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Uranium mining leaves behind toxic and EXPENSIVE wastes

at each step of this process, the material leaves behind progressively more toxic – and expensive – waste.

Hot Rocks: Hidden Cost and Foreign Ownership of “Clean” Nuclear Fuel Emerging,THE HUFFINGTON POST, D.A. Barber, 1 April 2010, “…..Unlike coal, which goes straight from the mine to the power plant, uranium goes through several steps to become fuel for “clean” nuclear power plants and then needs to be disposed of. From the mine the ore goes to a mill to be turned into “yellow cake,” which then goes to an enrichment facility to boost its potency. Continue reading

April 2, 2010 Posted by | USA, wastes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Escalating costs of taxpayer funded uranium mining cleanup

Hot Rocks: Hidden Cost and Foreign Ownership of “Clean” Nuclear Fuel Emerging,THE HUFFINGTON POST, D.A. Barber, 1 April 2010,  Western U.S. supporters of “clean” nuclear power say it means more jobs at uranium mines and mills. But critics say the escalating costs of past uranium facility clean-up, billion-dollar subsidies, and the fact that most of the companies are foreign-owned, has seemingly gone unnoticed. Continue reading

April 2, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, USA | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cancer and birth deformities in Serbia – depleted uranium’s deadly legacy

Permanent consequences “The half-life of uranium 238 is very long – 4.5 billion years,” reminds nuclear physicist Miroslav Simic, stating that “this way of throwing away nuclear waste on civilian, but also military targets, is not human as the consequences are permanent.”

Depleted Uranium, Dirty Bombs: NATO’s Deadly Gifts To Kosovo, Serbia  Piotr Bein’s blog 29 March 2010, By Ljubica Vujadinovic, Belgrade: A leading Serbian expert in the field says NATO’s use of depleted uranium ammunition in it’s aggression against Serbia has caused an enormous increase in cancer rates and the number of newborns with genetic malformations. Continue reading

March 29, 2010 Posted by | depleted uranium, EUROPE | , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The problem of overuse of medical radiation

For patients, navigating the debate can be difficult because doctors, patient advocacy groups and manufacturers often endorse positions that are in their economic self-interest. Radiologists, who often own and use CT machines, for instance, often endorse their use; while gastroenterologists, who often own and use camera scopes, often favor their own methods. Patient groups often get financing from drug and device makers, or physician-specialty groups.

Radiation warnings ignored, GDS Publishing, By Jodie Humphries | 03/29/10 Urgent warnings by government experts about the risks of routinely using powerful CT scans to screen patients for colon cancer were ignored by the Food and Drug Administration, according to agency documents and interviews with agency scientists. Continue reading

March 29, 2010 Posted by | health, USA | , , , | 1 Comment

Australia’s Northern Territory Opposes Rudd Govt on Nuclear Waste Dump Plan

NT not able to cope with nuke accident, says Government,  Northern Territory News BEN LANGFORD March 29th, 2010 MOST Territory hospitals and the Port of Darwin are not equipped to deal with a radioactive waste incident or interest from “sophisticated criminal groups”, the NT Government has said.
The Government has told a Senate inquiry into new laws for a nuclear waste dump there would be “negligible economic benefit from the facility” for the NT. Continue reading

March 29, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, politics | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Anti Nuclear Group Seek to Intervene in Nuclear License Renewal

the group has been granted intervener status in previous proceedings and is almost sure to get that designation this time around. It gives the group legal standing in the relicensing proceedings and also gives it greater leverage to file lawsuits if the agency does not meet its demands.

