemned the move…… Most of the work at the Natanz facility has involved refining uranium to a relatively low purity of 3.5 percent. Enrichment to the 20 percent level at the Fordo complex could reduce the time needed for Iran to further refine the material to the 90 percent purity required for nuclear weapons.
Iran says its nuclear program is designed only to generate electricity and material for medical research.
The United States and its ally Israel have not ruled out military action to stop the program. Israel sees a nuclear-armed Iran as a threat to its existence.
http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2012/01/09/iran-starts-uranium-enrichment-at-underground-complex-3/
Malaysia facing radioactive threat from Australian rare earths company Lynas
Malaysian group to file suit to challenge approval for Aussie rare earth plant Washington Post, : February 2 LAWSUIT PLANNED: A Malaysian group representing villagers and civil groups will file a legal challenge to the government’s decision to approve a $230 million rare earths plant by Australian miner Lynas Corp., a lawmaker said Thursday. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/industries/malaysian-group-to-file-suit-to-challenge-approval-for-aussie-rare-earth-plant/2012/02/02/gIQAmIwDlQ_story.html
Key victory, but battle is not over yet BY: ROWAN CALLICK, : The Australian February03, 2012 ”….Environmental concerns have been driving greater political involvement in Malaysia as the population becomes better educated.
Growing ecological awareness has provided a common cause for middle-class activists of the three races — Malays, Chinese and Indians — who have tended otherwise to be divided by the country’s political parties…. The plant approval intensifies the need for Lynas to operate it impeccably and to build its community relations, because an election is almost certain to be called in Malaysia later this year. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has already warned that his three-party coalition would scrap the plant if it wins the election.
Fuziah says Lynas plant will scare off other investors, The Malaysian Insider, By Shannon Teoh January 31, 2012 KUALA LUMPUR, — Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh has hit back at Lynas Corp, insisting that the presence of the Australian miner’s RM2.5 billion rare earth plant would deter investors from Pahang.
Earlier today, Lynas executive chairman Nicholas Curtis warned against any move by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to shut the company’s refinery, which has raised fears of radiation pollution, saying such action would deter foreign investors.
Fuziah, who has led protests by locals and environmentalists against the plant, said yesterday the federal opposition would shut down the plant if it won a general election that must be called by May next year.
“Would any foreign investor want to site their operations right beside a rare earth plant? Would companies like Siemens want to set up near Lynas?
“This is not a strategic investment in terms of risk versus benefit. We don’t need rare earth to be high-tech. Germany doesn’t have rare earth,” she told The Malaysian Insider……
“(PAS spiritual leader) Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat has said if you want to close down Lynas, vote for Pakatan. (Opposition Leader) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has also said the same.
“I am not just anybody. I am PKR vice president and a member of the Pakatan leadership council,” she said.
The Australian miner said last week it expects the start of operations to be delayed to the second quarter from the first quarter of this year.
The plant was due to start operations in September last year but Putrajaya bowed to public pressure last April after sustained opposition from local residents and environmentalists and put the project on ice pending the review by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
In July 2011, the government agency adopted 11 recommendations set out by the review of the refinery and said it would not allow Lynas to begin operations or import rare earth ore until all conditions, which include a comprehensive, long-term and detailed plan for managing radioactive waste, are met.
However, AELB has said Lynas Corp failed to meet any of the conditions in its first proposals…. http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/fuziah-says-lynas-plant-will-scare-off-other-investors
Complicated nuclear politics in Sweden
Political quarrel about uranium mining, Stockholm News, MATS ÖHLÉN 1 Feb 12, A rather peculiar situation has emerged in the Swedish Riksdag. Despite the fact that the Centre Party is clearly in favour of prohibiting uranium mining in Sweden, it’s about to vote down such a
proposal from the Greens. The reason is that the Centre Party is loyal with its coalition parties in the governing four-party alliance.
The Greens have earlier proposed a prohibition in the Riksdag but was voted down by among else the Centre Party. In a new attempt to get support for the proposal, the Greens have now reformulated their proposal exactly as the Centre Party does in it’s party congress decision in the issue.
After the initial preparation of the issue in the parliamentary Committee of Industry in Trade, it was clear that the Centre Party will vote against the proposal also this time. This according to the chief whip of the Centre Party group in Riksdag Anders W. Jonsson.
“If the Centre Party would vote in favour of the Green’s proposal, it would seriously damage our possibilities to convince our coalition parties in the government offices to present such a proposal”, Jonsson says to public broadcaster Sveriges Radio (SR)…..
Lise Nordin the economic spokesperson for the Greens is very critical towards the Centre Party. “The Centre Party choose power before the environment. Now they have the chance to decide that all threatened areas finally get a closure in this issue. But when it comes to it in the RIksdag, the Centre Party doesn’t stand up for the ideas which it claims to represent”, Lise Nordin says to SR. http://www.stockholmnews.com/more.aspx?NID=8356
Area on endangered list, due to possibility of uranium mining
Uranium puts Southside on endangered list GoDanRiver.com January 27, 2012 Southside landed on the Southern Environmental Law Center’s fourth annual Top 10 Endangered Places in the Southeast list because of proposed uranium mining and pressure to lift Virginia’s uranium moratorium.
