#radioactivewaste — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #radioactivewaste, aggregated by home.social.
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#SaintLouis’ long history of #radioactive #contamination. Highlights of 10 years of Post-Dispatch coverage.
Oct 9, 2025
"From the public announcement that #MallinckrodtChemicalWorks helped refine #uranium for the #ManhattanProject to the present, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has covered the issue of storing #RadioactiveWaste and subsequent #contamination of #ColdwaterCreek, #WeldonSpring and surrounding areas."
Read more:
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/history/collection_29db6be1-fe7f-56b6-bdc6-fcf9dda512cd.html#1Archived version:
https://archive.ph/AIoN2#RadioactiveHazards #Cancer #NoNukes #NoWar #EPAFail #USPol #USGovtFail #NuclearWeapons #RethinkNotRestart #NoNuclearWar #EnvironmentalDisaster
#WaterIsLife #SoilIsLife -
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 OsvathAbstract:
"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:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01241-w#NoNukes #NoNuclearWeapons #NoNuclearDumping #ToxicLegacy #LegacyWastes #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearWaste #NuclearWasteStorage #IllegalDumping
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#FirstNations chiefs shouldn’t be duped by the ‘nuclear-is-green” deception
by William Eric Altvater, 6 February 2025
"Some #FirstNation Chiefs are victims of shenanigans, not unlike the swindle behind the purchase of Manhattan. The federal government needs the support of #IndigenousPeoples to expand #NuclearPower 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 Doctrine of Discovery” 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 fossil fuels are not the golden egg they were once deemed to be.
So-called “Green Energy” 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.
Nuclear power 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 radioactive waste 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 #Peskotomuhkati Nation territory in Maine and stands shoulder to shoulder with his Peskotomuhkati relations in #NewBrunswick in the struggle to achieve Canadian Government recognition.
#NoNukes #NoNuclearDumping #NuclearColonialism #NuclearIsNotGreen #UraniumMining #RadioactiveWaste
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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]:
https://beyondnuclear.org/nuke-waste-dump-ojibwe-country-once-again-targeted/#EnvironmentRacism #NoDumpingWithoutConsent #NuclearWasteIsForever #DGR #NuclearPowerPlants #NuclearPowerNoThanks #IndigenousLand
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#RadioactiveWaste leakage would be threat to area: critic
By Doug Diaczuk The Chronicle-Journal Apr 22, 2025
"A radioactive waste specialist from the United States says #NuclearWaste disposal sites place a giant bullseye on an area, as well as all communities along the transportation route, and residents of Northern #Ontario should take notice.
"#KevinKamps, a radioactive waste specialist with #BeyondNuclear, a non-profit advocacy group in the United States, will be speaking in Thunder Bay at Environment North's annual meeting on Wednesday [April 23].
"Kamps has opposed several nuclear waste sites across North America, including a site in the #YuccaMountains in #Nevada and a site at #Kincardine in #Ontario at the #BruceNuclear Generating Station.
" 'That was a 20-year campaign all told, but we prevailed in the end,' Kamps said of the Kincardine site in an interview with The Chronicle-Journal.
"The Nuclear Waste Management Organization [#NWM] identified a site between #Ignace and #Wabigoon Lake as the location for a proposed deep geological repository [#DGR] for #SpentFuel from #Canadian #NuclearPower plants.
"Last summer, the #TownshipOfIgnace expressed a willingness to be the host community for the repository following a survey showing the majority of residents supported the site.
"But several #FirstNation communities have spoken out in opposition to the site, citing #environmental concerns and the safety of transporting spent fuel through the region.
"Kamps said if anything was to go wrong at the deep geological repository site it would be catastrophic: 'for all points #downstream, #downwind, up the #FoodChain, down the generations.'
" 'In your neck of the woods, what I find ironic is the current target in your area is just outside of the #GreatLakes basin and I think it is a raw political calculation to try to silence what has been more than a decade of U.S. congressional opposition to the #LakeHuronDump,' he said.
