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US Dept of Energy told – “No new uranium mining. Clean up the old”

Opponents not only want the DOE to reject new uranium mining in the area, they also want past contamination cleaned up.

DOE gets an earful on uranium mine leasing program near Telluride, Montrose, Colorado Independent, By David O. Williams | 08.17.11 Depends where you were last week when the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) took feedback on its uranium mine leasing program in southwest Colorado. In some places like Telluride, according to media reports, the feds met with stiff resistance…..

In the nearby ski town of Telluride, according to the Telluride Daily Planet, the DOE “received a sharp mandate from Telluride residents: Any mining is too much, and its leasing program should be disbanded.”…. Continue reading →

August 18, 2011 Posted by | politics, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Legal action planned against uranium mining in Tanzania

LHRC’s warning over uranium  
The Citizen, , 15 August 2011 23:13
By Bernard Lugongo, The Citizen Reporter, Dar es Salaam. The Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) is planning to take the government to court should it go ahead with uranium mining projects in Bahi and Manyoni districts in Dodoma and regions respectively.

The LHRC cautioned yesterday that it was against the projects because they would lead to serious health and environmental impacts on the people living in the area…….

LHRC also asked the government to learn from other nations, such as Niger, that have already experienced negative effects of uranium mining…..thecitizen.co.tz/news/4-national-news/13781-lhrcs-warning-over-uranium.html

August 16, 2011 Posted by | AFRICA, Legal, Uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear fuels regulators in Colorado under the thumb of weapons maker General Atomics

“Basically, the judgment of the nuclear fuels industry and its captive regulators in Colorado is not to be trusted when it comes to matters of health, safety, and a clean environment,” 

General Atomics subsidiary wants to stop toxic pond tests, By David O. Williams, Real Aspen – August 14, 2011 Rather than seek an appropriate technological solution, managers of a decommissioned uranium processing mill near Cañon City want the state to let them stop testing a radioactive holding pond Continue reading →

August 15, 2011 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Film exposes the scandal of depleted uranium weapons

Uranio 238 on Youtube:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EUp5j1481g
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNgZs1lyuGQ
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ4h6IeCalo
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uodiHzrefI

Depleted uranium documentary wins best short at International Uranium Film Festival, International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons, 12 Aug 11, Costa Rican production: URANIUM 238 – The Pentagon´s Dirty Pool wins best short film category of the First International Uranium Film Festival  2011 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Continue reading →

August 13, 2011 Posted by | Resources -audiovicual, Uranium | Leave a comment

Centennial uranium project not likely to go ahead

Powertech USA President Richard Clement said earlier this year that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster in Japan shook the uranium market enough to give Powertech pause when considering the future of the Centennial Project.

Powertech writes off millions after uranium mine land deal collapses, Coloradoan.com. 11 Aug 11, Powertech Uranium Corp. has written off $2.3 million it lost when a Centennial Project land deal with two Northern Colorado landowners fell through in June. Continue reading →

August 12, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Lower deman for uranium is forecast

Uranium One cuts demand forecast by 8%-10% TORONTO Mining Weekly, 9th August 2011 – Canada’s Uranium One has cut its demand growth projections for uranium for its namesake product by 8% to 10% over the next decade,…..

Last month, Australia-based Paladin Resources cut its 2012 uranium production guidance to 7.4-million pounds and 7.9-million pounds from the previous forecast of 8.2-million pounds, mainly because of delays to its stage-three expansion at the Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia.

This was followed by an August 4 announcement by uranium’s perennial under-performer, Rio Tinto’s Energy Resources of Australia, that it had nearly halved the reserves at its Ranger mine……

Yellow cake prices dropped to $49/lb from around $66/lb in the immediate wake of the Japanese disaster, and have since settled at about $52/lb.–

August 11, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, Canada, Uranium | Leave a comment

Uranium industry heading for collapse

The disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi power plant following the March earthquake and tsunami has essentially killed investor enthusiasm for uranium stocks…… The other uranium stocks are all miners, but if there is no support for new nuclear development, then the value of these stocks will drop as well. Aside from early comments supporting nuclear power, the US has been non-committal, whereas Germany and Italy have both indicated that no new nuclear plants will be built and, in Germany, existing plants will be closed over the next decade or so.

