Lengthy and costly cleanup of uranium contaminated site
Largest abandoned uranium mine cleanup on Navajo Nation announced An important milestone in the effort to clean up of Navajo trust lands contaminated by historic uranium mining will be achieved in the cleanup of the Northeast Church Rock Mine in New Mexico., Mineweb, Dorothy Kosich, 30 Sep 2011 RENO, NV – The U.S. EPA announced Thursday it has approved a plan to clean up 1.4 million tons of radium and uranium contaminated soil at the Northeast Church Rock Mine, the largest and highest priority uranium mine on the Navajo Nation. Continue reading
Unguarded uranium – yellowcake for the taking, in Libya
post-Gaddafi Libya affords little or no protection to this vast haul of material which, if refined, is the essential element of a nuclear bomb.
‘Uranium’ stockpile uncovered in Libya, SMH, Richard Spencer, September 27, 2011 SABHA: International atomic agencies and Libya’s rebels say it will take weeks to safeguard at least 10,000 abandoned drums thought to contain uranium. Continue reading
USA – Ukraine deal on enriched uranium
US and Ukraine sign deal to remove Soviet-era stockpile of bomb-grade uranium, Washington Post, By Associated Press, September 26, NEW YORK — The United States and Ukraine signed a deal Monday to remove the former Soviet country’s stockpile of weapons-grade uranium by early next year.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko represented their nations in signing the agreement to remove the stockpile, which could provide enough material to build several nuclear weapons.
The deal was announced last year at an international nuclear security conference hosted by President Barack Obama but was not formalized until Monday….
Radioactive pollution from rare earths processing in China
China Re-Nationalizes Rare Earths – Part One, Metal Miner by STUART on SEPTEMBER 19, 2011 That China has suffered severe and widespread pollution from the mining and refining of rare earth elements (REE) is not in doubt —
The New York Times reported this week that China had largely shut down its rare earth industry for three months to address pollution problems. Officials confirm evidence visible by satellite that large tracks around both legal and illegal mine sites have become wastelands…….
Apparently the government also plans to consolidate 80 percent of the production from southern China — which produces the rest of China’s rare earths — into three companies within the next year or two. All three of these companies are former ministries of the Chinese government that were spun out as corporations, and the central government still owns most of the shares. These actions will at least ensure Beijing achieves control of mining and refining; if pollution remains a problem, they only have themselves to blame.http://agmetalminer.com/2011/09/19/china-re-nationalizes-rare-earths-part-one/
Lynas’ rare earths processing plan for Malaysia fraught with dangers
Rare earths mining and processing is difficult, expensive and rarely ecologically friendly. It produces enormous quantities of wastewater, requires vast amounts of energy, uses toxic materials in the refining process and can produce radioactive materials with half-lives of hundreds of years.
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and other government officials have continued to insist the plant won’t open until all safety and environmental concerns are met. …
Rossing uranium mine first hit by rains, now by union strike
Namibia mine union readies for strike at Rossing Reuters 21 Sept 11, – Namibia’s Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) on Wednesday served Rio Tinto’s Rossing uranium mine with a strike notice after failing to reach a deal in talks over output incentives, with a stoppage expected to start on Friday. Continue reading
Low demand for uranium: AREVA limits production
Areva suspends some uranium production after Japan quake Google News, 16 Sept 11, PARIS — French nuclear giant Areva is suspending uranium production at two plants because of low demand from Japanese power stations in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, a spokeswoman said Thursday. Continue reading Bribery, propaganda, anything goes for Virginia Uranium
Virginia legislators criticized for all-expense paid trip to Saskatchewan uranium mine Yahoo News, By Andy Radia | Canada Politics , 13 Sept 11 Some Virginians are upset by a forthcoming ‘excursion’ by state politicians to a Saskatchewan mine, an outing paid for by a company that wants state legislators to lift a 30-year moratorium on uranium mining.
