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An attorney for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission faced tough questioning about foreign ownership of nuclear production facilities last week during a hearing in Chadron on the proposed expansion of the Crow Butte Resources uranium mine near Crawford. Acting as hearing officer for NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, adminstrative judge Ann Young appeared unwilling to accept the interpretation of NRC staff attorney Andrea Jones that the ownership of the Crow Butte Mine by Canadian firm Cameco, Inc. should not be considered in the decision about whether to approve the mine expansion.

Premier Alan Carpenter has been accused of failing to consider the impact on native title holders of his proposal to legislate to ban uranium mining. Mr Carpenter says he will introduce legislation banning uranium mining in Western Australia if he is re-elected. The Western Desert Lands Corporation, which represents the Martu people, says uranium mining could provide numerous opportunities because the area is home to the major Kintyre uranium deposit which was sold to Cameco and Mitsubishi earlier this month.

In a July 31 story about a lawsuit over uranium mining, The Associated Press erroneously described the upsurge in requests submitted to the federal Bureau of Land Management involving uranium reserves on federal land in Colorado controlled by the BLM. The 10,730 requests submitted to the BLM in 2007, 5,205 in 2006 and 120 in 2003 were claims to permit individuals or companies to use a parcel of federal land to explore for uranium and possibly build a mine. These were not applications to begin development of mines.

Representatives from the mining company Cameco addressed the Alice Springs Town Council last night. The company wants to mine 25 kilometres south of Alice Springs and was given 10 minutes to present the pros and cons of uranium mining. A group of about 20 community members crammed into the Alice Springs Town Council chambers to hear the Cameco deputation.

DENVER - Fort Collins resident Marina Mayer was so overwhelmed by a unanimous Senate committee vote Thursday to tighten regulation of uranium mining in Colorado she broke down in tears. "It's very emotional for me," said Mayer who is originally from Germany. "A week after my husband and I moved to Fort Collins, we heard about what was happening with the (Nunn) mine. There was a uranium mine in Germany and after it moved out the (landowners), well, they are still trying to work out the cleanup."

A groundwater discharge permit is being sought for Mount Taylor Uranium Mine and Mill owned by Rio Grande Resources, according to the New Mexico Environment Department. Gerald Schoeppner of NMED's Groundwater Quality Bureau said Wednesday that the company has an existing discharge plan for its mine that it's trying to renew, "but that's one of the pieces of the puzzle that's missing - how they're planning to treat their mine water for the dewatering to meet standards."

Traditional owners in the NT's Kakadu region have decided to continue a ban on mining at the $5 billion Koongarra uranium deposit. The French company Areva wants to mine 14,000 tonnes of uranium at the site that is surrounded by Kakadu National Park. The lucrative deposit sits three kilometres from Nourlangie Rock - a sacred art site and major tourist attraction. Representatives of traditional owners, the Northern Land Council, Areva and the Territory and Federal governments met in Jabiru and Cooinda this week to discuss the future of the deposit. Traditional owners decided mining should not go ahead at the site

The New Mexico House barely passed a bill Monday that calls for the creation of a task force to look into uranium mining in the state. The House passed the measure 31-28 and it now goes to the Senate. State Rep. Patty Lundstrom, D-McKinley County, said the bill calls for the task force to prepare a report by October on the feasibility of bringing uranium mining back to the state. All of the Gallup area representatives, with the exception of Sandra Jeff, voted in favor of the bill, said Lundstrom. The task force would also look into existing state laws, she said, to make sure that they are adequate in handling the problems that could arise out of uranium mining. "The uranium industry fought to keep this resolution from passing," Lundstrom said. "They don't want this kind of scrutiny."

A proposed nuclear reactor that would power mining operations in Quebec's remote regions carries more risks than benefits, according to an environmental group. Western Troy is a mining company that plans to open up a copper mine in Lake McLeod, about 200 kilometres north of Chibougamau. The company has begun a feasibility study to investigate using a mini-nuclear reactor that could provide inexpensive power to the mine. Western Troy will need to provide at least 10 megawatts of electricity to power the operation, said Rex Loesby, company president. The nuclear reactor under study is a promising option, even though it poses certain problems, he told CBC News

Uranium mining could present WA communities with a variety of health problems, from leukemia to congenital defects, according to a health expert at a recent forum. Speaking at the Public Health Association of Australia's "Uranium Mining: What are the health risks for WA?" seminar, Nobel Peace Prize nominee Dr Helen Caldicott said the public health effects on Western Australians could be disastrous if plans to begin uranium mining in the State go ahead. Dr Caldicott said miners and nearby residents could be at risk should they be exposed to harmful materials.

Thousands of mining claims dot 1 million acres near the Grand Canyon, and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says his department has a responsibility to ensure those resources are developed in a way that protects communities, treasured landscapes and watersheds. The Interior Department announced Monday that it is barring the filing of new mining claims, including for uranium, on the acreage for two years. Meanwhile, his department will study whether the land should be permanently withdrawn from mining activity.

The Environmental Protection Agency, complying with a court order, will develop a rule to guarantee companies that mine everything from copper to uranium will pay for needed environmental cleanup, not taxpayers. The announcement on Monday comes in the wake of a federal judge's order in February requiring the EPA to close loopholes that allow some companies to get out of paying for such costly cleanups when they file bankruptcy. The agency said it will develop similar financial responsibility requirements for other types of operations but started with hardrock mining because of the size of the operations, the amount of waste and the number of mining sites on its Superfund's national priorities list.

