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Conservation groups challenge uranium mining threat to Colorado River - Las Vegas Sun

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:21:06 -0000

Conservation groups are challenging Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne today, saying he is allowing uranium exploration near the Colorado River and Grand Canyon National Park contrary to a congressional resolution passed in June.

Congress on June 25 prohibited uranium mining activity across 1 million acres of public lands in watersheds leading to the Colorado River that surround the Grand Canyon.

Tags: az ca co ecology energy fuel-cycle lawsuit mining nuclear nuke.news nv uranium

Posted by: theenergynet

09/29/2008: Cleanup of historic Uravan uranium mill completed

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:35:05 -0000

A chapter in the history of the uranium industry in western Colorado closed today when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certified the completion of the 20-year cleanup of the Uravan Mill Superfund Site.

Tags: cleanup co energy epa fuel-cycle mill nuclear nuke.news

Posted by: theenergynet

Montrose County ponders proposed uranium mill

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:26:51 -0000

Some people think a uranium mill in Montrose County is a good idea, and some are firmly against it, but the process for building one has begun.

An application for a special-use permit from Montrose County was submitted recently by Energy Fuels Resources of Nucla to build the Piñon Ridge Mill in Paradox Valley.

County leaders heard Wednesday night from experts from the Colorado Department of Public Health about the state approval process, which would be the first in decades for a uranium mill.

Tags: co development energy fuel-cyce mill nuclear nuke.news uranium

Posted by: theenergynet

Tri-State considers nuclear power plant - The Denver Post

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:50:48 -0000

More than half of Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association's customers support the use of nuclear power, a company official told a state legislative panel Tuesday.

Colorado's second-largest utility is studying whether it would be feasible to build a nuclear power plant on a 16,000- acre site in southeastern Colorado.

The Westminster-based company would have to partner with another utility such as Xcel Energy or Public Service Co. of New Mexico because of the size and cost of a nuclear plant, Tri-State senior vice president Mac McLennan told the transportation legislation review committee. A nuclear plant typically costs billions of dollars and generates at least 1,000 megawatts of power.

Tags: co development energy nuclear nuke.news reactor

Posted by: theenergynet

Do the research: Uranium doesn't solve problem | The Coloradoan,

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:22:12 -0000

Mike Fox had it all wrong in his Aug. 21 editorial. He repeated a lot of uranium industry propaganda, but apparently didn't do his research. So here's some information to help him further consider the issues.

First, nuclear power is many times more expensive than the alternatives. It's also riskier, and nuclear power plants take longer to build - at least 10 years, compared to 18 months for a wind farm.

This isn't just some wild environmentalist talk. The major financial agencies (Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, etc.) won't invest in nuclear power because, they say, it has unique risks. Quoting their July 2007 letter to the federal Department of Energy - "We believe these risks, combined with the higher capital costs and longer construction schedules of nuclear plants as compared to other generation facilities, will make lenders unwilling at present to extend long-term credit to such projects in a form that would be commercially viable."

Tags: co fuel-cycle mining nuclear nuke.comments nuke.news uranium

Posted by: theenergynet

Plutonium spill, laser accident prompt reviews - FederalTimes.com

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 08:53:58 -0000

In early June, a glass vial of plutonium powder broke at the National Institutes of Standards and Technology lab in Boulder, Colo. More than a dozen researchers were exposed to radiation — and the agency was exposed as a dysfunctional workplace.
The plutonium spill was only one of several serious accidents reported at NIST labs in the last couple years. In March, a university researcher was shot in the eye with an infrared laser while placing a slide on a microscope at the agency’s headquarters in Gaithersburg, Md. The researcher is under continuing medical care, and NIST said it tightened its laser safety policies as a result. And in June 2006, a contract construction worker sustained near-fatal injuries when a 500-pound steel beam fell on his head while working at the Boulder campus. The worker has a damages claim pending against the agency, although NIST refused to discuss it.