The company, Virginia Uranium, has a claim to what is thought to be the largest deposit of uranium in the U.S. — estimated to consist of about 119 million pounds — worth as much as $10 billion……
In the early 1980s, however, the state of Virginia halted uranium mining due to potential radiological risks – the moratorium still stands today….
But some eyebrows were raised in Virgina by people who question the appropriateness of a private company footing the bill for the legislators’ travel. Some are even suggesting the lawmakers are being“bought off.”
Since 2007, when Virginia Uranium was incorporated, the company has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying the General Assembly. It donated $91,650 to candidates in Virginia since 2008 and retained four of Richmond’s most influential lobbying firms, as well as a top public relations firm….http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/virginia-legislators-criticized-expense-paid-trip-saskatchewan-uranium-162535662.html
Germany and UK selling out from uranium enrichment company
German Paper: RWE and E.ON Consider Urenco Sale, Nuclear Street, Sep 8 2011 Reports indicate two German utilities are preparing to sell their stake in Urenco, a uranium enrichment company that recently opened a new centrifuge plant in New Mexico.
Urenco’s other owners include the governments of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In recent years, the UK also has indicated it wants to sell its 33 percent stake in the company. ….
Deepening gloom for Australia’s uranium industry
Uranium prices plunge causing issues for Australian producers, Herald Sun, Greg Roberts ,September 07, 2011 URANIUM prices have fallen back to levels last seen after Japan’s nuclear accident in March, causing further grief to struggling Australian producers.
The uranium spot price is $US48.85 ($A46.04) a pound, having plummeted from $US67.75 to $US49 immediately after the earthquake and tsunami on March 11.
The spot price had recovered to about $US56.50 after the Fukushima accident. Analyst group Resource Capital Research says the dynamics driving the sector have changed in the aftermath of the meltdown, with Germany planning to close all 17 of its nuclear power reactors by 2022.
The “fund implied price” – an indicator of market price expectations – is signalling a further fall in the spot price to $US45.95. The Merrill Lynch Uranium Equity Index, which measures the performance of uranium equities, has fallen 19 per cent over the past month.
It is down 27 per cent over the past three months and 23 per cent over the past year, according to the latest quarterly report by Resource Capital Research. Shares in Australia’s largest uranium producer, the Rio Tinto-backed Energy Resources of Australia, have fallen 13 per cent in the past month and 73 per cent in the past year.
A year ago, ERA shares were $13.49, compared with $3.65 now, with the company posting a $122 million half-year net loss. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/uranium-prices-plunge-causing-issues-for-australian-producers/story-fn7j19iv-1226130940686
Virginia Uranium pays politicians for trip to Canada
Local, state lawmakers flying to Canada as part of lobbying push for uranium mining, Washington Post, 6 Sept 11, By Anita Kumar, About 15 local and state lawmakers are flying to Canada this month on all-expenses paid trips as part of an on-going lobbying effort by a company pushing lawmakers to lift a moratorium on uranium mining in the state.
Virginia Uranium invited state legislators and local elected officials from Southside Virginia to visit an active mine in Canada as it looks to mine what is thought to be the largest deposit of uranium in the United States, in south central Virginia.
Larry Campbell, a member of the Danville City Council, said he had planned to go on the two-day trip, but that he changed his mind when some of his constituents told him they thought he was being “bought off.”
Virginia Uranium already sent Sen. Frank W. Wagner (R-Virginia Beach) to Saskatchewan, Canada, this year. The trip is similar to the one about a dozen legislators took this summer to France that came under heavy criticism across the state.
The trips are permissible under Virginia law and must be reported to the state as gifts next year…..
Virginia Uranium hopes to persuade the General Assembly to repeal the nearly three-decade ban on mining at its regular session in January by convincing lawmakers that mining can be done safely. … http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/virginia-politics/post/2011/09/06/gIQAr37P7J_blog.html
Farmland ruined by radioactive “superdumps” from uranium mining
He blames the recent toxic and radioactive spillages on Mine Waste Solutions, a subsidiary of Canadian First Uranium, which is reprocessing mining waste from 15 old slimes dams – some of which are located on his expansive farm – in the Klerksdorp area….
