‘Crunch time’ at troubled nuclear fuel plant Washington Post By Steven Mufson, January 13 U.S. Enrichment Corp., which produces fuel for nuclear power plants, is having its own sort of meltdown.
Disillusioned investors have wiped out 95 percent of the company’s market value since 2007. Standard & Poor’s has saddled it with a dismal CCC-plus credit rating. (more…)
UN nuclear agency confirms Iranian uranium enrichment at bunker, increasing nuke fears, Washington Post, 8 Jan 12 VIENNA — The U.N. nuclear agency on Monday confirmed that Iran has begun enriching uranium at an underground bunker to a level that can be upgraded more quickly for use in a nuclear weapon than the nation’s main enriched stockpile….. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/diplomats-confirm-new-iranian-uranium-enrichment-say-rk-increases-nuke-fears/2012/01/09/gIQAZFN1kP_story.html
many of the good things GE is using to make a case about Silex—less use of resources and electricity and increased efficiency—are actually negatives that make it easier for rogue states to hide clandestine plants…..methods for the production and use of nuclear materials that would be more difficult to detect,” the report states
New Uranium Enrichment Technology Alarms, Aviation Week, By Kristin Majcher Washington 23 Nov 11 General Electric says it has successfully tested a faster, cheaper way to produce nuclear reactor fuel, and is planning to commercialize the technology by building a facility in Wilmington, N.C. While the prospect of saving resources to generate energy at a lower price sounds like a breakthrough, scientists are concerned that the top-secret method of enrichment that GE is using will indirectly elevate proliferation risks around the world, thus inspiring rogue states to develop their own laser enrichment facilities for nuclear
weapons.
The enrichment technology is the Separation of Isotopes by Laser Excitation (Silex). It was developed by Silex of Australia in 1992. The technology company USEC funded early research on Silex, but abandoned it in favor of focusing on centrifuge enrichment. In 2006, GE signed an exclusive agreement to commercialize and license the technology and spearhead further research and development.
Although Silex is the only known method of laser enrichment that works and could be commercially viable, scientists are concerned because many countries have funded laser-enrichment projects. According to the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, more than 20 countries have researched laser isotope separation techniques, including China, India, Iraq, Russia, Japan and Pakistan. Although they were unsuccessful, scientists say that putting Silex back into the public eye, regardless of the safeguards GE promises, poses a problem. Showing that it works could renew efforts by countries to develop the process. (more…)
Canada shipping bomb-grade uranium to U.S.: memo Andy Blatchford, The Canadian Press, 27 Dec 11 MONTREAL — Weapons-grade uranium is quietly being transported within Canada, and into the United States, in shipments the country’s nuclear watchdog wants to keep cloaked in secrecy. (more…)
U.S. will trade food for uranium agreement from North Korea, Negotiations yield several advances Detroit Free Press, Dec. 19, 2011 The U.S. is poised to announce a significant donation of food aid to North Korea this week, the first concrete accomplishment after months of behind-the-scenes diplomatic contacts between the two wartime enemies. An agreement by North Korea to suspend its controversial uranium enrichment program will likely follow within days.
A broad outline of the emerging agreement has been made known to the Associated Press by people close to the negotiations.
Discussions have been taking place since summer in New York, Geneva, Switzerland, and Beijing. They already have yielded agreements by North Korea to suspend nuclear and ballistic missile testing, readmit international nuclear inspectors expelled in 2009, and resume adialogue between North Korea and South Korea, according to the people,
who spoke on condition of anonymity because of sensitivity of the negotiations…..
http://www.freep.com/article/20111219/NEWS07/112190328/U-S-will-trade-food-uranium-agreement-from-North-Korea?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs
Cotter Corp. won’t try to rebuild uranium milling program in Cañon City, must move toward final clean up 12/16/2011 By Bruce Finley The Denver Post Cotter Corp. has decided it is “no longer economic” to process uranium at its contaminated Colorado uranium mill and will move toward clean-up of the site next to Cañon City along the Arkansas River.
A letter from Cotter president Amory Quinn says Cotter “will not seek to renew” the radioactive materials license Cotter has from the state health department. Cotter plans to decommission and decontaminate the mill site and to request license termination, Quinn said in the Dec. 12 letter. http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_19562999#ixzz1gp8Ndp4u
Henry D. Sokolski, the executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, said Piketon was not a good bargain for taxpayers. “This thing has got more than nine lives, and none of them are worth living,” he said. “It will not do to whine about Solyndra
and wink at this.”……
John R. Longenecker, a consultant in the nuclear fuel business, said…. the industry had hoped for a renaissance that would result in many more reactors, he said, but “if that happened, I blinked and missed it.”
