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#nuclearwaste — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #nuclearwaste, aggregated by home.social.

  1. as:
    "
    .. U.S. produced plutonium for Cold War nuclear weapons in Washington. Decades later, 56 million gallons of highly radioactive waste remain
    "
    ".. debate ..how much waste should receive that highest level of protection .. ongoing for years. .. potential long-term risks to groundwater and .. Columbia River."

    en.as.com/latest_news/the-us-p

    5.8.2026

    #Atomkraft #Atommüll #ColumbiaRiver #Hanford #HanfordSite #Kernenergie #NuclearWaste #Pollution #Plutonium #PU #RadioactiveWaste #TankFarm #USA #Water

  2. Russia plans 441-ton nuclear fuel plant to recycle waste stockpile

    While Western nations try to cut ties with Russia, Moscow is quietly moving to control the global nuclear…
    #NewsBeep #News #Environment #Energy&Environment #environment #nuclearfuel #nuclearwaste #reprocessingplant #Rosatom #Russia #Science #spendnuclearfuel #UK #UnitedKingdom
    newsbeep.com/uk/658071/

  3. Russia plans 441-ton nuclear fuel plant to recycle waste stockpile

    While Western nations try to cut ties with Russia, Moscow is quietly moving to control the global nuclear…
    #NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Environment #Energy&Environment #nuclearfuel #nuclearwaste #reprocessingplant #Rosatom #Russia #Science #spendnuclearfuel
    newsbeep.com/us/725657/

  4. #NewHampshireBulletin:
    "
    New Hampshire and nuclear waste have a fraught history. The path ahead is still unclear.
    "
    ".. nuclear energy is in the spotlight. But as plans for the region’s nuclear future are charted, some of the big questions that stirred New Hampshire in the 1980s remain unanswered."

    newhampshirebulletin.com/2026/

    6.4.2026

    #Atomkraft #Atommüll #DOE #Hillsborough #Kernenergie #NewEngland #NewHampshire #NextEra #NPP #NuclearPower #NuclearWaste #Seabrook #SeabrookStation #USA

  5. ".. having nuclear submarines since 1963, the UK still has no permanent storage for the high-level nuclear waste .. . .. Australian gov. promised to outline a process for identifying a waste site “within the next 12 months” more than three years ago. .. still no site, nor any process."

    theguardian.com/world/2026/mar

    #Australia #Australien #AtomUBoot #Atommüll #BAESystems #England #GreatBritain #NuclearWaste #RollsRoyce #SMR #submarine #UK

  6. #TheGuardian:
    "
    The weakest link: Australia’s submarine hopes depend on the UK, but Britannia no longer rules the waves
    "
    ".. the UK’s National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority has rated the Rolls-Royce-led project to build nuclear reactor cores for Britain’s new submarines as “unachievable” .."

    theguardian.com/world/2026/mar

    20.3.2026

    #AtomUBoot #Aukus #Australia #Australien #England #BAESystems #GreatBritain #NuclearWaste #RollsRoyce #SMR #submarine #UK

  7. "
    New Mexico Rebukes Federal Agency Over Nuclear Waste at Los Alamos

    State environmental regulators will also fine the Energy Department up to $16 million for exceeding safe groundwater standards near the nuclear lab.
    "
    nytimes.com/2026/02/11/us/new-

    11.2.2026

    #aquifer #Atombombe #Atomkraft #Atommüll #groundwater #Grundwasser #Kernenergie #LANL #landfill #LosAlamos #NewMexico #NuclearWaste #pollution #USA #WIPP

  8. The effect of #ClimateChange on sources of #radionuclides to the #MarineEnvironment

    Published: 16 March 2024
    Justin P. Gwynn, Vanessa Hatje, Núria Casacuberta, Manmohan Sarin & Iolanda Osvath

    Abstract:
    "Climate change interacts with the sources and cycling of contaminants, such as radionuclides, in the environment. In this review, we discuss the implications of climate change impacts on existing and potential future sources of radionuclides associated with human activities to the marine environment. The overall effect on operational releases of radionuclides from the nuclear and non-nuclear sectors will likely be increased interference or prevention of normal operations due to weather-related events. For certain #RadioactiveWaste dumped at sea and sunken #NuclearSubmarines, the impact of climate change and ocean #acidification on the release of radionuclides and their subsequent fate in the marine environment should be considered further. Fluxes from secondary sources of radionuclides in the marine and terrestrial environment and cryosphere will change in response to climate change impacts such as sea level rise, warming and changes in precipitation patterns. In addition, climate change impacts may increase the risk of releases of radionuclides from operational and legacy wastes on land to the marine environment. Overall, our synthesis highlights that there is a need to understand and assess climate change impacts on sources of radionuclides to the marine environment to meet environmental and management challenges under future climate scenarios."

    Full paper:
    nature.com/articles/s43247-024

    #NoNukes #NoNuclearWeapons #NoNuclearDumping #ToxicLegacy #LegacyWastes #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearWaste #NuclearWasteStorage #IllegalDumping

  9. The effect of #ClimateChange on sources of #radionuclides to the #MarineEnvironment

    Published: 16 March 2024
    Justin P. Gwynn, Vanessa Hatje, Núria Casacuberta, Manmohan Sarin & Iolanda Osvath

    Abstract:
    "Climate change interacts with the sources and cycling of contaminants, such as radionuclides, in the environment. In this review, we discuss the implications of climate change impacts on existing and potential future sources of radionuclides associated with human activities to the marine environment. The overall effect on operational releases of radionuclides from the nuclear and non-nuclear sectors will likely be increased interference or prevention of normal operations due to weather-related events. For certain #RadioactiveWaste dumped at sea and sunken #NuclearSubmarines, the impact of climate change and ocean #acidification on the release of radionuclides and their subsequent fate in the marine environment should be considered further. Fluxes from secondary sources of radionuclides in the marine and terrestrial environment and cryosphere will change in response to climate change impacts such as sea level rise, warming and changes in precipitation patterns. In addition, climate change impacts may increase the risk of releases of radionuclides from operational and legacy wastes on land to the marine environment. Overall, our synthesis highlights that there is a need to understand and assess climate change impacts on sources of radionuclides to the marine environment to meet environmental and management challenges under future climate scenarios."

    Full paper:
    nature.com/articles/s43247-024

    #NoNukes #NoNuclearWeapons #NoNuclearDumping #ToxicLegacy #LegacyWastes #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearWaste #NuclearWasteStorage #IllegalDumping

  10. The effect of #ClimateChange on sources of #radionuclides to the #MarineEnvironment

    Published: 16 March 2024
    Justin P. Gwynn, Vanessa Hatje, Núria Casacuberta, Manmohan Sarin & Iolanda Osvath

    Abstract:
    "Climate change interacts with the sources and cycling of contaminants, such as radionuclides, in the environment. In this review, we discuss the implications of climate change impacts on existing and potential future sources of radionuclides associated with human activities to the marine environment. The overall effect on operational releases of radionuclides from the nuclear and non-nuclear sectors will likely be increased interference or prevention of normal operations due to weather-related events. For certain #RadioactiveWaste dumped at sea and sunken #NuclearSubmarines, the impact of climate change and ocean #acidification on the release of radionuclides and their subsequent fate in the marine environment should be considered further. Fluxes from secondary sources of radionuclides in the marine and terrestrial environment and cryosphere will change in response to climate change impacts such as sea level rise, warming and changes in precipitation patterns. In addition, climate change impacts may increase the risk of releases of radionuclides from operational and legacy wastes on land to the marine environment. Overall, our synthesis highlights that there is a need to understand and assess climate change impacts on sources of radionuclides to the marine environment to meet environmental and management challenges under future climate scenarios."

    Full paper:
    nature.com/articles/s43247-024

    #NoNukes #NoNuclearWeapons #NoNuclearDumping #ToxicLegacy #LegacyWastes #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearWaste #NuclearWasteStorage #IllegalDumping

  11. The effect of #ClimateChange on sources of #radionuclides to the #MarineEnvironment

    Published: 16 March 2024
    Justin P. Gwynn, Vanessa Hatje, Núria Casacuberta, Manmohan Sarin & Iolanda Osvath

    Abstract:
    "Climate change interacts with the sources and cycling of contaminants, such as radionuclides, in the environment. In this review, we discuss the implications of climate change impacts on existing and potential future sources of radionuclides associated with human activities to the marine environment. The overall effect on operational releases of radionuclides from the nuclear and non-nuclear sectors will likely be increased interference or prevention of normal operations due to weather-related events. For certain #RadioactiveWaste dumped at sea and sunken #NuclearSubmarines, the impact of climate change and ocean #acidification on the release of radionuclides and their subsequent fate in the marine environment should be considered further. Fluxes from secondary sources of radionuclides in the marine and terrestrial environment and cryosphere will change in response to climate change impacts such as sea level rise, warming and changes in precipitation patterns. In addition, climate change impacts may increase the risk of releases of radionuclides from operational and legacy wastes on land to the marine environment. Overall, our synthesis highlights that there is a need to understand and assess climate change impacts on sources of radionuclides to the marine environment to meet environmental and management challenges under future climate scenarios."

    Full paper:
    nature.com/articles/s43247-024

    #NoNukes #NoNuclearWeapons #NoNuclearDumping #ToxicLegacy #LegacyWastes #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearWaste #NuclearWasteStorage #IllegalDumping

  12. The effect of #ClimateChange on sources of #radionuclides to the #MarineEnvironment

    Published: 16 March 2024
    Justin P. Gwynn, Vanessa Hatje, Núria Casacuberta, Manmohan Sarin & Iolanda Osvath

    Abstract:
    "Climate change interacts with the sources and cycling of contaminants, such as radionuclides, in the environment. In this review, we discuss the implications of climate change impacts on existing and potential future sources of radionuclides associated with human activities to the marine environment. The overall effect on operational releases of radionuclides from the nuclear and non-nuclear sectors will likely be increased interference or prevention of normal operations due to weather-related events. For certain #RadioactiveWaste dumped at sea and sunken #NuclearSubmarines, the impact of climate change and ocean #acidification on the release of radionuclides and their subsequent fate in the marine environment should be considered further. Fluxes from secondary sources of radionuclides in the marine and terrestrial environment and cryosphere will change in response to climate change impacts such as sea level rise, warming and changes in precipitation patterns. In addition, climate change impacts may increase the risk of releases of radionuclides from operational and legacy wastes on land to the marine environment. Overall, our synthesis highlights that there is a need to understand and assess climate change impacts on sources of radionuclides to the marine environment to meet environmental and management challenges under future climate scenarios."

