United Press International publishes Forecast: U.S. dollar could plunge 90 pct

By UPI  11/24/07 -- -, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- A financial crisis will likely send the U.S. dollar into a free fall of as much as 90 percent...
The Panic of 2008 will lead to a lower U.S. standard of living, he said."....
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18776.htm

Financial Depression of 1873
Townsend builds the smelter 1887

1929: Great Depression
1929-1933 "At the height of the Great Depression, Smeltertown spanned about 25 acres and the population had grown to about 5,000 residents."

1930's : "[Asarco's] company's recovery was aided by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's silver-purchase plan and his devaluation of the dollar, which caused the prices of precious metals to rise."
http://www.answers.com/topic/asarco-incorporated

since 2001 a Russian smelter has illegally smelted radioactive scrap

"ECOMET-S has illegally melted thousands of tons of radioactive scrap metal from the LNPP as well as 150 tons of scrap metal from the Chepetsk Mechanical Plant (the city of Glazov, Udmurt Republic, Volga basin)."
http://www10.antenna.nl/wise/index.html?http://www10.antenna.nl/wise/561/5360.html

from 1989: Tin smelter at Hull in Britain discharges radioactive polonium (LEAD) from stack

"DISCHARGES of radioactivity and other forms of pollution from Europe's biggest tin smelter at Hull in Britain are not to blame for causing abnormally high numbers of childhood cancers in villages close to the site, according to Britain's pollution 'police'.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution cleared the Capper Pass complex on Humberside, pictured here, of blame last week in a report that describes one of the most detailed investigations ever undertaken by the organisation's air pollution and radiochemical inspectors.

The chimney at the plant, which is 180 metres high, discharges radioactive polonium-210 [LEAD/Pb] as well as a cocktail of other toxic pollutants including antimony, arsenic, cadmium, lead, tin and zinc.

The inspectorate says that, on the basis of environmental data, predictions of dispersion patterns, radiological assessments and epidemio-logical studies, there is no evidence to link unusually high incidence of leukemia in the area with radioactive pollution from the plant. The report concludes that with the exception of cadmium, the concentrations of pollutants would not be expected to damage health.

From issue 1658 of New Scientist magazine, 01 April 1989"

Smelting radioactive material

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 14:38:05 GMT
" Johannesburg - South Africa's Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk on Friday gave the green light for the construction of a smelter for radioactive nuclear waste at the site of the Pelindaba nuclear facility outside Pretoria. The facility would be used to process about 140,000 tons of waste of varying levels of radioactivity, said van Schalkwyk. No "viable alternative" for treating nuclear waste in South Africa had been found, he said in his written decision. Some of the radioactive metal equipment used in South Africa's secretive apartheid-era uranium enrichment programme, under which it developed six and a half nuclear bombs, are to be melted down. The green light for the smelter came despite objections from residents and anti-nuclear and environmental activists. South Africa recently approved plans to resume uranium enrichment. The country has a nuclear-fired electricity plant at Koeberg near Cape Town."
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/100620.html

1976 Jun 01 Feasibility study of a portable smelter for scrap metals

"The use of a portable smelter to process uranium-contaminated scrap metals was studied.^Objectives were to convert scrap metal located at many diverse sites into a form which would be suitable for unlicensed sale and reduce the problems associated with storing the scrap.^The Foundry Design Company study indicated the portable smelter concept was feasible from an equipment and transportation standpoint.^Capital costs for a 5-ton/hour (steel) nominal capacity unit were estimated to be $2,349,000.^Technical evaluation indicates that all the common metals considered, i.e., iron, nickel, copper, and aluminum, are amenable to uranium decontamination by smelting except aluminum.^An economic evaluation of the processing of the 30,000 tons of steel scrap to be generated by the Cascade Improvement Program by a portable smelter was made based upon information supplied by Foundry Design Company, plus the assumption that the product metal could be sold for $120.00 per ton.^This evaluation indicated a net return of $2,424,000 to the government could be realized.^The Health and Safety study indicated no major problems of this nature would be encountered in operating a portable smelter.^The legal review indicated the proposed operation fell within the authority of existing regulations.^Consideration of possible conflicts with regard to competition with the private sector was suggested.^(DLC)"
http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=7269860