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Israeli Nuclear Waste ‘Leads to Palestinian Cancer’

Israeli Nuclear Waste ‘Leads to Palestinian Cancer’
The Media Line  by Rachelle Kliger , July 21, 2009
Radiation from Israel’s nuclear facility in Dimona is being buried in Palestinian territory and causing an increase in cancer cases among West Bank Palestinians, a Palestinian doctor and anti-nuclear activist says.

“The waste from Dimona is buried west of Dahriyya and the radiation from this buried waste reaches the people and causes cancer,” said Dr. Mahmoud Sa’ada, a Palestinian general practitioner and head of the Middle East division at International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, referring to a small West Bank Palestinian village just north of Hebron and just over 12 miles from the Dimona nuclear reactor.

“What’s new over the past two months is that the radiation has reached Tul Karem,” he told The Media Line, referring to a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank over 100 miles from the Dimona site.

Allegations that Israel’s nuclear facility is causing health hazards are not new, but researchers say the scope of the damage is expanding and putting an increasing number of both Israelis and Palestinians in danger……..

………….. the Dimona nuclear facility was built in the 1960s and has not undergone an overhaul as required after 1993.

Israel admits to having a nuclear facility in Dimona, a city in the south of Israel, but will not confirm or deny allegations that the facility is being used to build nuclear weapons.

Israel maintains a policy of ambiguity regarding its alleged nuclear program whereas it will not confirm or deny the existence of nuclear weapons in its arsenal.

Non-Israeli sources have claimed Israel has more than 200 nuclear warheads in its possession.

The Media Line

July 22, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Israel, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear wastes, radioactive, uranium