USEC Shares Collapse on Loan Worries (USEC, URRE, UEC, URG, URZ, URA),August 5, 2011, 247Wst.com Paul Ausick, The sole US provider of low-enriched uranium fuel for nuclear power plants is in serious trouble. USEC Inc. (NYSE: USU) shares have fallen more than -12% this morning and posted another new 52-week low on concern that the company’s loan guarantee from the federal government will not be approved in time to prevent USEC from running into liquidity problems.

Every US company involved in the nuclear fuel business is getting beaten up this morning. Continue reading →

August 7, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Denison uranium miner loses, with falling uranium sales

UPDATE 1-Denison Mines falls to loss on soft uranium sales, TORONTO Aug 4 (Reuters) – Denison Mines  reported a second-quarter loss on Thursday as uranium sales fell sharply in the aftermath of the nuclear crisis in Japan.

The uranium producer said it had a net loss of $13.7 million, ….

It sold 116,000 pounds of uranium at an average price of $65.94 a pound, compared with 417,000 pounds at an average price of $45.56 in the second quarter of 2010.

Denison said that uranium demand has decreased in the aftermath of the nuclear accident in Japan and that it has deferred sales to the second half of the year, with some 570,000 pounds available in inventory…http://af.reuters.com/article/metalsNews/idAFN1E7731YV20110804

August 6, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, Canada, Uranium | Leave a comment

Uranium market’s poor prospects as Cameco sinks

Cameco is the largest player in the highly volatile uranium space……Apart from causing a massive impact in Japan’s economy, as well as disrupting global supply chains, the Fukushima Daiichi incident has put the uranium industry in an existential moment.

Cameco Sinks As Sales Drop Post-Fukushima – – Forbes, 4 Aug 11, As the nuclear energy and uranium businesses recover from the crisis that was the Fukushima Daiichi accident in Japan, Cameco posted second-quarter earnings that reveal big drops in revenue and profit. Despite hitting expectations, Cameco’s earnings sparked a sell-off given a more bearish look on their industry, ….. Continue reading →

August 5, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, business and costs, Uranium | Leave a comment

Uranium miller wants to cease monitoring toxic waste area

Cotter asks to stop testing impoundment pond due to dangerous conditions – The Denver Post, by Bruce Finley, 4 Aug 11 Cotter Corp. managers of a uranium mill have asked state regulators to let them stop testing the acidity of a leaking toxic- and radioactive- waste impoundment pond — saying conditions have become too dangerous for workers…..

The Cotter efforts to reduce monitoring affect Colorado’s oversight of the cleanup because state regulators rely on company data instead of conducting independent tests.

Cotter is in the process of dismantling its shuttered uranium mill, located south of the Arkansas River near Cañon City.

With state permission, the company has been moving 90,000 gallons of radioactive sludge and solvents into the impoundment, although regulators know the impoundment is leaking. Liquid waste is mixed with a material resembling cat litter that renders it more solid….

Workers at the mill, built in 1958 with federal support, processed uranium for weapons and power plants. Cotter dumped waste in 11 unlined ponds, leading to contamination of groundwater, which spread to Cañon City.

Federal Environmental Protection Agency officials in 1984 declared the mill and surrounding area a Superfund environmental disaster — then entrusted state authorities with supervising the cleanup...Cotter asks to stop testing impoundment pond due to dangerous conditions – The Denver Post

August 5, 2011 Posted by | environment, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Uranium company abandons acid leach plan mining in Australian National Park

Bad news for uranium sector, good news for Kakadu National Park, Scott Ludlam,   August 4th, 2011. The Australian Greens today welcomed the news Energy Resources Australia have abandoned plans to introduce acid heap leaching at the Ranger Uranium Mine within Kakadu National Park.

 Senator Scott Ludlam said the decision by ERA – majority owned by Rio Tinto – to ditch the plan at their board meeting yesterday was welcome news, and casts a long shadow over the viability of the controversial mine.