A uranium-mining company has asked a federal appeals court to review an April decision that a proposed uranium mine site in western New Mexico is on Native American land. Durango auto dealer custom residential construction Katie Ogier - The Wells Group Lewisville, Texas-based Uranium Resource Inc. said Monday it asked the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver for an "en banc review" of the decision that sided with the Environmental Protection Agency. Monday was the deadline for making the request. A 2-1 decision made on April 17 by a three-judge panel requires URI subsidiary Hydro Resources Inc. to obtain a groundwater injection permit from the Environmental Protection Agency, which delays the company's plans to mine for uranium near Church Rock. The company already has a state groundwater-injection permit.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will require more detailed environmental studies of proposed new in-situ uranium mines in the western United States. The in-situ technique involves pumping chemicals into groundwater to free uranium from the surrounding ore so it can be pumped to the surface and refined. The agency announced Thursday that is has released its final environmental study of the mining method after conducting public meetings in Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota and New Mexico. Wyoming is the leading producer of uranium at about 2 million pounds a year.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will require more detailed environmental studies of proposed new in-situ uranium mines in the western United States. The in-situ technique involves pumping chemicals into groundwater to free uranium from the surrounding ore so it can be pumped to the surface and refined. The agency announced this week that it has released its final environmental study of the mining method after conducting public meetings in Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota and New Mexico. Critics say the technique pollutes groundwater. But supporters say it's a clean process that's less disruptive than traditional mining methods.

A grassroots effort to help uranium mine workers' children affected by diseases and birth defects is picking up steam on the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Nation Dependents of Uranium Workers Committee will meet for the second time in a month to update community members and hear feedback from residents who suffer from cancer, kidney disease, birth defects and other illnesses resulting from prolonged radon exposure from uranium mines. The health problems date back to work in the 1950s and '60s, said Phil Harrison, Council Delegate for Red Valley/Cove Chapter of the Navajo Nation. During that time, uranium mine workers were exposed to high levels of radon, which has caused inter-generational bouts of illnesses in communities across the Navajo Nation. "A lot of people don't want to talk about this in the public," Harrison said. By holding public meetings, organizers hope to garner enough support to lobby government officials in Washington, D.C., to amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver has upheld a 2007 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of the Interior decision that Hydro Resources Inc.'s Churchrock Section 8 mine site is located in "Indian Country." HRI challenged the decision last May before the Court of Appeals. The decision means that HRI will have to obtain an underground injection control permit from EPA rather than the New Mexico Environment Department before it can move forward with its plans for in-situ leach uranium mining in Section 8. Navajo Nation Department of Justice, Churchrock Chapter, New Mexico Environmental Law Center, Southwest Research Information Center and Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining all participated in the matter, filing comments on the proposed determination in 2006.

The 1872 Mining Law was intended to promote mining on public lands. It should be reformed to, among other things, allow federal agencies to deny exploration or mining permits to protect tribal and cultural lands.

"New research shows areas formerly mined for uranium near the Grand Canyon have slightly elevated levels of uranium in the water, but that the majority of wells, springs and streams would be fit to drink under EPA standards. The findings are important because they will be at the heart of data used by the Interior Department as it debates whether to allow or prohibit new uranium mines on the Arizona Strip amid renewed federal interest in nuclear power. Researchers took 1,014 water samples in the region, including downstream of former uranium mines, and found that water exceeded a contaminant level for one or more elements 7 percent of the time. Uranium was one of the contaminants. Fifteen springs and five wells of those sampled contained uranium levels higher than what the EPA considers safe for drinking water, and they were located next to or downstream from known ore deposits, researchers wrote in a 353-page report."

The U.S. Forest Service is developing an environmental cleanup plan for the San Mateo Uranium Mine under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act. The site is located on the Mount Taylor Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest, Cibola County, approximately 12 miles northeast of Grants. * The Forest Service prepared an Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis (EE/CA) to identify and evaluate several cleanup alternatives to address the waste rock piles associated with past uranium mining. The recommended cleanup alternative is to consolidate the waste rock piles and place them in an on-site repository. A geomembrane would be placed above the waste rock in the repository and would be covered with clean soil, re-vegetated, and armored with rock. Rock armoring would reduce the potential for erosion during heavy storm events and reduce the potential risk of exposure to gamma radiation and direct contact, inhalation, or ingestion of waste rock. The agency is requesting public input and comments on the EE/CA and the recommended cleanup alternative. The EE/CA and the Administrative Record are available for review at the Southwestern Regional Office in Albuquerque and the Mount Taylor Ranger District Office, 1800 Lobo Canyon Rd., in Grants and also available at the following link: http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/cibola/projects/index.shtml.

The U.S. Forest Service is developing an environmental cleanup plan for the San Mateo Uranium Mine under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act. The site is located on the Mount Taylor Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest, Cibola County, approximately 12 miles northeast of Grants. * The Forest Service prepared an Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis (EE/CA) to identify and evaluate several cleanup alternatives to address the waste rock piles associated with past uranium mining. The recommended cleanup alternative is to consolidate the waste rock piles and place them in an on-site repository. A geomembrane would be placed above the waste rock in the repository and would be covered with clean soil, re-vegetated, and armored with rock. Rock armoring would reduce the potential for erosion during heavy storm events and reduce the potential risk of exposure to gamma radiation and direct contact, inhalation, or ingestion of waste rock. The agency is requesting public input and comments on the EE/CA and the recommended cleanup alternative. The EE/CA and the Administrative Record are available for review at the Southwestern Regional Office in Albuquerque and the Mount Taylor Ranger District Office, 1800 Lobo Canyon Rd., in Grants and also available at the following link: http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/cibola/projects/index.shtml.