DR Congo probes radioactive dumping from Chinese companies

CIVIL NUCLEAR

by Staff Writers
Kinshasa (AFP) Nov 7, 2007
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have opened a probe after nearly 18 tonnes of radioactive minerals from primarily Chinese-owned mines were dumped in a river, officials said Wednesday.

"We are investigating in order to understand what happened," provincial mines' minister Barthelemy Mumba Gama told AFP.

"The minerals were seized and must be buried in a secured area. They were poured in the Mura River instead of" being disposed of properly, he said.

The majority of the minerals were registered in the name of Magma, a Chinese company, according to the mayor's office, while others were under the Indian company Chemaf and in the name of a Congolese businessman.

A total of 17.9 tonnes of copper minerals rich in uranium with a radioactivity measured at 50 times above normal were dumped in the Mura at the beginning of November, officials said.

Many foreign mining companies and individual local miners exploit the quarries in the area, which contain huge mineral reserves, including copper and cobalt, but also uranium, gold and zinc.

bbos-sb/lb/ag

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS
Solar Energy Solutions
Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ...

Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

CIVIL NUCLEAR

Slovenian nuclear plant restarted after shutdown

Ljubljana (AFP) Nov 7, 2007
A Slovenian nuclear plant in the southestern city of Krsko was fully operational again on Wednesday after being shut down for a month for routine maintenance work.

ROCKET SCIENCE Kelly Space Launches Indoor Rocket Engine Test Service Opportunity Studies Rock Composition And Changes In Atmosphere SpaceDev Completes Milestone Under NASA Space Act Agreement Outside View: Rocket revolutions -- Part 1	LAUNCH PAD Arianespace's 5th Ariane 5 Mission Is Cleared For November 9 Liftoff ESA To Provide Essential Launch Control Services To EUMETSAT Skynet 5B Satellite Ready For Launch On 9th November China May Use Long March 3 For Lunar Landing
SHUTTLE NEWS Discovery's Return Marks Completion Of Esperia Mission NASA's Space Shuttle Atlantis To Move To Launch Pad Saturday Shuttle returns safely to Earth after complex mission Good weather expected for shuttle landing Wednesday	STATION NEWS Korean Astronaut To Ride On Soyuz April Flight With ISS Crew 17 Columbus Launch Puts Space Law To The Test Space station repairs end in success Space station's solar panel needs crucial repair
SPACE TRAVEL Repair Shops For Broken DNA Spaceship Mockup Malaysia may buy Russian space rocket E'Prime Aerospace Receives Launch Site Policy Review Approval	DRAGON SPACE China targets space station in 2020: report China's Lunar Probe Completes Last Orbital Transfer Before Leaving Earth China Starts Developing New Heavy-Duty Carrier Rockets Outside View: China takes space race lead
ROBO SPACE Can A Robot Find A Rock. Interview With David Wettergreen: Part IV Proton Rocket To Launch Glonass Satellites Friday QinetiQ Establishes Service And Support Centre For Talon Robots In Australia UCSD Researchers Give Computers Common Sense	MARSDAILY Opportunity's Second Martian Birthday At Cape Verde Mars Express Probes The Red Planet's Most Unusual Deposits Spirit To Head North For The Winter Opportunity Studies Bathtub Ring In Victoria

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement