Hazardous Nuclear Waste in Fertilizer. Did you know this?

[Kathy]

I received an amazing email from a nutraceutical company called "Mannatech", which discusses reasons for health concerns related to environmental pollutants. If anyone wants the whole article, I'll gladly send it to you if you send me private message. It was by Dr. Steve Nugent, and entitled: "The Nugent Toxic Report".

Within the newsletter, discussion of the disposal of nuclear waste was brought forth, and I was amazed, and disgusted, to find out that the USA is putting radioactive material in farmer's fertilizers in certain states. Here is a couple direct quotes from the email:

2. ...The entire Northwest quadrant of Nevada boasts the highest rates of thyroid cancer worldwide, due to residual radiation from atomic test detonations done in the 1940s. Radiation does not go away until the very long half-life has expired.

7. Hazardous (nuclear) waste is mixed into crop fertilizers in the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Georgia and Wyoming. The idea is to diffuse it over many miles in such small quantities as to be completely harmless, say the proponents of this policy. However, radiation does not go away until its half-life has expired. Additionally, radiation exposure is cumulative. Little amounts will eventually have serious effects on health. Little amounts placed on the fields every year are adding up. - Leukemia is induced by radiation. - California is the largest producer of produce for the entire USA. - Oklahoma is experiencing a high rate and regularity of mutations in animals.

"completely harmless" - yah right, I've got some ocean front property in Alberta to sell you, if you buy that one!

Wikipedia - "Nuclear Fuel Cycle"
http://www.answers.com/topic/nuclear-fuel-cycle
This is a very good site to look at, if you are at all interested in how nuclear power is generated, uranium is mined and process, and disposal. Here is a small quote:

Because very large quantities of phosphate-bearing rock are mined for the production of wet-process phosphoric acid used in high analysis fertilizers and other phosphate chemicals, at some phosphate processing plants the uranium, although present in very low concentrations, can be economically recovered from the process stream.

Note that this paragraph mentions that uranium which shows up in the phosphate mining process could be recovered. How much actually is recovered. This would be a very expensive process. If it's not recovered at the phosphate mines, it is also added to high analysis fertilizers, etc.

Another, quote from Wikipedia Nuclear Fuel Cycle:

The PUREX process can be modified to make a UREX (URanium EXtraction) process which could be used to save space inside high level nuclear waste dumps (Yucca Mountain) by removing the uranium which makes up the vast majority of the mass and volume of used fuel.

Also by adding a second extraction agent (CMPO) the PUREX process can be turned into the TRUEX process this is a process which was invented in the USA, and is designed to remove the transplutonium metals (Am/Cm) from waste. The idea is that by lowering the alpha activity of the waste, the majority of the waste can then be disposed of with greater ease.

Apparently, one of the disposal techniques which is "easier" for the industry, is to spread the contamination around, and supposedly dilute the radioactive particles. Their moto must be: "the solution to pollution is dilution".