Loan Request by Uranium-Enrichment Company Scrambles Politics as Usual, NYT By MATTHEW L. WALD, November 24, 2011 WASHINGTON — The only American-owned company capable of enriching uranium is asking for government help to modernize its plant and remain in business.
That leaves Congress with a stark choice. It can either risk millions or billions of dollars to keep the company viable, or it will have to rely on domestic inventories and foreign-owned suppliers for a service that is crucial both to maintaining the country’s nuclear arsenal and for running its 104 nuclear power reactors. (more…)
The most powerful influences in any decision on uranium mining and processing are likely to be financial and political,”
“Thus, it is imperative that the public evaluate the long-term ‘big picture’ because the actual impacts will be paid for by numerous future generations.”..
Uranium mining, milling threatens water, report claims, By TIM DAVIS/Star-Tribune, November 22, 2011 A report funded by the Roanoke River Basin Association warns that a proposed uranium mining and milling project in Pittsylvania County could be a serious threat to water quality and may increase competition for water in the future.
The 39-page report, “Site-Specific Assessment of the Proposed Uranium Mining and Milling Project at Coles Hill, Pittsylvania County, Va.,” was released Thursday. (more…)
many of the good things GE is using to make a case about Silex—less use of resources and electricity and increased efficiency—are actually negatives that make it easier for rogue states to hide clandestine plants…..methods for the production and use of nuclear materials that would be more difficult to detect,” the report states
New Uranium Enrichment Technology Alarms Aviation Week, By Kristin Majcher Washington 23 Nov 11 General Electric says it has successfully tested a faster, cheaper way to produce nuclear reactor fuel, and is planning to commercialize the technology by building a facility in Wilmington, N.C. While the prospect of saving resources to generate energy at a lower price sounds like a breakthrough, scientists are concerned that the top-secret method of enrichment that GE is using will indirectly elevate proliferation risks around the world, thus inspiring rogue states to develop their own laser enrichment facilities for nuclear weapons.
The enrichment technology is the Separation of Isotopes by Laser Excitation (Silex). It was developed by Silex of Australia in 1992. The technology company USEC funded early research on Silex, but abandoned it in favor of focusing on centrifuge enrichment. In 2006, GE signed an exclusive agreement to commercialize and license the technology and spearhead further research and development.
Although Silex is the only known method of laser enrichment that works and could be commercially viable, scientists are concerned because many countries have funded laser-enrichment projects. According to the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, more than 20 countries have researched laser isotope separation techniques, including China, India, Iraq, Russia, Japan and Pakistan. Although they were unsuccessful, scientists say that putting Silex back into the public eye, regardless of the safeguards GE promises, poses a problem. Showing that it works could renew efforts by countries to develop the process. (more…)
Uranium mining, milling threatens water, report claims, By TIM DAVIS/Star-Tribune , November 22, 2011 “………Moran’s study is one of the few reports on the potential impact of uranium mining not funded by the mining industry,…
Moran’s site-specific findings include:
Virginia Uranium has failed to present any sort of detailed project proposal in writing.
The verbally described plans have changed constantly, depending on the audience.
Hence, the public has no way of reliably knowing the details of the proposed mining and mineral processing methods or the related impacts.
The project as proposed may generate at least 28 million tons of solid uranium mill tailings and roughly the same amount of liquid waste.
The solid wastes would remain on site forever, requiring maintenance forever.
Uranium mill tailings would contain radionuclides, heavy metals, and other toxic elements.
Undiluted tailings liquids may contain 1,160 to 1,460 times the existing Safe Drinking Water Act standard for uranium.
The confirmed presence of sulfides in the Coles Hill rock raises the possibility that long-term, active water treatment may be required, in perpetuity.
Numerous factors combine to provide long-term pathways for the migration of contaminants into local waters.
As proposed, the Coles Hill project would require over 5 billion gallons of water. During the start-up period, the project would use at least 525.6 million gallons per year.
It has been estimated that at least 136 million gallons of groundwater would flow into the open pit per year.
This water would become contaminated with numerous radioactive and non-radioactive contaminants.
To allow mining, this contaminated water must be pumped out of the open pit and discharged to some undefined location.
The Coles Hill project may use over 2,030 tons of explosives per year, releasing potentially toxic concentrations of nitrate, ammonia, and other organic compounds into the environment.
Such a project would cause long-term, chronic degradation of water quality and increase wate competition in the region.
Statistically adequate baseline data (water quality, quantity, etc.) have never been collected, compiled, and interpreted, or released to the public.
Thus, the public has no reliable “yardstick” against which to demonstrate that changes have occurred or not.
There is no credible evidence to indicate that either the federal or state regulatory agencies have sufficient staff, budgets, or political clout to adequately oversee and enforce the appropriate regulations…. http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2011/11/23/chatham/news/news43.txt