    Full paper:
    nature.com/articles/s43247-024

    #NoNukes #NoNuclearWeapons #NoNuclearDumping #ToxicLegacy #LegacyWastes #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearWaste #NuclearWasteStorage #IllegalDumping

  13. NUKE WASTE DUMP: #Ojibwe Country once again targeted

    May 1, 2025

    "#BeyondNuclear’s radioactive waste specialist, Kevin Kamps, presented '#WaterIsLife, #NuclearWasteIsToxic' at the annual meeting of #EnvironmentNorth, in #ThunderBay, #Ontario, Canada, on the north shore of #LakeSuperior, April 23, 2025.

    "Environment North is the lead local grassroots organization resisting the Canadian federal #NuclearWaste Management Organization’s (#NWMO, dominated by the nuclear industry, such as #OntarioPowerGeneration - #OPG) designation of the #IgnaceWabigoonLake #OjibwayFirstNation area as the national #RadioactiveWaste dump.

    "A number of Ojibway #FirstNation Bands have also passed resolutions opposing the scheme, which would require long-distance, high-risk transportation of highly radioactive waste, from some two-dozen reactors to the east in #Canada, on the Great Lakes, Saint Lawrence, and Atlantic."

    Source [includes more info and links]:
    beyondnuclear.org/nuke-waste-d

    #EnvironmentRacism #NoDumpingWithoutConsent #NuclearWasteIsForever #DGR #NuclearPowerPlants #NuclearPowerNoThanks #IndigenousLand

  14. #SouthBruce staff to prepare report on second #NuclearWaste repository

    As runners-up in the #NWMO's first site-selection process, the municipality of South Bruce is uniquely positioned as the organization now seeks a second site to bury nuclear waste deep underground.

    Greg Cowan
    Published Jul 28, 2025

    Excerpt: "The proposed site faced significant public opposition, including from the Protecting Our Waterways – No Nuclear Waste group. Furthermore, the #SaugeenOjibwayNation, with its traditional territory stretching from the tip of the #BrucePeninsula to south of #Goderich, announced earlier this year that it plans to issue a #moratorium on future nuclear intensification and waste projects if no progress is made on addressing nuclear legacy issues in its territory.

    " 'We will enforce this moratorium by all legal and political means necessary until a just and satisfactory resolution is in place,' the letter signed by #Nawash Chief #GregNadjiwon and #Saugeen Chief #ConradRitchie stated. 'Accordingly, the Nuclear Advisory Committee has been directed to pursue the resolution of legacy issues through agreements with Ontario Power Generation (#OPG), the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (#NWMO), other private nuclear operators, as well as the federal and provincial governments.' "

    Read more:
    owensoundsuntimes.com/news/loc

    #DGR #RadioactiveWaste #NuclearEnergy #NuclearWaste #FirstNations #NativeAmericans #NativeAmericanNews #NoDumpingWithoutConsent #RespectTheTreaties #CanPol
    #WaterIsLife #NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearDumping #NuclearInjustice #EnvironmentalRacism #OntarioPowerGeneration

  15. SON Says Legacy Issues Not Addressed, Sets Deadline For #Nuclear Moratorium

    Claire McCormack
    Jan 24, 2025

    #SaugeenOjibwayNation Chiefs' statement: “For many decades our land has been exploited for the production of #NuclearEnergy and storage of #RadioactiveWaste. This occurred without consultation or SON #consent. Today,our territory holds the vast majority of of #Canada’s #NuclearWaste and hosts one of the largest #nuclear facilities in the world. Even now, following the announcement by #NWMO that it will seek to build a deep geological repository (#DGR) for used fuel in the north, SON is expected to continue to host the used fuel for another 60 years without our consent and without redress while the DGR undergoes the assessment process licensing and permitting processes and construction.

    "It is unacceptable that we continue to face inaction from #OPG and other members of the nuclear industry and government in addressing these injustices for the SON people. Their repeated failure to uphold commitments is an ongoing affront to SON’s rights. Our joint chiefs and council have taken a strong stance: We will not allow the exploitation of #Anishinaabekiing without a fair and just resolution.”

    560cfos.ca/2025/01/24/son-says

    #FirstNations #Ojibwe #NativeAmericans #NativeAmericanNews #NoDumpingWithoutConsent #RespectTheTreaties #WaterIsLife #NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearDumping #NuclearInjustice #EnvironmentalRacism #OntarioPowerGeneration

  16. Blog: Voices of #Decolonization

    #FirstNations chiefs shouldn’t be duped by the ‘#nuclear-is-green' deception

    by William Eric Altvater, February 6, 2025

    "Some First Nation Chiefs are victims of shenanigans, not unlike the swindle behind the purchase of Manhattan. The federal government needs the support of #Indigenous peoples to expand nuclear power generation capacity in #Canada.

    "For millennia, the cornerstones of the Indigenous people that inhabit Turtle Island, now known as North America, held all that is essential to life, in reverence. Every decision considered the next 7 generations. These cornerstones are crumbling.

    "Newcomers, armed with the #Colonizing tool, 'The #DoctrineOfDiscovery' and their mentality of superiority, invaded the land of those they called 'Savages,' almost totally exterminating #Skicinuwok, People of The Earth.

    "Determined to bestow Christianity and civility to this wild untamed population, old growth forests were cut, rivers and streams were dammed to power sawmills, roads and railroads were built, bridges erected. All to create an infrastructure for #capitalism, a system to make a #profit, that morphed into #greed, a word of foreign root. This unbridled desire for progress has ruined what was once called Paradise.

    "Now most water is not fit to drink, clean air is scarce, #deforestation is rampant, #biodiversity loss out of control, plants genetically modified, food manufactured with unpronounceable chemicals, caged fish starved of oxygen while being fed chicken feathers and pig parts, cancer cases in the millions, the list goes on.

    "As the population increased over this continent the available sources for power generation have not been able to satisfy the insatiable desires of the 'bigger, better, faster, more is never enough' mentality. Some have finally acknowledged the fact that #FossilFuels are not the golden egg they were once deemed to be.

    "So-called '#GreenEnergy' is required to slow the blind drive to extinction of man; man, who is considered by some to be the most intelligent creature to ever roam Earth. Unfortunately, the lure of riches and the corruption of self-serving purposes have led man to stray from practices that nurture everything required to sustain life on this tiny blue marble floating through the universe.

    "#NuclearPower is now being touted as being 'Green.' It is not. Big money corporations are lobbying legislators to convince them and the public that it is. They are also lobbying to convince the public that they should foot the bill in the form of taxes and rate hikes, for a process that pollutes from the day it starts. Water is life. As soon as #uranium is mined from the earth it begins to contaminate the water in surrounding aquifers.

    "When the uranium is processed sufficiently, it is used as fuel for reactors where it generates heat while delivering electricity, not just for essential needs, but also for many things once considered luxuries. This fission generated heat is then dumped into nearby waters where it kills thousands, if not millions of small beings that form the basis of life itself.

    "After this radioactive fuel is depleted, it is stored in various containers where it will stay radioactive for eons. Indigenous #Grandmothers have labelled it 'Forever Dangerous.'

    "The power generated during the fission process benefits only those who exist today as the process occurs, not those born tomorrow or next week or next month. All the #RadioactiveWaste and the inherent danger it creates is left to future generations, kicking the can down the road.

    "What better place to dump this waste than in an area with a population that has witnessed Newcomers enrich themselves for hundreds of years? Yes, what better place than a population that has been targeted for assimilation, suffered theft of lands, witnessed the taking of naturally bestowed rights? A population that has been subjected to racial Indian Act legislation essentially stripping away all that sustained this population for thousands of years.

    "Yes, let us give the Indians some more shiny beads and trinkets so that they willingly agree to care for our radioactive garbage. How do we do this? Let’s talk to the Chief and Council. Let’s wine and dine them. Let’s give them some money, take them to dinner, buy some drinks and make them feel all festive and most of all make them think we are looking out for their best interests. Some Chiefs have taken the bait.

    "Egregious as it may be, this is exactly what is happening in some Indigenous communities contrary to the will of the majority. Elected Chiefs are continuing the deception as they are blinded and professing the 'Nuclear is Green' mantra. They have lost connection with the Spirit of Ancestors and traditional values. They need to have a serious introspection and realize that looking forward, we need only look back at what has sustained us to this point in time. We need not do any more than that."

    Eric lives in #PeskotomuhkatiNation territory in Maine and stands shoulder to shoulder with his Peskotomuhkati relations in #NewBrunswick in the struggle to achieve Canadian Government recognition.

    wabanakireach.org/first_nation
    #NoNukes #NoNewNukes #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #UraniumMining #UraniumMilling #LeaveItInTheGround #Greenwashing #NuclearIsNotCarbonFree #NuclearIsNotGreen #CanadaPol #NuclearWaste #NuclearIndustry #TEPCOLies #HoltecLies #NuclearColonialism

  17. #Navajo Nation - Naabik'íyáti’ Committee Regular Meeting, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025

    via #CensoredNews

    "Who negotiated these terms?"

    "Who came up with the amount of $1.2 million."

    "We are still fighting the U.S. government for what happened to our people." The response from the federal government is, 'Well that happened a long time ago, that happened during World War II.'

