nuclear wastes « nuclear-news

U.S. Energy dept in legal trouble over nuclear wastes, and still no solution

Utilities sue Energy Department to stop nuclear waste management fees, The Hill, By Ben Geman – 04/05/10 Nuclear power companies and state utility regulators are suing the Energy Department.The companies filed the lawsuit to force the suspension of a fee that utility customers pay for federal management of nuclear waste……….The Obama administration has abandoned plans for the long-delayed Yucca Mountain waste site, and Energy Secretary Steven Chu has created a “blue ribbon” commission to help create a new long-term waste policy. Continue reading →

April 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radioactive, wastes | Leave a comment

Make uranium mills accountable for their radioactive devastation

the legacy of uranium mills was that operators worked them until the money was gone, then closed up shop, claimed bankruptcy and left radioactive waste behind for taxpayers to clean up. The waste then threatens and harms groundwater, streams, wildlife and communities.

Make uranium milling cleaner With the nation considering more nuclear energy, a bill that requires mill operators to clean up as they go is a smart move.The Denver Post 04/04/2010 Given the atrocious environmental record of uranium mills in Colorado and the West, a bipartisan effort in the General Assembly designed to keep mill operators from leaving behind costly piles of toxic waste makes good sense. Continue reading →

April 5, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Navajo and other nuclear victims sought for compensation

Program Aims To Find Victims Of Radiation Exposure. cbs4denver.com, FELICIA FONSECA, Associated Press Apr 4, 2010, FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) ― Some toiled in uranium mines, transported the extracted ore and carried it home on their clothes. Others participated in nuclear weapons testing or lived downwind from test sites.Not all have been compensated, let alone know about a federal program that does so. Continue reading →

April 5, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, USA | antinuclear, cancer, indigenous, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

One year’s taxpayer payment to UK nuclear executives £19.5 million

included paying £3.8 million in taxpayer-funded bonuses to staff during 2008…The payments, which ranged from an average of just under £12,000 to nearly £37,000, were made on top of regular salary payments totalling £19.5 million.

Top jobs go in shake-up at nuclear quango, The Times April 3, 2010, Two of Britain’s most highly paid civil servants have been axed and dozens more jobs are under threat at the quango charged with cleaning up nuclear plants, The Timeshas learnt. Continue reading →

April 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, UK | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, radiation, reactors, uranium, wastes | Leave a comment

Stimulus spending goes to nuclear waste cleanup states

it’s not clear to me that this has much of a stimulative effect on the American macroeconomy

Gotcha on stimulus spending? Washington Examiner, By: Michael Barone, 2 April 2010, “…………lots of stimulus dollars went to the 4th district of Washington, which is on the other side of the Cascades from Olympia, and which with the South Carolina 3rd is the only non-state capital district among the top 25 districts on de Rugy’s list. What these two districts have in common is the presence of two Energy Department nuclear manufacturing sites—the Hanford Site and the Savannah River Site.

These have had huge pollution problems, and have been part of a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar cleanup process. I gather that the Energy Department was in a position to ramp up this process quickly and got a lot of stimulus funds to do so.

This may be a worthy use of federal dollars; these sites were contaminated because we were sloppy in the development of nuclear weapons during World War II and the Cold War, and it may very well make sense to clean them up. In effect we’re paying for past wars, as we do when we pay for veterans’ benefits. But it’s not clear to me that this has much of a stimulative effect on the American macroeconomy. Gotcha on stimulus spending? | Washington Examiner

April 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radioactive, reactors, uranium, wastes | Leave a comment

Uranium mining devastates indigenous communities

According to the EPA , “Approximately 30 percent of the Navajo population does not have access to a public drinking water system and may be using unregulated water sources with uranium contamination.” Uranium exposure is a known cause of cancers, organ damage, miscarriages and birth defects.

Resisting the Nuclear Boom: A new wave of uranium mining threatens Indigenous communities in the Southwest By Klee Benally and Jessica Lee April 2, 2010

GRAND CANYON, Ariz.—The American Southwest has again become ground zero in the debate about nuclear power. Continue reading →

April 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | indigenous issues, USA | antinuclear, indigenous, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium, water | Leave a comment

Financial battle over the future of the nuclear power industry

As elderly nukes stumble toward oblivion, various funds allegedly set aside for decommissioning may be significantly under-funded, deeply exacerbating the financial battles that now the industry.

