Group items tagged

Florida approved a nuclear plant for the first time in more than three decades. The plant would be built in Levy County. TALLAHASSEE -- Over the objections of some residents, elected officials and environmental groups, the governor and the Cabinet on Tuesday embraced Progress Energy's controversial proposal to build a nuclear plant in Levy County -- the first such plant approved in Florida in 33 years. The vote by Gov. Charlie Crist, Attorney General Bill McCollum and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is not the final hurdle for Progress' plant, which still needs to secure federal approval. But the unanimous Cabinet endorsement -- with Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson absent -- helps cement what is likely to be a new era of nuclear plant construction, with Florida Power & Light also planning to build a new nuclear plant, at Turkey Point in Miami-Dade County.

The Elmore County Commission told its planning and zoning commission to consider amending the county's comprehensive plant to allow heavy industry in more places than just along Simco Road. With the decision, commissioners didn't reject a nuclear plant proposed for an agricultural area of the county, but they likely extended the process it would take for its developers to get the nuke plant approved. Most of all, they continued the uncertainty over whether the plant will be approved at all in Elmore County, the second Idaho county this company has tried so far. Don Gillispie, CEO of Alternative Energy Holdings Inc. who proposed the 1,600 megawatt nuclear plant near Hammett, said he will wait to see what happens next. "For now, that will be our decision," he said. Snake River Alliance Executive Director Andrea Shipley called the decision a success "because we can start talking about the issue at hand, which is nuclear power."

Advisory commission, county planning director recommend approval The approximately 250 people who filled the Nucla High School gym last week were there to witness a different kind of rivalry than the basketball games that usually inhabit the venue. Instead, they came to debate the proposed uranium mill in Paradox Valley, a project that has electrified the fence between area residents who want jobs and those who are wary of the environmental impacts of such a facility. The Montrose County Planning Commission held the public hearing to gather input about the proposed mill before making a recommendation to the county commissioners about a permit. The 880-acre project site is on private land zoned for agricultural use, not for industrial operations like processing ore, so it will require a special use permit for the proposed mill. The planning commission deferred its decision on the permit to a June 10 meeting, but both County Planning Director Steve White and the West End Planning Advisory Committee (made up of residents who live closer to the proposed project) recommended approval of the permit.

- Montrose County Planning Director Steve White said Thursday that he would not postpone a May 19 Montrose County Planning Commission public hearing on the Energy Fuels Pinon Ridge uranium mill special use permit. White received a request for hearing postponement and permit denial from the Durango-based Energy Mineral Law Center (EMLC). EMLC attorney Travis Stills, on behalf of mill-opponents Paradox Valley Sustainability Association, e-mailed White a letter on May 13 requesting the action and stated that,"in addition to the milling facility, the special use permit under consideration could allow a series of specially designed byproduct disposal impoundments for purposes of perpetual disposal and storage of hazardous radioactive wastes, a use which is explicitly prohibited in the Agricultural Zone."

Desalination might become increasingly necessary if severe drought continues in the United States. This process of removing salt from seawater will require an abundant, clean energy source with a secure domestic supply that avoids the emission of greenhouse gases. Nuclear energy is that source, and the good news is that the technology for nuclear desalination is proven and available. The Lewis and Clark project demonstrates that easily accessible water resources cannot fully support the anticipated future demand for crops, livestock, industry and people. In fact, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, many water resources across North America already are heavily used by industry and agriculture in addition to drinking water and electricity production. The fresh-water supply in Western states is susceptible to an extended drought that would reduce rainfall and the Rocky Mountain snowpack, both of which feed the Missouri River.