Tags: accident co contamination fuel-cycle investigatin nist nuclear nuke.news plutonium spill

Posted by: theenergynet

Final uranium mine environmental assessment expected this week GATEWAY — The final environmental assessment for the Whirlwind uranium mine near Gateway is expected to be signed early this week, said an official from the Bur | GJFreePress.com

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 08:51:33 -0000

The final environmental assessment for the Whirlwind uranium mine near Gateway is expected to be signed early this week, said an official from the Bureau of Land Management.

“We are just on the verge of releasing that final EA,” said Dave Lehman of the BLM.

Tags: blm co development eis energy fuel-cycle mine nuclear nuke.news uranium ut

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Feds: Stories about nuke workers flawed : Deadly Denial : The Rocky Mountain News

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 20:58:25 -0000

Officials at the U.S. Department of Labor say recent stories in the Rocky Mountain News "paint an inaccurate picture" of the program to compensate Cold War-era workers who became sick while building the nation's nuclear arsenal and "indict the entire program based on a small number of individual claimants' experiences."

The comments came in letters to three U.S. congressmen who had asked the Labor Department why it failed to respond to the findings of a Rocky investigation published last month in a special report called "Deadly Denial."

Tags: co compensation dol fuel-cycle health n-weapons nuclear nuke.news rocky-flats safety workers

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The Associated Press: Tests show more at Colo. lab exposed to plutonium

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 07:42:09 -0000

A Boulder, Colo., laboratory says new tests show that more people were exposed to plutonium than originally thought after a June spill there.

No one who was exposed is expected to have significant health effects.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology said Thursday that about half the 29 people who have been tested showed signs of exposure. The specific number wasn't released.

Tags: co fuel-cycle leak nist nuclear nuke.news plutonium

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Mill cited by state for uranium contamination: Gazette.com

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 06:40:28 -0000

The Cotter Corp. uranium mill has been cited by the state for radioactive contamination at the adjacent Shadow Hills Golf Club.

Though the mill has long been connected to nearby groundwater contamination - the area has been a federal Superfund cleanup site since 1984 - this is the first time state officials have linked the mill to contamination at the golf course and the first time contamination has been traced to mill operations after 1979, when it was rebuilt.

Tags: co contamination cotter fuel-cycle mill mining nuke.news uranium

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Faith was Flats protester's arsenal - The Denver Post

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 06:19:52 -0000

Sister Pat Mahoney, who went to prison for battling Rocky Flats and spent her life fighting for the homeless and against war and nuclear arms, died July 30 at San Francisco General Hospital.

She had collapsed on the street about 10 blocks from her home on July 29, said her brother, Jerry Mahoney, of Petaluma, Calif. She died about 24 hours later, he said, adding that he believes Mahoney, who was 72, had a stroke.

Tags: co contamination health n-weapons nuclear nuke.news rocky-flats workers

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The Watch Newspapers - News, Sports, Weather, Classifieds, Local Events and Businesses in Telluride, Ridgway, Ouray, and Norwood Colorado, as well as the Communities of the Western San Juans

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 08:16:53 -0000

For the 300 or so residents who reside in the sleepy farming/ranching community of the Paradox Valley, everyday concerns in the past have typically included irrigating crops, winter food storage and deciding where to go – Moab or Grand Junction – for major food shopping. Now, in the shadow of a proposal to build a uranium mill in the middle of the valley, there are new concerns for Paradox’s future, pitting neighbor against neighbor.

Tags: co development energy fuel-cycle mining nuclear nuke.news uranium

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Complaint filed against uranium program - Telluride, CO - The Daily Planet

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 07:08:16 -0000

Last summer, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management issued a report that determined an increase in uranium mining in the region would have “no significant environmental impact.” The report allowed the DOE to bring back a program that initially fueled atomic weapons but would now go toward powering hair dryers and electric cars.