    "If we already know the effects of uranium, why are we allowing this?"

    Navajo Council delegates are questioning Navajo Department of Justice, questioning the agreement by Navajo President Buu Nygren with Energy Fuels, without the Navajo Nation Council's approval.

    Source:
    bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/02

    Watch:
    youtube.com/watch?v=Jd73YnP9xB
    #Naabikíyáti #Dine #TubaCity #NavajoNationCouncil #ReaderSupportedNews #WhiteMesaUte #EnergyFuels #HaulNo #BuuNygren #IndigenousAction #IndigenousResistance #PinyonPlain #NuclearColonialism #ReaderSupportedNews #Dine #RestInPowerKleeBenally #NoUraniumTransport #DefendTheSacred #ProtectTheSacred #UraniumMine #NoNukes #NuclearFreeWorld #NoNuclear #NoWar #NuclearWaste #NoMoreTransportationOfUranium
    #NoNuclearWeapons #NoNuclearPowerPlants #NoUraniumMining #UteNation #NoUraniumMining #Navajo #Havasupai #GrandCanyon #NuclearWeapons #InformedConsent
    #EnvironmentalRacism #WaterIsLife

  18. Community Forum in #TubaCity: #UraniumTransport on Feb. 8, 2025

    via #CensoredNews

    "Join us from 12 -- 2pm for a community dialogue on Saturday, February 8, 2025 in #TubaCityArizona regarding the transport of #uranium ore through our communities. #HaulNo! will help host and facilitate to uplift community concerns. On January 29, 2025, #EnergyFuels announced that it reached an agreement with #NavajoNation was regarding uranium ore transport regulations ending the temporary
    transportation pause. The agreement includes Energy Fuels to take 10,000 tons of abandoned uranium mine (#AUM) waste from Navajo Nation to the #WhiteMesaMill, in #Utah impacting #Ute
    relatives. On January 30, 2025, Energy Fuels announced transport of uranium from #PinyonPlainUraniumMine across Western Navajo Nation to #WhiteMesa Mill to begin on or around February 12, 2025."

    bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/02
    #IndigenousAction #IndigenousResistance #NuclearColonialism #ReaderSupportedNews #Dine #RestInPowerKleeBenally #NoUraniumTransport #DefendTheSacred #ProtectTheSacred #UraniumMine #NoNukes #NuclearFreeWorld #NoNuclear #NoWar #NuclearWaste #NoMoreMining
    #NoMoreTransportationOfUranium
    #NoNuclearWeapons
    #NoNuclearPowerPlants #NoMining #NoUraniumMining #UteNation #NoUraniumMining #Navajo #Havasupai #GrandCanyon #NuclearWeapons #InformedConsent
    #EnvironmentalRacism #WaterIsLife

  19. [Video] #AskomiwKsanaqak (Forever Dangerous) – #IndigenousNations Resist #NuclearColonialism

    Nov 20, 2024

    "Indigenous nations and communities continue to express their opposition to nuclear energy and radioactive waste. The Passamaquoddy Recognition Group (PRGI) and the CEDAR project at St. Thomas University in New Brunswick, Canada, co-produced a report and this video to amplify these Indigenous voices. Featuring Chief #HughAkagi, Chief #RonTremblay and Councillor #PeytonPitawanakwat."

    Watch: youtube.com/watch?v=9i7XtIGFqy

    The report is available here: cedar-project.org/indigenous
    #NuclearWaste #NuclearWasteStorage #NoNukes #WaterIsLife #LandIsLife #WolastoqGrandCouncil #NuclearPowerPlants #NoNukes #PeskotomuhkatiNation #PassamaquoddyNation #CEDARProject #Radioactivity #Pollution #RadioactivePollutionKills
    #IndigenousNationsResistNuclearColonialism

  20. [Video] #AskomiwKsanaqak (Forever Dangerous) – #IndigenousNations Resist #NuclearColonialism

    Nov 20, 2024

    "Indigenous nations and communities continue to express their opposition to nuclear energy and radioactive waste. The Passamaquoddy Recognition Group (PRGI) and the CEDAR project at St. Thomas University in New Brunswick, Canada, co-produced a report and this video to amplify these Indigenous voices. Featuring Chief #HughAkagi, Chief #RonTremblay and Councillor #PeytonPitawanakwat."

    Watch: youtube.com/watch?v=9i7XtIGFqy

    The report is available here: cedar-project.org/indigenous
    #NuclearWaste #NuclearWasteStorage #NoNukes #WaterIsLife #LandIsLife #WolastoqGrandCouncil #NuclearPowerPlants #NoNukes #PeskotomuhkatiNation #PassamaquoddyNation #CEDARProject #Radioactivity #Pollution #RadioactivePollutionKills
    #IndigenousNationsResistNuclearColonialism

  21. [Video] #AskomiwKsanaqak (Forever Dangerous) – #IndigenousNations Resist #NuclearColonialism

    Nov 20, 2024

    "Indigenous nations and communities continue to express their opposition to nuclear energy and radioactive waste. The Passamaquoddy Recognition Group (PRGI) and the CEDAR project at St. Thomas University in New Brunswick, Canada, co-produced a report and this video to amplify these Indigenous voices. Featuring Chief #HughAkagi, Chief #RonTremblay and Councillor #PeytonPitawanakwat."

    Watch: youtube.com/watch?v=9i7XtIGFqy

    The report is available here: cedar-project.org/indigenous
    #NuclearWaste #NuclearWasteStorage #NoNukes #WaterIsLife #LandIsLife #WolastoqGrandCouncil #NuclearPowerPlants #NoNukes #PeskotomuhkatiNation #PassamaquoddyNation #CEDARProject #Radioactivity #Pollution #RadioactivePollutionKills
    #IndigenousNationsResistNuclearColonialism

  22. [Video] #AskomiwKsanaqak (Forever Dangerous) – #IndigenousNations Resist #NuclearColonialism

    Nov 20, 2024

    "Indigenous nations and communities continue to express their opposition to nuclear energy and radioactive waste. The Passamaquoddy Recognition Group (PRGI) and the CEDAR project at St. Thomas University in New Brunswick, Canada, co-produced a report and this video to amplify these Indigenous voices. Featuring Chief #HughAkagi, Chief #RonTremblay and Councillor #PeytonPitawanakwat."

    Watch: youtube.com/watch?v=9i7XtIGFqy

    The report is available here: cedar-project.org/indigenous
    #NuclearWaste #NuclearWasteStorage #NoNukes #WaterIsLife #LandIsLife #WolastoqGrandCouncil #NuclearPowerPlants #NoNukes #PeskotomuhkatiNation #PassamaquoddyNation #CEDARProject #Radioactivity #Pollution #RadioactivePollutionKills
    #IndigenousNationsResistNuclearColonialism

  23. [Video] #AskomiwKsanaqak (Forever Dangerous) – #IndigenousNations Resist #NuclearColonialism

    Nov 20, 2024

    "Indigenous nations and communities continue to express their opposition to nuclear energy and radioactive waste. The Passamaquoddy Recognition Group (PRGI) and the CEDAR project at St. Thomas University in New Brunswick, Canada, co-produced a report and this video to amplify these Indigenous voices. Featuring Chief #HughAkagi, Chief #RonTremblay and Councillor #PeytonPitawanakwat."

    Watch: youtube.com/watch?v=9i7XtIGFqy

    The report is available here: cedar-project.org/indigenous
    #NuclearWaste #NuclearWasteStorage #NoNukes #WaterIsLife #LandIsLife #WolastoqGrandCouncil #NuclearPowerPlants #NoNukes #PeskotomuhkatiNation #PassamaquoddyNation #CEDARProject #Radioactivity #Pollution #RadioactivePollutionKills
    #IndigenousNationsResistNuclearColonialism

  24. Listening to Indigenous views

    “We believe that the Earth is our Mother, and that she has been violated, she has been hurt, she has been raped, she has been damaged for far, far too long,” - Chief Ron Tremblay, Wolastoq Grand Council.

    Posted on December 1, 2024 by #BeyondNuclearInternational

    "The study found that overall, Indigenous nations and communities do not support the production of more nuclear waste or the transport and storage of nuclear waste on their homelands. They have made their opposition known through dozens of public statements and more than 100 submissions to the regulator, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

    "At the same time, the federal government positions nuclear energy as a strategic asset to Canada now and into the future. The government recently launched a policy to get nuclear projects approved more quickly, with fewer regulations. The government’s position has created an obvious conflict with Indigenous rights-holders.

    #Radioactivity cannot be turned off – that’s what makes #NuclearWaste so dangerous. Indigenous opposition to nuclear waste is rooted in values that respect the Earth and the need to keep life safe for generations into the future. The radioactivity from high-level waste can take millennia to decay and if exposed, can damage living tissue in a range of ways and alter gene structure."

    Read more:
    beyondnuclearinternational.org
    #NuclearWasteStorage #NuclearColonialism #NuclearPowerPlants #NoNukes #PeskotomuhkatiNation #PassamaquoddyNation
    #IndigenousNationsResistNuclearColonialism

  25. Listening to Indigenous views

    “We believe that the Earth is our Mother, and that she has been violated, she has been hurt, she has been raped, she has been damaged for far, far too long,” - Chief Ron Tremblay, Wolastoq Grand Council.

    Posted on December 1, 2024 by #BeyondNuclearInternational

    "The study found that overall, Indigenous nations and communities do not support the production of more nuclear waste or the transport and storage of nuclear waste on their homelands. They have made their opposition known through dozens of public statements and more than 100 submissions to the regulator, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

    "At the same time, the federal government positions nuclear energy as a strategic asset to Canada now and into the future. The government recently launched a policy to get nuclear projects approved more quickly, with fewer regulations. The government’s position has created an obvious conflict with Indigenous rights-holders.