Many of the areas on SELC’s top 10 list are endangered by pressure to undercut environmental protections and to lower the hurdles for potentially destructive projects, …..
Member of Parliament warns that uranium mining could be a resource curse for Tanzania
Committee wants to see contracts for uranium , By Sylivester Ernest,The Citizen, Tanzania, 26 Jan 12, Dar es Salaam. A Parliamentary committee yesterday ordered the Ministry of Energy and Minerals to furnish it with contracts it signed with two companies to explore uranium in the country.
According to the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Energy and Minerals, Mr January Makamba, the aim was to make sure that the contracts entered between the government and Mantra Resources Ltd (Mantra) of South Africa and Uranex would benefit the country’s economy and environment.
He told reporters after the committee met with officials of the ministry that uranium exploration was a very delicate issue worldwide and his committee wanted to ensure the mineral did not turn out to be a curse for the country.
“We want to make sure that the environment and the country’s security are looked at…uranium is among the most sought after minerals, and we must take precautions,” the Bumbuli MP said.
Records show that the government agreed with Mantra, under the company’s flagship Mkuju River Project, to explore the existence of uranium in southern Tanzania.The firm has confirmed the presence of multiple thick zones of sandstone-hosted uranium mineralisation at shallow wells in the Nyota Prospect.An inferred mineral resource of 35.9 million pounds (U3O8) is estimated for the prospect.
This initial resource estimate is based on drilling that covers only a small part of the total area of prospecting, and a potential exists to substantially grow the resource base with ongoing work. On the other hand, Uranex is working at Bahi area for Dodoma and Manyoni projects with an estimated 6.7 million pounds.Tanzania is believed to have about 53.9 million pounds of uranium oxide deposits. http://thecitizen.co.tz/news/-/19265-committee-wants-to-see-contracts-for-uranium
Uranium mining and radioactive water pollution
The truly frightening part is the sentence that reads, ” Covering tailings material with water during operations …” Where do they imagine all that water will end up? It’s water containing not only radioactive material, but a host of other toxins as well? And how do they know for certain that an earthquake could not crack that containment cell open like an egg or that a hurricane would not dump enough water on Coles Hill to cause those cells to become so saturated that they leak their contents into the groundwater surrounding them?
Uranium risks far outweigh benefits AltaVista Journal, Jesse Andrews, 25 Jan 12, Virginia Uranium Inc.’s most recent propaganda release, “We’re committed to protecting water quality.” Why does VUI feel the need to continue to explain itself if in fact uranium mining would be as safe and innocuous as they claim? If uranium mining had ever been safe anywhere, which it has not, they wouldn’t feel such a desperate need to explain just how safe their mine would be.
What they have presented is a pretty drawing of a disaster waiting to happen. A containment cell constructed just like your local landfill, only instead of household garbage, it contains radioactive waste. A nice concept, but one whose reliability over the course of 1,000 years is indeed doubtful. Continue reading
A decision with vision – ban on uranium minng near Grand Canyon
the 20-year ban is supported by an unprecedented coalition of tribal leaders; hunting, fishing, ranching and conservation groups; municipal water suppliers; wildlife advocates; and nearly 300,000 individuals who commented favorably on the proposed moratorium. Chambers of commerce, community leaders and elected officials are also among those mainstream voices speaking out against a handful of politicians now defending industrialists’ demand to exploit our treasured landscape.
At risk are the Grand Canyon’s watersheds. These interconnected surface and groundwater systems extend many miles beyond the park’s boundary.
Uranium-mining ban was a grand decision, The Arizona Republic, by Roger Clark – Jan. 22, 2012 Arizonans and all Americans won a major victory on Jan. 9 when Interior Secretary Ken Salazar signed a “record of decision” for a 20-year ban on new uranium claims on 1.1 million acres of public land surrounding Grand Canyon National Park.
The decision reduces the risk of permanent harm to wildlife, water, our economy and sites sacred to Havasupai and all native people in ourregion. It also best serves our nation’s interests. Continue reading
Cameco uranium company talks big, but future is doubtful
Uranium miners still waiting on that rebound, TIM KILADZE, Globe and Mail , January 24, 2012 When stocks of uranium miners plummeted after last March’s traumatizing Japanese earthquake, some people expected a rebound once the market’s initial shocks and fears subsided.
They’re still waiting.
Close to a year after the earthquake, shares of Cameco Corp. (CCO-T23.54-0.25-1.05%) are still down 40 per cent and smaller rivals are faring just as badly, with Denison Mines (DML-T1.89-0.12-5.97%) down about 50 per cent. The death knell apparently came when Germany declared a retreat from nuclear energy.
Are these miners doomed for good? Depends on who you ask. Investors are clearly too scared to go near the industry, considering the stocks have moved very little since their initial free fall. (Check out a stock chart for the past year.
Quite scary.) But the companies themselves keep saying that everyone has it wrong.