The Montrose County Commission will soon begin its review of a proposed uranium mill in the county's West End. The proposed Piñon Ridge mill won a unanimous recommendation Wednesday from the county planning commission, culminating a series of meetings that extended late into the night on two occasions before the commission vote. The county commission is expected to conduct a public hearing in the West End within 30 days of the planning commission vote. Opponents of the plan were joined Wednesday by actress Darryl Hannah, who maintains a home in nearby San Miguel County, and told a reporter for the Montrose Daily Press that she was "pretty concerned about short-term thinking leading to a disaster." Opponents have cited fears that the mill could pose a threat to public health, while supporters have cited the potential for economic growth and higher-wage hiring from the mill and nearby mining. The Piñon Ridge Mill would sit on 880 acres about 12 miles from Paradox and 7 miles east of Bedrock on land that now is zoned for agriculture. Energy Fuels is pursuing an aggressive schedule that officials hope will see construction begin in 2011 and the possibility of production in 2012.

The parliament's committee for constitutional matters and legislation has concluded that there are no legal obstacles to the adoption of a law banning the building of nuclear power stations in Montenegro. The committee has backed the amendments to the law on the budget, a package of laws on agriculture and the draft law on national parks. Milutin Tomasevic has the report: [Reporter Tomasevic] If at its next session the parliament votes the same as the committee for constitutional matters and legislation, no nuclear plants will be built in Montenegro, and this will be Montenegro's official position in relation to its environment. Deputy of New Serb Democracy Emilo Labudovic defended an opposing view during the debate, declaring himself against such a ban. He maintains that nuclear energy is clean and safe.

In a bit of good news for the environment, work got underway this week to clean up hazardous PCB pollution that General Electric dumped into New York's Upper Hudson River. But there's also some bad news -- which is that the toxic waste is being sent to a landfill that sits atop the Ogallala Aquifer, a key drinking-water source for West Texas. "This is like a shell game, moving hazardous toxic PCBs from one sensitive location to another," said Dr. Neil Carman, a chemist with Sierra Club's Lone Star chapter. "We are concerned about contamination of the Ogallala Aquifer and other aquifers in this dry region of Texas that needs to protect and conserve water for drinking and agricultural uses."

The Department of Energy (DOE) spends billions of dollars annually to clean up nuclear waste at sites across the nation that produced nuclear weapons from the 1940s through the end of the Cold War. This waste can threaten public health and the environment. For example, contaminants at DOE's Hanford site in Washington have migrated through the soil into the groundwater, which generally flows toward the Columbia River. The river is a source of irrigation for agriculture and drinking water for downstream communities as well as a major route for migrating salmon. Cleanup projects decontaminate and demolish buildings, remove and dispose of contaminated soil, treat contaminated groundwater, and stabilize and dispose of solid and liquid radioactive wastes, among other things. DOE's Office of Environmental Management currently oversees more than 80 of these cleanup projects, primarily at government owned, contractor-operated sites throughout the nation. Some of these highly complex projects have completion dates beyond 2050.

The United Nations announced on Friday its disposition to cooperate with Bolivia on the exploration and exploitation of uranium mines. The official in charge of the UN atomic energy program, Mohamed El-Baradei, said after a meeting with Bolivian President Evo Morales that apart from the exploration of uranium mines, the Bolivian government is also evaluating the UN aid programs of health, animals diseases, improvements of the agriculture production, sustainable use of the water resources. El-Baradei said the meeting was positive and that the UN seeks to carry out projects of nuclear development in Bolivia, adding that they are programs of science and technology transfer. Bolivia has uranium bed, but the government has classified the information as "reserved."

Who really benefits from the rezoning of Elmore County agricultural land to industrial in order to build a nuclear power plant? AEHI, the company behind the proposed nuclear plant, would have Elmore County citizens believe they would be the beneficiaries with job production and economic wealth. But how would AEHI benefit and does it matter? It matters if AEHI cannot finance a $30 billion nuclear power facility themselves and end up selling the land and permits to out-of-state or worse, out of country energy companies. Then this power plant is no longer an Idaho company and the land in Elmore County no longer belongs to the citizens of Idaho.

