As nuclear radiation spreads around the world, fewer girl babies are born
the study is ‘the most convincing documentation’ so far that radiation may lead to a gender bias in humans.
Nuclear age has led to millions of fewer baby girls being born http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1394553/Is-U-S-heading-baby-boy-boom-Japan-disaster-Study-finds-nuclear-radiation-results-millions-fewer-female-births-worldwide.html Study claims nuclear radiation from bomb testing and power plant leaks hits female birthrate
Japanese nuclear disaster could hit girl births in U.S. Nuclear radiation from power plant leaks and bomb tests resulted in millions fewer baby girls born worldwide, according to a new study.
Scientists noted these types of atmospheric blasts rather than on-the-ground incidents like Chernobyl, effected birth gender across the globe. Read more »
Controversial brachytherapy treatment for breast cancer
“It’s important for any woman really to discuss with her physician the risks and benefits of either approach,”
More women need breasts removed after brachytherapy By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK May 1, 2012 (Reuters Health) – Women who got seed radiation as part of their breast cancer treatment were more likely to have an infection or breast pain than those who were treated with whole-breast irradiation, in a new study.
And more patients treated with the quicker and more local radiation technique, also called brachytherapy, went on to need a mastectomy as well — but there was no difference in their chance of dying in the few years after treatment. ”The decision of whether a patient was treated with brachytherapy or whole-breast irradiation was the single most important factor in whether a patient had a mastectomy,” said study author Dr. Benjamin Smith, who called that result “surprising.” Read more »
Fukushima: young women at 5 times greater cancer risk than general population
Nuclear Expert: Fukushima risk underestimated ENE News, — 5% of young girls will get cancer living in 20 milliSv/y for 5 years — “Actually worse than that” — Hot particles NOT included & only counts cancers, not other effects : Cancer Risk To Young Children Near Fukushima Daiichi Underestimated Source: Fairewinds Associates, Inc Author: Arnie Gundersen Transcript Excerpts That gets me to the issue of BIER, Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation. [...]
Now in Japan, the Japanese government is allowing people to go back into these radiation zones, when the radiation exposure is 2 rem. What that means is that they are willing to say that your chances of getting cancer are 1 in 500 if you go back into these areas that are presently off limits, and the exposure levels are 2 rem or 20 milisieverts in a year.
But it is worse than that. The number that we are using in the BIER Report is for the entire population, old people and young. And old people are going to die of something else before a cancer gets to them, whereas young people have rapidly dividing cells and they live a longer time, so they are more likely to get cancer. So if you go into the BIER Report and you look at Table 12-D, you will see that young women have a 5 times that number chance of getting cancer than the population as a whole. So young girls in the Fukushima Prefecture are going to get 5 times the exposure they would get from 2 rem. That means that about one in 100 young girls is going to get cancer as a result of the exposure in Fukushima Prefecture. And that is for every year they are in that radiation zone [at 20 milliSv/y]. If you are in there for 5 years, it is 5 out of 100 young girls will get cancer.
Now the BIER Report only addresses cancer, and of course, there are other effects of radiation that are not included in BIER, so it is actually worse than that.
Two more items: The first is that the BIER Report does not address hot particles. Now we have been over that extensively on the site, and you will see that imbibing it (a kid gets radioactive cesium on their hands and they swallow it, or breathing it in), is not included in the BIER Report.
And the last piece brings us over to Ian Goddard’s video, and that is this assumption by the Japanese and International Atomic Energy Agency, that at some point, this radiation is really so hard to measure that it does not count anymore. Well, the data indicates that just the opposite is happening…… http://enenews.com/gundersen-fukushima-cancer-risk-underestimated-5-of-young-girls-will-get-cancer-living-in-20-millisvy-for-5-years-actually-worse-than-that-hot-particles-not-included-only-counts-cance
3.000 of Chernobyl’s most vulnerable children helped to safety and care
Children of Chernobyl Airlifts 97th Group in Advance of 26th Anniversary http://www.chabad.org/blogs/blog_cdo/aid/1838545/jewish/Children-of-Chernobyl-Airlifts-97th-Group-in-Advance-of-26th-Anniversary.htm, April 25, 2012 By Joshua Runyan One week before the 26th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear explosion that rained down fallout across an entire swath of Eastern Europe, Chabad’s Children of Chernobyl brought 26 more children to safety and medical care in Israel, its 97th rescue mission.