    #Radioactivity cannot be turned off – that’s what makes #NuclearWaste so dangerous. Indigenous opposition to nuclear waste is rooted in values that respect the Earth and the need to keep life safe for generations into the future. The radioactivity from high-level waste can take millennia to decay and if exposed, can damage living tissue in a range of ways and alter gene structure."

    Read more:
    beyondnuclearinternational.org
    #NuclearWasteStorage #NuclearColonialism #NuclearPowerPlants #NoNukes #PeskotomuhkatiNation #PassamaquoddyNation
    #IndigenousNationsResistNuclearColonialism

  26. Listening to Indigenous views

    “We believe that the Earth is our Mother, and that she has been violated, she has been hurt, she has been raped, she has been damaged for far, far too long,” - Chief Ron Tremblay, Wolastoq Grand Council.

    Posted on December 1, 2024 by #BeyondNuclearInternational

    "The study found that overall, Indigenous nations and communities do not support the production of more nuclear waste or the transport and storage of nuclear waste on their homelands. They have made their opposition known through dozens of public statements and more than 100 submissions to the regulator, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

    "At the same time, the federal government positions nuclear energy as a strategic asset to Canada now and into the future. The government recently launched a policy to get nuclear projects approved more quickly, with fewer regulations. The government’s position has created an obvious conflict with Indigenous rights-holders.

    #Radioactivity cannot be turned off – that’s what makes #NuclearWaste so dangerous. Indigenous opposition to nuclear waste is rooted in values that respect the Earth and the need to keep life safe for generations into the future. The radioactivity from high-level waste can take millennia to decay and if exposed, can damage living tissue in a range of ways and alter gene structure."

    Read more:
    beyondnuclearinternational.org
    #NuclearWasteStorage #NuclearColonialism #NuclearPowerPlants #NoNukes #PeskotomuhkatiNation #PassamaquoddyNation
    #IndigenousNationsResistNuclearColonialism

  27. Listening to Indigenous views

    “We believe that the Earth is our Mother, and that she has been violated, she has been hurt, she has been raped, she has been damaged for far, far too long,” - Chief Ron Tremblay, Wolastoq Grand Council.

    Posted on December 1, 2024 by #BeyondNuclearInternational

    "The study found that overall, Indigenous nations and communities do not support the production of more nuclear waste or the transport and storage of nuclear waste on their homelands. They have made their opposition known through dozens of public statements and more than 100 submissions to the regulator, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

    "At the same time, the federal government positions nuclear energy as a strategic asset to Canada now and into the future. The government recently launched a policy to get nuclear projects approved more quickly, with fewer regulations. The government’s position has created an obvious conflict with Indigenous rights-holders.

    #Radioactivity cannot be turned off – that’s what makes #NuclearWaste so dangerous. Indigenous opposition to nuclear waste is rooted in values that respect the Earth and the need to keep life safe for generations into the future. The radioactivity from high-level waste can take millennia to decay and if exposed, can damage living tissue in a range of ways and alter gene structure."

    Read more:
    beyondnuclearinternational.org
    #NuclearWasteStorage #NuclearColonialism #NuclearPowerPlants #NoNukes #PeskotomuhkatiNation #PassamaquoddyNation
    #IndigenousNationsResistNuclearColonialism

  28. Listening to Indigenous views

    “We believe that the Earth is our Mother, and that she has been violated, she has been hurt, she has been raped, she has been damaged for far, far too long,” - Chief Ron Tremblay, Wolastoq Grand Council.

    Posted on December 1, 2024 by #BeyondNuclearInternational

    "The study found that overall, Indigenous nations and communities do not support the production of more nuclear waste or the transport and storage of nuclear waste on their homelands. They have made their opposition known through dozens of public statements and more than 100 submissions to the regulator, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

    "At the same time, the federal government positions nuclear energy as a strategic asset to Canada now and into the future. The government recently launched a policy to get nuclear projects approved more quickly, with fewer regulations. The government’s position has created an obvious conflict with Indigenous rights-holders.

    #Radioactivity cannot be turned off – that’s what makes #NuclearWaste so dangerous. Indigenous opposition to nuclear waste is rooted in values that respect the Earth and the need to keep life safe for generations into the future. The radioactivity from high-level waste can take millennia to decay and if exposed, can damage living tissue in a range of ways and alter gene structure."

    Read more:
    beyondnuclearinternational.org
    #NuclearWasteStorage #NuclearColonialism #NuclearPowerPlants #NoNukes #PeskotomuhkatiNation #PassamaquoddyNation
    #IndigenousNationsResistNuclearColonialism

  29. #Algonquins say proposed #NuclearWaste site near #OttawaRiver prioritizes money over safety

    By Tom Fennario, Oct 18, 2024

    "Verna Polson steps out of the boat and onto the sand bar of Pointe aux Baptêmes. She walks a few feet before turning back towards the water, where the August morning light shimmers off the waves.

    "There she makes a tobacco offering to the Ottawa River. Except for her, this waterway that divides modern-day Quebec and Ontario is known by its original Algonquin name: Kichi-Sìbì.

    "The Great River.

    "'Kichi-Sìbì is a place where our ancestors used to travel. That was their highway,' explains Polson. 'This is how they kept the land, protected from many different nations.

    "Polson grew up near the Kichi-Sìbì in #TemiskamingFirstNation, about 300 kilometers north of here. On this day, she finds herself downstream to take in not only the beach of #PointeAuxBaptêmes but also the industrial smokestacks of the #ChalkRiverLaboratories. It sits less than a kilometre upstream from where Polson offered her tobacco- the site sticks out in contrast to the rolling hills and blue waters of the Kichi-Sìbì.

    "This place is known as the cradle of the Canadian #nuclear industry.

    "'I think about the water, I think about the animals and think about future generations and what they’re going to be left with,' says Polson. 'And that’s something I don’t want to leave my granddaughter and my great-grandchildren as something to deal with this nuclear waste.'

    "Established in 1944 about 200 kilometres northwest of Ottawa, Chalk River Laboratories is famous for research that led to the development of the #CANDU (CANada Deuterium #Uranium) reactor, one of the most efficient and safe nuclear reactors ever created, according to officials in the industry.

    "Researchers at Chalk River have gone on to win Nobel prizes, and for decades, it was a world leader in the creation of radioisotopes for fighting cancer.

    "However, Chalk River also has a darker legacy which includes supplying fuel for American #NuclearWarheads and in 1952, being home to the world’s first #NuclearMeltdown.

    "But much has changed since then. Chalk River Laboratories has been absorbed into #AtomicEnergyCanada, a #CrownCorporation that contracts out to a company called Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (#CNL) to operate it.

    "CNL is currently in the midst of a government funded $1.2-billion facelift. But before it can be transformed into a state-of-the-art nuclear campus, nearly 80 years of #radioactive legacy waste must be addressed.

    "In a statement, CNL says 'While this waste was stored according to the best practices and regulations at the time, standards have changed.'

    "So the solution CNL is trying to get off the ground is called the Near Surface Disposal Facility (#NSDF).

    "Others might call it a dump.

    "'This facility will not bring great things to the water or the land,' says Polson, 'every one knows across #TurtleIsland, #WaterIsLife.'"

    Read more:
    aptnnews.ca/investigates/algon
    #NuclearWasteStorage #EnvironmentalRacism #FirstNations #Canada

  30. #Algonquins say proposed #NuclearWaste site near #OttawaRiver prioritizes money over safety

    By Tom Fennario, Oct 18, 2024

    "Verna Polson steps out of the boat and onto the sand bar of Pointe aux Baptêmes. She walks a few feet before turning back towards the water, where the August morning light shimmers off the waves.

    "There she makes a tobacco offering to the Ottawa River. Except for her, this waterway that divides modern-day Quebec and Ontario is known by its original Algonquin name: Kichi-Sìbì.

    "The Great River.

    "'Kichi-Sìbì is a place where our ancestors used to travel. That was their highway,' explains Polson. 'This is how they kept the land, protected from many different nations.

    "Polson grew up near the Kichi-Sìbì in #TemiskamingFirstNation, about 300 kilometers north of here. On this day, she finds herself downstream to take in not only the beach of #PointeAuxBaptêmes but also the industrial smokestacks of the #ChalkRiverLaboratories. It sits less than a kilometre upstream from where Polson offered her tobacco- the site sticks out in contrast to the rolling hills and blue waters of the Kichi-Sìbì.

    "This place is known as the cradle of the Canadian #nuclear industry.

    "'I think about the water, I think about the animals and think about future generations and what they’re going to be left with,' says Polson. 'And that’s something I don’t want to leave my granddaughter and my great-grandchildren as something to deal with this nuclear waste.'

    "Established in 1944 about 200 kilometres northwest of Ottawa, Chalk River Laboratories is famous for research that led to the development of the #CANDU (CANada Deuterium #Uranium) reactor, one of the most efficient and safe nuclear reactors ever created, according to officials in the industry.

    "Researchers at Chalk River have gone on to win Nobel prizes, and for decades, it was a world leader in the creation of radioisotopes for fighting cancer.

    "However, Chalk River also has a darker legacy which includes supplying fuel for American #NuclearWarheads and in 1952, being home to the world’s first #NuclearMeltdown.

    "But much has changed since then. Chalk River Laboratories has been absorbed into #AtomicEnergyCanada, a #CrownCorporation that contracts out to a company called Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (#CNL) to operate it.

    "CNL is currently in the midst of a government funded $1.2-billion facelift. But before it can be transformed into a state-of-the-art nuclear campus, nearly 80 years of #radioactive legacy waste must be addressed.

    "In a statement, CNL says 'While this waste was stored according to the best practices and regulations at the time, standards have changed.'

    "So the solution CNL is trying to get off the ground is called the Near Surface Disposal Facility (#NSDF).

    "Others might call it a dump.

    "'This facility will not bring great things to the water or the land,' says Polson, 'every one knows across #TurtleIsland, #WaterIsLife.'"

