Group items tagged

"$10 to $15 million spent on work since 2006 Cotter Corp. continues to make efforts to clean up environmental damage caused by its operations during the last 50 years. John Hamrick, vice president of milling, said the company has spent between $10 and $15 million on clean-up efforts since the mill shut down operations in 2006. However, continuous efforts were taking place at the mill while operations were under way, he said. House Bill 1348, also known as the Uranium Processing Accountability Act is currently working its way through the Colorado General Assembly. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Buffie McFadyen and Sen. Ken Kester and was developed by Colorado Citizens Against ToxicWaste and Environment Colorado. According to those groups, the bill would "hold the uranium industry accountable for its own mistakes and ensure Colorado does not subsidize those companies through tax dollars or incentive pollution by saying actions do not have consequences." "

"Cotter Corp. has until Monday to present the state with alternatives for remediating uranium contamination in a creek near its closed mine in Jefferson County. Groundwater near the Schwartzwalder Mine contains uranium levels that are 1,000 times higher than the human health standards, according to an Associated Press article. The contaminated groundwater is near Ralston Creek, which flows into Ralston Resevoir. The resevoir supplies water to Denver and Arvada. John Hamrick, Cotter's vice president of milling, said the company had been working with the Department of Reclamation and Mining Safety to address the issue. "We have a plan that is due to them Monday about different remedial alternatives," Hamrick said. "

"Deeper and more advanced resources might be available today for a study on nuclear neighborhood risk. Members of the atomic energy industry and nuclear watchdogs alike welcomed a new study of cancer risks around nuclear facilities requested by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week. Unlike a previous similar study, this one will look at cancer incidents instead of just cancer-related deaths. Its official scope -- how it would be performed -- has yet to be determined, a representative for the National Academy of Sciences, which is overseeing the study, said Wednesday. Still, reasons the NRC has given for requesting the study, including advances in information technology since the previous study about 20 years ago, might point to resources that researchers could lean on."

"York County residents aren't sure local nuclear facilities can be linked to cancer. When Teri Barnes, 39, moved to Goldsboro six years ago, she didn't give much thought to the large nuclear power plant just across the river. Three Mile Island is just something that's there, she said, like the tree in the front yard. But a new study requested by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to analyze data about cancer rates of residents around nuclear facilities could cause some residents of Goldsboro and communities around the country to think twice about their neighborhoods. Barnes said it would be hard to say for sure that the two were related. "Smoke causes cancer. Second-hand smoke causes cancer. Eating this causes cancer," Barnes said, gesturing toward the large deep fryer she was cleaning. "And if they do have cancer and they're dying, how can you make that up to them?" The study will look at both TMI and Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station. Although it won't deal with the partial meltdown at TMI in March of 1979, the issue brings back unpleasant memories for some residents. Following the accident, several studies were performed on cancer rates in the area with conflicting results."

Gov. Dave Freudenthal is trying to stop the transfer of $150 to $200 million worth of excess government uranium to the United States Enrichment Corp. that he says will hurt Wyoming's resurgent uranium mining industry. Freudenthal wrote a letter to the U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Monday. "There is no question that the non-competitive introduction of such a large quantity of uranium will adversely impact the uranium producing industry in my state," he wrote There also would be an extra $450 million of excess government uranium transferred in the next three years, according to the letter. "The loss of mining and mining-related jobs in Wyoming and elsewhere will be a direct outcome of the Department's present course," Freudenthal wrote. Several uranium mines in Campbell and Sweetwater counties plan to re-open under new ownership in the next year. Uranium One Inc., one of the largest uranium mining operations in the world, plans to make Wyoming the center of its U.S. operations. The company bought the Irigaray in-situ recovery central processing plant in Johnson County, the Christensen Ranch processing facility in southwest Campbell County and several uranium resources in the Powder River Basin for $35 million. Both processing facilities already are permitted and licensed, and the company hopes to start production next year.

Gov. Dave Freudenthal is trying to stop the transfer of $150 to $200 million worth of excess government uranium to the United States Enrichment Corp. that he says will hurt Wyoming's resurgent uranium mining industry. Freudenthal wrote a letter to the U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Monday. "There is no question that the non-competitive introduction of such a large quantity of uranium will adversely impact the uranium producing industry in my state," he wrote There also would be an extra $450 million of excess government uranium transferred in the next three years, according to the letter. "The loss of mining and mining-related jobs in Wyoming and elsewhere will be a direct outcome of the Department's present course," Freudenthal wrote. Several uranium mines in Campbell and Sweetwater counties plan to re-open under new ownership in the next year. Uranium One Inc., one of the largest uranium mining operations in the world, plans to make Wyoming the center of its U.S. operations. The company bought the Irigaray in-situ recovery central processing plant in Johnson County, the Christensen Ranch processing facility in southwest Campbell County and several uranium resources in the Powder River Basin for $35 million. Both processing facilities already are permitted and licensed, and the company hopes to start production next year.

How absurd is it that we have the government on the one hand pulling back from using a hollowed out mountain in Nevada to store nuclear waste because of a fear (legitimate I grant) that hundreds or thousands of years hence, some earthquake or other catastrophe could cause the stored waste to leak into the water table, while on the other hand we have this same government deliberately taking some of the most dangerous waste-the actual uranium from the used fuel rods-and putting it into bombs, shells and bullets to be splattered and burned all across the landscape?

How absurd is it that we have the government on the one hand pulling back from using a hollowed out mountain in Nevada to store nuclear waste because of a fear (legitimate I grant) that hundreds or thousands of years hence, some earthquake or other catastrophe could cause the stored waste to leak into the water table, while on the other hand we have this same government deliberately taking some of the most dangerous waste-the actual uranium from the used fuel rods-and putting it into bombs, shells and bullets to be splattered and burned all across the landscape?

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold hearings tomorrow and Wednesday in Hawaii on an application by the US Army for a permit to have depleted uranium at its Pohakuloa Training Area, a vast stretch of flat land in what's called the "saddle" between the sacred mountains of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on Hawaii's Big Island, and at the Schofield Barracks on the island of Oahu. In fact, what the Army is asking for is a permit to leave in place the DU left over from years of test firing of M101 mortar "spotting rounds," that each contained close to half a pound of depleted uranium (DU). The Army, which originally denied that any DU weapons had been used at either location, now says that as many as 2000 rounds of M101 DU mortars might have been fired at Pohakuloa alone.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold hearings tomorrow and Wednesday in Hawaii on an application by the US Army for a permit to have depleted uranium at its Pohakuloa Training Area, a vast stretch of flat land in what's called the "saddle" between the sacred mountains of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on Hawaii's Big Island, and at the Schofield Barracks on the island of Oahu. In fact, what the Army is asking for is a permit to leave in place the DU left over from years of test firing of M101 mortar "spotting rounds," that each contained close to half a pound of depleted uranium (DU). The Army, which originally denied that any DU weapons had been used at either location, now says that as many as 2000 rounds of M101 DU mortars might have been fired at Pohakuloa alone.

"Health ministry regulations stipulate that nuclear power station workers can be exposed to a maximum of 100 millisieverts over five years, and 50 millisieverts in a single year. However, in the case of an emergency such as a nuclear accident, they can be exposed to up to 100 millisieverts during work to bring the plant under control. In the Fukushima nuclear crisis, the ministry raised the upper limit to 250 millisieverts. The ministry concluded that workers who are exposed to 100 to 250 millisieverts during efforts to tame the Fukushima nuclear crisis must be withdrawn from further work for five years on the grounds that the conventional regulations apply to the Fukushima crisis."