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More trains filled with depleted uranium are coming to Utah. Even as state regulators consider a moratorium on new shipments of the radioactive material -- which becomes more hazardous over time -- the U.S. Department of Energy plans to ship another 14,800 barrels of it to the EnergySolutions Inc. disposal site in Tooele County. Part of the $1.6 billion in federal stimulus money for the Savannah River cleanup site in South Carolina will pay for rail cars filled with depleted uranium to be buried in Utah during the next 13 months. "This is exactly the situation we were hoping to prevent by asking the state Radiation Control Board to enact a moratorium on depleted uranium," said Christopher Thomas of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah.

More trains filled with depleted uranium are coming to Utah. Even as state regulators consider a moratorium on new shipments of the radioactive material -- which becomes more hazardous over time -- the U.S. Department of Energy plans to ship another 14,800 barrels of it to the EnergySolutions Inc. disposal site in Tooele County. Part of the $1.6 billion in federal stimulus money for the Savannah River cleanup site in South Carolina will pay for rail cars filled with depleted uranium to be buried in Utah during the next 13 months. "This is exactly the situation we were hoping to prevent by asking the state Radiation Control Board to enact a moratorium on depleted uranium," said Christopher Thomas of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah.

More trains filled with depleted uranium are coming to Utah. Even as state regulators consider a moratorium on new shipments of the radioactive material -- which becomes more hazardous over time -- the U.S. Department of Energy plans to ship another 14,800 barrels of it to the EnergySolutions Inc. disposal site in Tooele County. Part of the $1.6 billion in federal stimulus money for the Savannah River cleanup site in South Carolina will pay for rail cars filled with depleted uranium to be buried in Utah during the next 13 months. "This is exactly the situation we were hoping to prevent by asking the state Radiation Control Board to enact a moratorium on depleted uranium," said Christopher Thomas of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah.

The Quebec government is rejecting calls for a moratorium on uranium exploration in the province. On Thursday, 23 doctors from the province's remote North Shore region sent a letter to the health minister threatening to resign unless the province places a moratorium on uranium exploration in the region. The doctors from the Sept-Îles Hospital, who are also calling for a province-wide moratorium, said they are concerned about the impact on the health and well-being of the population. "Our main problem is concern about public health [from] long-term exposure to ionizing radiation," said respirologist Dr. Bruno Imbeault, spokesman for the doctors.

The Quebec government is rejecting calls for a moratorium on uranium exploration in the province. On Thursday, 23 doctors from the province's remote North Shore region sent a letter to the health minister threatening to resign unless the province places a moratorium on uranium exploration in the region. The doctors from the Sept-Îles Hospital, who are also calling for a province-wide moratorium, said they are concerned about the impact on the health and well-being of the population. "Our main problem is concern about public health [from] long-term exposure to ionizing radiation," said respirologist Dr. Bruno Imbeault, spokesman for the doctors.

Nearly 15,000 drums of depleted uranium oxide will be shipped from South Carolina for disposal in Utah under a contract awarded by the Department of Energy. The 14,800 drums of Savannah River Site waste will be disposed of at EnergySolutions Inc.'s facility about 70 miles west of Salt Lake City. The shipments will take place over 14 months, although it was unclear Wednesday when they would start. The announcement, made by the Energy Department in mid-July, comes as EnergySolutions fights an effort to place a moratorium on the disposal of depleted uranium in Utah.

Nearly 15,000 drums of depleted uranium oxide will be shipped from South Carolina for disposal in Utah under a contract awarded by the Department of Energy. The 14,800 drums of Savannah River Site waste will be disposed of at EnergySolutions Inc.'s facility about 70 miles west of Salt Lake City. The shipments will take place over 14 months, although it was unclear Wednesday when they would start. The announcement, made by the Energy Department in mid-July, comes as EnergySolutions fights an effort to place a moratorium on the disposal of depleted uranium in Utah.

Nearly 15,000 drums of depleted uranium oxide will be shipped from South Carolina for disposal in Utah under a contract awarded by the Department of Energy. The 14,800 drums of Savannah River Site waste will be disposed of at EnergySolutions Inc.'s facility about 70 miles west of Salt Lake City. The shipments will take place over 14 months, although it was unclear Wednesday when they would start. The announcement, made by the Energy Department in mid-July, comes as EnergySolutions fights an effort to place a moratorium on the disposal of depleted uranium in Utah.

