Latest news with #radioactivewaste
Bloomberg
6 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Startup Closes in on Using Fracking Technology to Store Nuclear Waste
A nuclear technology startup raised $33 million in a private placement to test its system for storing radioactive waste deep underground. Deep Isolation Nuclear Inc. uses fracking techniques developed by the oil and natural gas industry to drill boreholes where it can deposit spent nuclear fuel rods. The Berkeley, California-based company says its technology is nearly ready for use, though it has yet to fully test the system and still needs regulatory approval.
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Manhattan Project waste materials in Lewiston being moved to Texas
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Shipments of radioactive waste in Lewiston that is left over from the Manhattan Project are being sent to Texas, officials confirmed to WIVB News 4 on Tuesday. The materials are being trucked from Lewiston to Buffalo and then being taken by train to Andrews, Texas, near the New Mexico state line. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the transportation began last week. The radioactive waste has been at a 191-acre site off of Pletcher Road and contains roughly 6,000 cubic yards of soil along with around 4,000 gallons of contaminated groundwater. The area sits roughly a mile and a half east of Lewiston Porter Schools. Nuclear waste from Oppenheimer's Manhattan Project to be removed from WNY site According to News 4 Investigates reporting from 2024, the cost is projected at several hundred millions of dollars and could take more than a decade. Future phases include removing 250,000 cubic yards of waste and residue from the Interim Waste Containment Structure (IWCS), and underground vault. Prep work for removal of Manhattan Project-era radioactive waste begins in Lewiston The waste materials were supposed to be sent to Michigan, but a judge halted the shipments last year. The materials are left over from the top-secret World War II project to develop the world's first atomic bomb. The Niagara Falls Storage Site was used by the Manhattan Engineer District to store radioactive residues and wastes from uranium ore processing beginning in 1944, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. Waste materials continued to be brought to the site until 1952. Initial cleanup began in 1986. Latest Local News Woman warns others to stay vigilant in viral video following incident on Niagara Falls bike path Former North Carolina superintendent named Buffalo Public Schools superintendent Manhattan Project waste materials in Lewiston being moved to Texas Bills bringing back red helmets for last regular season game at Highmark 2 suffer life-threatening injuries in Amherst crash Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
CBC
14-07-2025
- General
- CBC
Questions remain ahead of plans to haul radioactive waste to northern Ontario town
The mayor of a small northern Ontario town says the community still has a lot of questions ahead of plans for the province to start hauling radioactive waste to an abandoned mine near the community. Last year the Township of Nairn and Hyman, better known as Nairn Centre, was made aware of plans from the province to haul radioactive niobium tailings from a former mill near Nipissing First Nation to the old Agnew Lake mine – a property Ontario's Ministry of Mines took over in the 1990s. Agnew Lake was a uranium mine and has already been holding radioactive waste for decades without incident. Nairn and Hyman Mayor Amy Mazey said the community of around 400 people wants eight scientific studies about the risks associated with hauling niobium to the mine to be done before the trucks start rolling. "When we put this niobium and uranium together, what's going to happen?" she asked. Mazey said the Agnew Lake mine is located around 27 kilometres from the township's drinking water plant on the Spanish River. "There aren't many people that live around where it will be deposited, unlike for Nipissing First Nation. But it isn't far from our drinking water," she said. "This is stuff that's going to be around for a long time. There's cadmium, arsenic, selenium, silver, manganese, it's toxic. It's not good for anyone. We don't want to drink it." Despite ongoing concerns from local residents, Mazey said the province is scheduled to start trucking over the niobium waste from Nipissing First Nation in August. "It feels like this was really being snuck into our community," she said. "It's a hard no from many people and other people, it's like 'Let's get answers to our questions.' And these answers, you know, we just feel we're getting them just before they're about to start trucking." In an email to CBC News, Ontario's Ministry of Transportation – which is responsible for hauling the radioactive waste – said it "continues to work with Nipissing First Nation, the Ministry of Energy and Mines, as well as other key stakeholders to complete this project and relocate the remaining niobium rock tailings from First Nation and Ministry lands." The ministry did not provide additional details about timelines to start that relocation work.
