2009 February 25 « nuclear-news

Hospitals Become Major Source of Nuclear Waste

Hospitals Become Major Source of Nuclear Waste
Natural News.com February 24, 2009 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer Hospitals have become a major source of nuclear waste in the United States, producing and storing millions of radioactive materials each year with no long-term disposal plan. Experts increasingly fear that such waste could pose health hazards or be stolen by terrorists and used to build dirty bombs.

“Instead of safely secured in one place, it’s stored in thousands of places in urban locations all over the United States,” said nuclear waste consultant Rick Jacobi.

Hospitals and other health facilities use radioactive material for a variety of functions, from examination to treatment. For example, radiation from cobalt and powdered cesium is used to sterilize blood and medical equipment, while cobalt is also used to kill diseased brain tissue. Capsules of cesium are implanted next to tumors to kill cancerous cells, and thin tubes of radioactive material are used to o

Hospitals Become Major Source of Nuclear Waste

February 25, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, NORTH AMERICA | Leave a comment

Future is bright and green in renewables energy sector

From Times OnlineFebruary 25, 2009
Future is bright and green in renewables energy sectorT
here are opportunities in this global business to suit all types Daniel Allen The good news is that renewable energy is “no longer an option” and opportunities in the sector will multiply, according to Kristen Herde, the head of human resources at E.ON Climate & Renewables…………….
…….. With the UK bound under EU law to generate 15 per cent of energy from renewable sources by 2020, Fruzsina Kemenes, a skills and education policy officer for the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA), says that compared to other sectors, wind, wave and tidal industries are holding up well in these straitened times. “To achieve government targets for renewable energy generation, by 2020 the wind industry is set to provide jobs for at least 36,000 people directly.”

Future is bright and green in renewables energy sector – Times Online

February 25, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY, UK | Leave a comment

IG Energy cannot account for nuclear materials at 15 locations

IG: Energy cannot account for nuclear materials at 15 locations GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE by Katherine McIntire Peters February 23, 2009 A number of institutions with licenses to hold nuclear material reported to the Energy Department in 2004 that the amount of material they held was less than agency records indicated. But rather than investigating the discrepancies, Energy officials wrote off significant quantities of nuclear material from the department’s inventory records.That’s just one of the findings of a report released on Monday by Energy Department Inspector General Gregory Friedman that concluded “the department cannot properly account for and effectively manage its nuclear materials maintained by domestic licensees and may be unable to detect lost or stolen material.”Auditors found that Energy could not accurately account for the quantities and locations of nuclear material at 15 out of 40, or 37 percent, of facilities reviewed. The materials written off included 20,580 grams of enriched uranium, 45 grams of plutonium, 5,001 kilograms of normal uranium and 189,139 kilograms of depleted uranium.

“Considering the potential health risks associated with these materials and the potential for misuse should they fall into the wrong hands, the quantities written off were significant,” the report stated. “Even in small quantities normally held by individual domestic licensees, special nuclear materials such as enriched uranium and plutonium, if not properly handled, potentially pose serious health hazards.”

Auditors also found that waste processing facilities could not locate or explain the whereabouts of significant quantities of uranium and other nuclear material that Energy Department records showed they held

IG: Energy cannot account for nuclear materials at 15 locations (2/23/09) — www.GovernmentExecutive.com

February 25, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | NORTH AMERICA, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

: Bill would put uranium mining under microscope

Bill would put uranium mining under microscope 25 Feb 2009 Gallup Independent By Bill Donovan — The New Mexico House barely passed a bill Monday that calls for the creation of a task force to look into uranium mining in the state…………………….

State Rep. Patty Lundstrom, D-McKinley County, said the bill calls for the task force to prepare a report by October on the feasibility of bringing uranium mining back to the state. All of the Gallup area representatives, with the exception of Sandra Jeff, voted in favor of the bill, said Lundstrom.

The task force would also look into existing state laws, she said, to make sure that they are adequate in handling the problems that could arise out of uranium mining.

“The uranium industry fought to keep this resolution from passing,” Lundstrom said. “They don’t want this kind of scrutiny.”

