Desert spreads endlessly beyond the horizon, where crystalline azure meets rusted bronze. This is red rock country. Moab, Utah is known for its breathtaking scenery. Red rock arches, labyrinth-like canyons, the clever Colorado River. This paradise permeates the soul and the soil. But something else sleeps in the soil: uranium tailings.
Uranium was discovered near Moab in the early 1900s, but it wasn’t significantly mined until 1952 when Charlie Steen, a geologist, discovered large quantities of uranium in Lisbon Valley, south east of Moab. Enough Uranium was mined that a sign in town declared that Moab was “The Uranium Capitol of the World!”
By Max Lindberg •
June 4, 2008
As promised in a podcast interview on February 11th,
Edward Sproat, manager of the Yucca Mountain project in Nevada, filed a license application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to construct a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.
By Mark Seall •
March 28, 2008
Nuclear power – an abundant source of carbon free energy, or a dangerous and expensive power source with huge risks to our health and environment?
Britain may not have much choice in this matter as its government seems determined to take the nuclear route in an effort to bring Co2 emissions in line with its reduction pledges and mitigate its dwindling North Sea oil and gas supplies.
Announcing plans to enter into a technology partnership with France, the UK government proposes replacing its 24 aging reactors - which currently provide 20% of the nation’s electricity - with a new set of nuclear power plants which will double Britain’s nuclear power generating capacity. In doing so, Britain hopes to become a “world leader in nuclear technology”, according to Energy Secretary John Hutton.
By Max Lindberg •
February 23, 2008
Nuclear energy officials appear to be taking the lead in the quest for storage of radioactive waste, as Nevada’s Yucca Mountain looks less and less like a reality, at least in the short term.
Marshall Cohen, an official of the Nuclear Energy Institute told the Las Vegas Review Journal that the industry is looking to several communities that might welcome interim storage of its used fuel.
Two or three communities, according to Cohen, are [...]
By Max Lindberg •
February 20, 2008
I was reading some recent headlines about Yucca Mountain, claiming the federal government will face heavy penalties and judgments if the project isn’t finished. Read beyond the headlines my friends, “we” fund the government, the money comes from our pockets, and it isn’t chicken feed.
The latest estimates are, that if Yucca Mountain isn’t finished until 2017, “we” will owe the utilities an estimated $7 billion in penalties, provided by law, because the repository isn’t finished. Bump completion time up another 3 years, and the bill goes up to about $11 billion.