Tags: co doe energy fuel-cycle lawsuit mining nuclear nuke.news uranium

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Calls for change in nuke program : Local News : The Rocky Mountain News

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 06:45:24 -0000

The time has come for change in the federal compensation program for sick nuclear weapons workers, two men who have held key roles in the program said this week.

More than 165,000 sick workers or their survivors - including more than 10,000 from the former Rocky Flats site near Denver - have applied to the eight-year-old compensation program. The aid program, which has been subject to multiple congressional hearings, also was the subject of a three-part investigative series in the Rocky Mountain News last week called "Deadly denial."

Tags: co compensation contamination doe n-weapons nuclear nuke.news safety us workers

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42-Square-Mile Federal Uranium Program Challenged

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 23:01:50 -0000

DURANGO, Colo.— A coalition of conservation groups filed suit in federal court today, challenging the Department of Energy’s decision to vastly expand its uranium mining program on 42 square miles of public land near the spectacular Dolores River Canyon, a tributary to the Colorado River in southwest Colorado.

The latest chapter in a Western uranium saga with a deadly legacy, the Department’s decision opens the door for the agency to approve up to 38 uranium mines. The decision, and the analysis upon which it relies, fails to adequately evaluate soil, water, and habitat contamination threats as required by federal law.

Tags: co doe energy fuel-cycle mining nuclear nuke.news uranium

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Santa Barbara News-Press

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 20:30:39 -0000

Environmental groups have filed a federal lawsuit claiming that a program clearing the way for uranium mines in western Colorado is illegal.

The lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District in Denver says the Department of Energy's environmental analysis of the leasing program on federal land last year was inadequate. The groups want the court to make DOE do a more comprehensive analysis of the impacts of past uranium mining and potential impacts of new mines.

Tags: co energy fuel-cycle mining nuclear nuke.news uranium

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Report slams NIST over Boulder plutonium spill - The Denver Post

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 06:42:33 -0000

An effort to enhance the United States' ability to detect "dirty bombs" went terribly awry at the Boulder campus of the National Institute of Standards and Technology where dangerous plutonium sources were obtained without management approval and handled by inexperienced and untrained researchers, a scathing report released today said.

Highlights and Sticky Notes:

Tags: co fuel-cycle nist nuclear nuke.news plutonium safety spill

Posted by: theenergynet

Department of Labor responds to 'Deadly Denial' series - if you can call it a response : John Temple : Rocky Mountain News

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:50:30 -0000

Forty-five days after the Rocky's Laura Frank sent the Department of Labor the findings of our 'Deadly Denial' series for comment, she finally received a response - an e-mail apparently sent at 9:41 p.m. Friday night that can only be described as a personal attack.

Tags: co compensation contamination dol energy fuel-cycle health n-weapons nuclear nuke.news rocky-flats

Posted by: theenergynet

More help for Flats workers - The Denver Post

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:25:08 -0000

The manner in which sick workers at Rocky Flats and other U.S. Department of Energy sites have been treated is a national disgrace.

Even after a federal fund was established in 2000 to get them health care and compensate them for the illnesses acquired as they worked, they have faced missing records, insurmountable red tape and a bureaucracy that seems determined to deny them at every turn.

Tags: co doe fuel-cycle health nuclear nuke.comments nuke.news rocky-flats safety workers

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Congressmen criticize treatment of sick nuclear workers : Local News : The Rocky Mountain News

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:21:17 -0000

Two Colorado congressmen say it was "completely irresponsible" for the Department of Labor to fail to explain decisions that make it more difficult for sick and dying nuclear weapons workers — or their survivors — to qualify for federal compensation.

This week, the Rocky Mountain News reported that the Labor Department, which oversees the program, derailed aid to workers by keeping reports secret from them, constantly changing rules and delaying cases until sick workers died.

Tags: co compensation contamination doe dol energy fuel-cycle n-weapons nuclear nuke.news us workers

Posted by: theenergynet