Free Malaysia Today
08-06-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Has Lynas been able to eliminate radioactive waste, asks ex-MP
Lynas said it has signed a non-binding MoU with Kelantan government's investment arm Menteri Besar Inc to negotiate a deal for the future supply of mixed rare-earths carbonate feedstock. (AP pic) PETALING JAYA : Malaysians must be given a clear update on the results of efforts by Australia's Lynas Rare Earths Ltd to eliminate its radioactive waste before the company can be allowed to expand its operations here, says a former DAP MP. Former Bentong MP Wong Tack criticised the recent signing of a memorandum of understanding between Lynas and Kelantan for the future supply of mixed rare-earths carbonate feedstock. He cited the reason given by science, technology and innovation minister Chang Lih Kang for the extension of Lynas's operating licence in October 2023, and the lack of updates since then. 'Lynas will extract thorium from their existing radioactive waste. Eventually, there will be no radioactive waste. 'This was the reason given and the promise made by the minister. Can the minister tell us what is the status of this 'experiment'?' he said in a statement. On May 30, Lynas announced that it had signed a non-binding MoU with Kelantan government's investment arm Menteri Besar Inc with a framework to negotiate a deal for the future supply of mixed rare-earths carbonate feedstock. In 2023, Chang had said the extension of Lynas's operating licence until March 2026 was contingent on the company ensuring the radioactive content in water leach purification (WLP) residue was below one becquerel per gramme. Items below 1Bq/g are not considered radioactive waste by the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) and do not come under the purview of the Atomic Energy Licensing Act. 'The decision of AELB is based on preliminary laboratory findings indicating that thorium radioactive elements can be extracted from WLP residues, allowing them to be released from legal controls under the AEL Act,' Chang had said. Wong derided Malaysian participation in the deal as being reflective of its politicians' 'mentality of colonisers'. 'Does our wealth in natural resources mean we should flip our entire country over so we can all be millionaires and let our children shoulder the consequences? 'Is this the only way our politicians can think of to build our country's economy: through the exploitation, extraction and destruction of our nation?' he said.
The Guardian
15-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
The US buried millions of gallons of wartime nuclear waste – Doge cuts could wreck the cleanup
In the bustling rural city of Richland, in south-eastern Washington, the signs of a nuclear past are all around. A small museum explains its role in the Manhattan Project and its 'singular mission – [to] develop the world's first atomic bomb before the enemy might do the same'. The city's high school sports team is still known as the Bombers, with a logo that consists of the letter R set with a mushroom cloud. Richland lies just 30 miles from the Hanford nuclear site, a sprawling plant that produced the plutonium for America's atomic weapons during the second world war – and later the bomb dropped over Nagasaki. Over the decades, thousands of people in the Tri-Cities area of southern Washington worked at the plant, which shuttered in 1989. But a dark legacy of Hanford still lingers here: vast amounts of highly radioactive waste nobody is quite sure what to do with. Residents have long spearheaded an operation to deal with 56m gallons of nuclear waste left behind in dozens of underground tanks – a cleanup that is expected to cost half a trillion dollars and may not be completed until 2100. The government has called it 'one of the largest and most expensive environmental cleanup projects worldwide'. In recent weeks, what has already been a costly and painstakingly slow process has come under renewed scrutiny, following an exodus of experts from the Department of Energy (DoE) that is overseeing the cleanup being executed by thousands of contract workers. According to local media, several dozen staff, who reportedly include managers, scientists and safety experts, have taken early retirement or been fired as part of a broader government reduction overseen by Elon Musk and his 'department of government efficiency'. The government has refused to provide a specific figure for how many people involved with cleanup efforts have left. The top DoE manager at the Hanford site, Brian Vance, who had many years of experience, resigned at the end of March without giving a reason. The changes have thrown the communities around the Hanford plant into limbo. And while the Department of Energy has said that only six staff have been fired, and reiterated its commitment to the cleanup, that hasn't managed to assuage locals' concerns. Those raising the alarm include politicians from both parties, environmental activists, and Indigenous communities who have historically owned the land on which the 560 sq mile (1,450 sq km) site sits. The US senator for Washington Patty Murray said workers were already understaffed, and that cutting further positions was 'reckless'. 'There is nothing 'efficient' about indiscriminately firing thousands upon thousands of workers in red and blue states whose work is badly needed,' the Democrat said. Dan Newhouse, the local Republican congressman is similarly concerned. 'A strong, well trained federal workforce is essential,' he wrote in a weekly newsletter to constituents. Concerns have also been raised by some over the difficulty former workers face in making medical compensation claims to the government for everything from cancer to acute pulmonary disease linked to their time at the plant. Taken together, there is fresh anxiety in a community, where many are still living with the health and environmental effects of Hanford. Richland, part of the Tri-Cities, was obtained by the army in 1943 to house workers engaged in top-secret efforts to produce plutonium used in the world's first nuclear explosion – the-so-called 'Trinity' device tested near Los Alamos, New Mexico, in 1945. Though the city was returned to the public a decade later, it can still feel like a company town. To get anywhere near what is known as Hanford's B-reactor, the world's first full-scale plutonium production reactor, you need to sign up for an official tour. Yet a view of its grey, single tower, looming from the hillside, can be seen from state route 24, close to the Columbia River. Those expressing concern about the federal government downsizing include local Indigenous groups who historically owned the land where the site is located and were pushed off it by the government. The Hanford plant area contains the location of several sacred sites, among them Gable Mountain, which were used for ceremonies, and the area of Rattlesnake Mountain, or Lalíik, which has for centuries been used to hunt elk. The site is also located close to the Yakama Indian Reservation, home to 11,000 people, and the tribe has long pushed to be central to decisions about the cleanup and what it is eventually used for. The tribe recently signed a deal to carry out their first elk hunt in the area for seven decades. 