JOHN LAFORGE – Federal and state officials said in February six giant underground tanks holding an explosive and toxic brew of highly radioactive liquid wastes are leaking at the 570-square-mile Hanford Reservation, on the Columbia River in South Central Washington State.
Tag: nuclear waste
Greens Call Germany’s Gradual Reactor Phase-out Too Slow
JOHN LAFORGE – Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel reacted quickly to nationwide antinuclear protests re-ignited by the still-out-of-control radiation disaster at Fukushima, Japan. The Chancellor first ordered the powering-down of the seven oldest and most dangerous reactors in Germany, and she halted plans for any new reactor construction.
Legislators Request U.S. Not to Send More Radwaste to NW
REP. JULES BAILEY – Under the leadership of Rep. Jules Bailey, 17 Oregon representatives and senators from Portland have written Energy Secretary Steven Chu protesting the addition of new radioactive material to the profoundly contaminated Hanford site in southern Washington.
At Last! Good News About Nukes
MICHAEL MARIOTTE – Even while the tragedy of the Fukushima disaster continues and our thoughts and prayers remain with the people of Japan, there has been a spate of good news on this side of the Pacific.
Plutonium Fuel that Threatens Japan Could Come to Washington Nuke
FRIENDS OF THE EARTH – Fukushima Daiichi reactor number 3 – one of the reactors in Japan that has suffered a partial meltdown and that remains endangered – is using an unusual, highly volatile form of reactor fuel that is not yet used in the U.S. but that has been proposed for use at the Columbia Generating Station near Richland, Washington.
Action Alerts from Indian Country
POO HA BAH – Anishinabe Kweag, a group of women indigenous to the area now called Ontario, is calling on Bruce Power to halt its plans to ship 16 decommissioned nuclear steam generators through the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.
Health and the Nuclear Gamble
ROBERT F. DODGE, MD – The world has anxiously watched the events in Japan unfolding this past few weeks after the horrific earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster. The feelings are magnified out of a sense of helplessness in aiding the victims in Japan mixed with concerns for potential effects and implications to our own health and communities. In assessing the devastating effects of natural disasters, we must pause as we consider the potential for catastrophic effects of manmade disasters, specifically from nuclear power plants.
Dangerous Plumes of Disinformation Spewing from Meltdowns
JOHN LAFORGE – Well-reported plumes of radiation have spread to California and beyond from the wrecked six-reactor complex at Fukushima, Japan. What’s worse in terms of citizen awareness, clouds of disinformation are circling even faster.
Uranium Mining Begins Near Grand Canyon
KLEE BENALLY: In defiance of legal challenges and a U.S. government moratorium, Canadian company Denison Mines has started mining uranium on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. According to the Arizona Daily Sun the mine has been operating since December 2009.
Breif-ings
BRIEF INSIGHTS ON: 1) Yucca Mountain eyed for nuclear reprocessing; 2) PBS to cancel “NOW” and retire Bill Moyers’ “Journal”, 3) Be more persuasive; and 4) 2 out of 3 Americans ready to drop “don’t ask, don’t tell.
Native Council Wins Right to Intervene in Yucca Mountain License Application
IAN ZABARTE: NCAC raised three “contentions” in opposition to the licensing of the facility. First, NCAC demonstrated that the lands on which the facility is proposed to be built, remain Shoshone lands. The judges agreed that this is a “viable” legal claim, and this contention is admitted. Decision, page 130. (The judges accepted our argument that the Shoshone claim to the lands is a “cloud” on the United States assertion of title. They did not accept the argument that the Shoshone title is reserved by the Treaty of Ruby Valley. We will continue, therefore, to fight about this with legal arguments.)