 “The plan to build a heap leach plant on the Ranger lease was opposed by\Traditional Owners, shareholders, business analysts, environmental advocates and mining experts. This is a win for good sense. “Ranger Uranium Mine has been an ongoing debacle with water seepage ana history of accidents. The Mirarr people – Traditional Owners of the site – and the broader Australian community want Kakadu protected. Ultimately the best way to do that will be the orderly shut-down of the uranium industry,” said Senator Ludlam.

 Last year the Office of the Supervising Scientist told a Senate estimates hearing that contaminated water seeping from the Ranger uranium mine in Kakadu National Park had a uranium concentration about 5,400 times the normal level. The environmental regulator told the hearing that about 100,000 litres of water was seeping from the tailings dam every day.

August 4, 2011 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, business and costs, Uranium | Leave a comment

EPA study into uranium contamination of Navajo land

The Mariano Lake Mine is one of a handful of sites that the EPA and its Navajo Nation counterpart have targeted for investigation or cleanup so far. They’ve been assessing hundreds of abandoned uranium mines to address what has become a legacy of death and disease across the reservation.

EPA announces deal for uranium contamination probe, Canadian Business,  August 01, 2011 FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is overseeing an effort to determine the extent of contamination at a former uranium mining site on the Navajo Nation that marked a high priority for assessment. Continue reading →

August 2, 2011 Posted by | indigenous issues, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Complexities of radiation in medical nuclear technology

How Nuclear Recoil Damages DNA  – Technology Review, 1 August 11, The recoil of a nucleus during radioactive decay can do more damage than the alpha particle it emits, according to a new study. Thorium-232 is a silvery, radioactive metal that is particularly good at absorbing X-rays. In the early days of X-ray imaging, doctors routinely injected patients with thorium dioxide because it produced high contrast images. Between the 1930s to the 1950s, some 10 million people received these doses…..

What doctors didn’t appreciate at the time were the long term effects on the body. Once injected, Thorotrast settles in various organs where it tends to stay. The biological half life of the stuff is 22 years. Continue reading →

August 1, 2011 Posted by | health, Uranium | Leave a comment

Thorium nuclear reactors not effective, not a viable technology

‘Even if thorium technology does progress to the point where it might be commercially viable, it will face the same problems as conventional nuclear: it is not renewable or sustainable and cannot effectively connect to smart grids. The technology is not tried and tested, and none of the main players is interested. Thorium reactors are no more than a distraction.’

Don’t believe the spin on thorium being a ‘greener’ nuclear option, The Ecologist, Eifion Rees,  23rd June, 2011 “………China, Russia, France and the US are also pursuing the technology, while India’s department of atomic energy and the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council are jointly funding five UK research programmes into it.

There is a significant sticking point to the promotion of thorium as the ‘great green hope’ of clean energy production: it remains unproven on a commercial scale. While it has been around since the 1950s (and an experimental 10MW LFTR did run for five years during the 1960s at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the US, though using uranium and plutonium as fuel) it is still a next generation nuclear technology – theoretical. Continue reading →

July 21, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, spinbuster, technology, Uranium | 5 Comments

USA Republicans use budget Bill to promote Grand Canyon uranium mining

The Interior spending bill now goes to the full House for approval. If it passes — as expected, on a largely party-line vote — the Senate should make certain that none of the anti-environmental provisions survive in the final appropriations bill. And President Obama should veto any legislation that includes them.

EDITORIAL: Protect the Grand Canyon, House Republicans target a mining moratorium, Register Guard,  July 14, Congressional Republicans are continuing their assault on the nation’s environmental safeguards with a proposal to reverse a recently imposed 20-year ban on mining 1 million acres bordering the Grand Canyon.

Democrats were unable to strip this rapacious proposal from an Interior spending bill that was approved Tuesday by the House Appropriations Committee. Never mind that 3,500 mining claims have been filed in the Grand Canyon area alone. Never mind that uranium mining would generate toxic wastes that would pollute the Colorado River, on which millions of Americans rely for drinking water. Continue reading →

July 15, 2011 Posted by | politics, Uranium, USA | 2 Comments

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