" 'Now magically a site has been chosen outside of the Great Lakes basin.'
"There are many safety concerns to take into consideration when it comes to nuclear waste, Kamps said, beginning with the transportation of nuclear material to the site itself.
" 'One of the most controversial aspects is the transportation component, because it makes it everyone's problem along those routes,' he said. 'So that is another part of our challenge, to educate communities that would be along the most likely transportation route, be it road, rail, or waterway.'
"Then there is the site itself, which Kamps said could be vulnerable to #ExtremeWeather, #NaturalDisasters, or even potential attacks.
" 'You had better know your geology really well because if and when this starts leaking from its containers into the geology, then it's a question of how long will it take to mix with underground waterflows and perhaps even surface waterflows,' he said. 'And then the risk flows with the water, and with the air.'
"For those opposed to such sites, Kamps said the best way to fight back is through the democratic process and engaging with government representatives at all levels.
"He cited the opposition to the #Kincardine site that was a 20-year fight and the role First Nations communities played.
" 'An important part of that was the #SaugeenOjibwayNation who asked good questions and in the end voted 86 per cent no to that dump coming into their community,' he said.
"In terms of what to do with nuclear waste from generating stations, Kamps said it should stay at the site of origin."
#EnvironmentalRacism #GreatLakesBasin #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #NuclearDumping #ClimateChange #NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukesForAI #NoDumpingWithoutConsent
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#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, 2025Excerpt: "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.' "
#DGR #RadioactiveWaste #NuclearEnergy #NuclearWaste #FirstNations #NativeAmericans #NativeAmericanNews #NoDumpingWithoutConsent #RespectTheTreaties #CanPol
#WaterIsLife #NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearDumping #NuclearInjustice #EnvironmentalRacism #OntarioPowerGeneration -
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.”
#FirstNations #Ojibwe #NativeAmericans #NativeAmericanNews #NoDumpingWithoutConsent #RespectTheTreaties #WaterIsLife #NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearDumping #NuclearInjustice #EnvironmentalRacism #OntarioPowerGeneration
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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.
https://www.wabanakireach.org/first_nations_chiefs_shouldn_t_be_duped_by_the_nuclear_is_green_deception_by_william_altvater
#NoNukes #NoNewNukes #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #UraniumMining #UraniumMilling #LeaveItInTheGround #Greenwashing #NuclearIsNotCarbonFree #NuclearIsNotGreen #CanadaPol #NuclearWaste #NuclearIndustry #TEPCOLies #HoltecLies #NuclearColonialism -
🚨 Alert: #RadioactiveUranium Trucks on the #NavajoNation Today (2/12)
"A banner on the deadly haul route today, Wednesday, as two radioactive uranium transport trucks pass by Dine' homes in #TubaCity on the Navajo Nation. #Dine' families said they had no warning and the #NavajoGovernment sold them out."
By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Feb. 12, 2025
Live and UpdatingTUBA CITY, Navajo Nation -- "#EnergyFuels #radioactive #UraniumWaste trucks passed through the Navajo Nation today, following a secretive agreement between the Navajo Nation and Energy Fuels.
"Two radioactive uranium waste trucks passed through #TubaCity headed to the uranium mill in the #WhiteMesaUte community, between 11 a.m. and noon today.
"In a region still strewn with #RadioactiveWaste from the #ColdWar, and gas and oil wells choking the people -- now uranium waste being transported by Dine' homes with only a tarp [!!!] covering tons of radioactive waste. The trucks are dumping their loads in the White Mesa #Ute community at the mill in southeastern #Utah.
"The secretive agreement between Energy Fuels and the Navajo Nation government, says there will be two to twelve trucks a day with radioactive waste from Energy Fuels #PinyonPlain #UraniumMine in the #GrandCanyon, for the next three to four years.