"Aboriginal landowners in Australia's far north are battling government plans to construct this country's long-term nuclear waste storage facility on their land. Diane Stokes, an indigenous woman from the Warumungu and Warlmanpa tribes in the Northern Territory, is opposed to radioactive waste being dumped on her clan's land at Muckaty Station, a former cattle station located some 200 kilometres north of the Territory town of Tennant Creek. "We don't want it to come to the Northern Territory. Nobody wants it there," said Stokes at a public meeting held in the southern city of Melbourne on Apr. 21. The question of what to do with Australia's radioactive waste from the country's medical, industrial, agricultural and research use of nuclear material has been ongoing for decades and remains far from resolved. "

"Payette County Commissioners approved a change Monday to the county's comprehensive plan that is the first step toward approval of a proposed nuclear power plant. The vote was unanimous. Don Gillispie, CEO of Alternative Energy Holdings, the Eagle-based company proposing the nuclear plant, said the decision gives a strong indication of support by county leaders. The commission changed its comprehensive plan on a 5,000 acre parcel near Big Willow Road and Stone Quarry Road so it can be rezoned from agriculture to industrial use. The area is near New Plymouth."

"The State Land Office and Lea County have agreed on a land swap to provide a site in southeastern New Mexico for a plant to process depleted uranium. Land Commissioner Pat Lyons said Wednesday the state gets about 3,900 acres from the county in exchange for 640 acres near Hobbs. The newly acquired land between Eunice and Jal will be leased by the Land Office for agricultural purposes. The land near Hobbs will become the site for a proposed plant by Idaho Falls, Idaho-based International Isotopes Inc. The plant is to extract commercially valuable fluoride compounds from tailings created by the refining of uranium for nuclear power plant fuel. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is reviewing the company's license application."

Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (TEPCO) announced August 30 the basic scheme and schedule for full-fledged payment of compensation for damages and losses caused by the catastrophe at its Fukushima I nuclear power station. The company established standards for calculation of compensation amounts in a wide range of areas, including limitations on shipment of agricultural and fishery products, losses due to rumors and other operating loss, cost of moving in response to evacuation orders, income loss due to inability to work, and mental/emotional toll. About 500,000 claims are expected for the time being. The company plans to mail out claims forms and begin accepting claims around September 12, and to start making payments in October. Some 6,500 workers, including 3,000 of its own employees, are going to provide services in compensation-related consultation.

"Some farm products such as strawberries, tomatoes and lettuce were not exported at all in May, according to foreign trade statistics, apparently due to concerns over the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. Japanese farm products are popular in Europe, the United States and Asia. The recent statistics shows that those products are suffering serious losses due to fears about nuclear contamination. According to statistics released by the Finance Ministry, the volume of strawberries exported was 30,267 kilograms in February and 19,262 kilograms in March. The numbers declined sharply to 419 kilograms in April--a 94 percent drop from the same month last year--and to zero in May. Strawberries are produced mainly in Tochigi, Fukuoka and Kumamoto prefectures and sent mostly to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. "

A few years ago, Ward wrote for Tomdispatch about various plans to dump radioactive waste, including 40 years worth of "spent fuel rods" from nuclear reactors, in his Utah backyard. People who lived downwind were alarmed. They had been exposed to radioactive fallout during the era of atomic testing in the 1950s and feared more of the same -- cancer for "downwinders" and obfuscation and denial from federal regulators. Since Ward wrote his account, local activists have successfully blocked the projects. Score one for the little guys.

"A federation of seafood processing firms in Ibaraki Prefecture has demanded about ¥1.85 billion in damages from Tokyo Electric Power Co., claiming their businesses have been hurt amid the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant. After receiving a written claim Tuesday at the federation's office in Mito, Ibaraki, over sales losses amid fears of seafood contaminated by radiation, Kaoru Takagi, a senior Tepco official, said the utility will decide how to deal with it based on government guidelines for nuclear damages. The damages for three months from March include about ¥1.14 billion and cover such losses as costs for disposal of processed seafood products rejected by markets and retailers. The remainder is for radiation measurement and leave compensation."