The Legacy of Three Mile Island: It Could Happen Again At Any Time HARVEY WASSERMAN FOR BUZZFLASH 27 March 2010,“……1) Four northeastern nukes—in Vermont, New Jersey and the two at Indian Point— are under intense public pressure to shut within the next two years. Numerous other elderly reactors are likely to go down long before any new nukes could come on line. Continue reading →

March 29, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear wastes, radioactive, reactor, reactors | Leave a comment

“Peaceful Nuclear Power” – it’s an oxymoron

Harmonious relationships between people and nations cannot survive in a nuclear power society, with its atmosphere of secrecy, surveillance , suspicion, fear, and ever-present real danger. Nuclear Power and Peace – our theme for April 2010

March 28, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, Christina's notes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, peace, peaceful | Leave a comment

USA-Russia Nuclear Disarmament Agreement – no hope to pass in U.S. Senate?

Can Any Treaty Get 67 Votes? | FDL News Desk, By: David Dayen Friday March 26, 2010 The agreement between the United States and Russia to reduce their nuclear stockpiles represents a major foreign policy achievement. One problem, though: they’ll need 8 Senate Republicans to cement it into law. In an environment where getting ONE Republican to overcome a filibuster is hard enough, that seems like an almost impossible task.

Can Any Treaty Get 67 Votes? | FDL News Desk

March 27, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Radioactive legacy continues to affect Navajo people

Toxic legacy for tribes, High Country News, Caitlin Sislin | Mar 26, 2010 Earlier this month, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals approved a controversial permit for uranium mining operations at sites in Church Rock, New Mexico. The operation includes a site associated with the largest release of liquid radioactive waste in United States History — a catastrophe which continues, a generation later, to negatively impact the lives and health of Navajo people residing near the spill site. Continue reading →

March 27, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | indigenous issues, USA, water | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear plants, and their final closure, will leave large radioactive legacy

after 30 years of operation their could be as many as 100 billion lethal doses of radiation sitting right here in Allegany County.

From the Archives, 1989: Radiation Danger Deepens, The Houghton Star, By Kim Kerr and Trina Van Derlip March 27, 2010, This article, entitled “Running Risks: Radiation Danger Deepens,” was printed in the October 2, 1989 edition of the Star, and was written by Kim Kerr and Trina Van Derlip, “……..The problem had its beginning in 1985, when the Federal Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act (introduced in 1980) was passed and amended. This policy shifted the responsibility of low-level waste from the federal to the state governments. Continue reading →

March 27, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

Uranium mining contaminating groundwater

Utah’s Bingham Canyon mine, for example, has created a plume of contaminated groundwater that covers 72 square miles according to the Environmental Protection Agency.”

Uranium Danger, The Death Valley Journal, March 26, 2010 Uranium is a metallic chemical element found in rock, soil, and water. It is radioactive, and a primary use of it is to fuel nuclear power plants, thereby supplying electricity to cities and people. It also finds use in the construction of nuclear weapons.The half life of uranium 238 is about 4.5 billion years. Continue reading →

March 27, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Revival of U.S. nuclear industry in doubt due to waste problem

Waste issue hurting U.S. nuclear revival-panel Lack of plan for waste seen hurting nuclear development Commission told to move beyond Yucca Mountain site Some lawmakers oppose plan to shut down Yucca By Ayesha Rascoe, WASHINGTON, March 25 (Reuters) – The lack of a permanent home for the nation’s radioactive waste is dampening prospects for a resurgence of the U.S. nuclear industry, federal commissioners said at their first public hearing on the subject. Continue reading →

March 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear foolishness: Bill Gates and his sci-fi reactors

these outlandish designs are extremely unlikely to be produced commercially and offer only another nuclear distraction from the far more urgent problem presented by climate change.

More sci-fi reactors Nuclear Reaction – 26 March 2010, It certainly seems a week for crazy nuclear inventions. Yesterday we had Bill Gates and his sci-fi reactor……The realities of the baseload myth and decentralized energy production seem to have finally occurred to nuclear boffins and they’re trying to catch up with the rest of us.

Unfortunately, just because you make a nuclear reactor smaller it doesn’t mean they don’t have the same problems as their larger cousins. Sometimes the problems are even worse. Continue reading →

March 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, renewable energy | Leave a comment

Tons of nuclear waste – $billions of cost to taxpayers

Nuclear Waste Piles Up, and It’s Costing Taxpayers Billions, 24 March 2010by: Mark Clayton | The Christian Science Monitor The Bush administration agreed to store nuclear waste from 21 new reactors. But the federal government still can’t meet its commitment to find permanent storage. Continue reading →

March 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, uranium | Leave a comment