"Navajo Utah Commission members voiced their opposition to the uranium transport during a meeting with Navajo Nation EPA Executive Director #StephenEtsitty in #WindowRock on Tuesday. This comes after Energy Fuels made a public announcement of the agreement with the tribe.
"The Navajo Utah Commission meeting revealed that Energy Fuels agreed to pay the Navajo Nation government $1.2 million during the negotiations. Dine' in Western Navajo said that Navajo President #BuuNygren showed them how much money their lives are worth: $1.2 million."
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/02/radioactive-uranium-trucks-will-travel.html
#WhiteMesaUte #EnergyFuels #HaulNo #IndigenousAction #IndigenousResistance #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 -
The #corporate #lobbyist who will run the #Trump White House
by Judd Legum and Rebecca Crosby
Jan 13, 2025"Two days after he won the election, Trump announced his first selection for his White House staff. He picked corporate lobbyist #SusieWiles to be White House Chief of Staff.
"In 2011, Wiles joined the #BallardPartners, a Florida lobbying firm founded by Republican operative Brian Ballard. In 2015, according to a report in the New York Times, Trump asked Ballard who could help him win the state. Ballard recommended Wiles. After Trump won the 2016 election, Wiles decided to help Ballard 'set up a Washington office rather than join the new administration.' Prior to Trump winning the White House, Ballard Partners had no federal clients.
"It was a lucrative decision, with Ballard Partners raking in $70 million in lobbying fees during the first Trump presidency. Wiles personally represented numerous corporate clients for millions in fees, including #SwisherSweets, a #tobacco company that markets candy-flavored cigars, #RepublicServices, a waste management company seeking to avoid a federal requirement to remove #radioactive material from a dump in the #SaintLouis suburbs, and the #ConsumerEnergyAlliance, a front group for the #FossilFuel industry."
https://popular.info/p/the-corporate-lobbyist-who-will-run
#USPol #Oligarchy #CorporateColonialism #WestLakeLandfill #BigOilAndGas #RadioactiveWaste -
Some good news! Though potential contamination from long-term storage needs to be addressed (what else is new).
#EPA to Relocate Toxic #UraniumMine Waste from #NavajoNation
By Neely Bardwell, January 08, 2025
"The Environmental Protection Agency will move #uranium mine waste from #ChurchrockNewMexico to the #RedRock regional landfill where it can be safely stored forever.
"The federal agency signed an action memo to transport radioactive waste at the Quivira Mining Co. Churchrock Mine to a disposal site at the Red Rock regional landfill about six miles east of the Village of Thoreau. The cleanup will begin in early 2025 and continue for 6-8 years.
"For the Red Water Pond Road Community Association (#RWPRCA), which has advocated for waste removal since 2006, the decision marks a significant shift in addressing #UraniumContamination on Navajo land.
"'Removing the mine waste from our community will protect our health and finally put us back on a positive track to #Hózhǫ (balance),' said Teracita Keyanna, RPWPRCA executive committee member. 'I think this decision empowers #grassroots organizations like ours and our allies to continue to advocate and educate to clean up hundreds of abandoned uranium mines that threaten our #Diné communities every day.'
"RWPRCA President Edith Hood said the community has dealt with the impact of uranium mining since the late 1960s. Commercial mining began at the site under #KerrMcGee Corporation, which later became the #QuiviraMiningCompany. The operation extracted an estimated 1.3 million tons of uranium ore before closing in 1986. The Navajo Nation currently has more than 520 documented #AbandonedMines, with no disposal facilities for uranium waste within 350 miles of #TribalLands.
"'Many of us suffer chronic health problems and a degraded homeland as a result,' Hood said. 'We advocate for a regional approach to addressing remediation of nearly 100 abandoned uranium mines in the Eastern Navajo Agency. We are committed to making sure the removal of mine waste from our community does not threaten the health and safety of our Diné neighbors.'
