Navajo will block uranium transport
Navajo plans to block access for uranium transport, Yahoo 7 Finance, 28 May 13 Navajo Nation plans to deny uranium mining company permission to transport ore on tribal land By Felicia Fonseca, Associated Press |FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) – A uranium mining company seeking a mineral lease on state land in northwestern Arizona could have a hard time transporting the ore off-site because of the Navajo Nation’s objections to an industry that left a legacy of death and disease among tribal members.
The section of land in Coconino County is surrounded by the Navajo Nation’s Big Boquillas Ranch. The tribe has said it will not grant Wate Mining Company LLC permission to drive commercial trucks filled with chunks of uranium ore across its land to be processed at a milling site in Blanding, Utah.
The Navajo Nation was the site of extensive uranium mining for weapons during the Cold War. Although most of the physical hazards, including open mine shafts, have been fixed at hundreds of sites, concerns of radiation hazards remain.
The tribe banned uranium mining on its lands in 2005, and last year passed a law governing the transport of radioactive substances over its land. The ranch itself is not part of the reservation, although the Navajo Nation owns it.
“Given the (Navajo) Nation’s history with uranium mining, it is the nation’s intent to deny access to the land for the purpose of prospecting for or mining of uranium,” officials from the Navajo Department of Justice wrote in response to the mineral lease application.
The parcel of state land is in a checkerboard area of Arizona, east of the Hualapai reservation and south of the Havasupai reservation and Grand Canyon National Park. Tribal officials and the park superintendent have said any mining would threaten nearby water sources,……
Documents filed with the Arizona State Land Department indicate Wate Mining had requested approval from the Navajo Nation for the proposed access route, but the tribe said it has nothing on record showing that, nor does the state have access to the property.
“We have no intention of allowing them to cross Navajo lands unless they have appropriate access rights,” Navajo Deputy Attorney General Dana Bobroff said in an email…… http://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/navajo-plans-block-access-uranium-154503649.html
USA did nuclear tests to find out effects on animals
Veteran recalls 1940s radiation contamination study http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/2013/05/27/veteran-recalls-1940s-radiation-contamin-470111.php By: Greg Bischof – Texarkana Gazette John Cary served in the Navy during World War II and participated in Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll. The operation consisted of two nuclear weapon tests to determine radiation’s effects on animals.
However, unlike the biblical Noah’s ark, the animals’ placement wasn’t to p…subscribers only
Michigan concerns over plans for nuclear waste dump near Lake Huron
Nuclear waste site on Lake Huron concerns Michigan, Sarnia Ontario Power Generation plans to build underground repository in Kindcardine, 1.6 km from Lake Huron CBC News May 27, 2013 The mayor of Sarnia, Ont., is rallying opposition to Ontario Power Generation’s plan to store nuclear waste underground on the shores of Lake Huron…..
Michigan worriedIn Michigan, lawmakers worry that the facility might affect the Great Lakes, and they want Congress to help ensure Michigan’s concerns are fully resolved.
A state Senate resolution that was introduced by Democratic Sen. Hoon-Yung Hopgood of Taylor passed last week.
According to Ontario Power Generation, the deep geologic repository would be located 680 metres below ground, in stable rock formations over 450 million years old. (Ontario Power Generation)“Lake Huron and the Great Lakes are some of Michigan’s most vital natural resources, containing 95 per cent of North America’s surface fresh water and providing drinking water to tens of millions of people,” Hopgood said in a statement. “This type of nuclear waste repository, planned within water-soluble limestone, is unprecedented and could present a danger to our lakes and our environment.”
According to Hopgood, Michigan law already strictly prohibits the disposal of radioactive waste of any site within 16 kilometres (10 miles) of the Great Lakes and certain other major bodies of water connected to them.
Resolution 58, introduced by Hopgood and passed last week, urges Canada to consider similar criteria……
The group Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Dump has been opposing the project for six months. It bought billboard space on the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto to make its point.
“Burying radioactive nuclear waste beside the Great Lakes — 21 per cent of the world’s surface fresh water, and the supply of fresh drinking water for 40 million people in two countries — defies common sense,” said Beverly Fernandez.http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/story/2013/05/27/wdr-nuclear-waste-lake-huron-ontario-power-generation.html
Kentucky’s dangerous, toxic, nuclear brew and the failure of USEC Inc
The Paducah plant cannot legally stay open, and it can’t safely be shut down—a lovely metaphor for the end of the Atomic Age and a perfect nightmare for the people of Kentucky.