    Read more:
    aptnnews.ca/investigates/algon
    #NuclearWasteStorage #EnvironmentalRacism #FirstNations #Canada

  31. #Algonquins say proposed #NuclearWaste site near #OttawaRiver prioritizes money over safety

    By Tom Fennario, Oct 18, 2024

    "Verna Polson steps out of the boat and onto the sand bar of Pointe aux Baptêmes. She walks a few feet before turning back towards the water, where the August morning light shimmers off the waves.

    "There she makes a tobacco offering to the Ottawa River. Except for her, this waterway that divides modern-day Quebec and Ontario is known by its original Algonquin name: Kichi-Sìbì.

    "The Great River.

    "'Kichi-Sìbì is a place where our ancestors used to travel. That was their highway,' explains Polson. 'This is how they kept the land, protected from many different nations.

    "Polson grew up near the Kichi-Sìbì in #TemiskamingFirstNation, about 300 kilometers north of here. On this day, she finds herself downstream to take in not only the beach of #PointeAuxBaptêmes but also the industrial smokestacks of the #ChalkRiverLaboratories. It sits less than a kilometre upstream from where Polson offered her tobacco- the site sticks out in contrast to the rolling hills and blue waters of the Kichi-Sìbì.

    "This place is known as the cradle of the Canadian #nuclear industry.

    "'I think about the water, I think about the animals and think about future generations and what they’re going to be left with,' says Polson. 'And that’s something I don’t want to leave my granddaughter and my great-grandchildren as something to deal with this nuclear waste.'

    "Established in 1944 about 200 kilometres northwest of Ottawa, Chalk River Laboratories is famous for research that led to the development of the #CANDU (CANada Deuterium #Uranium) reactor, one of the most efficient and safe nuclear reactors ever created, according to officials in the industry.

    "Researchers at Chalk River have gone on to win Nobel prizes, and for decades, it was a world leader in the creation of radioisotopes for fighting cancer.

    "However, Chalk River also has a darker legacy which includes supplying fuel for American #NuclearWarheads and in 1952, being home to the world’s first #NuclearMeltdown.

    "But much has changed since then. Chalk River Laboratories has been absorbed into #AtomicEnergyCanada, a #CrownCorporation that contracts out to a company called Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (#CNL) to operate it.

    "CNL is currently in the midst of a government funded $1.2-billion facelift. But before it can be transformed into a state-of-the-art nuclear campus, nearly 80 years of #radioactive legacy waste must be addressed.

    "In a statement, CNL says 'While this waste was stored according to the best practices and regulations at the time, standards have changed.'

    "So the solution CNL is trying to get off the ground is called the Near Surface Disposal Facility (#NSDF).

    "Others might call it a dump.

    "'This facility will not bring great things to the water or the land,' says Polson, 'every one knows across #TurtleIsland, #WaterIsLife.'"

    Read more:
    aptnnews.ca/investigates/algon
    #NuclearWasteStorage #EnvironmentalRacism #FirstNations #Canada

  32. #Algonquins say proposed #NuclearWaste site near #OttawaRiver prioritizes money over safety

    By Tom Fennario, Oct 18, 2024

    "Verna Polson steps out of the boat and onto the sand bar of Pointe aux Baptêmes. She walks a few feet before turning back towards the water, where the August morning light shimmers off the waves.

    "There she makes a tobacco offering to the Ottawa River. Except for her, this waterway that divides modern-day Quebec and Ontario is known by its original Algonquin name: Kichi-Sìbì.

    "The Great River.

    "'Kichi-Sìbì is a place where our ancestors used to travel. That was their highway,' explains Polson. 'This is how they kept the land, protected from many different nations.

    "Polson grew up near the Kichi-Sìbì in #TemiskamingFirstNation, about 300 kilometers north of here. On this day, she finds herself downstream to take in not only the beach of #PointeAuxBaptêmes but also the industrial smokestacks of the #ChalkRiverLaboratories. It sits less than a kilometre upstream from where Polson offered her tobacco- the site sticks out in contrast to the rolling hills and blue waters of the Kichi-Sìbì.

    "This place is known as the cradle of the Canadian #nuclear industry.

    "'I think about the water, I think about the animals and think about future generations and what they’re going to be left with,' says Polson. 'And that’s something I don’t want to leave my granddaughter and my great-grandchildren as something to deal with this nuclear waste.'

    "Established in 1944 about 200 kilometres northwest of Ottawa, Chalk River Laboratories is famous for research that led to the development of the #CANDU (CANada Deuterium #Uranium) reactor, one of the most efficient and safe nuclear reactors ever created, according to officials in the industry.

    "Researchers at Chalk River have gone on to win Nobel prizes, and for decades, it was a world leader in the creation of radioisotopes for fighting cancer.

    "However, Chalk River also has a darker legacy which includes supplying fuel for American #NuclearWarheads and in 1952, being home to the world’s first #NuclearMeltdown.

    "But much has changed since then. Chalk River Laboratories has been absorbed into #AtomicEnergyCanada, a #CrownCorporation that contracts out to a company called Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (#CNL) to operate it.

    "CNL is currently in the midst of a government funded $1.2-billion facelift. But before it can be transformed into a state-of-the-art nuclear campus, nearly 80 years of #radioactive legacy waste must be addressed.

    "In a statement, CNL says 'While this waste was stored according to the best practices and regulations at the time, standards have changed.'

    "So the solution CNL is trying to get off the ground is called the Near Surface Disposal Facility (#NSDF).

    "Others might call it a dump.

    "'This facility will not bring great things to the water or the land,' says Polson, 'every one knows across #TurtleIsland, #WaterIsLife.'"

    Read more:
    aptnnews.ca/investigates/algon
    #NuclearWasteStorage #EnvironmentalRacism #FirstNations #Canada

  33. #Algonquins say proposed #NuclearWaste site near #OttawaRiver prioritizes money over safety

    By Tom Fennario, Oct 18, 2024

    "Verna Polson steps out of the boat and onto the sand bar of Pointe aux Baptêmes. She walks a few feet before turning back towards the water, where the August morning light shimmers off the waves.

    "There she makes a tobacco offering to the Ottawa River. Except for her, this waterway that divides modern-day Quebec and Ontario is known by its original Algonquin name: Kichi-Sìbì.

    "The Great River.

    "'Kichi-Sìbì is a place where our ancestors used to travel. That was their highway,' explains Polson. 'This is how they kept the land, protected from many different nations.

    "Polson grew up near the Kichi-Sìbì in #TemiskamingFirstNation, about 300 kilometers north of here. On this day, she finds herself downstream to take in not only the beach of #PointeAuxBaptêmes but also the industrial smokestacks of the #ChalkRiverLaboratories. It sits less than a kilometre upstream from where Polson offered her tobacco- the site sticks out in contrast to the rolling hills and blue waters of the Kichi-Sìbì.

    "This place is known as the cradle of the Canadian #nuclear industry.

    "'I think about the water, I think about the animals and think about future generations and what they’re going to be left with,' says Polson. 'And that’s something I don’t want to leave my granddaughter and my great-grandchildren as something to deal with this nuclear waste.'

    "Established in 1944 about 200 kilometres northwest of Ottawa, Chalk River Laboratories is famous for research that led to the development of the #CANDU (CANada Deuterium #Uranium) reactor, one of the most efficient and safe nuclear reactors ever created, according to officials in the industry.

    "Researchers at Chalk River have gone on to win Nobel prizes, and for decades, it was a world leader in the creation of radioisotopes for fighting cancer.

    "However, Chalk River also has a darker legacy which includes supplying fuel for American #NuclearWarheads and in 1952, being home to the world’s first #NuclearMeltdown.

    "But much has changed since then. Chalk River Laboratories has been absorbed into #AtomicEnergyCanada, a #CrownCorporation that contracts out to a company called Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (#CNL) to operate it.

    "CNL is currently in the midst of a government funded $1.2-billion facelift. But before it can be transformed into a state-of-the-art nuclear campus, nearly 80 years of #radioactive legacy waste must be addressed.

    "In a statement, CNL says 'While this waste was stored according to the best practices and regulations at the time, standards have changed.'

    "So the solution CNL is trying to get off the ground is called the Near Surface Disposal Facility (#NSDF).

    "Others might call it a dump.

    "'This facility will not bring great things to the water or the land,' says Polson, 'every one knows across #TurtleIsland, #WaterIsLife.'"

    Read more:
    aptnnews.ca/investigates/algon
    #NuclearWasteStorage #EnvironmentalRacism #FirstNations #Canada

  34. I am shocked and dismayed that #Amazon claims that #nuclearenergy is a #safe and #clean source of #greenenergy.
    aboutamazon.com/news/sustainab
    Even the shortest-lived #radioactivewaste remains dangerous for longer than recorded human history and every strategy I've ever read about to manage it begins to fail long before the waste is inert. Since when is trading #carbon for #irradiation a valid strategy?

    #climatepledge
    #SMR
    #nuclearpower
    #sustainability
    #nuclearwaste
    #nuclearfission
    #fission

  35. The Silent Killers in #IndianCountry: #Copper, #Lithium, #Uranium and #Plutonium

    Judge finds plutonium plants in #NewMexico and #SouthCarolina violated environmental laws

    By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, Oct. 10, 2024

    "The U.S. government's plan for increased plutonium production at #LosAlamos National Laboratory, in the heart of Pueblo lands in northern New Mexico, has been delayed by a federal judge.

    "Continuing the U.S. legacy of poisoning Indian country with #radiation, this comes as the U.S. government is granting leases to foreign #mining companies targeting Native #sacred lands and communities.

    "#CopperMining is targeting San CarlosApache's sacred #OakFlat; #Hualapai are suing the US Department of Interior to halt lithium mining at their sacred spring Ha'Kamwe'; and the U.S. government is promoting the ongoing digging into the #Paiute Massacre Site in northern Nevada for #lithium, in violation of all federal laws that protect Native religious and historic sites, the environment and endangered species.