The Department of Energy is adding another type of radioactive waste to those that won't be sent to Hanford until the vitrification plant is fully operational. Tuesday, DOE prepared a statement saying that even though its agreement with the states of Washington and Oregon did not cover greater-than-class-C low level radioactive waste, "this waste will not be imported to Hanford for the duration of the moratorium that defers the importation of waste to Hanford." Greater-than-class-C low, or GTCC, waste is more radioactive than the waste Hanford now is burying in its landfill for radioactive waste, the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility. As part of a proposed settlement with the states over a lawsuit brought against DOE, DOE had agreed to recommend in a draft environmental study not to import certain kinds of waste to Hanford until the vit plant is operating to treat high level radioactive tank waste. That's expected to be about 2022. Federal law requires the environmental study before a final decision on the moratorium is made.

The Department of Energy is adding another type of radioactive waste to those that won't be sent to Hanford until the vitrification plant is fully operational. Tuesday, DOE prepared a statement saying that even though its agreement with the states of Washington and Oregon did not cover greater-than-class-C low level radioactive waste, "this waste will not be imported to Hanford for the duration of the moratorium that defers the importation of waste to Hanford." Greater-than-class-C low, or GTCC, waste is more radioactive than the waste Hanford now is burying in its landfill for radioactive waste, the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility. As part of a proposed settlement with the states over a lawsuit brought against DOE, DOE had agreed to recommend in a draft environmental study not to import certain kinds of waste to Hanford until the vit plant is operating to treat high level radioactive tank waste. That's expected to be about 2022. Federal law requires the environmental study before a final decision on the moratorium is made.

"Had they bothered attending the nuclear power debate at NIU on April 13, Daily Chronicle editors would have learned that with nuclear power, the devil's always in the details, something shockingly absent in its recommendation to repeal the Illinois nuclear moratorium. So much opinion, so little supportive substance. Some details overlooked include: * It's a moratorium, not a ban, based on the sane, reasonable condition requiring a place to dispose of your wastes as a condition of doing business. How long would the editors allow the Chronicle offices to remain open without functional bathrooms? * The moratorium worked and protected Illinois from even greater radioactive waste build-up. Conditions are even worse now than those foreseen in 1987, with the cancellation of the Yucca Mountain disposal project, and permission for reactors to operate longer. "

When Oregon and Washington's governors announced a settlement with the U.S. Department of Energy in August for cleanup of radioactive tank waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, they said it included a "moratorium" on shipping new radioactive waste to Hanford until a plant to treat the tank wastes was up and running. But in fact a big chunk of radioactive waste -- including contaminated metal from decommissioned U.S. nuclear plants -- isn't included in that proposed moratorium, Oregon officials confirmed Friday. Ken Niles, assistant director of the Oregon Department of Energy, said Oregon continues to oppose importing the waste, formally known as "Greater than Class C" or GTCC waste.

When Oregon and Washington's governors announced a settlement with the U.S. Department of Energy in August for cleanup of radioactive tank waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, they said it included a "moratorium" on shipping new radioactive waste to Hanford until a plant to treat the tank wastes was up and running. But in fact a big chunk of radioactive waste -- including contaminated metal from decommissioned U.S. nuclear plants -- isn't included in that proposed moratorium, Oregon officials confirmed Friday. Ken Niles, assistant director of the Oregon Department of Energy, said Oregon continues to oppose importing the waste, formally known as "Greater than Class C" or GTCC waste.

Alberta will not stand in the way of the construction of nuclear power plants, Energy Minister Mel Knight said Monday, following the release of a telephone survey that suggests 45 per cent of Albertans want nuclear plants approved on a case-by-case basis. "There'll be no moratorium," Knight told reporters at the Alberta legislature. "We are not proponents of nuclear energy. We're not working with any company to build nuclear energy. … We're saying that we need power, and proponents that want to build in the system in Alberta are welcome to do so."

Alberta will not stand in the way of the construction of nuclear power plants, Energy Minister Mel Knight said Monday, following the release of a telephone survey that suggests 45 per cent of Albertans want nuclear plants approved on a case-by-case basis. "There'll be no moratorium," Knight told reporters at the Alberta legislature. "We are not proponents of nuclear energy. We're not working with any company to build nuclear energy. … We're saying that we need power, and proponents that want to build in the system in Alberta are welcome to do so."