Superdumps are huge dams that store toxic waste form the smaller, historical dumps that are reprocessed for gold and uranium.
(South Africa) Radioactive spillages condemn farmlandAugust 31 2011 IOL Science Tech, By Sheree Bega INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS Johan Kondos can only use a small portion of his land to grow lucerne. “……This lone field, and a few beloved cattle, is all Kondos has left of his farm in Hartbeesfontein in the North West.
Like many of his neighbours, he blames surrounding mining operations for contaminating his farm, situated about 5km from the Vaal River.
“Some of the pollution is historic but some of it is so recent, it’s still wet,” he explains.
“I’ve had calves born with two heads on my farm. At one time I was having 70 percent abortions and very high mortality with my animals. They drank from the Koekemoerspruit and ate the lucerne I produced.
He blames the recent toxic and radioactive spillages on Mine Waste Solutions, a subsidiary of Canadian First Uranium, which is reprocessing mining waste from 15 old slimes dams – some of which are located on his expansive farm – in the Klerksdorp area.
As part of this, the company is also constructing a controversial central tailings storage facility, or superdump, about 2km from the Vaal River, touting it as a model rehabilitation plan, where the mining waste from the 15 tailings dams is piped. Superdumps are huge dams that store toxic waste form the smaller, historical dumps that are reprocessed for gold and uranium.
In July, the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) shut down Mine Waste Solutions’ operations after its inspection revealed spillages and leakages of tailings materials along the company’s extensive pipeline and on the properties of farmers like Kondos.
But a week later, Mine Waste Solutions was back on line, stating it said it had been given conditional approval to restart operations provided it follow an “enhanced pipeline maintenance programme” and submit monthly reports.
Radioactive spillages condemn farmland – IOL SciTech | IOL.co.za
Radioactive uranium drums found on beach in Namibia
There are a number of reasons why the latest incident is of great concern:
• it puts into question the level of security at Namibian uranium mining operations, with the worry being that radioactive uranium oxide could get into the “wrong hands”….
Drums of radioactive uranium found on beach, Care 2 by Andreas S., August 30, Last week, Namibian authorities discovered four unguarded barrels of radioactive uranium oxide on a beach near the coastal town of Swakopmund.
Floods cause production drop in Namibia’s uranium mines
Namibia Q2 uranium production down | Industrial Fuels and Power August 30th, 2011 NewsroomUranium production in Namibia decreased from 2.35mlb to 2.09mlb in the second quarter of 2011 when compared with the previous quarter.“This was largely due to adverse weather conditions, with some of the mines becoming flooded with the abnormally heavy rains seen this year,” financial group Capricorn Investment Holdings said.Namibia’s uranium is produced by Rio Tinto and Australia’s Paladin Energy.
Namibia Q2 uranium production down | Industrial Fuels and Power
Uranium brings lower and lower prices
Uranium transactions fail to raise spot price, Industrial Fuels and Power August 31st, 2011 The uranium spot market reported five transactions totalling 1Mlb in the week ended 26 August, but each transaction was conducted at successively lower prices as sellers dropped offer prices to attract buyers. Consequently, the spot uranium price was cut by US$1.05 WoW to US$48.85/lb by the end of the week, according to TradeTech……
On 29 August, The Ux Consulting Co reported a US$1.50 fall in the uranium spot price to US$49.00/lb of uranium oxide.
Over the past month, uranium oxide prices decreased by US$2.50 while conversion rates at both sides of the Atlantic saw 75 cents shaved of their end-of-July price to US$10.00/kgU. Uranium hexafluoride prices fell by US$7.28 to US$138.03/kgU during this period……
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