    "Uranium mining in the Grand Canyon threatens #Havasupai's aquifer, the haul route endangers everyone in the Four Corners region, and the uranium mill at White Mesa Ute in #Utah is poisoning #Utes.

    "Interior Sec. #DebHaaland said in Farmington, N.M., that Los Alamos Labs would be the leader in the so-called '#GreenEnergy transition' in the #FourCorners region.

    "More than 500 radioactive #UraniumMill sites remain on the #NavajoNation that have not been cleaned up by the U.S. #EPA, which deceives the public by announcing plans and promises to clean up the #ColdWar sites.

    "In the current federal lawsuit, a federal judge in South Carolina ruled that U.S. energy officials illegally neglected to study impacts to the #environment in efforts to increase plutonium production for nuclear weapons in New Mexico and South Carolina.

    "'South Carolina District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis sided with environmental, #AntiNuclear proliferation and community groups last week who sued the National Nuclear Security Administration (#NNSA), which oversees the nuclear weapons stockpile as part of the U.S. Department of Energy [#DOE],' reports Source New Mexico.

    "The U.S. is investing billions into restarting the manufacture of #PlutoniumPits, the grapefruit-sized spheres developed for #nuclear weapons. The plutonium is produced from uranium.

    "'The federal government halted its manufacturing program at the #RockyFlatsPlant in #Colorado in 1989 after an FBI raid due to safety concerns and #EnvironmentalCrimes,' Source New Mexico reports.

    "The U.S. government's #AtomicBombTesting in #Nevada left a trail of cancer and death for #WesternShoshone. The documentary 'Downwind' reveals the truth.

    "'This is a very serious issue and that's why I can't let it go. I can't move on. People say, 'oh, why don't you just let it go?' Because it's killing my family. It's killing my land. It's killing my people. And that will not stand. It's being done in secret. And killing Indians in secret will not stand,' said Ian Zabarte, Principal Man of the Western Bands of the #ShoshoneNation of Indians. Zabarte is featured in '#Downwind' about radiation poisoning from U.S. #NuclearTests.

    "Currently, foreign companies -- which receive the profits and find it easy to avoid clean up and responsibility for #environmental crimes and deaths from #cancer -- are receiving the mining leases from the U.S. government. The leases are granted by the U.S. Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and in the case of #UraniumMining in the #GrandCanyon, it is the USDA's Forestry Service. #Biden's attorneys have joined the lawsuit with #RioTinto to devastate #OakFlat.

    "Australian and Canadian mining corporations are devastating Native lands and communities, poisoning the water and causing widespread cancer.
    Rio Tinto, targeting Apaches #OakFlat, is an Australian company which destroyed 46,000 years of #Aboriginal sacred history in caves in #Australia.

    "Another Australian mining company is targeting #Hualapai's sacred site. It is #Hawstone / #ArizonaLithium, in Perth, Australia.

    "#EnergyFuels, now uranium mining in the Grand Canyon, and operating the uranium mill at #WhiteMesaUte, is a Canadian company. Another Canadian company is digging into the #Paiute Massacre Site. It is #LithiumAmericas.
    #Hopi judge #DianeHumetewa granted a temporary restraining order to halt the lithium mining at #Hualapai's sacred spring."

    Read more:
    bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/10

    #NoUraniumMining #CopperMining #LithiumMining #NoMiningWithoutConsent #EnvironmentalRacism #NoWar #NoNukes #NuclearWeapons #RecycleCopper #RecycleLithium #WaterIsLife #NuclearWaste #DefendTheSacred #WhiteMesaMill #Ute #AtomicBomb #CulturalGenocide #Genocide #FirstNations #NativeAmericanNews #SuperfundSites #ToxicWaste #SaveOakFlat #OpenPitMining #Pollution #ReaderSupportedNews

  36. 2015: Official Report: Nuclear Waste Accident Caused By Wrong Cat Litter

    March 26, 2015
    Geoff Brumfiel

    "Workers at Los Alamos National Laboratory used organic cat litter to clean up #NuclearWaste. The litter triggered chemical reactions that later caused a drum to burst.

    "A yearlong investigation by government scientists has concluded that a major accident at a nuclear waste dump was caused by the wrong brand of cat litter.

    "The U.S. Department of Energy [#DOE] has released a 277-page report into an explosion that occurred on Feb. 14, 2014, at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant [#WIPP] in #NewMexico.

    "According to a summary of the report, the incident occurred when a single drum of nuclear waste, 68660, burst open.

    "As NPR reported shortly after the accident, cat litter was the chief suspect. The highly absorbent material is great at soaking up liquid nuclear waste, and it has been used for years in cleanup activities at the nation's nuclear laboratories.

    "Unfortunately, workers at Los Alamos National Laboratory, also in New Mexico, apparently switched from inorganic #ClayLitter to organic litter. According to the report, workers put the brand "Swheat Scoop" inside drum 68660.

    "'Experiments showed that various combinations of nitrate salt, Swheat Scoop, nitric acid, and oxalate self-heat at temperatures below 100°C. Computer modeling of thermal runaway was consistent with the observed 70-day birth-to-breach of Drum 68660,' the summary of the report concluded.

    "In other words, the litter caused the drum to burst after it arrived at the dump, releasing #radioactive #uranium, #plutonium and #americium throughout the underground facility.

    "WIPP has come under intense scrutiny since the accident for what critics say was a lax culture of safety and oversight. But the Energy Department wants the dump to get back to work. It hopes to reopen it early next year."

    npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/20

    #NuclearWaste #NuclearWasteStorage #NuclearRepository

  37. 2015: Official Report: Nuclear Waste Accident Caused By Wrong Cat Litter

    March 26, 2015
    Geoff Brumfiel

    "Workers at Los Alamos National Laboratory used organic cat litter to clean up #NuclearWaste. The litter triggered chemical reactions that later caused a drum to burst.

    "A yearlong investigation by government scientists has concluded that a major accident at a nuclear waste dump was caused by the wrong brand of cat litter.

    "The U.S. Department of Energy [#DOE] has released a 277-page report into an explosion that occurred on Feb. 14, 2014, at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant [#WIPP] in #NewMexico.

    "According to a summary of the report, the incident occurred when a single drum of nuclear waste, 68660, burst open.

    "As NPR reported shortly after the accident, cat litter was the chief suspect. The highly absorbent material is great at soaking up liquid nuclear waste, and it has been used for years in cleanup activities at the nation's nuclear laboratories.

    "Unfortunately, workers at Los Alamos National Laboratory, also in New Mexico, apparently switched from inorganic #ClayLitter to organic litter. According to the report, workers put the brand "Swheat Scoop" inside drum 68660.

    "'Experiments showed that various combinations of nitrate salt, Swheat Scoop, nitric acid, and oxalate self-heat at temperatures below 100°C. Computer modeling of thermal runaway was consistent with the observed 70-day birth-to-breach of Drum 68660,' the summary of the report concluded.

    "In other words, the litter caused the drum to burst after it arrived at the dump, releasing #radioactive #uranium, #plutonium and #americium throughout the underground facility.

    "WIPP has come under intense scrutiny since the accident for what critics say was a lax culture of safety and oversight. But the Energy Department wants the dump to get back to work. It hopes to reopen it early next year."

    npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/20

    #NuclearWaste #NuclearWasteStorage #NuclearRepository

  38. 2015: Official Report: Nuclear Waste Accident Caused By Wrong Cat Litter

    March 26, 2015
    Geoff Brumfiel

    "Workers at Los Alamos National Laboratory used organic cat litter to clean up #NuclearWaste. The litter triggered chemical reactions that later caused a drum to burst.

    "A yearlong investigation by government scientists has concluded that a major accident at a nuclear waste dump was caused by the wrong brand of cat litter.

    "The U.S. Department of Energy [#DOE] has released a 277-page report into an explosion that occurred on Feb. 14, 2014, at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant [#WIPP] in #NewMexico.

    "According to a summary of the report, the incident occurred when a single drum of nuclear waste, 68660, burst open.

    "As NPR reported shortly after the accident, cat litter was the chief suspect. The highly absorbent material is great at soaking up liquid nuclear waste, and it has been used for years in cleanup activities at the nation's nuclear laboratories.

    "Unfortunately, workers at Los Alamos National Laboratory, also in New Mexico, apparently switched from inorganic #ClayLitter to organic litter. According to the report, workers put the brand "Swheat Scoop" inside drum 68660.

    "'Experiments showed that various combinations of nitrate salt, Swheat Scoop, nitric acid, and oxalate self-heat at temperatures below 100°C. Computer modeling of thermal runaway was consistent with the observed 70-day birth-to-breach of Drum 68660,' the summary of the report concluded.

    "In other words, the litter caused the drum to burst after it arrived at the dump, releasing #radioactive #uranium, #plutonium and #americium throughout the underground facility.

    "WIPP has come under intense scrutiny since the accident for what critics say was a lax culture of safety and oversight. But the Energy Department wants the dump to get back to work. It hopes to reopen it early next year."

    npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/20

    #NuclearWaste #NuclearWasteStorage #NuclearRepository

  39. 2015: Official Report: Nuclear Waste Accident Caused By Wrong Cat Litter

    March 26, 2015
    Geoff Brumfiel

    "Workers at Los Alamos National Laboratory used organic cat litter to clean up #NuclearWaste. The litter triggered chemical reactions that later caused a drum to burst.

    "A yearlong investigation by government scientists has concluded that a major accident at a nuclear waste dump was caused by the wrong brand of cat litter.

    "The U.S. Department of Energy [#DOE] has released a 277-page report into an explosion that occurred on Feb. 14, 2014, at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant [#WIPP] in #NewMexico.

    "According to a summary of the report, the incident occurred when a single drum of nuclear waste, 68660, burst open.

