Tag Archives: radioactive

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Greenland Inuit oppose open-pit uranium mine on Arctic mountain-top – The Ecologist

http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2988016/greenland_inuit_oppose_openpit_uranium_mine_on_arctic_mountaintop.html

“Recently I [Bill Williams] was invited to assess an old Danish uranium exploration site in Kvanefjeld in southern Greenland.”

Inuit Ataqatigiit – the opposition party in the national parliament – had asked me to talk to local people about the health implications of re-opening the defunct mine.

An Australian firm called Greenland Minerals and Energy (GME) has big plans to extract uranium and rare earth minerals here. It would be a world first: an open-pit uranium mine on an Arctic mountain-top.

Any questions?

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Radioactive Water From Fracking Found in Pennsylvania Creek According to Duke Study – EcoWatch: Cutting Edge Environmental News Service

This an excerpt from ENS on shale extraction and the environment in the Allegheny watershed;

“The study, Impacts of Shale Gas Wastewater Disposal on Water Quality in Western Pennsylvania, was conducted over a period of two years from the summer of 2010 to the fall of 2012 and analyzed water samples discharged downstream of the Josephine Brine Treatment Facility into Blacklick Creek in the Allegheny River watershed, according to StateImpact, a project of National Public Radio. Sediment found in the creek contained levels of radium that were 200 times greater than normal levels, along with high levels of salts like chloride and bromide in the surface water.
These elements are naturally occurring and released during the fracking process. Radioactive brine, known as “flowback,” is typically shipped to centers like the Josephine Brine Treatment Facility or injected into wells.
“The recent Duke University study that found increased levels of radiation in a Pennsylvania creek linked to liquid waste from oil and gas drilling should serve as a wakeup call to Governor Kasich,” said Food & Water Watch Ohio organizer Alison Auciello. “It should also make him think twice about accepting waste from oil and gas drilling operations in other states.”
Last year, more than 14 million barrels of toxic waste from oil and gas drilling were injected into the ground in Ohio’s Class II disposal wells, with more than half of the wastewater coming from out-of-state. These injection wells, essential to the fracking industry, pose a series of threats to groundwater supplies and human health, and have been linked to increased seismic activity.”

http://ecowatch.com/2013/radioactive-water-from-fracking-in-creek/

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Nuclear waste probed in Senate Committee | Mobile Augusta

An excerpt from the Augusta Chronicle on fate of highly radioactive waste:

The intent of the 2013 Nuclear Waste Administration Act is to implement recommendations from a blue-ribbon committee formed after the Obama administration halted a planned repository in Nevada’s Yucca Mountain.

The bill, which goes before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on July 30, outlines “consent-based” siting policies that require support of state and local governments before waste storage or processing facilities can be established.

The legislation recommends no specific locations for “consolidated interim storage” of spent nuclear fuel, but Savannah River Site in South Carolina has already been discussed as a possible venue.

In March, consultants hired by the SRS Community Reuse Organization, an economic development consortium, unveiled a $200,000 study concluding that the site’s H Canyon processing facilities and history of nuclear involvement make it suitable for such programs.

The SRS Citizens Advisory Board has become involved in similar discussions. Its waste management committee voted 12-10 for a position paper opposing the idea. That draft resolution is scheduled for a formal vote by the full board Tuesday.

Until a solution is found, spent fuel will continue to accumulate at commercial power plants, which now store about 75,000 tons of the material on-site in pools or above-ground casks.

http://m.chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2013-07-22/senate-committee-discuss-how-choose-nuclear-waste-sites

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Technically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive matetial – Observer

Tara Kinsell reports on TENORM stuck in Greene County. Fracking in Pennsylvannia is generating such waste. This material includes biproducts from oil and gas exploration and pumping. A more permanent solution to transportation and storage needs to be found to contain or reclaim radioactive materials. Here is an excerpt:

It isn’t like we are taking nuclear fuel rods. It is mostly medical waste and low level drill cuttings coming up from deep digs, not really high level radiation,” Poister said. “The problem lately is making sure it doesn’t leach into the ground so it doesn’t become a larger problem. Obviously you don’t want that stuff sitting on site. It is supposed to be safely disposed of.”

He said there are stringent guidelines that must be followed when dealing with TENORM.

Companies face fines when they are out of compliance. However, looking at fines for various infractions, including some for failure to properly dispose of or clean up waste that threatened polluting waters of the commonwealth, resulted in fines of just a few thousand dollars. It seems like a drop in the bucket for wells that are raking in millions.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) estimates the United States may produce more than 1 billion tons of TENORM annually from all sources. Large quantities of TENORM are currently undisposed of with much of it existing in abandoned mine sites across the country, according to the NRC.

Poister said TENORM is part of the reason the DEP launched a study in January to look at naturally occurring levels of radioactivity in materials associated with oil and gas development.

Flowback waters, treatment solids, drill cuttings, transportation issues, storage and disposal of drilling wastes and levels of radon in natural gas are being looked at, along with the potential of exposure to industry employees and the public.

http://www.observer-reporter.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20130708%2FNEWS02%2F130709434#.Ud6Vvqz7ZRZ

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Kyrgyzstan to return radioactive cars to Japan: Voice of Russia

Kyrgyzstan intends to return Japanese cars imported after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. A statement by the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry says that some of the cars are emitting radiation exceeding permissible levels by several times despite being deactivated. About 50,000 used cars are imported into Kyrgyzstan annually, nearly a half of them from Japan. Voice of Russia, TASS http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_02_21/Kyrgyzstan-to-return-radioactive-cars-to-Japan/

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Kyrgyzstan to return radioactive cars to Japan: Voice of Russia

Kyrgyzstan intends to return Japanese cars imported after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. A statement by the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry says that some of the cars are emitting radiation exceeding permissible levels by several times despite being deactivated. About 50,000 used cars are imported into Kyrgyzstan annually, nearly a half of them from Japan. Voice of Russia, TASS http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_02_21/Kyrgyzstan-to-return-radioactive-cars-to-Japan/