nuclear-news

Did nuclear radiation kill British mastertmind Sir William Penney?

Mirror.co,uk News 2 March 09 The man who built Britain’s nuclear bomb and masterminded controversial tests – witnessed by 20,000 troops – may have been killed by radiation from the blasts.

According to his death certificate, Sir William Penney – known as the Father of the British Bomb after he organised a series of early nuclear tests – died from liver cancer aged 82 in 1991.

Experts said it was highly likely it was linked to his role in the blasts, for which he was made a life peer.

Gp Chris Steele said: “If someone has been playing with uranium for a large part of their adult life, you’re at very high risk of just this type of condition.”

Sir William’s son described as “a tragedy” the legacy of death and disease left by the experiments which made his father’s name.

The revelation comes as a judge decides whether to allow a multi-million-pound lawsuit accusing the Ministry of Defence of negligence. A thousand test veterans or their widows have accused the MoD of poisoning them with toxic fallout which left them suffering a catalogue of medical disorders including leukaemia, skin cancers, miscarriages, Down’s syndrome, birth defects… and liver cancer………………A total 20,000 British servicemen witnessed the blasts – and the 3,000 who survive say they are plagued with rare medical conditions.

In 1985 Penney gave evidence to a Royal Commission into the tests – the only time that he ever commented on them. He told the inquiry that the public were “kept in the dark” about the size of the bombs, and how fallout forecasts were “drastically off course”………………………Last month we revealed that an H-bomb was detonated at Christmas Island in 1958, Sir William fled the fallout zone with top brass because they were unsure what would happen.

Police launch search for ‘radioactive man’ inthenews.co.uk 28 Feb 2009  Police have launched a search for a “radioactive man” who was absent from a court hearing where he was to face child pornography charges.

Detectives said they were searching for 42-year-old Thomas Leopold, who has been undergoing radiation treatment for a thyroid problem.

After missing his hearing at Southwark Crown Court, the judge issued an arrest warrant and warned officers that Mr Leopold could be a danger to their health.

Judge John Prince said: “Please warn officers that when he is arrested he might be radioactive. This is not a joke.”

Mr Leopold has not been since he breached his bail conditions and went to Ireland.

His lawyer Jeannie Mackay: “His doctor confirmed he is dangerous, in terms of radioactivity, for a period of six weeks after treatment.

Nuclear tragedy in the Pacific The Japan Times March 1, 2009 Along with Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, 1945 — the dates of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings — March 1, 1954, is an important date. Fifty-five years ago, residents of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean and the 23 crew members of the Daigo Fukuryu Maru (Lucky Dragon No. 5), a 140-ton tuna fishing boat from Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, were exposed to fallout from the test explosion of a U.S. hydrogen bomb on Bikini Atoll………………..The crew members, suffering from nausea, headache, burns, pains in the eyes, bleeding from the gums, etc., were diagnosed with acute radiation syndrome and admitted to two Tokyo hospitals.

On Sept. 23, chief radio operator Mr. Aikichi Kuboyama, 40, died — the first Japanese victim of a hydrogen bomb. He left these words: “I pray that I am the last victim of an atomic or hydrogen bomb.” It is said that several hundred more tuna fishing boats and their crews were exposed to the Bravo fallout.

From 1946 to 1958, the U.S. carried out 67 nuclear tests at Bikini and Enewetak atolls, and some 840 Marshall islanders are believed to have died of health problems caused by the tests. As of the end of 2003, more than 1,000 islanders were suffering from symptoms believed related to radiation exposure.

U.S. President Barack Obama, during his campaign, said the ultimate goal of U.S. nuclear policy should be to eliminate all nuclear weapons. Japan should work together with the United States toward creating a world free of nuclear weapons.

US lawmakers warned about uranium mining The Age February 28, 2009 – 1:04PMAustralian aborigines, a French physicist and a US actor joined representatives of indigenous peoples from Africa and the United States on Friday to send US lawmakers a stark warning about the dangers of uranium mining.”We want US lawmakers to understand that uranium mining is highly pollutant and that there is currently no scientific answer to the question of radioactive waste containment,” said Bruno Chareyron of France’s CRIIRAD laboratory, which measures radioactivity in the environment.”We want them to know that the information they are given by the mining companies is not wholly reliable,” he said.

Representatives of the Tuareg nomads of Niger, Native Americans and Australian aborigines told of the ravages of uranium mining on their communities.

In Niger, French company Areva has been mining uranium for more than 40 years with “no regard for the environment, people’s health, animals”, said Sidi-Amar Taoua, a Tuareg who has lived for seven years in the United States……………..Native American environmental activist Manny Pino.

“In this process of nuclear renaissance, it’s almost like the federal government is ignoring the historical legacy of uranium mining in the past and prioritising the economic benefits of nuclear power in the future at the expense of our land, our water and our people,” he said.

Mitch, an aboriginal militant against radioactive waste dumps and uranium mining in Australia, the world’s biggest producer of the mineral, said: “Short term monetary gain will leave us with long-term deadly waste for generations to come.

Nuclear tragedy in the Pacific The Japan Times March 1, 2009 Along with Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, 1945 — the dates of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings — March 1, 1954, is an important date. Fifty-five years ago, residents of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean and the 23 crew members of the Daigo Fukuryu Maru (Lucky Dragon No. 5), a 140-ton tuna fishing boat from Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, were exposed to fallout from the test explosion of a U.S. hydrogen bomb on Bikini Atoll………………..The crew members, suffering from nausea, headache, burns, pains in the eyes, bleeding from the gums, etc., were diagnosed with acute radiation syndrome and admitted to two Tokyo hospitals.

On Sept. 23, chief radio operator Mr. Aikichi Kuboyama, 40, died — the first Japanese victim of a hydrogen bomb. He left these words: “I pray that I am the last victim of an atomic or hydrogen bomb.” It is said that several hundred more tuna fishing boats and their crews were exposed to the Bravo fallout.

From 1946 to 1958, the U.S. carried out 67 nuclear tests at Bikini and Enewetak atolls, and some 840 Marshall islanders are believed to have died of health problems caused by the tests. As of the end of 2003, more than 1,000 islanders were suffering from symptoms believed related to radiation exposure.

U.S. President Barack Obama, during his campaign, said the ultimate goal of U.S. nuclear policy should be to eliminate all nuclear weapons. Japan should work together with the United States toward creating a world free of nuclear weapons.

Nuclear tragedy in the Pacific The Japan Times March 1, 2009 Along with Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, 1945 — the dates of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings — March 1, 1954, is an important date. Fifty-five years ago, residents of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean and the 23 crew members of the Daigo Fukuryu Maru (Lucky Dragon No. 5), a 140-ton tuna fishing boat from Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, were exposed to fallout from the test explosion of a U.S. hydrogen bomb on Bikini Atoll………………..The crew members, suffering from nausea, headache, burns, pains in the eyes, bleeding from the gums, etc., were diagnosed with acute radiation syndrome and admitted to two Tokyo hospitals.

On Sept. 23, chief radio operator Mr. Aikichi Kuboyama, 40, died — the first Japanese victim of a hydrogen bomb. He left these words: “I pray that I am the last victim of an atomic or hydrogen bomb.” It is said that several hundred more tuna fishing boats and their crews were exposed to the Bravo fallout.

From 1946 to 1958, the U.S. carried out 67 nuclear tests at Bikini and Enewetak atolls, and some 840 Marshall islanders are believed to have died of health problems caused by the tests. As of the end of 2003, more than 1,000 islanders were suffering from symptoms believed related to radiation exposure.

U.S. President Barack Obama, during his campaign, said the ultimate goal of U.S. nuclear policy should be to eliminate all nuclear weapons. Japan should work together with the United States toward creating a world free of nuclear weapons.

CBCP rejects nuclear power plant revivalRecommends Bataan facility ‘must be dismantled’ Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 01:20:00 02/27/2009

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has thrown its weight behind the opposition to rehabilitating the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).

In a pastoral statement, the CBCP urged Congress to “completely and irrevocably reject the opening of the nuclear plant as the most dangerous and expensive way to generate electricity.”

The statement was issued by the CBCP president, Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo.

“Multiple risks and the possibility of corruption outweigh dreamed benefits. We recommend with other anti-BNPP congressmen and the Greenpeace Forum that the mothballed facility in Morong, Bataan, be dismantled as its revival will be most hazardous to health and life of the people,” read the CBCP statement.