"Some people in one Labrador community that could benefit from uranium mining are calling on the Inuit Nunatsiavut government of northern Labrador to end its three-year ban on uranium mining now. They say that since the ban was narrowly approved in 2008 the community has gone from boom town to ghost town. At the peak of exploration, the drone of helicopters and float planes continued from dawn to dusk. "All we can hear now is the wind and the songbirds," said Glen Sheppard, a member of the Nunatsiavut Assembly representing Postville. "If it weren't for the number of homes around, you'd think you're at your [summer] cabin." Sheppard said that since the moratorium almost half the town's residents have become unemployed and that 75 per cent of the people in the community want the moratorium lifted early."

In a resolution adopted on depleted uranium (DU) weapons, the House calls for a moratorium on their use, increased pressure for an international treaty to ban them, and more research on these weapons. The resolution "strongly reiterates its call on all EU Member States and NATO countries to impose a moratorium on the use of depleted uranium weapons and to redouble efforts towards a global ban." The resolution was adopted with 491 votes in favour, 18 against and 12 abstentions.

VANCOUVER -- British Columbia has slapped an official moratorium on uranium exploration and development in the province, reinforcing a long-standing informal ban on the nuclear fuel and dashing the hopes of companies that hoped to take advantage of soaring prices for the commodity. The ban, announced yesterday, makes B.C. a no-go zone for uranium and confirms a moratorium put in place in 1980 by a previous government responding to anti-nuclear sentiment in the province.

Gov. Gary Herbert rebuffed a challenge Friday from an environmental group to impose an immediate moratorium on shipments of depleted uranium to Utah. "I'm not prepared to that," Herbert told The Tribune in an interview. While he said the issue is worth further exploration, the governor said, "I don't want to respond with a knee-jerk reaction. We want to study the pros and cons." Herbert on Thursday had said during a news conference that he worries about depleted uranium coming to Utah because of its long period of radioactivity. "It's forever," he said. "And the thing that causes most of us concern with depleted uranium is it gets hotter over time." Those comments and the state Radiation Control Board's rejection earlier this week of a proposed moratorium, prompted the group HEAL Utah on Friday to challenge the governor to action. HEAL Executive Director Vanessa Pierce publicly released a letter to Herbert urging him to recognize the proposed shipments of thousands of tons of depleted uranium to the EnergySolutions' landfill in Tooele County as a "clear and present danger" to the health and well being of Utahns.

State officials Tuesday rejected a plea to place a moratorium on any more depleted-uranium shipments to an EnergySolutions site in Tooele County, possibly clearing the way for shipments next month of the radioactive waste. But the state still could require the company to remove the waste in the future. In an 8-3 vote, the Utah Radiation Control Board rebuffed a request from the anti-nuclear-waste group HEAL Utah to halt such shipments until the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission finishes a three-year examination of whether depleted uranium should be reclassified on the nation's radiation danger scale.

Is depleted uranium too hot for Utah site? Environment » State Radiation Control Board has decided to look further into the question. Utah's Radiation Control Board will dig deeper into the long-term risks of depleted uranium before it decides whether the unusual form of low-level radioactive waste warrants a moratorium. But an attorney for EnergySolutions Inc. cautioned board members about legal and technical challenges they will face if they try banning depleted uranium temporarily or permanently. "It's a fairly high bar" for the board to justify a moratorium, said attorney James Holtkamp. Board members said they would rather have waited for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to wrap up its own in-depth study of how much DU, as its called, can be safely buried in a shallow disposal site like EnergySolutions' mile-square landfill in Tooele County. But the that federal review could take years, and DU is already piled up at government nuclear sites and an equal amount is expected from new uranium enrichment plants coming online in the next few years. NRC estimates the total needing disposal at 1.4 million tons, with just two disposal sites available to take it: EnergySolutions and a yet-to-be-opened Texas landfill.

State regulators will consider whether federal rules for disposing of depleted uranium are adequate to protect health and safety in Utah or if the waste should be banned until more stringent procedures are put in place. The Utah Radiation Control Board will meet Tuesday to discuss a disposal moratorium sought by the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, an environmental watchdog group. "Utah is vulnerable," said Christopher Thomas, public policy director of the group. Depleted uranium is classified as the least dangerous type of low-level radioactive waste and has been disposed of for 18 years at the EnergySolutions Inc. facility in the Utah desert 70 miles west of Salt Lake City.