Countdown to Nuclear Ruin at Paducah EcoWatch May 22, 2013 by Geoffrey Sea Disaster is about to strike in western Kentucky, a full-blown nuclear catastrophe involving hundreds of tons of enriched uranium tainted with plutonium, technetium, arsenic, beryllium and a toxic chemical brew. But this nuke calamity will be no fluke. It’s been foreseen, planned, even programmed, the result of an atomic extortion game played out between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the most failed American experiment in privatization, the company that has run the Paducah plant into the poisoned ground, USEC Inc.
As now scheduled, main power to the gargantuan gaseous diffusion uranium plant at Paducah, Kentucky, will be cut at midnight on May 31, just nine days from now—cut because USEC has terminated its power contract with TVA as of that time [“USEC Ceases Buying Power,” Paducah Sun, April 19, page 1] and because DOE can’t pick up the bill.
DOE is five months away from the start of 2014 spending authority, needed to fund clean power-down at Paducah. Meanwhile, USEC’s total market capitalization has declined to about $45 million, not enough to meet minimum listing requirements for the New York Stock Exchange, pay off the company’s staggering debts or retain its operating licenses under financial capacity requirements of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Continue reading
USA State Attorneys General want more options in nuclear waste management
eventually, someone in America would think of the idea of shutting down nuclear plants, at least till there’s a way to permanently solve the wastes problem
Flaws in the NRC’s review to date, the attorneys general said, include that it has not given adequate consideration to two alternatives:
— A rule saying that after five years cooling in specially constructed pools, the waste would have to be moved to hardened concrete and steel casks on plant grounds. That would leave much less radioactive material in spent fuel pools that have been described as more vulnerable to earthquakes or terrorist attacks.
— “The alternative of not allowing further production of spent fuel until the NRC determines that there is a safe and environmentally acceptable permanent waste repository to receive the additional spent fuel.” Not allowing further production of spent fuel would mean shutting down the entire U.S. nuclear industry.
Federal Nuclear Waste Rules Need To Be Improved, Attorneys General Petition NRC http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/23/federal-nuclear-waste-rules_n_3328495.html?utm_hp_ref=green AP By By DAVE GRAM : 05/23/2013 MONTPELIER, Vt. — Attorneys general in Vermont, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut announced Thursday they are petitioning the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a more thorough environmental review of storage of highly radioactive nuclear waste at plant sites. Continue reading
Hanford officials lied to authorities about radioactive leak
VIDEO Hanford officials hid leak evidence from advisory panel http://www.king5.com/news/investigators/Hanford-officials-hid-leak-evidence-from-advisory-panel-208417861.html
‘Amazing’: Plutonium leak at U.S. nuclear site hidden from public — Official: “A very deliberate cover up… I will use the word that we were lied to” (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/amazing-plutonium-leak-at-u-s-nuclear-site-hidden-from-public-official-a-very-deliberate-cover-up-i-will-use-the-word-that-we-were-lied-to-video
Title: Hanford officials hid leak evidence from advisory panel
Source: KING 5
Author: SUSANNAH FRAME
Date: May 21, 2013
A government-chartered advisory panel was told last September that materials spotted outside the inner wall of a tank holding radioactive waste at the Hanford Site were possibly the result of a “carbonate buildup,” “cross-contamination” or “rainwater leakage.” […]
On Aug. 13, the results were sent to multiple [Washington River Protection Solutions] officials showing measurable amounts of Cesium-137 and Strontium-90, two highly radioactive elements that are a byproduct of nuclear fission. Trace amounts of Plutonium 239/240 and Americium-241 were also detected.
A reference to the results in a Leak Assessment Report made public on Nov. 7 says the materials were registering 800,000 dpm (disintegrations per minute), a high level of radioactivity that had never been found in that portion of the tank before. […]
“This was a very deliberate cover up and I will use the word that we were lied to. There’s no two ways about it, we were lied to,” said state Rep. [Gerry] Pollet. […]
Anchor: “Susannah, amazing stuff, thank you.”
