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Showing posts from July 8, 2023

Kept Under Wraps – Russian Oil Spills Are The Worst In The World

By Theodora Filis UPDATE: July 3 (Reuters) - A pipeline burst in Russia's northwestern Komi Republic threatens to leak 1,000 cubic meters of oil into a nearby river and cause serious environmental damage, the head of the state environment watchdog Rosprirodnadzor warned on Monday. "There was a burst in an oil pipeline near Usinsk. According to our calculations, 1,000 cubic meters of oil could get into the Kolva River,"  the official, Svetlana Radionova, wrote on the Telegram messenger app.  The energy-rich region witnessed one of the worst oil spills in Russian history in August 1994, when its aging pipeline network sprang a leak that was officially said to have totaled 79,000 tonnes, or 585,000 barrels. Independent estimates put the figure at up to 2 million barrels .          _____________________ Rosneft, the Russian oil company worth an estimated $60 billion, is headquartered in a palace across the Moscow River from the Kremlin. Poised to become the face of Russia&

Safely Disposing of Radioactive Waste -- Fact or Myth?

By Theodora Filis On February 2013, the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, Washington – One of America's First Nuclear Plants, and one of the two Manhattan Project nuclear plants that provided fissile material for the bombs dropped on Japan, reported a major leak of highly toxic sludge from a single-wall storage tank. Categorized as the “perfect radioactive storm” Washington Governor, Jay Insles said, “I am alarmed about this on many levels. This raises concerns, not only about the existing leak... but also concerning the integrity of the other single-shell tanks of this age” -- adding, “I fear the past  is  coming back to haunt us.” According to a 2010 survey of energy accidents, there have been at least 56 accidents at nuclear reactors in the United States – defined as incidents that either resulted in the loss of human life or more than $50,000 of property damage. Nuclear power plants operate in most states in the US and produce about 20 percent of the nation’s power. Nearly 3