Cameco chief financial officer Grant Isaac repeated this view when he sat down at CIBC World Market’s Whistler conference last week….. there’s still a major problem. Even if Cameco is bullish over the next decade, its consumers, particularly utilities, like to secure long-term supply contracts, and Cameco can’t talk long-term contracts when they would have to lock-in at today’s prices.
So for now, Cameco is touting plans to increase production. Mr. Isaac said Cameco is sitting on 1 billion pounds of reserves and resources, and the firm wants to bump production from 2 per cent of this a year to 4 per cent.
On this front, investors are cautious. Much of this growth centres on developing the second shaft of Cameco’s Cigar Lake project in northern Saskatchewan, and it’s been plagued with problems…..
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/streetwise/uranium-miners-still-waiting-on-that-rebound/article2313513/
Virginia citizens want permanent ban on uranium mining
Virginia Conservation Network works on a broad range of environmental issues all across the state, but never have I seen such an issue galvanize people like the prospect of uranium mining,” said director Nathan Lott. ”Black and white, urban and rural, Republican and Democrat – Virginians agree that mining is just too risky.”
Citizens expressed deep concerns about the potential contamination of water sources in the Roanoke River watershed
Citizens pack General Assembly offices to voice opposition to uranium mining,Star Tribune, January 23, 2012 RICHMOND – Citizens from across the state converged in the Capitol Monday to call on their elected representatives in the General Assembly to keep Virginia’s 30-year ban on uranium mining.
Following significant warnings from the National Academy of Sciences, the ban will now remain in place for 2012. Citizens are seeking to make that victory permanent.
To highlight their message, they offered legislators “yellowcake” cupcakes with the message: “These yellow cakes are not harmful – but making uranium yellowcake and leaving behind radioactive waste in Virginia is. Protect our health, our
heritage and our future. Keep the Ban on Uranium Mining in Virginia.” Also, the Keep the Ban Coalition announced that over the last year, more than 10,000 citizens have signed an online petition or sent emails to Virginia legislators urging them to keep the ban, and 102 organizations and government entities – from the cities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Roanoke to the state chapter of the NAACP and Halifax County Chamber of Commerce – have either passed a resolution or taken other action expressing deep concerns about impacts that would result from lifting the ban.
“Virginia Conservation Network works on a broad range of environmental issues all across the state, but never have I seen such an issue galvanize people like the prospect of uranium mining,” said director
Nathan Lott. ”Black and white, urban and rural, Republican and Democrat – Virginians agree that mining is just too risky.”
Citizens expressed deep concerns about the potential contamination of water sources in the Roanoke River watershed Continue reading
Small modular nuclear reactors” – is this REALLY “a way for USA to regain leadership in nuclear”
from a strictly commercial perspective, there is no reason to use nuclear power at all. The capital costs are enormous and the operations and maintenance costs are very high, to say nothing liability insurance.
daviddelosangeles comments on Feds To Finance Small Nuclear Reactor Designs, Ucilia Wang, Forbes, 21 Jan 12, “The key question is would that there need to be a certain minimum number of these [small nuclear] reactors in service for a civilian nuclear power system based on these smaller reactors to operate successfully. This is true for mining, processing, research, and waste disposal. It is not clear that that “critical mass” of reactors could be developed in the current environment.
The decision of the Federal government in the 1950′s to subsidize the creation of the civilian nuclear power industry (e.g. The Price-Anderson Act) was made because nuclear power was not commercially viable but the military needed a nuclear power industry (naval powered submarines – and later aircraft carriers- and nuclear warheads for the air force).
The military alone could achieve the necessary critical mass. A federally subsidized commercial nuclear power industry was the answer. Continue reading
Virginia’s uranium lobbyists should stop pressurising legislators
Uranium lobbyists need to back off Star Tribune, Phillip Lovelace January 18, 2012 The National Academy of Sciences said Virginia faces steep hurdles. I say the uranium industry and the lobbyists they have hired should stop pressuring our legislators and go with the timeframe the National Academy of Sciences has contracted with the state of Virginia to do public education until May.
The National Academy of Sciences recommended site-specific studies. Continue reading
1 This Month
Website of the Week
Now until to February 10, 2026 Radioactive waste storage in France: the debate is finally open! How to participate?
-
Archives
- January 2026 (145)
- December 2025 (358)
- November 2025 (359)
- October 2025 (377)
- September 2025 (258)
- August 2025 (319)
- July 2025 (230)
- June 2025 (348)
- May 2025 (261)
- April 2025 (305)
- March 2025 (319)
- February 2025 (234)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- culture and arts
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- PERSONAL STORIES
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- Women
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- Atrocities
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- culture and arts
- Events
- Fuk 2022
- Fuk 2023
- Fukushima 2017
- Fukushima 2018
- fukushima 2019
- Fukushima 2020
- Fukushima 2021
- general
- global warming
- Humour (God we need it)
- Nuclear
- RARE EARTHS
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
- Weekly Newsletter
- World
- World Nuclear
- YouTube
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
nuclear-news 