"Previous attempts to address the waste proved unsuccessful. In 2011 and 2013, the EPA and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a plan to place 1 million cubic yards of waste from NECRM on top of the existing tailings pile located half a mile from RWPRC village. Effectively, neither of those wastes were removed from the communities.
"The #RedRockLandfill currently handles municipal waste from McKinley and Cibola counties and Navajo Nation communities as far away as Tuba City. The planned #UraniumDisposalCell will occupy a separate area of the 640-acre site adjacent to the shuttered #Escalante power plant.
"The Northwest New Mexico Regional Solid Waste Authority (#NNMRSWA), which owns the landfill, must show that its operations can protect #GroundWater, air and soil, while safeguarding public health for decades to come. The New Mexico Environment Department will oversee long-term monitoring of the site.
"Chris Shuey, who has documented mining and #milling impacts in the #Churchrock area for 40 years as an environmental health specialist at Southwest Research and Information Center in Albuquerque, said relocating uranium waste is essential for tribal communities.
"'Removing mine wastes from Navajo communities to engineered, regional disposal sites is a #PublicHealth imperative,' Shuey said, noting that more than half of all Navajo chapters have at least one source of unhealthy uranium exposure. 'The federal government must continue looking for suitable sites for long-term disposal of mine wastes to protect current and future Navajo populations.'
"'This decision will remove over 1 million cubic yards of waste that has haunted the #RedWaterPondRoad and #PipelineRoad communities for too long,' EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman said in a statement.
"'This solution is a compromise that will get #RadioactiveWaste in this area off of the Navajo Nation as soon as possible,' Navajo Nation President #BuuNygren said in the EPA statement. 'It’s not everything the three affected communities would wish for but it’s action in the right direction now rather than in the future. Most importantly, this will protect our people from harmful exposure.'"
Source:
https://nativenewsonline.net/environment/epa-to-relocate-toxic-mine-waste-from-navajo-nation
#NoNukes #NoWar #NoMiningWithoutConsent #NoUraniumMining #UraniumMills #NukingTheNavajo #Genocide #WaterIsLife #NativeAmericanNews #HaulNo -
#DiabloCanyon #NuclearPowerPlant brings #profits for PG&E, deadly risk for residents [and the #environment]
Tina Landis
August 19, 2024"Despite opposition from residents and #environmental organizations, California legislators passed #SenateBill846 in 2022 to extend the life of the dangerous, aging Diablo Canyon #nuclear facility.
"Located on the Central Coast surrounded by several #fault lines, one has to question why a nuclear facility was placed in an #earthquake zone to begin with, much less allowing it to continue to operate well past its retirement date. The world witnessed what can happen to a coastal nuclear facility in an earthquake zone when the 2011 #Fukushima disaster triggered a meltdown that displaced nearly half a million residents, with vast amounts of #RadioactiveWater still being released into the ocean today.
"As long as Diablo Canyon remains open, Californians live with the constant risk of suffering the same type of disaster.
"From its inception, Diablo Canyon had little public support. Protests occurred regularly during its construction, and thousands were arrested for #CivilDisobedience actions in 1981.
"In the 1970s and 1980s, California’s three largest utilities spent billions of dollars building dangerous and costly nuclear plants like Diablo Canyon, which resulted in skyrocketing rates for customers. Big industry fought back against these increased energy costs, which resulted in deregulation bills consisting of multi-billion dollar #bailouts to the state’s utility companies to cover their costly investments in nuclear.
"Today, the last remaining nuclear plant operating in the state is still draining billions in funds that could be used for safe, #renewable energy development. To keep Diablo Canyon running 5 years past its retirement date is expected to cost $8 billion to $12 billion. A federal aid package of $1.1 billion will contribute to some of those costs – meaning federal #taxpayers’ money – while the remaining billions will be passed on to #California #ratepayers.