US warned on mining

AUSTRALIAN Aborigines, a French physicist and a US actor have joined indigenous peoples from Africa and the US to send legislators a stark warning about the dangers of uranium mining………………………

On Friday representatives of the Tuareg nomads of Niger, Native Americans and Australian Aborigines told US legislators of the ravages of uranium mining on their communities.

Australia is the world’s biggest producer of the mineral.

Sidi-Amar Taoua, a Tuareg who has lived in the US for seven years, said Areva had been mining uranium in Niger for more than 40 years with “no regard for the environment, people’s heath (or) animals”…………………..

Native American environmental activist Manny Pino said though most have been closed, the mines’ legacy included contaminated drinking water and illnesses from cancer to kidney disease.

“In this process of nuclear renaissance, it’s almost like the US Federal Government is ignoring the historical legacy of uranium mining in the past and prioritising the economic benefits of nuclear power in the future at the expense of our land, our water and our people,” Mr Pino said.

Actor James Cromwell, who played George H.W. Bush in the film W, said when the price of the mineral peaked at about $215.52 a pound in 2007, mining companies descended “like vultures” on uranium-rich areas, 70 per cent of which were situated on land inhabited by low-income indigenous

Activists warn US lawmakers of uranium mining perils
18 hours WASHINGTON (AFP) 1 March 09 — A French physicist and a US actor have joined representatives of indigenous peoples from Africa, Australia and the United States to send US lawmakers a stark warning about the dangers of uranium mining.”We want US lawmakers to understand that uranium mining is highly pollutant and that there is currently no scientific answer to the question of radioactive waste containment,” Bruno Chareyron of France’s CRIIRAD laboratory, which measures radioactivity in the environment, told AFP Friday.”We want them to know that the information they are given by the mining companies is not wholly reliable,” he said.Representatives of the Tuareg nomads of Niger, Native Americans and Australian aborigines told of the ravages of uranium mining on their communities.In Niger, French company Areva has been mining uranium for more than 40 years with “no regard for the environment, people’s health, animals,” Sidi-Amar Taoua, a Tuareg who has lived for seven years in the United States, told AFP……………………….. Native American environmental activist Manny Pino.

“In this process of nuclear renaissance, it’s almost like the federal government is ignoring the historical legacy of uranium mining in the past and prioritizing the economic benefits of nuclear power in the future at the expense of our land, our water and our people,” he said.

Mitch, an aboriginal militant against radioactive waste dumps and uranium mining in Australia, currently the world’s biggest producer of the mineral, said: “Short term monetary gain will leave us with long-term deadly waste for generations to come.”

Bay radiation: ‘It’s more serious than we had thought’
 Dunfermline Press By Ally McRoberts 26 Feb 09 THERE’S “enough evidence” to designate parts of Dalgety Bay as ‘radioactive contaminated land’ and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) has warned they’ll be forced to do it if the Ministry of Defence doesn’t take decisive action
That’s the view of Sepa’s radioactive substances unit manager, Byron Tilley, and a Sepa scientist said the problem was “much more serious than anyone thought” and particles which could give a radiation dose far higher than ‘safe’ levels have been found on the town’s beach.

Raise nuclear waste tax  
 The Salt Lake Tribune Claire Geddes 02/27/2009 06:23: EnergySolutions is so desperate for money that it will turn Utah into the world’s nuclear dumping ground and share a portion of the “profits” with Utah if lawmakers endorse its plan to take Italy’s nuclear waste.What profits? The company’s stock is tanking, its balance sheet is in the red, and its chief executive, Steve Creamer, has a history of failure (remember Syncrete?).Reportedly, Utah’s profits could be $100 million a year for a decade. This gives you some idea of the huge cost of shipping foreign nuclear waste to Utah.The $100 million question is why would any country be willing to spend so much to rid itself of this nuclear waste if it were so safe to store?

If the Legislature truly wants to raise money, it could adequately tax the nuclear waste that is already coming here. This private company has used Utah for far too long, making huge profits off state trust lands that were sold for a small portion of their value.

If EnergySolutions really cared about Utah’s economy, it should just donate to the state the amount it spends on lobbyists and public relations.