San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace files protest over Diablo SanLuis Obispo Tribune Mar. 29, 2010, Anti-nuclear activists want to be declared an intervener in the license renewal process By David Sneed | The anti-nuclear group San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace has filed five formal protests over plans to extend the two operating licenses at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant for 20 more years. Continue reading

March 29, 2010 Posted by | Legal, USA | , , , , | Leave a comment

France’s nuclear reactors – cost cutting risks safety

Revelations from an EDF insider : EPR reactor prone to major nuclear accident risk!The French Network for Nuclear Phase-out (Réseau “Sortir du nucléaire”) 6 March 2010, reveals confidential documents disclosed by an anonymous insider from EDF (Electricité de France, the main French power utility). These documents show that the design of the EPR presents a serious risk of a major nuclear accident – a risk deliberately taken by EDF to increase its profitability. Because it is potentially vulnerable to a situation which could have uncontrollable consequences, the EPR reactor is extremely dangerous.

http://www.sortirdunucleaire.org/index.php?menu=actualites&sousmenu=dossiers&soussousmenu=EPRrevelations&page=2

March 29, 2010 Posted by | France, safety | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Illegal radiation experiments on U.S. prisoners

Prisoners forced to submit to radiation experiments for private foreign companies, Gang Stalking World , March 20, 2010, Eddie Milton Garey Jr.The Federal Bureau of Prisons officials have been forcing inmates at USP Big Sandy to submit to random computerized tomographic whole body radioactive scanners. If they refuse to submit to these radiation experiments, prison officials are charging them with disobeying a direct order and subjecting them to a wide range of sanctions, Continue reading

March 27, 2010 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | , , , , | 2 Comments

Cancer increasing with increased use of medical radiation

“The problem is that there’s an increased cancer risk even from little amounts of radiation that we don’t feel,”

High-tech screening tests: Too much radiation?  San Francisco News – abc7news.com  March 25, 2010.

Carolyn Johnson

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — The Food and Drug Administration is launching a drive to reduce the levels of radiation being used on patients in U.S. hospitals. The agency will hold hearings in Washington next week, focusing on powerful new imaging technology. The devices can often spot disease early, but critics worry their popularity is leading to an overuse of radiation……. Continue reading

March 27, 2010 Posted by | health, USA | , , , , , | 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 | environment, USA | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Earthquakes predicted for San Onofre nuclear plant area

Nuclear plant is a disaster in waiting Ricardo Nicol, The Orange County Register 24 March 2010, According to the Uniform Building Code, which establishes standards for the construction of safe buildings in the U.S., the San Onofre nuclear plant is located in the world’s highest seismic risk zone (Zone 4). The San Onofre nuclear plant area is riddled with land and offshore earthquake faults, many of them discovered after the structural design and construction of the existing reactors.

According to many seismologists, the probability of a major earthquake in the California coastal zone in the foreseeable future is a near certainty. Continue reading

March 26, 2010 Posted by | climate change, safety, USA | , , , , , | 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 | business and costs, USA | , , , , , , , , | 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 | business and costs, USA | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Increased radiation cancer risk for airline crews

if crew members and passengers already face largely unreported radiation risks from long-distance flying, we should have the right to know just how whole-body radiation scanning machines are part of this risk.

Flying and Excess Radiation, THE HUFFINGTON POST, Robert Alvarez: March 22, 2010 .….The recent reporting of dozens of cases of harm to patients from the misuse of CAT scans should serve as a cautionary warning.

Unfortunately, the doses of radiation experienced in every-day life, especially flying long-distances in jet aircraft, pose risks we should also carefully heed…..With the rise in altitude, atmospheric shielding decreases and radiation doses increase. Continue reading

March 25, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, health | , , , | Leave a comment

Ionising radiation’s long-term effects include heart disease and stroke

Correcting for other habits known to be associated with both conditions had no impact on their findings, suggesting that the radiation alone was responsible for their findings.

Survive the A-Bomb, Die Prematurely from Stroke and Heart Disease, Brain Blogger, March 24, 2010 | By T. A. McNamee, MD The survivors of the World War II atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki may have considered themselves lucky, at least at first. Shortly thereafter, however, those who didn’t die from radiation poisoning learned that the radiation from the bombings placed themselves and their children at increased risk of cancer. Now, they can add heart disease and stroke to their list of potential medical problems. Continue reading

March 25, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, health | , , , , , | Leave a comment