“On this significant anniversary, thousands of children every day are still feeling the tragic consequences of the Chernobyl disaster,” said Nancy Spielberg, founding board member of CCOC, in a statement. “They are facing devastating illnesses from radiation contamination –radiation that will be with us for thousands of years. As we’ve seen from the recent Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, the impact from this kind of radioactivity is as devastating today as it was 26 years ago.”
To date, the Chabad-Lubavitch run organization, which was designed to rescue those most vulnerable from the April 26, 1986 meltdown that left thousands of square kilometers uninhabitable, has helped 2,822 children escape the contaminated living conditions surrounding that portion of Ukraine. Most are brought to a sprawling educational and residential complex in the central Israeli village of Kfar Chabad, where they’re provided 
with medical care and social services.
The organization also provides medicine, equipment and other needed items for those who
cannot leave Europe. Spielberg pointed to World Health Organization statistics, which show the rate of thyroid cancer in the contaminated areas surrounding Chernobyl as more than 200 times the world norm.
Belarus’ children – mental, physical, and social effects of Chernobyl nuclear disaster
Figures released by UNICEF in 2010 showed that more than 20% of adolescent children in Belarus suffered from disabilities and chronic illness. Belarus absorbed 70% of Chernobyl’s fallout…..
VIDEOS http://edition.cnn.com/2012/04/25/world/iyw-chernobyl-children/?hpt=wo_mid 26 years on: helping Chernobyl’s children, By Katie Walmsley, CNN April 25, 2012 Chernobyl refuses to be relegated to the past. Indeed it may still be devastating the lives of millions who continue to live in the fallout zone. Aside from the potential health hazards of living in an area contaminated with radiation, domino socioeconomic effects have caused multiple problems in these regions.
Chernobyl Children International , or CCI, works to help kids in the region whose lives have been impacted by a disaster that happened years before they were born. Many suffer from physical problems such as congenital heart defects. Many kids have chronic illnesses or disabilities, and many live full time in institutions. Read more »
A window into the very controlled State of North Korea
(includes video) http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/24/11365838-north-korea-nuclear-test-ready-soon North Korea nuclear test ready ‘soon’ NBC’s Richard Engel spent two weeks in North Korea and got a rare and revealing look inside this very closed country. World News msnbc, By Reuters 27 April 12 BEIJING – North Korea has almost completed preparations for a third nuclear test, a senior source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing told Reuters, which will draw further international condemnation following a failed rocket launch if it goes ahead. Read more »
90 cancer victims bring lawsuit against nuclear companies
Radioactive: Revelations on nuclear plants sound a warning http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/editorials/radioactive-revelations-on-nuclear-plants-sound-a-warning-633299/ April 27, 2012 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Like a dark family secret long suspected but never confirmed, the shock of discovery is all the more lurid for coming into the light
years later. So it is with the news of radioactive material released into the air — at levels higher than any seen in the nation — at closed nuclear fuels plants in Armstrong County.
Incredulity feeds the first reaction: Surely this could not have happened. But apparently it
did, according to good authority. That would be Joseph P. Ring, a Harvard University radiation safety officer who teaches at Harvard and the University of Massachusetts. He
wrote a 37-page report that was filed Tuesday as part of federal lawsuits brought against plant operators Babcock & Wilcox Co. and Atlantic Richfield Co. by about 90 cancer victims. Read more »
A new anti nuclear demographic – mothers
Often, mothers and women want to leave Fukushima and protect their kids, while men tend to accept the line, from the government and the utility, Tepco, that “all is safe.” This can lead to conflict in a culture where women are taught not to challenge their husbands or government, figures of authority.
