onsdag den 30. marts 2016

Kvanefjeld Project: Comment from Jan Willem Storm Van Leeuwen

After the Uranium hearing March 16th 2016 in the Greenland Committee in the Danish Parliament, I asked Jan Willem Storm Van Leeuwen (JWSL) about the Status for Kvanefjeldet June 2015, pages 30-35.

JWSL is a Dutch chemist and an expert in technology assessment and life cycle analyses of energy systems working for Ceedata.



Storm Van Leeuwen made this comment on the Kvanefjeld Project:


"In my view any tailings dam on the slope of a mountain is an inherently unstable formation.

GMEL is talking about engineered safety. An engineered safe system is as safe as the humans who designed and constructed the system. GMEL gives the impression that the tailings dams will be constructed according to a perfect design and complying with perfect standards, without weak spots and without construction and material deficiencies. Apparently GMEL ignores the unavoidable spontaneous degrading processes of materials following from the Second Law of thermodynamics (1):
  • How long will the liners of the dams last? Hundreds and thousands of years?
  • Are the consequences of freezing-thawing cycles year after year fully understood?
  • Aren’t there (hidden) fissures in the rock beneath the lake/tailings pond? Are leaks not possible?

Even if the dams were to hold for hundreds and thousands of years, the lakes would overflow into he rivers downslope. Dissolved radionuclides, heavy metals and chemicals from the tailings would enter the rivers, drinking water and the ecosystem, irrevocably.

Moreover, the overflow from the lakes (after closure of the mine) could wash out and erode the dams at the other side of the lake, rendering the dams unstable.

What do we pass on to the future generations?"


Henvisninger

1) Termodynamikkens 2. lov: Graden af uorden i et lukket system kan ikke aftage


2) GME Status for Kvanefjeldet June 2015, pages 30-35:




3) Earlier interview on Atom Posten with Storm Van Leeuwen

4) Høring om Uran (2) 19.3.16

af Jan Willem Storm van Leeuwen, MSc, CeeData Concultancy 

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