'One of the biggest fears is that without proper manpower, there might not be a very good crew for the cleanup of the property,' says Gerald Lewis, chairman of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. 'Without this cleanup, that's been happening for a number of years, we're afraid of a nuclear mishap.' Dr Elizabeth McClure, a health data specialist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, is currently conducting research in the communities around Hanford. She says there is a history of government-led cover-ups over the years at the site, including what is known as 'the Green Run', the intentional release of 8,000 so-called curies of iodine-1 into the atmosphere in 1949. By comparison, the leak of radioactive material at the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 involved just a dozen. The Green Run was only acknowledged by the government in 1986. It later emerged that so-called 'downwinders', suffered higher rates of cancer and harm to their lymphatic system. She says Indigenous communities, and other marginalised groups, are often not included in research into the broader impact of places such as Hanford. 'In public health, we're doing work to improve the wellbeing of the public,' she says. 'If you aren't getting the insights and feedback of who's being harmed, you're not going to be able to make improvements.' Also monitoring developments is Hanford Challenge, an environmental group that has highlighted – among other issues – the estimated million gallons of radioactive waste already leaked into the soil because several dozen storage tanks are cracked. A plan to send 2,000 gallons of waste for treatment in Utah or Texas was put on hold after protests from communities on the route, including the city of Spokane and the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Nikolas Peterson, a spokesperson for Hanford Challenge, is concerned about job losses and how it will impact a cleanup operation that is taking place far away from the public eye. 'This level of reduction in staffing raises serious concerns about oversight, accountability and continuity. While the contractor workforce performs the bulk of the cleanup work, DoE staff play a critical role in setting priorities, ensuring compliance and maintaining transparency with the public,' he said. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion 'A diminished federal presence could slow decision-making, weaken oversight and reduce opportunities for meaningful engagement with stakeholders.' For former plant workers like Larry White, the legacy of Hanford is complex. White says he loved the camaraderie of the job, sucked up the hour-long commute, and didn't grumble when he was required to put on protective gear that made the temperature soar. But the job left him with lingering scars. White developed skin cancer and a progressive lung disease that has made it painful to breathe. Even now, as the 83-year-old makes out medical compensation claims, he is not one to complain, even though it hurts to breathe. 'I was treated good while I was there. They took care of us,' says White, who owns and helps farm seven acres in Yakima, a town some 45 miles from Hanford. Since 2000, the government has paid out at least $2.2bn to former Hanford employees, representing 13,000 people. White is being helped by his son, Doug White, a consultant, community activist and part-time farmer who ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for Newhouse's seat in 2022. His son admits he is struggling with the paperwork required to process the claim and is struggling to get help. He says it is essential officials are transparent. 'I'm finding it extremely complicated, unintelligible and opaque,' says White. 'It's a struggle. It's an absolute struggle.' Another former staff member, Richard Badalamente, spent 22 years working as a behavioral scientist at the DoE's National Laboratory, originally part of the Hanford site. Today he's a campaigner for environmental and other causes. Badalamente, 88, says the concerns triggered by news about a reduction in staff symbolise the peculiar relationship between the Hanford community and its history. 'The concern is twofold,' he says. He says the economic 'fuel' for the region comes from the massive operation that may not be completed for 75 years. He adds: 'The concern is the Trump administration will not support a robust cleanup.' It appears many of the recent departures have come as part through voluntary redundancy, or delayed resignation program (DRP), that have been used in other government departments to trim numbers. The DoE said by email it would not provide a number for how many employees had opted for early retirement. It said all requests 'were subject to approval, and certain public safety, national security, law enforcement, or other essential employees may not be approved for participation'. It also would not say how staff had been selected. It confirmed Vance's deputy, Brian Stickney, was among those who had taken early retirement. Vance did not respond to inquiries from the Guardian. Asked about the impact on the cleanup, the spokesperson said: 'The DoE is committed to meeting cleanup responsibilities at Hanford safely and effectively while delivering on President Trump's mission to increase innovation across the federal government and promote greater efficiency and accountability.' In a note to staff, he said: 'Hanford's cleanup mission is one of the most complex and challenging in the world, and the progress we have made is nothing short of remarkable.' How swiftly that progress now goes remains to be seen. Back at the visitors' museum in Richland, near the black-and-white photos of Ronald Reagans's 1956 morale-boosting visit to Hanford, a 15-minute informational film highlights in plain, unemotional language the scale of the 'unintended consequences and legacies of the Manhattan Project'. Solving these complex environmental problems, the film says, will rely on the same 'drive, dedication, human ingenuity and political will' put into building the bomb.
