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Conscripts Were Exposed To High Levels Of Radiation Former soldiers suffering from radiation poisoning are suing the Chilean treasury and Nuclear Energy Commission for US$85 million. The men were exposed to high levels of radiation whilst guarding the same nuclear facility in Santiago in the late 1980's. The Soldiers were all guarding the same nuclear facility in Santiago between 1988-1989. Over 60 ex-guards of the La Reina Nuclear Reactor and Research Center cited various health problems in filing their lawsuit against the state. The men in question secured the facility as part of their national military service duties between 1988-1989 and show symptoms of dangerous over-exposure to radiation. The case presented by the Santiago law firm Alfredo Morgado reads: "This petition demands compensation from the state on behalf of the victims who have died or continue to suffer as a result of radiation poisoning." The lawsuit also points to the "non-existent help" the government has offered to the men. Amongst the medical conditions cited are various forms of cancer, bone and nerve degeneration, digestive problems, migraines and diarrhea. Some of the men also claim compensation for medical conditions and congenital defects allegedly passed on to their children. Among the petitioners are the families of soldiers who died as a result of the contamination. Guillermo Cofre died in 1989 after being asked to clean up a nuclear waste spill with a towel. "His military uniform had melted, almost as if he had fallen in acid," his father said. Both Guillermo and his companion on the task Luis Gomez Naranjo died of leukemia within 18 months of the accident. The families of the deceased are suing for over US$3.5 million each, while the remaining petitioners are each claiming between US$1 to 1.5 million for current and future health complications. The case is being heard at the Santiago Court of Appeals. The lawsuit comes at a time of increased lobbying efforts o

Conscripts Were Exposed To High Levels Of Radiation Former soldiers suffering from radiation poisoning are suing the Chilean treasury and Nuclear Energy Commission for US$85 million. The men were exposed to high levels of radiation whilst guarding the same nuclear facility in Santiago in the late 1980's. The Soldiers were all guarding the same nuclear facility in Santiago between 1988-1989. Over 60 ex-guards of the La Reina Nuclear Reactor and Research Center cited various health problems in filing their lawsuit against the state. The men in question secured the facility as part of their national military service duties between 1988-1989 and show symptoms of dangerous over-exposure to radiation. The case presented by the Santiago law firm Alfredo Morgado reads: "This petition demands compensation from the state on behalf of the victims who have died or continue to suffer as a result of radiation poisoning." The lawsuit also points to the "non-existent help" the government has offered to the men. Amongst the medical conditions cited are various forms of cancer, bone and nerve degeneration, digestive problems, migraines and diarrhea. Some of the men also claim compensation for medical conditions and congenital defects allegedly passed on to their children. Among the petitioners are the families of soldiers who died as a result of the contamination. Guillermo Cofre died in 1989 after being asked to clean up a nuclear waste spill with a towel. "His military uniform had melted, almost as if he had fallen in acid," his father said. Both Guillermo and his companion on the task Luis Gomez Naranjo died of leukemia within 18 months of the accident. The families of the deceased are suing for over US$3.5 million each, while the remaining petitioners are each claiming between US$1 to 1.5 million for current and future health complications. The case is being heard at the Santiago Court of Appeals. The lawsuit comes at a time of increased lobbying efforts o

John McCain has called for building 45 new nuclear power plants by 2030 and 100 eventually. Barack Obama's Web site says, "It is unlikely that we can meet our aggressive climate goals if we eliminate nuclear power from the table." But to what extent can nuclear power really help achieve energy independence? There's a problem about nuclear energy that gets little attention. At present, fossil fuels provide 87 percent of the world's total energy while nuclear power plants provide just 4.8 percent. (All nuclear power plants currently generate electricity, accounting for about 15 percent of world electricity generation, while fossil fuels produce almost 67 percent of the electricity.) The best estimates put the amount of uranium that can be mined economically (what geologists call the reserves) at about 5.5 million metric tons, and according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, today's nuclear power plants use 70,000 metric tons a year of uranium. At this rate of use, the uranium that could be mined economically would last about 80 years.

A mining company says a uranium deposit in the Lake Frome region in the east of South Australia may be Australia's next mine. Chairman of Curnamona Energy Limited, Bob Johnson, says the Oban deposit was found about 18 months ago and has "quite a bit" of easily-extractable uranium.