An environmental group wants state regulators to place a moratorium on allowing any more depleted uranium to be buried in the state. The Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah told the Utah Radiation Control Board on Tuesday that the state shouldn't allow the material until the Nuclear Regulatory Commission develops guidelines for how large amounts of it can safely be disposed. Depleted uranium is different from other radioactive waste because it becomes more radioactive over time. EnergySolutions Inc.'s disposal site in Tooele County is licensed to accept only Class A waste, considered the least dangerous type of low-level radioactive waste. The NRC recently decided to continue classifying depleted uranium as Class A waste.

Opponents of nuclear power are gearing up for a big fight over changes to the state's nuclear moratorium. Nuclear plants are just too expensive to build, opponents say, and the lack of a resolution to the nuclear industry's waste problem means the time hasn't arrived to reconsider a Wisconsin policy that's been in place for 25 years that, in effect, bans construction of new reactors. No bills to change the state's nuclear moratorium have yet been introduced, but opponents are reacting to increased lobbying by the nuclear industry in the state. Wisconsin's utilities say nuclear power, which generates no greenhouse gas emissions, must be at least on the table for consideration as the nation and state move toward regulating heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide.

"La Grande is about 130 miles southeast of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Still, a proposed U.S. Department of Energy plan for the cleanup of radioactive waste at Hanford has people in the Grande Ronde Valley alarmed. Alarmed because the plan could result in Union County residents being exposed to additional radiation. This point was made boldly Monday at a hearing conducted at Eastern Oregon University by the U.S. Department of Energy. The hearing was conducted to solicit public comment on a draft environmental impact statement detailing alternatives being considered for the next step in the cleanup of nuclear waste at Hanford. A major concern of the plan is that it would result in the U.S. Department of Energy lifting its moratorium on shipments of radioactive waste to Hanford from other DOE sites. The moratorium, in place since 1980, would likely end in 2022 if the U.S. Department of Energy plan goes into effect."

MONTREAL ­ Quebec's Liberal government must stop uranium exploration near Sept Îles and declare a moratorium on uranium mining activities across the province to avoid the mass resignation of 20 doctors in the North Shore town, a Sept Îles doctor said Friday. "I want to work in a place where the government listens to citizens and where medical opinions are respected," said Bruno Imbeault, a pulmonologist at the Centre Hospitalier et des Services Sociaux de Sept Îles.

MONTREAL ­ Quebec's Liberal government must stop uranium exploration near Sept Îles and declare a moratorium on uranium mining activities across the province to avoid the mass resignation of 20 doctors in the North Shore town, a Sept Îles doctor said Friday. "I want to work in a place where the government listens to citizens and where medical opinions are respected," said Bruno Imbeault, a pulmonologist at the Centre Hospitalier et des Services Sociaux de Sept Îles.

MONTREAL ­ Quebec's Liberal government must stop uranium exploration near Sept Îles and declare a moratorium on uranium mining activities across the province to avoid the mass resignation of 20 doctors in the North Shore town, a Sept Îles doctor said Friday. "I want to work in a place where the government listens to citizens and where medical opinions are respected," said Bruno Imbeault, a pulmonologist at the Centre Hospitalier et des Services Sociaux de Sept Îles.

"Nearly two-dozen doctors in Sept-Îles, Que., are renewing their threats to resign and leave the province after the government rejected calls for a moratorium on uranium mining and exploration in the region. The province decided against a moratorium before hearing from a provincial panel researching the health effects of uranium mining, said psychiatrist Dr. Isabelle Gingras, one of the north shore doctors who is threatening to resign. In December, Dr. Alain Poirier, the chief public health officer in Quebec, announced the creation of a special committee to study the potential effects of uranium exploration and mining on the health of the population."

"For the third consecutive legislative session, myopic legislators have introduced illogical, almost surreal rationalizations for why they should repeal one state law that has successfully protected Illinois for 23 years, and sabotage a second that promotes zero-carbon, sustainable and less-polluting energy. I refer here to attempts to repeal what has become known as the "nuclear construction moratorium." This 1987 law simply says: Illinois will not permit the construction of new nuclear plants until there exists an environmentally responsible way of permanently disposing of the dangerous radioactive wastes they create. The Sears Tower, John Hancock Center and Illinois' currently operating nuclear reactors were being constructed around the same time. Imagine if legislators of the day - touting reasons like jobs, federal money and proud legacies - allowed these and future skyscrapers to be built without bathrooms. This is precisely the (il)logic of today's legislators calling for moratorium repeal."