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| Author | Topic: Unclear Nuclear |
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Greenpeace claims nuclear industry has a dirty secret (Moderator) |
posted 12/23/05 8:58 AM
Greenpeace claims nuclear industry has a dirty secret 17 December 2005 THE nuclear industry has a dirty secret, says Greenpeace, which claims that nuclear plants in western Europe have offloaded 100,000 tonnes of waste uranium to Russia. Western European nuclear fuel companies and the Russian uranium enrichment company Tenex have confidential contracts under which Tenex accepts depleted uranium and returns it after treatment as low-enriched uranium fuel, containing a few per cent fissile uranium-235. But according to Greenpeace, 90 per cent of the waste remains in Russia, while only 10 per cent is returned as fuel - a claim that is confirmed by an industry body, the World Nuclear Association. Greenpeace alleges this is illegal and is taking Tenex to court in Moscow, arguing that the uranium trade breaches a Russian law forbidding the import and storage of foreign waste. Tenex says the uranium is not waste because it will be used in future fast breeder reactors. Urenco, a major uranium enrichment company based in the UK, told New Scientist it had exported "several thousand tonnes of depleted uranium" to Tenex since 1995. In return for the waste Urenco said it "purchases and takes delivery of equivalent quantities of natural uranium". http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18825302.800&feedId=earth_rss20 |
| Chernobyl haunts the Norwegian uplands |
posted 10/27/06 3:00 AM
Chernobyl haunts the Norwegian uplands 28 October 2006 Tougher controls on the slaughter of sheep have been imposed in Norway after they were found to be contaminated with unusually high levels of radioactivity from the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. The Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA) says the problem has arisen because the sheep have feasted on an unusually large crop of mushrooms, which were more plentiful than usual because of wet weather. Previous research has shown that fungi take up more radioactivity from the soil than grasses or other plants. There are 36 areas of upland Norway where Chernobyl contamination still requires controls on sheep. According to the NRPA, levels of caesium-137 from the Chernobyl disaster reached 7000 becquerels per kilogram in sheep this year, more than twice maximum levels in previous years. Farmers can reduce the level of radioactivity in sheep by giving them non-contaminated food for a month before slaughter. For some farmers, this period will now have to be doubled to reduce caesium-137 levels to below Norway's safety limit of 600 bq/kg. Per Strand, the NRPA's head of environmental radioactivity, stresses that the precautions mean that lamb on the market is safe to eat. He says, though, that the discovery of such high levels of radioactivity so long after the Chernobyl accident came as a surprise. "No one at the time expected contamination to be so high more than 20 years after the event," he says. From issue 2575 of New Scientist magazine, 28 October 2006, page 7 http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19225753.500&feedId=earth_rss20 |
| Chernobyl haunts the Norwegian uplands |
posted 11/2/06 12:07 AM
Chernobyl haunts the Norwegian uplands 28 October 2006 Tougher controls on the slaughter of sheep have been imposed in Norway after they were found to be contaminated with unusually high levels of radioactivity from the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. The Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA) says the problem has arisen because the sheep have feasted on an unusually large crop of mushrooms, which were more plentiful than usual because of wet weather. Previous research has shown that fungi take up more radioactivity from the soil than grasses or other plants. There are 36 areas of upland Norway where Chernobyl contamination still requires controls on sheep. According to the NRPA, levels of caesium-137 from the Chernobyl disaster reached 7000 becquerels per kilogram in sheep this year, more than twice maximum levels in previous years. Farmers can reduce the level of radioactivity in sheep by giving them non-contaminated food for a month before slaughter. For some farmers, this period will now have to be doubled to reduce caesium-137 levels to below Norway's safety limit of 600 bq/kg. Per Strand, the NRPA's head of environmental radioactivity, stresses that the precautions mean that lamb on the market is safe to eat. He says, though, that the discovery of such high levels of radioactivity so long after the Chernobyl accident came as a surprise. "No one at the time expected contamination to be so high more than 20 years after the event," he says. From issue 2575 of New Scientist magazine, 28 October 2006, page 7 http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19225753.500?DCMP=NLC-nletter&nsref=mg19225753.500 |
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