"A government proposal to put substantial quantities of 'weapons grade' uranium on the open market at one time would have a significant effect on the economy of northwest Nebraska, because it would reduce the price for the uranium produced at the Crow Butte mine near Crawford, mine manager Jim Stokey told the Chadron City Council on Monday. After hearing Stokey's review of the large economic impact of the Crow Butte mine in the region, and an explanation of the more complicated issue of how uranium is marketed, the council approved sending a letter to Senator Ben Nelson seeking his help in forestalling plans to sell the radioactive material all at once. According to Stokey, the Department of Energy wants to sell a large amount of material recycled from nuclear weapons for dilution and eventual use in energy production."

South Africa's mining industry and the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) are at odds over a December ruling in the Bloemfontein High Court that the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA), of 2002, does not apply to all of South Africa's old mine dumps.

While the commonwealth waits for a study to begin to determine whether uranium can be mined and milled safely in the state, the head of the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission is seeking funding for the study. So far, the sole entity that has expressed willingness to pay for the study is Virginia Uranium Inc., said Delegate Terry Kilgore, R-1st District, chairman of the VCEC. "They're the only ones who have offered funding," Kilgore said, adding that he will try to obtain funding from environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, the Piedmont Environmental Council or other organizations. The commission is responsible for arranging financing of the study. The VCEC's Uranium Mining Subcommittee approved the first part of the study, which is expected to cover the technical aspects of mining and milling, in May. Kilgore said the study's first portion would cost about $1.2 million. The second phase, which would cover uranium's economic impact but has not yet been approved by the subcommittee, will cost about $500,000, Kilgore said.

The uranium-mining study has begun. The Virginia Coal and Energy Commission's Uranium Mining Subcommittee, tasked with overseeing a study to determine whether uranium can be mined and milled safely in the commonwealth, approved a revised final draft of the study Thursday. But Delegate Danny Marshall, R-Danville, said he is disappointed with the decision. Marshall asked the subcommittee to post Thursday's citizen input on its Web site and wait 60 days before deciding whether to approve the study. "We're not in a hurry to do this," Marshall said during an interview before the meeting. Subcommittee members pressed ahead after taking public comment, rearranging and adding amendments to the study's 11-item "statement of task" before approving it by an 8-2 vote. Delegate William Janis, R-56th District and Delegate Watkins Abbitt, I-59th District, opposed.

Conservation groups say they may add endangered species claims to a lawsuit seeking to stop uranium mining in western Colorado. The groups are suing the U.S. Department of Energy over a leasing program for more uranium mining on 42 square miles near Dolores River Canyon in southwest Colorado. The lawsuit has been pending since last summer in federal court in Denver. The environmentalists said Wednesday that more uranium mining would release poisons that could hurt protected fish and waterfowl living on the Dolores and San Miguel rivers.

"Uranium mining, banned on the Navajo Nation, advanced closer to tribal boundaries when the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's licensing of in situ leach uranium mining at four sites near Crownpoint and Church Rock in New Mexico. The split decision by a three-judge panel March 8 also denied a request for review of one of the sites near Church Rock where Hydro Resources, Inc., whose parent company is Uranium Resources Inc., has a joint venture with Itochu, a Tokyo-headquartered transnational, to begin producing an estimated six to nine million pounds of uranium annually from New Mexico. Eastern Navajo Dine Against Uranium Mining, a Navajo community organization; Southwest Research and Information Center, a nonprofit environmental education organization; and two local ranchers were joined by the Navajo Nation in a friend-of-the-court brief asserting that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission violated atomic energy and environmental laws in granting the license."

"Niger, the world's sixth-largest uranium producer, will review mining agreements with companies including Areva SA to ensure they're fair to the West African country, a mines ministry official said. Minister of Mines and Energy Souleymane Mamadou Abba, appointed by Niger's military rulers on March 1, hasn't yet set a schedule or format for the audit, Mahaman Laoun Gaya, an official at the ministry and a former government minister, said by phone today from the capital, Niamey. "The military authorities have decided to audit all the uranium and gold contracts," Gaya said."