Independent – February 24, 2009: Bill would put uranium mining under microscope

February 25, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Iraq’s War Disfigured Babies

Iraq’s War Disfigured Babies iSLAMoNlINE.NET By Afif Sarhan, Feb. 23, 2009 BAGHDAD— In new Iraq, women like Leila Omar Wassin are heart-broken giving birth to babies born malformed because of the deadly substances years of war have sown in their bodies.

“My first baby died after he was born without legs and the second one died few days ago because his spinal cord was exposed and his head was too big,” the 36-old woman told IslamOnline.net.

Wassim is one of the victims of the massive bombing of Fallujah in 2004, when the US army admittedly used depleted uranium munitions, which contain low-level radioactive waste……………………………

After denying it at first, the Pentagon admitted in November 2005 that white phosphorous, a restricted incendiary weapon, was used in shelling Fallujah.

It also admitted to having used more than 1,200 tons of depleted uranium munitions in Iraq during the 2003 invasion.

The plight of babies’ birth defects has exacerbated over the years, becoming a common occurrence for doctors and nurses.

“Baghdad has shown a high level of contamination,” a doctor and a researcher at a Red Crescent Hospital in Baghdad told IOL, requesting anonymity.

“In 2005, we had about 600 cases reported at public hospitals and three years latter, this number has doubled.”

Iraq’s War Disfigured Babies – IslamOnline.net – News

February 25, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, Iraq | Leave a comment

Anti-nuclear and ‘pro-life’ Philippines

Anti-nuclear and ‘pro-life’ By Rina Jimenez-David Philippine Daily InquirerFirst 02/24/2009 – “…………………if anyone has reason to fear the presence of an operational nuclear power plant, that would be the people living near it, who would arguably be the first to feel the effects — including being killed — as a result of any accident, mishap or neglect involved in running the plant.

Yesterday, residents of Bataan, among them members of the Catholic clergy and hierarchy, took part in a rally against the plant’s reopening. The march and rally drew various sectors from all corners of Bataan, among them youth and parish delegations and civil society groups, converging at the Balanga Cathedral…………………………..If the intent is to delay or reverse the effects of global warming, then reviving the BNPP makes little sense, avers Green Peace. Said Baconguis: “Our congressmen must face the simple, indisputable facts: 1) Nuclear power is the most dangerous way to generate electricity, there is also no known scientific solution to safely storing plutonium and its deadly radioactive waste-product which remains radiotoxic for 200,000 years; 2) it is the most expensive source of power: aside from pricey construction costs, nuclear power involves expenses for decommissioning, as well as storage for nuclear waste, each of which can cost as much as a new power plant; 3) it cannot solve climate change — the contribution it can potentially make is negligible, especially if you consider that the processing of uranium as fuel uses so much electricity; and 4) importing more fuel, in this case uranium, is not the way to achieve energy security.”

Anti-nuclear and ‘pro-life’ – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

February 25, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Philippines, politics | Leave a comment

12 million Euro a year for high level radioactive waste

12 million Euro a year for high level radioactive waste typicallyspanish.com Feb 24 Residents of Yebra say they do not want a nuclear waste cemetery on their doorstep…………………..The Government has not announced any final decision for the site, but the Ministry for Industry has been looking for local town halls who would be prepared to host such a site, in exchange for extra funding, placed at as much as 12 million € a year.

Local farmers and other residents have now started to put up posters against the plan, after hearing from Ecologistas en Acción that the Mayor has shown interest in the deal.
The so called ATC, Temporary Centralised Warehouse, will be the first such site to accept high level radioactive waste.

12 million Euro a year for high level radioactive waste

February 25, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, Spain | Leave a comment

Radiation in Ottawa waste may have come from patients

Radiation in Ottawa waste may have come from patients TIM WIECLAWSKI, METRO OTTAWAF ebruary 25, 2009 There is a strong possibility that the radiation detected in Ottawa biowaste last month came from the waste of medical patients, but the city’s director of Water and Wastewater Services said it’s impossible to know for sure……………………….

The radioactive material is very likely the medical isotope iodine-131, but an investigation of the facilities known to use it failed to produce a source.

Similar situation have occurred in other cities in North America and Weir said the research points to “normal excreta that comes from people undergoing medical treatments.”

“The situation is that what we have found, after much investigation, the biosolids here in Ottawa are consistent all over North America.

Metro – Radiation in Ottawa waste may have come from patients

February 25, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, environment | Leave a comment