    "As NPR reported shortly after the accident, cat litter was the chief suspect. The highly absorbent material is great at soaking up liquid nuclear waste, and it has been used for years in cleanup activities at the nation's nuclear laboratories.

    "Unfortunately, workers at Los Alamos National Laboratory, also in New Mexico, apparently switched from inorganic #ClayLitter to organic litter. According to the report, workers put the brand "Swheat Scoop" inside drum 68660.

    "'Experiments showed that various combinations of nitrate salt, Swheat Scoop, nitric acid, and oxalate self-heat at temperatures below 100°C. Computer modeling of thermal runaway was consistent with the observed 70-day birth-to-breach of Drum 68660,' the summary of the report concluded.

    "In other words, the litter caused the drum to burst after it arrived at the dump, releasing #radioactive #uranium, #plutonium and #americium throughout the underground facility.

    "WIPP has come under intense scrutiny since the accident for what critics say was a lax culture of safety and oversight. But the Energy Department wants the dump to get back to work. It hopes to reopen it early next year."

    npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/20

    #NuclearWaste #NuclearWasteStorage #NuclearRepository

  40. 2015: Official Report: Nuclear Waste Accident Caused By Wrong Cat Litter

    March 26, 2015
    Geoff Brumfiel

    "Workers at Los Alamos National Laboratory used organic cat litter to clean up #NuclearWaste. The litter triggered chemical reactions that later caused a drum to burst.

    "A yearlong investigation by government scientists has concluded that a major accident at a nuclear waste dump was caused by the wrong brand of cat litter.

    "The U.S. Department of Energy [#DOE] has released a 277-page report into an explosion that occurred on Feb. 14, 2014, at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant [#WIPP] in #NewMexico.

    "According to a summary of the report, the incident occurred when a single drum of nuclear waste, 68660, burst open.

    "As NPR reported shortly after the accident, cat litter was the chief suspect. The highly absorbent material is great at soaking up liquid nuclear waste, and it has been used for years in cleanup activities at the nation's nuclear laboratories.

    "Unfortunately, workers at Los Alamos National Laboratory, also in New Mexico, apparently switched from inorganic #ClayLitter to organic litter. According to the report, workers put the brand "Swheat Scoop" inside drum 68660.

    "'Experiments showed that various combinations of nitrate salt, Swheat Scoop, nitric acid, and oxalate self-heat at temperatures below 100°C. Computer modeling of thermal runaway was consistent with the observed 70-day birth-to-breach of Drum 68660,' the summary of the report concluded.

    "In other words, the litter caused the drum to burst after it arrived at the dump, releasing #radioactive #uranium, #plutonium and #americium throughout the underground facility.

    "WIPP has come under intense scrutiny since the accident for what critics say was a lax culture of safety and oversight. But the Energy Department wants the dump to get back to work. It hopes to reopen it early next year."

    npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/20

    #NuclearWaste #NuclearWasteStorage #NuclearRepository

  41. ICYMI from 2014. Meee-oooow! Misleading headline, however, the wrong type of cat litter caused an explosion at a #NuclearWaste repository in #NewMexico.

    Radioactive kitty litter may have ruined our best hope to store nuclear waste

    Billions invested in an underground New Mexico repository could be wasted because of one seemingly innocuous decision

    By Matt Stroud
    May 23, 2014

    "Some of the most dangerous nuclear waste in the US is currently scattered between 77 locations all over the country, awaiting permanent storage. Until February, many experts suggested that the best place to put it was a facility about 40 miles east of #CarlsbadNewMexico, called the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). For 15 years, #WIPP has operated as the first and only permanent, deep geologic nuclear waste storage facility in the country, holding 'low level' radioactive materials — mostly clothing and tools exposed to radiation from nuclear weapons production — in steel barrels more than 2,150 feet below the Earth’s surface.

    "But earlier this year two emergencies brought that suggestion — and WIPP’s future — into question. And now it seems kitty litter may be to blame.

    What happened?

    "WIPP is in a salt desert, and much of the work there involves burrowing through the salt and using huge elevators to deposit the stuff at surface level. The resulting underground caverns are then filled with radioactive waste and eventually closed shut, sealed forever.

    "First, on February 5th, a salt-hauling truck caught fire. That would be an inconvenience on the side of a highway, but in an enclosed #SaltCavern surrounded by nuclear waste, it’s a potential catastrophe. Workers evacuated the site. Fortunately no one was hurt. But the fire was significant enough to shut down underground operations until investigators could figure out what happened and how to stop it from happening again. Surface-level operations continued.

    "But not for long. Nine days later, late at night on Valentine’s Day, an alarm sounded, indicating that #radioactivity was present in the air underground. No one was below ground at the time, but employees on the surface activated massive fans designed to ventilate the underground air. The next day, another monitor went off — this one on the surface — indicating #AirborneRadiation. Employees who worked outside on the surface were told to take shelter inside buildings completely separated from storage operations. Valves allowing air to flow underground were sealed with high-density expanding foam. Everything came to a standstill, indefinitely.

    Fallout

    "There are no indications that anyone has been injured from the radiation leak. (All employees went through examinations for radiation exposure; a DOE press release says most workers were not affected, and those who were 'received less exposure than a person receives from a chest X-ray.' [THIS IS TYPICAL PRO-NUCLEAR PROPAGANDA]) But for months, nothing has changed. The standstill remains. WIPP’s 850 or so employees are mainly sitting around, waiting (or "performing surface facilities maintenance or assisting with procedure reviews and revisions") while investigators from the US Department of Energy (#DOE), the New Mexico Environment Department and elsewhere attempt to figure out what happened.

    "Initially, there were two hypotheses. The first was that something had gone wrong with the supports inside the cavern where waste was being stored. If that were the case, it meant a piece of salt rock or a steel support had fallen into one of the sealed barrels, puncturing it and releasing radiation into the air.

    "'That was an unlikely possibility,' says Norbert T. Rempe, PhD, a retired geologist who spent decades as a principal engineer at WIPP. The cavern where the radiation monitor went off had been dug only recently, so the chances that supports had eroded or collapsed were probably slim.

    Burstlid

    "Organic kitty litter likely caused a steel barrel's seal to puncture at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, NM. The damage and the resulting radiation leak could close the facility, experts say. (Department of Energy)

    "More likely, he said, was the second hypothesis: that something had gone awry inside one of the radioactive containers — that the radioactive material had become hot for some reason, expanding and puncturing a steel barrel from the inside.

    "Last month, DOE investigators went into the cavern. Pictures showed that the latter hypothesis was true; a waste container’s lid was unsealed, and dust around the lid had turned yellow from the unusual heat emanating from inside. Each barrel is labeled to track where it came from. The punctured barrel originated from #LosAlamos National Labs.

    "Jim Conca, PhD, a geologist who worked for years at WIPP who now blogs at Forbes about energy issues, believes he knows what blew the lid off at least one of WIPP’s radioactive barrels. The culprit, he wrote, was kitty litter."

    Read more:
    theverge.com/2014/5/23/5742800

    #NuclearWasteStorage #NuclearWaste #NuclearRepository
    theverge.com/2014/5/23/5742800

  42. ICYMI from 2014. Meee-oooow! Misleading headline, however, the wrong type of cat litter caused an explosion at a #NuclearWaste repository in #NewMexico.

    Radioactive kitty litter may have ruined our best hope to store nuclear waste

    Billions invested in an underground New Mexico repository could be wasted because of one seemingly innocuous decision

    By Matt Stroud
    May 23, 2014

    "Some of the most dangerous nuclear waste in the US is currently scattered between 77 locations all over the country, awaiting permanent storage. Until February, many experts suggested that the best place to put it was a facility about 40 miles east of #CarlsbadNewMexico, called the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). For 15 years, #WIPP has operated as the first and only permanent, deep geologic nuclear waste storage facility in the country, holding 'low level' radioactive materials — mostly clothing and tools exposed to radiation from nuclear weapons production — in steel barrels more than 2,150 feet below the Earth’s surface.

    "But earlier this year two emergencies brought that suggestion — and WIPP’s future — into question. And now it seems kitty litter may be to blame.

    What happened?

    "WIPP is in a salt desert, and much of the work there involves burrowing through the salt and using huge elevators to deposit the stuff at surface level. The resulting underground caverns are then filled with radioactive waste and eventually closed shut, sealed forever.

    "First, on February 5th, a salt-hauling truck caught fire. That would be an inconvenience on the side of a highway, but in an enclosed #SaltCavern surrounded by nuclear waste, it’s a potential catastrophe. Workers evacuated the site. Fortunately no one was hurt. But the fire was significant enough to shut down underground operations until investigators could figure out what happened and how to stop it from happening again. Surface-level operations continued.

    "But not for long. Nine days later, late at night on Valentine’s Day, an alarm sounded, indicating that #radioactivity was present in the air underground. No one was below ground at the time, but employees on the surface activated massive fans designed to ventilate the underground air. The next day, another monitor went off — this one on the surface — indicating #AirborneRadiation. Employees who worked outside on the surface were told to take shelter inside buildings completely separated from storage operations. Valves allowing air to flow underground were sealed with high-density expanding foam. Everything came to a standstill, indefinitely.

    Fallout

    "There are no indications that anyone has been injured from the radiation leak. (All employees went through examinations for radiation exposure; a DOE press release says most workers were not affected, and those who were 'received less exposure than a person receives from a chest X-ray.' [THIS IS TYPICAL PRO-NUCLEAR PROPAGANDA]) But for months, nothing has changed. The standstill remains. WIPP’s 850 or so employees are mainly sitting around, waiting (or "performing surface facilities maintenance or assisting with procedure reviews and revisions") while investigators from the US Department of Energy (#DOE), the New Mexico Environment Department and elsewhere attempt to figure out what happened.

