Uranium Claims Spring Up Along Grand Canyon Rim

[babylonsister]

Uranium Claims Spring Up Along Grand Canyon Rim
by Judy Pasternak


GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, ARIZ. - Thanks to renewed interest in nuclear power, the United States is on the verge of a uranium mining boom, and nowhere is the hurry to stake claims more pronounced than in the districts flanking the Grand Canyon’s storied sandstone cliffs.


On public lands within five miles of Grand Canyon National Park, there are now more than 1,100 uranium claims, compared with just 10 in January 2003, according to data from the Department of the Interior.

In recent months, the uranium rush has spawned a clash as epic as the canyon’s 18-mile chasm, with both sides claiming to be working for the good of the planet.

Environmental organizations have appealed to federal courts and Congress to halt any drilling on the grounds that mining so close to such a rare piece of the nation’s patrimony could prove ruinous for the canyon’s visitors and wildlife alike.

Mining companies say the raw material they seek is important to the environment, too: The uranium would feed nuclear reactors that could — unlike coal and natural gas — produce electricity without contributing to global warming.

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/05/04/8712/

[Ian David]

1. Nuke plants consume far too much water compared to conventional power plants.

Also, because of global warming, the water temperatures in rivers is growing too warm to cool existing nuke plants.

However, I am all in favor of storing nuclear waste as close to Harry Reid as possible, in the hopes that exposure to radiation will cause him to finally sprout something approximating a pair of balls.

[babylonsister]

2. LOL! nt