VIDEO: Award for solar wheelchair design
VIDEO Solar Powered Wheelchair Wins Award http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3758 25 May 13 A team from University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science recently won first place in a 2012 World Cerebral Palsy Day competition for their solar powered wheelchair design.
We first reported on solar wheelchairs back in 2010, when Haidar Taleb had just begun a journey to take him across the United Arab Emirates.
Inspired by roofs on convertible cars, the lightweight solar panels on the U.Va. team’s wheelchair are retractable and don’t significantly add to its length, width, height or weight when stored. A system of hinges on both sides of the chair controls the deployment of the solar panels. The three panels have a conversion efficiency of 15% and a capacity of 160 watts. When fully deployed, the custom solar panels cover an area of over one square meter. The wheelchair can operate for more than 4.5 hours at a speed of 8 kilometres per hour on a fully charged lead acid deep cycle battery, a range increase of more than 40 percent over batteries alone. At a speed of 1.6 km/h and suitable light exposure, the wheelchair and can run “indefinitely”; without needing to utilise battery power.
Built with lightweight materials, while the system may look fragile, it has been designed to operate under conditions more extreme than would be experienced in normal use. The panels and retractable mechanisms account for less than 15% of the completed wheelchair’s unoccupied weight.
Anyone with enough physical dexterity to use a joystick can operate the chair; including retracting and deploying the solar panels. In addition to standard features common to this type of wheelchair, USB power outlets are provided that can power a wide range of small devices.
In a wonderful display of generosity, the team will use their prize money to perform some final tweaks to the chair give it the individual in Turkey who submitted the initial suggestion for a solar-powered wheelchair.
The remaining prize money will be returned to United Cerebral Palsy in support of future World CP Day competitions.
Plan for nuclear waste near Lake Huron concerning Michigan State Senators
Michigan state Senate says Ontario nuclear waste site ‘raises serious concerns’ The Star, 24 May 13The proposed site, a Senate resolution notes, is less than 1.6 kilometres from the Lake Huron shoreline and “upstream from the main drinking water intakes for southeast Michigan.” State senators in Michigan say that a planned nuclear waste disposal site near Kincardine, Ont., “raises serious concerns.”
The concern is expressed in a resolution passed Tuesday by the Senate.
The senate also proposes that the public comment period on the proposal, which wraps up Friday, should be extended.
Sen. Hoon-Yung Hopgood, who introduced the resolution, said that it will be submitted to the formal comment process on the waste site.
Ontario Power Generation (OPG) proposes to construct the facility at the Bruce nuclear station beside Lake Huron….. The proposed site’s proximity to the lake caught the attention of the Michigan senators.
The resolution, which carried without dissent on a voice vote, notes that Michigan rules prohibit low-level nuclear waste from being stored within 10 miles (16 kilometres) of the lakes and rivers in the Great Lakes system bordering Michigan.
“We encourage Canada to consider similar siting criteria,” the resolution says.
The proposed site, the resolution notes, is less than a mile (1.6 kilometres) from the Lake Huron shoreline and “upstream from the main drinking water intakes for southeast Michigan.”….. http://www.thestar.com/business/economy/2013/05/23/michigan_senate_says_ontario_nuclear_waste_site_raises_serious_concerns.html
If you don’t test for alpha and beta radiation, does that prove they are not there?
DNR Won’t Test For Most Radiation at Bridgeton Landfill http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2013/05/23/dnr-wont-test-for-most-radiation-at-bridgeton-landfill/ May 23, 2013 BRIDGETON, MO (KMOX) – A court-approved plan to dig up parts of a burning Bridgeton landfill and cap it with plastic continues Thursday.
Bridgeton resident and mother of three young children Dawn Chapman says the Missouri Department of Natural Resources told her by telephone no testing is being done for “alpha and beta radiation,” despite the fire’s proximity to buried nuclear waste.
“I don’t want my children exposed to any of this radiation,” she said. “You know, you can say it may or may not be above the ground but the point is it’s not supposed to be there. Children are not supposed to be inhaling radiation coming out of the landfill fire.”
State officials confirm to KMOX they are only testing for “gamma” radiation, not alpha and beta. The reason given is that alpha and beta monitoring requires different equipment and lab work which lasts weeks.