    "Initially, there were two hypotheses. The first was that something had gone wrong with the supports inside the cavern where waste was being stored. If that were the case, it meant a piece of salt rock or a steel support had fallen into one of the sealed barrels, puncturing it and releasing radiation into the air.

    "'That was an unlikely possibility,' says Norbert T. Rempe, PhD, a retired geologist who spent decades as a principal engineer at WIPP. The cavern where the radiation monitor went off had been dug only recently, so the chances that supports had eroded or collapsed were probably slim.

    Burstlid

    "Organic kitty litter likely caused a steel barrel's seal to puncture at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, NM. The damage and the resulting radiation leak could close the facility, experts say. (Department of Energy)

    "More likely, he said, was the second hypothesis: that something had gone awry inside one of the radioactive containers — that the radioactive material had become hot for some reason, expanding and puncturing a steel barrel from the inside.

    "Last month, DOE investigators went into the cavern. Pictures showed that the latter hypothesis was true; a waste container’s lid was unsealed, and dust around the lid had turned yellow from the unusual heat emanating from inside. Each barrel is labeled to track where it came from. The punctured barrel originated from #LosAlamos National Labs.

    "Jim Conca, PhD, a geologist who worked for years at WIPP who now blogs at Forbes about energy issues, believes he knows what blew the lid off at least one of WIPP’s radioactive barrels. The culprit, he wrote, was kitty litter."

    Read more:
    theverge.com/2014/5/23/5742800

    #NuclearWasteStorage #NuclearWaste #NuclearRepository
    theverge.com/2014/5/23/5742800

  43. ICYMI from 2014. Meee-oooow! Misleading headline, however, the wrong type of cat litter caused an explosion at a #NuclearWaste repository in #NewMexico.

    Radioactive kitty litter may have ruined our best hope to store nuclear waste

    Billions invested in an underground New Mexico repository could be wasted because of one seemingly innocuous decision

    By Matt Stroud
    May 23, 2014

    "Some of the most dangerous nuclear waste in the US is currently scattered between 77 locations all over the country, awaiting permanent storage. Until February, many experts suggested that the best place to put it was a facility about 40 miles east of #CarlsbadNewMexico, called the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). For 15 years, #WIPP has operated as the first and only permanent, deep geologic nuclear waste storage facility in the country, holding 'low level' radioactive materials — mostly clothing and tools exposed to radiation from nuclear weapons production — in steel barrels more than 2,150 feet below the Earth’s surface.

    "But earlier this year two emergencies brought that suggestion — and WIPP’s future — into question. And now it seems kitty litter may be to blame.

    What happened?

    "WIPP is in a salt desert, and much of the work there involves burrowing through the salt and using huge elevators to deposit the stuff at surface level. The resulting underground caverns are then filled with radioactive waste and eventually closed shut, sealed forever.

    "First, on February 5th, a salt-hauling truck caught fire. That would be an inconvenience on the side of a highway, but in an enclosed #SaltCavern surrounded by nuclear waste, it’s a potential catastrophe. Workers evacuated the site. Fortunately no one was hurt. But the fire was significant enough to shut down underground operations until investigators could figure out what happened and how to stop it from happening again. Surface-level operations continued.

    "But not for long. Nine days later, late at night on Valentine’s Day, an alarm sounded, indicating that #radioactivity was present in the air underground. No one was below ground at the time, but employees on the surface activated massive fans designed to ventilate the underground air. The next day, another monitor went off — this one on the surface — indicating #AirborneRadiation. Employees who worked outside on the surface were told to take shelter inside buildings completely separated from storage operations. Valves allowing air to flow underground were sealed with high-density expanding foam. Everything came to a standstill, indefinitely.

    Fallout

    "There are no indications that anyone has been injured from the radiation leak. (All employees went through examinations for radiation exposure; a DOE press release says most workers were not affected, and those who were 'received less exposure than a person receives from a chest X-ray.' [THIS IS TYPICAL PRO-NUCLEAR PROPAGANDA]) But for months, nothing has changed. The standstill remains. WIPP’s 850 or so employees are mainly sitting around, waiting (or "performing surface facilities maintenance or assisting with procedure reviews and revisions") while investigators from the US Department of Energy (#DOE), the New Mexico Environment Department and elsewhere attempt to figure out what happened.

    "Initially, there were two hypotheses. The first was that something had gone wrong with the supports inside the cavern where waste was being stored. If that were the case, it meant a piece of salt rock or a steel support had fallen into one of the sealed barrels, puncturing it and releasing radiation into the air.

    "'That was an unlikely possibility,' says Norbert T. Rempe, PhD, a retired geologist who spent decades as a principal engineer at WIPP. The cavern where the radiation monitor went off had been dug only recently, so the chances that supports had eroded or collapsed were probably slim.

    Burstlid

    "Organic kitty litter likely caused a steel barrel's seal to puncture at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, NM. The damage and the resulting radiation leak could close the facility, experts say. (Department of Energy)

    "More likely, he said, was the second hypothesis: that something had gone awry inside one of the radioactive containers — that the radioactive material had become hot for some reason, expanding and puncturing a steel barrel from the inside.

    "Last month, DOE investigators went into the cavern. Pictures showed that the latter hypothesis was true; a waste container’s lid was unsealed, and dust around the lid had turned yellow from the unusual heat emanating from inside. Each barrel is labeled to track where it came from. The punctured barrel originated from #LosAlamos National Labs.

    "Jim Conca, PhD, a geologist who worked for years at WIPP who now blogs at Forbes about energy issues, believes he knows what blew the lid off at least one of WIPP’s radioactive barrels. The culprit, he wrote, was kitty litter."

    Read more:
    theverge.com/2014/5/23/5742800

    #NuclearWasteStorage #NuclearWaste #NuclearRepository
    theverge.com/2014/5/23/5742800

  44. ICYMI from 2014. Meee-oooow! Misleading headline, however, the wrong type of cat litter caused an explosion at a #NuclearWaste repository in #NewMexico.

    Radioactive kitty litter may have ruined our best hope to store nuclear waste

    Billions invested in an underground New Mexico repository could be wasted because of one seemingly innocuous decision

    By Matt Stroud
    May 23, 2014

    "Some of the most dangerous nuclear waste in the US is currently scattered between 77 locations all over the country, awaiting permanent storage. Until February, many experts suggested that the best place to put it was a facility about 40 miles east of #CarlsbadNewMexico, called the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). For 15 years, #WIPP has operated as the first and only permanent, deep geologic nuclear waste storage facility in the country, holding 'low level' radioactive materials — mostly clothing and tools exposed to radiation from nuclear weapons production — in steel barrels more than 2,150 feet below the Earth’s surface.

    "But earlier this year two emergencies brought that suggestion — and WIPP’s future — into question. And now it seems kitty litter may be to blame.

    What happened?

    "WIPP is in a salt desert, and much of the work there involves burrowing through the salt and using huge elevators to deposit the stuff at surface level. The resulting underground caverns are then filled with radioactive waste and eventually closed shut, sealed forever.

    "First, on February 5th, a salt-hauling truck caught fire. That would be an inconvenience on the side of a highway, but in an enclosed #SaltCavern surrounded by nuclear waste, it’s a potential catastrophe. Workers evacuated the site. Fortunately no one was hurt. But the fire was significant enough to shut down underground operations until investigators could figure out what happened and how to stop it from happening again. Surface-level operations continued.

    "But not for long. Nine days later, late at night on Valentine’s Day, an alarm sounded, indicating that #radioactivity was present in the air underground. No one was below ground at the time, but employees on the surface activated massive fans designed to ventilate the underground air. The next day, another monitor went off — this one on the surface — indicating #AirborneRadiation. Employees who worked outside on the surface were told to take shelter inside buildings completely separated from storage operations. Valves allowing air to flow underground were sealed with high-density expanding foam. Everything came to a standstill, indefinitely.

    Fallout

    "There are no indications that anyone has been injured from the radiation leak. (All employees went through examinations for radiation exposure; a DOE press release says most workers were not affected, and those who were 'received less exposure than a person receives from a chest X-ray.' [THIS IS TYPICAL PRO-NUCLEAR PROPAGANDA]) But for months, nothing has changed. The standstill remains. WIPP’s 850 or so employees are mainly sitting around, waiting (or "performing surface facilities maintenance or assisting with procedure reviews and revisions") while investigators from the US Department of Energy (#DOE), the New Mexico Environment Department and elsewhere attempt to figure out what happened.

    "Initially, there were two hypotheses. The first was that something had gone wrong with the supports inside the cavern where waste was being stored. If that were the case, it meant a piece of salt rock or a steel support had fallen into one of the sealed barrels, puncturing it and releasing radiation into the air.

    "'That was an unlikely possibility,' says Norbert T. Rempe, PhD, a retired geologist who spent decades as a principal engineer at WIPP. The cavern where the radiation monitor went off had been dug only recently, so the chances that supports had eroded or collapsed were probably slim.

    Burstlid

    "Organic kitty litter likely caused a steel barrel's seal to puncture at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, NM. The damage and the resulting radiation leak could close the facility, experts say. (Department of Energy)

    "More likely, he said, was the second hypothesis: that something had gone awry inside one of the radioactive containers — that the radioactive material had become hot for some reason, expanding and puncturing a steel barrel from the inside.

    "Last month, DOE investigators went into the cavern. Pictures showed that the latter hypothesis was true; a waste container’s lid was unsealed, and dust around the lid had turned yellow from the unusual heat emanating from inside. Each barrel is labeled to track where it came from. The punctured barrel originated from #LosAlamos National Labs.

    "Jim Conca, PhD, a geologist who worked for years at WIPP who now blogs at Forbes about energy issues, believes he knows what blew the lid off at least one of WIPP’s radioactive barrels. The culprit, he wrote, was kitty litter."

    Read more:
    theverge.com/2014/5/23/5742800

    #NuclearWasteStorage #NuclearWaste #NuclearRepository
    theverge.com/2014/5/23/5742800