How a Group of Japanese Mothers Are Saying No to Nuclear Power The Fukushima disaster has brought a powerful new demographic to Japan’s anti-nuclear movement: mothers. AlterNet April 25, 2012 |
On the one-year anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japanese women in New York City gathered for a rally they called Pregnant With Fear of Radiation. Protestors wore fake pregnant bellies, or carried posters with images of pregnant women wearing face masks. Well aware that fetuses, children under five, and women are at the greatest risk from radiation exposure, mothers have emerged as a powerful voice in Japan’s growing anti-nuclear movement. Read more »
Illness compensation plan for former nuclear workers
Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Huntington News, April 26, 2012 - Here are the facilities in or near former Huntington Pilot Plant that have benefit programs for former nuclear workers and survivors. Data provided by Dept. of Labor: Read more »
Mothers’ movement against nuclear power spreads beyond Japan
How a Group of Japanese Mothers Are Saying No to Nuclear Power AlterNet April 25, 2012 | ”…….The movement isn’t confined to Japan’s borders. In September, 2011, a group of Japanese mothers, including Sachiko Sato, an organic farmer who traveled with her youngest two children) Kaori Izumi, and Aileen Mioko Smith came to New York City to protest Prime Minister Noda’s participation in the UN summit on nuclear safety. “How can you talk about safety?” Sachiko shouted to Noda outside the UN. “You don’t even take care of the children of Fukushima.”
Sachiko, Izumi, and Smith spoke at various anti-nuclear events throughout the New York City area during their visit, urging American citizens to learn a lesson from the disaster in Japan. At one event, Smith stated, “Many Americans live far too close tonuclear power plants that sit on earthquake fault lines—Indian Point in Buchanan, New York, only thirty or so miles from New York City, as well as those on the coast in California. Americans must learn from the Fukushima disaster. You must shut down your own plants, 23 of which are the same design as the Fukushima reactors, GE Mark I. Yes, it can happen here.”
In October 2011, hundreds of mothers in Japan began a protest in Tokyo at the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry. The protest will last 10 months and 10 days (the length of time a pregnancy lasts under Japan’s traditional lunar calendar).
Smith, who is executive director of Green Action, an anti-nuclear NGO based in Kyoto, says the Fukushima accident offers a chance to put an end to nuclear power. Most of Japan’s nuclear reactors were taken offline after the disaster; as of this writing, only one nuclear power plant remains online.
Smith says, “For the first time in 30 years, we have a real opportunity” to shut down nuclear reactors in Japan for good. http://www.alternet.org/world/155154/how_a_group_of_japanese_mothers_are_saying_no_to_nuclear_power
Radiation danger to Japan’s reconstruction workers
Recovery workers to get radiation limits http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120422002572.htm Jiji Press 23 April 12, The health ministry will introduce radiation exposure control standards for reconstruction workers in areas damaged by last year’s earthquake and tsunami, officials said.
The ministry found it necessary to implement the new standards, as reconstruction work is beginning in earnest in Fukushima Prefecture, home to a nuclear power station crippled by the disasters.
Currently, there are radiation exposure control standards for workers at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and those engaged in decontamination around the plant but not for construction and other workers. In areas where annual radiation exposure is estimated at greater than 5 millisieverts, employers will be obliged to have each worker carry a dosimeter and receive health checks at least once a year, officials said Friday. In other areas, such individual radiation exposure control will not be required.
Cesium 137 and the follies of Chernobyl and Fukushima
The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Is Far From Over HUFFINGTON POST, Robert Alvarez, Senior Scholar, Institute for Policy Studies, 22 April 12, ”….It’s been 26 years, since the Chernobyl reactor exploded and caught fire releasing enormous amounts of radioactive debris — seriously contaminating areas over a thousand miles away. Chernobyl revealed the folly of not having an extra barrier of thick concrete and steel surrounding the reactor core that is required for modern plants, in the U.S., Japan and elsewhere. The Fukushima Dai-Ichi accident revealed the folly of operating several nuclear power plants in a high consequence earthquake zone while storing huge amounts of highly radioactive spent fuel in vulnerable pools, high above the ground.
What both accidents have in common is widespread environmental contamination from cesium-137. With a half-life of 30, years, Cs-137 gives off penetrating radiation, as it decays and can remain dangerous for hundreds of years. Once in the environment, it mimics potassium as it accumulates in the food chain. When it enters the human body, about 75 percent lodges in muscle tissue, with, perhaps, the most important muscle being the heart.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-alvarez/the-fukushima-nuclear-dis_b_1444146.html
Uranium mining damages health of workers and environment
the World Health Organisation (WHO) acknowledges that Radon, which is a heavy gaseous radioactive chemical, is the second cause of lung cancer after smoking.
Uranium, even when purified, Chareyron said is radioactive and miners cannot really be protected from it.