"Consultant Craig Holmes acknowledged a mining company did not return test mining sites to baseline uranium levels after testing, which is a common practice. Holmes, who is an independent consultant hired to make sure Uranium Energy Corp. follows procedures, spent eight hours on the witness stand on Tuesday during the second day of testimony in the state contested case hearing over uranium mining in Goliad. Holmes was questioned on three main points: uranium level baseline, bore holes not being plugged within the 48 hours required after drilling, and his credibility. Holmes said the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality was notified of the violations involving the bore holes."

French nuclear power group Areva will press ahead with its plan to build a 1 billion euro ($1.40 billion) uranium mine in Niger despite falling world prices for the fuel, the firm said on Friday. The Imouraren mine, due to begin commercial production of 5,000 tonnes per year in 2010, would make the West African desert state the world's second biggest source of uranium. French state-controlled Areva renewed its uranium mining deal with Niger in January 2008, when prices UX-U308-SPT were around $90 per lb, almost double their most recent recorded level of $53 on Dec. 16.

Coloradoans Against Resource Destruction (C.A.R.D.) will hold a public meeting in Fort Collins on Feb. 11 to provide an update on the status of the proposed in-situ uranium leach mining project near Nunn. Advertisement The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the Fort Collins Senior Center, 1200 Raintree Drive. A Canadian mining company began buying mineral leases in 2007 in Weld County and announced its intention to mine uranium six miles northeast of Fort Collins and about the same distance north of Windsor.

The author of a book that strikes down uranium exploration in Canada is applauding the New Brunswick government for its recent roadblocks to mining the element in the province. Jim Harding, a retired environmental and justice studies professor and author of Canada's Deadly Secret: Saskatchewan Uranium and the Global Nuclear System, made a stop in Moncton yesterday on a cross-country tour to chastise any move towards mining the radioactive rock. Harding argued the thesis of his book, which flatly states uranium creates more problems than solutions, backing his claim on a timeline of Saskatchewan's mining experience.

An independent radiation safety expert from Queensland, who was called in to speak to Ranger uranium mine employees this week about exposure levels, says management is reassessing its procedures. The mine's union expressed concern after a dirty clean up job at the mine three weeks ago.

The study conducted by the anti-mining New Mexico Environmental Law Center, cited in the article "Economics of New Mexico's uranium mining debated," isn't a question of comparing apples to oranges, but the academic equivalent of comparing apples to automobiles. The latest salvo by the Environmental Law Center, in an ongoing effort to thwart mining and use of nuclear fuel, refutes the careful and exhaustive study done by New Mexico State University's Arrowhead Center, a non-biased study on economic impacts of the uranium industry in New Mexico centered on numbers, not emotion.

Concerns have been raised about zircon sand to be stored at Thevenard once Iluka's zircon mine starts production in 2010. The topic was raised at a recent meeting of the Thevenard Ratepayers and Residents Group, with particular concern being the radiation emitted from the sand monazite, which contains the radioactive element thorium. But Iluka says monazite is only a small part of the sands they will be mining and the radiation from the zircon sands they will be mining is barely higher than in the normal environment. Sue Haseldine, who lives on a farm near Ceduna but has relatives in Thevenard, said she had not been involved in the consultation process yet but said she had questions about mining, transportation and storage.

In a response to the industry's exaggerated claims that renewed uranium mining would be a multi-billion dollar economic bonanza for New Mexico and the Grants area, the Law Center commissioned Dr. Thomas M. Power to evaluate the true economic impacts of uranium mining in New Mexico. The result is the only independently reviewed analysis of the subject in New Mexico entitled An Economic Evaluation of a Renewed Uranium Mining Boom in New Mexico.

Zambia has enacted a law for mining, storage and export of uranium which bars the diversion of the mineral for use in making nuclear weapons or devices, mines minister Kalombo Mwansa said on Monday. Mwansa said he had signed a law to pave the way for uranium mining in the country following the discovery of huge uranium deposits in several parts of the mineral-rich southern Africa country.

Among the details to emerge from the meeting was acknowledgment by the NRC that, although ISL mine permits call for returning groundwater to its original condition when mining is done, some of the "baseline parameters" have proved unachievable by mining companies.