"Despite being run by PG&E and only generating power for its territory, customers of #SouthernCaliforniaEdison and #SanDiegoGasAndElectric will help cover the remaining costs of the Diablo extension. Edison bills will increase by around $1.25 a month and SDG&E by 87 cents a month, while PG&E customers are expected to chip in $2.07 a month – and that’s just for the first year. Critics warn that costs are likely to increase in coming years to keep the plant running, and that’s on top of already skyrocketing PG&E rates that have doubled over the last decade. And if PG&E collects more funds than are needed for Diablo’s operations, they get to keep it!
"In 2022, when legislators pushed this through #SB846, the excuse of energy shortages was used due to pandemic-related supply chain issues and massive #wildfires. But today, there is plenty of energy being produced with increased #solar and #battery storage capacity that has kept the lights on even during this summer’s unprecedented heat waves driving up demand. The California Public Utility Commission’s own reporting shows that an additional 18,500 megawatts of new resources were added to the grid between 2020 and 2024, which is enough to power around 14 million homes. Another 11,000 megawatts will be added by 2028.
"Nuclear has the third highest lifecycle emissions of all energy sources after scrubbed #coal fired plants and natural gas – meaning it is far from being zero-emission. It also creates the unresolved issue of the #RadioactiveWaste which remains dangerous for tens of thousands to millions of years.
"Keeping the Diablo facility running will only hold back further development of safe and truly low-carbon, low cost renewable sources like solar and #wind energy.
"So why isn’t Diablo Canyon being decommissioned? The short answer is that #capitalism must ensure continued profits for the #InvestorClass.
"SB 846 authorized Diablo’s extension through 2030, and gave PG&E a $1.4 billion loan for the for-profit utility to facilitate the plant’s extension. #GovernorNewsom facilitated another transfer of taxpayer dollars to PG&E through an additional $400 million loan from the state’s general fund, included in the recent budget deal. Critics warn that these 'loans' will never be repaid, meaning residents will be fully subsidizing the Diablo extension – from federal and state tax dollars to our utility fees.
"But there is a way out. SB 846 allows the #CPUC to retire the plant earlier than 2030 if sufficient levels of new renewable zero-carbon energy resources exist, are interconnected, and meet demand, which is the case.
"CPUC has a long track record of serving PG&E’s interests, so intervention by the commission is unlikely. One example of many that demonstrates their close relationship: CPUC is not requiring PG&E to show how much of our utility bill actually goes to the Diablo extension, but instead lumps the cost in with 'public purpose programs,' making it impossible to determine.
"While communities are demanding an early shutdown of Diablo, PG&E is currently applying for a 20-year license renewal from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission [#NRC] for the facility, which is expected to be approved. This would mean customers will foot the bill to keep this dangerous nuclear facility running through 2045, far beyond the original expiration dates of 2024 and 2025.
"CPUC has proven their unwavering support time and again for PG&E’s monopoly control over the state’s energy system at the expense of residents’ safety and affordable rates. The Diablo Canyon nuclear plant is just another mechanism to squeeze ratepayers and line the pockets of shareholders who live far away from the dangers posed by this aging facility. Only a public takeover of this #corrupt utility can win clean, safe and affordable energy for all."
#PGAndE #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearCorruption #NuclearBailouts #RenewablesNow #NoNukes
#DiabloCanyonNuclearPlant
#NuclearPowerCorruptionAndLies #California #WaterIsLife #OceansAreLife -
The pitfalls of 'going #nuclear'
"valid fears - solidified by #accidents at #nuclearpower plants #Chernobyl & #Fukushima, as well as 🇹🇭 accidents involv'g #radioactivewaste - remain abt if #Thaistyle mgt can cope w tech so reliant on highly efficient, #transparent & #trustworthy #leadership.. 23yrs ago, a cobalt-60 cylinder for radiology trtmt went missing in #Bangkok & ended w a scrapyard . 1872 people living around were exposed.. 3 died 2mths later fr #radiationsickness"
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2837983/the-pitfalls-of-going-nuclear