Concerns over uranium mining New Era, 12 Apr 2012 – by Irene Hoaës WINDHOEK – Renewed concern has been expressed regarding uranium mining activities along the coastal areas and its impact on the environment following tests undertaken by the Commission for Independent Research and Information about Radiation (CRIIRAD) and EARTHLIFE Namibia.
These mining activities have a direct bearing on people’s health as they reportedly cause cancer, especially to people that get exposed to them.
According to CRIIRAD, people that spend 30 minutes to 35 hours at a distance below 25 meters from the waste rock dump, would receive an external radiation dose above the trivial dose of 10 microsieverts per year.
One of the main concerns is uranium concentrates found in underground water sources and on sediments in areas where Rössing and the Langer Heinrich mines are found, especially along the Khan and Gawib rivers.
According to Bruno Chareyron, a Nuclear Physics Engineer and Director of the CRIIRAD Laboratory, the radioactive tailings (waste) of the mines are not covered and dust particles from the tailings are accumulating on bushes and slopes.
“When it rains, this dust is even washed off the waste rock dumps that are situated next to the river banks and therefore deposited into the river system,” the nuclear engineer said. Read more »
Rapid increase in brachytherapy for breast cancer, but is this wise?
“The most plausible explanation for our data is that women treated with brachytherapy were at increased risk of having a recurrence of cancer in their breast”
A large federally funded study is trying to clarify the risks and benefits of brachytherapy for breast cancer. But the results won’t be out for years.
includes audio. Wider Use Of Breast Cancer Radiation Technique Raises Concern http://www.npr.org/blogs health/2012/04/09/150088892/wider-use-of-breast-cancer-radiation-technique-raises-concern?ps=sh_stcathdl “…..there’s an intense debate under way about whether the approach is being used too widely before there’s clear evidence it’s as effective as the traditional approach. Read more »
Trinidad’s scandal of over-radiated cancer patients
The radiation incident at BLCTC has been shrouded in secrecy from the outset
Over-radiated cancer patients at Lara Centre… Trinidad Express, By Camini Marajh Head Investigative Desk Story Apr 14, 2012 Ninety-one or 40.8 per cent of the 223 cancer patients over-radiated by the Brian Lara Cancer Treatment Centre (BLCTC) are dead.
Continuing Sunday Express investigations into the radiation over-exposure incident at the private facility which is owned by powerful business interests reveal that the board and management of BLCTC failed internationally accepted guidelines on several critical
fronts, specifically: Read more »
1 THIS MONTH
- http://ifyoulovethisplanet.org/?p=5755 Mary Olson on how women are more vulnerable to atomic radiation
http://soundcloud.com/flashpoints/flashpoints-daily-newsmag-05-6Fukushima reactor 4 still threatens the world Dr. Micio Kaku
of the week http://www.youtube.com/user/GoddardsJournal
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San Onofre: Bad Vibrations http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP7e83MErWw&feature=share - Low-Dose Radiation ☢ NEW A-Bomb Study http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VAncqK6bl0&feature=share
“Pay-to-print”: How Media Corruption Undermines Indian Democracy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbjsQ_dYuJQ&feature=share
- VIDEO http://vimeo.com/35212151 Cancer Risk To Young Children Near Fukushima Daiichi Underestimated
- and this VIDEO Kazakhstan’s Nuclear Legacy http://www.euronews.com/2010/04/14/kazakhstan-s-nuclear-legacy/
ACTION
USA EMERGENCY PLANNING PETITION NOW OPEN FOR PUBLIC COMMENT
PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS IN FAVOR OF EXPANDING EMERGENCY PLANNING ZONES; IMPROVING REGULATIONS The deadline for public comments is July 16, 2012. You can submit your comments here. more information at http://nuclear-news.net/action/
- Shut down the nuclear restart. Sign now!! http://www.avaaz.org/en/japan_no_to_nuclear_restart_ms/
- Stop Kudankulam - Please sign http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5502/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=10090 –
EVENTS – USA
- May 31 - Portland, Maine, Bonnie Raitt benefit concert for New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution
The Nuclear Industry and WOMEN- theme for May 2012
Although women have rarely been part of decision-making about nuclear power, they have been at the forefront in opposing it.Women in organisations Strongly present in anti-nuclear activities in peace, environmental, religious and civil liberties, women have also formed their own anti-nuclear organisations . e.g. Women’s International League For Peace and Freedom, Women For Peace. Women Against Nuclear Power, Women Against Nuclear Energy,
“When it comes to opposing nuclear power in Finland, the toughest and most active and conspicuous resistance has been among women. A rather small group of women working as teachers, freelance editors, authors and in rather alternative professions. Women who perfectly well are aware of the fact that they are far too radical to be promoted for high posts within traditional parties or getting well-paying jobs in some big companies. Women who are not trying to reach equality on male values. These women have kept the resistance alive, have invited foreign speakers getting through in the mass media, have arranged post-card campaigns aiming at parliamentarians, have written inserts in daily newspapers, have collected signatures from organizations worldwide against nuclear power, etc.