Whistleblower revealed CIA’s complicity with AQ Khan’s nuclear design thefts
(i cludes video)Nuclear Secrets: How America Helped Pakistan Get the Bomb http://www.corbettreport.com/nuclear-secrets-how-america-helped-pakistan-get-the-bomb/ by James Corbett BoilingFrogsPost.com May 21, 2013 In this series of Eyeopener 
reports, we have been exploring the whistleblowers in the national intelligence establishment of the United States that have put their careers (and in some cases even their lives) on the line to shine a spotlight on the fraud, corruption and treason in the highest positions of power in the land. From the abuses of the NSA in its war against the American citizenry to the shocking details of Homeland Security informants participating in murders in Mexico with the full complicity of their government handlers, there is sadly no shortage of stories to explore. Perhaps one of the most unsettling stories, however, concerns what has been for the past half century regarded as one of the primary security threats not just to the United States but to the entire planet: nuclear proliferation.
Abdul Qadeer Khan, a Pakistani national, was working at a centrifuge production facility in the Netherlands in 1974 when he first offered his services to the Pakistani government to offer them help with their nuclear program. After convincing them to develop a uranium-based bomb, he began stealing nuclear designs from the Dutch company he was working for. What followed was a three decade affair in which Khan and the nuclear network he developed not only successfully helped Pakistan acquire the knowledge, equipment and materials to build their own bomb, but allegedly helped to proliferate that technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea as well.
As we explored in a previous edition of the Eyeopener, however, the Khan network was known about and actively protected from its very inception by the CIA. Continue reading
3 year study of cancers near nuclear facilities: where are the results?
Nuclear Powered Cancer Clusters By Roger Witherspoon April 7, 2010 For the past 20 years, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has used an epidemiologically invalid study to reassure the public that the continuous release of radioactive material from power plants into the surrounding regions did not contribute to increases in cancer.
To correct that unsubstantiated claim, the NRC has contracted with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a two year study of both cancer incidence and mortality around former, current, and proposed nuclear reactor sites. The $5 million study, which is expected to take a year to design and two more years to complete, would be the first, comprehensive, government study of the health implications of the continuous release of radioactive into the air and water around nuclear facilities. Continue reading
Radiation therapy may be unnecessary for older breast cancer patients
Can Older Early-Stage Breast Cancer Patients Skip Radiation? Medscape Today, Kate Johnson May 22, 2013 There is no benefit in adding radiation to tamoxifen therapy in women aged 70 years or older after lumpectomy for early-stage breast cancer, according to extended, long-term results of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) 9343 trial.
“Irradiation adds no significant benefit in terms of survival, time to distant metastasis, or ultimate breast preservation,” noted author Kevin Hughes, MD, from Harvard Medical School, and colleagues in an article published online ahead of print in theJournal of Clinical Oncology.
Median follow-up for the trial is now 12.6 years, and the 10-year results back up the trial’s previous 5-year data.
As previously reported by Medscape Medical News, those results prompted the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) to adjust its treatment guidelines, so that it no longer recommends radiation therapy after lumpectomy in older women with estrogen receptor (ER)–positive early breast cancer who are receiving endocrine therapy.
However, despite this, the authors note that their initial findings had “little impact” on clinical practice, “with the use of irradiation only slightly diminishing in this population.”…. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/804584
System for tracking patients’ medical radiation
New Tracking of a Patient’s Radiation Exposure , WSJ, By LAURA LANDRO, 21 May 13, During a four-week hospital stay, 29-year-old Josh Page had so many CT scans that he lost track, kidding with his doctor about how much radiation he was exposed to—though he admits he had “no clue.” Now, Intermountain Healthcare, where he was treated for an inflammation of the pancreas and underwent surgery in February, is keeping track for him.
The Salt Lake City-based nonprofit group of 22 hospitals and 185 clinics is launching the first major system of its kind to measure and report patients’ cumulative medical radiation exposure from tests that deliver the highest amount of radiation. This includes CT scans, nuclear medicine scans and interventional radiology exams for the heart. In addition to educating doctors and patients about the risks and benefits of medical radiation, Intermountain will allow them to access their exposure data via its electronic health record.
