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»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_mi···m_mining

Health risks of uranium mining

Because uranium ore emits radon gas, uranium mining can be more dangerous than other underground mining, unless adequate ventilation systems are installed. During the 1950s, many Navajos in the U.S. became uranium miners, as many uranium deposits were discovered on Navajo reservations. A statistically significant subset of these early miners later developed small cell carcinoma after exposure to uranium ore.[31] Radon-222, a natural decay product of uranium, has been shown to be the cancer-causing agent.[32] Some American survivors and their descendants received compensation under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act in 1990.

In January 2008 Areva was nominated for an Anti Oscar Award.[33] The French state-owned company mines uranium in northern Niger where mine workers are not informed about health risks, and analysis shows radioactive contamination of air, water and soil.The local organization that represents the mine workers, spoke of “suspicious deaths among the workers, caused by radioactive dust and contaminated groundwater.”[34]

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said by vue666 :

Mashiki - thanks for bringing to light the open pit method of mining coal.

The Bush administration has objected to a proposed open-pit coal mine in Canada near the Montana border, citing the potential for irreversible environmental damage to Glacier National Park, pristine trout streams and the largest natural lake in the West.
»www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co···443.html

... In common with other methods of coal mining, processing the coal mined by mountaintop removal generates waste slurry (also called coal sludge), which is usually stored behind a dam on-site. Many coal slurry impoundments in West Virginia exceed 500 million gallons in volume, and some, including the Brushy Fork impoundment in Raleigh County, exceed 7 billion gallons. Such impoundments can be hundreds of feet high and be in close proximity to schools or private residences. The most controversial sludge dam at present sits 400 yards above Marsh Fork Elementary School. The sludge pond is permitted to hold 2.8 billion gallons of toxic sludge, and is 21 times larger than the pond which killed 125 people in the Buffalo Creek Flood.

Kentucky's Martin County Sludge Spill occurred after midnight on October 11, 2000 when a coal sludge impoundment broke through into an underground mine below, propelling 306 million gallons of sludge down two tributaries of the Tug Fork River. The spill polluted hundreds of miles of waterways, contaminated the water supply for over 27,000 residents, and killed all aquatic life in Coldwater Fork and Wolf Creek.

Blasting at a mountaintop removal mine expels coal dust and fly-rock into the air, which can then disturb or settle onto private property nearby. This dust contains sulfur compounds, which corrodes structures and tombstones and is a health hazard.
»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strip_mini···p_mining

said by vue666 :

If nuclear energy is good then why is the west so upset with Iran?

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The increase in global-warming gases from China's coal use will probably exceed that for all industrialized countries combined over the next 25 years, surpassing by five times the reduction in such emissions that the Kyoto Protocol seeks.

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said by MacGyver :

Here's a Toronto Star story on the Nanticoke Coal-Fired Power

"It can ramp up its output by 11,000 kilowatts a minute – almost 15 times the electricity generated by the CNE wind turbine. In four hours, it can go from idle to full throttle." Toronto Star

said by vue666 :

I guess it's OK for Ontario to have a coal fired power plant then but not Nova Scotia? :huh:

Today, Nanticoke would never be built. But, in the late '60s, few had heard of acid rain or global warming.

"Nobody really wants coal-fired plants any more," says Thomas Reynolds, the former Ontario Hydro employee who picked the location for Nanticoke.

That's why the province plans to shut down Nanticoke, and replace it with emission-free nuclear power, natural gas – which releases half the carbon dioxide of coal when burned – and clean renewables like wind and solar. Negotiating contracts with Quebec to import some of its abundant hydro power is also on the table.

"Just to make things clear: we are not stating that anthropogenic climate change won't be as bad as previously thought", explains Prof. Mojib Latif from IFM-GEOMAR. "What we are saying is that on top of the warming trend there is a long-periodic oscillation that will probably lead to a to a lower temperature increase than we would expect from the current trend during the next years", adds Latif. "That is like driving from the coast to a mountainous area and crossing some hills and valleys before you reach the top", explains Dr. Johann Jungclaus from the MPI for Meteorology.
»www.ifm-geomar.de/index.php?id=4192&L=1

said by P Ness :

said by vue666 :

Perhaps coal isn't a bad solution when you consider the risk of nuclear?

one accident causing death in what 60 years and you call that a serious risk?

do you know how many people die in refinery deaths?
do you know how many miners die in coal mines?
do you know how many people die on oil rigs?
do you know how many people die from polution caused by oil and oil products.

i would bet more then 10x this accident.

Power plants are a major source of air pollution, with coal-fired power plants spewing 59% of total U.S. sulfur dioxide pollution and 18% of total nitrogen oxides every year. Coal-fired power plants are also the largest polluter of toxic mercury pollution5, largest contributor of hazardous air toxics6, and release about 50% of particle pollution. Additionally, power plants release over 40% of total U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, a prime contributor to global warming.
»www.sierraclub.org/cleanair/fact···ower.asp

About 40 percent of deaths worldwide are caused by water, air and soil pollution, concludes a Cornell researcher. Such environmental degradation, coupled with the growth in world population, are major causes behind the rapid increase in human diseases, which the World Health Organization has recently reported. Both factors contribute to the malnourishment and disease susceptibility of 3.7 billion people, he says.
»www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20···2438.htm

Air pollution is responsible for 310,000 premature deaths in Europe each year, research suggests.
»news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4283295.stm

Air pollution is a much bigger factor in death from heart disease or stroke than has previously been recognized, according to findings from one of the largest studies ever to examine the issue ... After adjusting for other risk factors for heart disease and stroke, they found that air quality was a strong predictor of heart disease and stroke risks -- and an even stronger predictor of death from heart disease or stroke.

Fine particulate air pollution -- caused primarily by vehicle exhausts, coal-fired power plants, and other industrial sources -- was the sole type of air pollution associated with increased risk.
»www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news···t-deaths

Air pollution – mainly from vehicles, industry, and power plants – raises the chances of lung cancer and heart disease in people exposed to it long term, according to a report in the March 6 Journal of the American Medical Association.
»www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/conte···ncer.asp

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Not to digress here, but it is totally inappropriate to lump Al Gore in with a bunch of uninformed celebrities. Gore has a long and distinguished career of advocating environmental responsibility; he's been doing it for over 30 years, and as Vice President he brought an unprecedented understanding of science issues to government. His work has been recognized by climate scientists around the world, and recently by the Nobel Committee which awarded him the Nobel Prize for Peace for his work on increasing public awareness of climate change.

You may have your reasons for disagreeing with him, but to lump him in with a bunch of brainless actors and singers with too much time on their hands merely demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of his tremendous achievements over a long and accomplished career.

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said by Hydraglass :

The vast majority of the scare over that event was due to the fact it happened approximately 2 weeks after the Jane Fonda movie "The China Syndrome" was released - scaring everyone about the smallest dangers of nuclear "meltdown". A "Chernobyl" couldn't have happened at TMI - again as that reactor, while not as safe and efficient as a CANDU reactor, still depended on water being present to moderate the neutrons ...

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