If women had been asked if nuclear power should be used for energy production or if nuclear weapons should be produced there would hardly be any nuclear power stations in the world and no nuclear weapons. Women represent half of humanity. Our voice must be heard! “- Ulla Klötzer WISE – Nuclear issues information service service
Below, a note on some of the courageous women who have stood out against the nuclear forces and apologies for the thousands of such women who are not mentioned here
Dr Helen Caldicott. - Australia and The World. The single most articulate and passionate advocate of citizen action to remedy the nuclear and environmental crises, Dr Helen Caldicott, has devoted the last 38 years to an international campaign to educate the public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age and the necessary changes in human behavior to stop environmental destruction. Helen Caldicott – About
Jean McSorley. – UK. A prolific writer and activist, Jean McSorley has advised government and environmental organisations, in the UK and abroad, for many years revealing the facts about Sellafield, and other UK nuclear facilities.
Her MajestyQueen Noor ofJordan is an international humanitarian activist and an outspoken voice on issues of world peace and justice. Today Her Majesty Queen Noor plays a major role in promoting international exchange and understanding of Arab and Muslim culture and politics, Arab-Western relations, and conflict prevention. Queen Noor | Global Zero
Ulla Klötzer - Finland. A powerful speaker and writer, Ulla Klötzer continues to oppose uranium mining, nuclear proliferation, and to expose the construction of Finlands reactor, Olkiluto OL 3 – the biggest nuclear reactor in the world.
Satomi Oba –Japan. Another leading voice for non-proliferation and disarmament was Japan’s Satomi Oba, former president of Plutonium Action Hiroshima and chair member of the international non-proliferation movement Abolition 2000. For decades before her untimely death in February 2005, Oba organized grassroots events, spoke to international groups and broke ground for other activists
Dianne Stokes – Australia An Aboriginal elder of the Yapa Yapa clan, which owns land at Muckaty in the Northern Territory, has for years continued the fight against the Australian government’s plan to put a nuclear waste dump on Aboriginal land, – resisting enormous pressure from powerful interests and politicians Toxic feelings at proposed nuclear dump – National – smh.com.au
Jean Grossholtz – (USA) Professor emeritus at the Dept. of Women’s Studies, Mt. Holyoke College, Jean helped organize the Women’s Pentagon Action (1980-82) and has long been active in peace and social justice work.
Ellen Diederich –Germany A peace activist for more than three decades, Ellen Diederich is Director of the German-based International Fasia Jansen Women’s Peace Archive, an extensive collection of books, print, audio-visual and artistic resources on women and militarism and women’s action for peace, world-wide, collected over 25 years.
Corazon Valdez Fabros - Philippines A lawyer by profession, Corazon Fabros is Chairperson of the Pacific Concerns Resource Centre (the Secretariat of the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Movement) and Secretary General of the Nuclear Free Philippines Coalition, which led the successful campaign to stop the nuclear power plant projects in the Philippines . Currently Philippine Coordinator of the No Nukes Asia Forum and the International Network on Military Activities and Environmental Justice.
Karen Silkwood remembered In 1974, US anti-nuclear activist Karen Silkwood was killed in a car crash many suspect was deliberately caused by the Kerr McGee nuclear company.Karen Silkwood will be remembered as someone who fought an uphill and often unpopular battle against the ruthless nuclear industry. She is an inspiration to all who believe in environmental justice and workers’ rights BY SHARYN JENKINS. Karen Silkwood remembered | Green Left Weekly
Much of the material here was obtained from Women and Life on Earth: English by Anna Gyorgy, Women & Life on Earth Network coordinator, English website editor. Contact: info(at)wloe.org
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