While the benefits of tests and procedures usually outweigh the slightly increased cancer risk from exposure due to radiation, “the risks should be considered before these imaging tests are performed,” says Keith White, medical director of Intermountain’s Imaging Services. This is particularly true for younger patients, who have a higher risk because they live long enough to see long-term effects…… Federal data shows that in 2006, Americans received seven times more radiation exposure than in the 1980s, Continue reading
Palisades Nuclear Power Plant needs new tank bottom
(includes slideshow) Palisades Nuclear Power Plant will remain closed until ‘early summer’ to replace bottom of leaking tank M Live Michigan Yvonne Zipp 21 May 13 Fifteen days after it shut down to find and fix a leak in its safety injection refueling water tank (SIRWT), Palisades Nuclear Power Plant announced Monday that it would replace the bottom of the tank and totally reconstitute its subflooring.
The repairs are likely to keep the Covert Township facility, which is owned by New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. offline until at least early summer, said Lindsay Rose, spokeswoman for Palisades in an email. While some Southwest Michigan residents and antinuclear activists had called for a complete replacement of the tank, David Lochbaum, director of the Union of Concerned Scientists’ nuclear safety project, said that replacement vs. repair “is not a black and white call.”
Lochbaum cited as a recent example the San Onofre nuclear plant in California, whose owner paid $780 million to replace two aging steam generators on each of two reactors — one of which failed in January 2012, less than a year after installation. Workers found significant degradation on all of the replacement steam generators, caused by unexpected vibration.
Both reactors are still shut down and a restart date has not yet been set, said Lochbaum.
“Thus, Entergy’s choice on the SIRWT is to either repair an aging component that is heading towards if not already within the wearout zone or to replace it with a brand spanking new tank that inherently has a relatively high chance of failure, too,” wrote Lochbaum…… http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2013/05/palisades_nuclear_plant_announ.html
Arrests as protestors rally at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station
Cape activists arrested at nuclear plant protest rally –
http://www.wickedlocal.com/capecod/news/x1570561392/Cape-activists-arrested-at-nuclear-plant-protest-rally#axzz2U3qikh4c – Wicked Local 21 May 13, – Cape Cod PLYMOUTH —
Ten people were arrested at last Sunday’s “Rally at the Reactor” at
the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth.
The activists were arrested for trespassing when they attempted to
deliver their message to a representative of Entergy, the corporate
owner of the plant. Arrested were Joyce Johnson of Falmouth, William
Maurer of Falmouth, Janet Azarovitz of Falmouth, Arlene Williamson of
Mashpee, Sarah Thacher of Dennis, Margaret Rice-Moir of Brewster,
Diane Turco of Harwich, Doug Long of Orleans, Femke Rosenbaum of
Wellfleet and Debbie McCullough of Truro, were arraigned in Plymouth
District Court today. They will appear in the Plymouth District Court
for a pretrial hearing July 19.
Cape Downwinders, who organized the rally, stated in its message that
it would no longer tolerate “Pilgrim’s negligence in endangering the
health and safety of the surrounding communities.”
The 41-year-old nuclear facility has exceeded its life span and the
risk of a nuclear accident increases every day, the Downwinders said.
The reactor at Pilgrim is the exact same design as the three reactors
that exploded in Fukushima, Japan in March 2011. The re-licensing of
the Pilgrim Facility took place last year to extend its life for an
additional 20 years even though it was strongly opposed by Gov.
Patrick, Attorney General Martha Coakley, Congressmen Bill Keating and
Ed Markey, state Sen. Dan Wolf as well as the National Park Service.
Gregory Jaczko, the NRC chairman at the time of the relicensing, voted
not to relicense the reactor.
The Downwinders also noted that the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station has
had valve leaks, equipment malfunctions, underground pipes leaking
tritium and in the early hours yesterday the turbine auxiliary oil
pumps failed, resulting in a fire.
“When this plant was licensed in the early 1970’s what it was licensed
as was an energy station – it was licensed as an energy station for 40
years,” Wolf said to the crowd at Sunday’s rally. “The legacy that
we’re going to be leaving our children is a 60-year-old nuclear waste
dump. The deal was never that we would keep all the spent fuel here.”
1 This Month
23-25 October – on Zoom – World BEYOND War’s annual global conferenc
Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
-
Archives
- October 2026 (199)
- September 2026 (339)
- August 2026 (330)
- July 2026 (355)
- June 2026 (287)
- May 2026 (306)
- April 2026 (356)
- March 2026 (251)
- February 2026 (267)
- January 2026 (308)
- December 2025 (358)
- November 2025 (359)
-
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
