Oil and uranium - Sealand's horrible cocktail - SA

In a desperate race against time, salvors have started removing oil, the main element in a potentially disastrous pollution cocktail aboard the grounded container ship Sealand Express.

The pumping operation began on Thursday night as environmentalists expressed alarm at the news that the vessel was also carrying 50 tons of uranium ore concentrate, destined to be turned into nuclear fuel in the United States.

But a nuclear engineer said the material was only mildly radioactive and that the oil posed a much bigger danger.

The ship is carrying 3 700 tons of fuel oil - nearly twice as much as the Treasure had aboard when it sank in June 2000, creating a major oil pollution disaster in Cape Town.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=13&art_id=vn20030822101313624C927336&set_id=1

http://darkerxdarker.tripod.com/

Cargo ship leaking chemical off S. Africa also carrying uranium

A U.S.-flagged cargo ship blown aground off Cape Town this week is carrying 56 tons of unprocessed uranium bound for the United States and is leaking a flammable chemical, industry officials admitted Friday.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0308230201aug23,1,4207989.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed