2010 June « nuclear-news

Delhi University compensating victims of ionising radiation

DU hands out compensation to victims of radiation exposure- Hindustan Times, 12 June 2010, Delhi University on Friday handed out compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to victims of radiation exposure who suffered serious health hazards from radioactive waste disposed off by the institution.Several people at Mayapuri’s scrap market were exposed to radiation and were taken ill in April this year.One of them, Rajender (35), a worker at a shop in the scrap market, had died due to multiple organ failure at AIIMS after being exposed to radiation.Relief amount of Rs two lakh was handed over to Ram Jiyavan, Gaurav, Ram Kalap Yadav and Himanshu Jain, the victims who suffered injuries, a statement from the varsity said on Friday……The trail of the radioactive substance led to Delhi University’s Chemistry Department and it was found that the institution had disposed off the radioactive waste that reached the Mayapuri scrap market.

DU hands out compensation to victims of radiation exposure- Hindustan Times

June 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, Legal | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Need for more safety in use of medical ionising radiation

A number of errors discovered by FDA have involved massive doses of radiation being directed at the wrong parts of the body, and machines being set incorrectly, resulting in overly large radiation doses.

Radiation Exposure Concerns Lead To New Industry Standards – AboutLawsuits.com, 11 June 2010, Radiation therapy equipment manufacturers have launched an initiative to implement new industry-wide safety standards in the face of FDA scrutiny and growing concern over the radiation risks of CT scans and radiation-emitting medical devices… Continue reading →

June 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Inaccuracies in measuring medical ionising radiation

Indirect estimated radiation during thoracoabdominal aneurysm repair found inaccurate, CVardiology Today, 11 June 2010, Assessing indirect estimated radiation doses given to patients during endovascular thoracoabdominal aneurysm repair may not be an accurate method of assessing peak skin dose, according to study findings……“Given that JACHO standards are all based on the estimated dose, and the estimated dose for aortic procedures is very inaccurate, peripheral vascular/aortic procedures are not being assessed properly,” Roy Greenberg, MD, a vascular surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, said in a press release. “We believe these are critical issues with regard to radiation exposure and this will result in problems with hospital documentation and reporting sentinel events.”

Indirect estimated radiation during thoracoabdominal aneurysm repair found inaccurate

June 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, health | antinuclear, nuclear, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Oli gusher shows renewable energy to be safest

Oil Spill Puts Need for Renewables in Spotlight, Energy Boom By Shannon Roxborough June 11, 2010 The massive Gulf Coast oil spill highlights the importance of cutting the planet’s reliance on conventional energy sources and moving toward renewable energy, say proponents of clean power.”The spill itself tells us in a very clear way that the over dependence on fossil fuels is an issue which we must grapple with as a world and as a nation,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said on Tuesday speaking at the Capitol Hill Club to honor Ocean Week. Continue reading →

June 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, renewable | climate change, energy efficiency, renewable energy, renewables | Leave a comment

Russia financing Ukraine, Kiev planning new nuclear power

Russia lends Ukraine $2bn: what does it want in return? | FT.com, June 11, 2010 by Roman Olearchyk Now that the west seems to fear to tread very far into Ukraine, Russia is more than happy to step into the breach…it seems that the Russian bank has agreed to shore up the public finances for six months. The short-term benefits to Kiev are obvious: but the long-term implications of the dramatic increase in Russian influence that has followed president Viktor Yanukovich’s election have yet to become clear……….Kiev also hopes soon to ink a $4-5bn loan from Russia to finance new nuclear power blocs.

Russia lends Ukraine $2bn: what does it want in return? | beyondbrics | FT.com

June 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, Ukraine | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Bhopal injustice – a prelude to future nuclear injustice for India?

Under the civil liabilities for nuclear damage bill, central to a deal with the controversial nuclear pact with the US, costs for cleaning up a catastrophic failure would end up being paid by the Indian taxpayer…….so that shareholders of large US corporations would not be forced to pay out for sloppy, deadly mistakes…………..

Obama hasn’t learned lessons of Bhopal, Randeep Ramesh guardian.co.uk 10 June 2010 Foreign companies such as BP are shown the big stick, but Washington offers a big shield for its multinationals abroad

While Barack Obama is lambasting BP for spreading muck in the Gulf of Mexico, he should perhaps pencil in a date with the people of Bhopal when he visits India later this year. While 11 men lost their lives on BP’s watch and the shrimps get coated with black stuff, the chemicals that killed thousands of people in Bhopal in 1984 are still leaching into the ground water a quarter of a century after a poisonous, milky-white cloud settled over the city. Continue reading →

June 11, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, Legal | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

NASA’s cruel monkey experiments to be shamed

monkeys would be blasted with a harmful dose of radiation. As a result, the animals would likely suffer from brain damage, cancerous tumors, or a loss of motor control. Following the radiation exposure, these highly intelligent and social animals would spend the rest of their lives in a laboratory where they would be isolated in cages and subjected to years of behavioral experiments.

PETA ‘TREKKIES’ TO CRASH NASA’S ‘STAR TREK LIVE’ OPENING TO PROTEST AGENCY’S RADIATION EXPERIMENTS ON MONKEYSAs Stage Show Debuts, Group Will Call On NASA to Allow Animals to ‘Live Long and Prosper’ Dressed as “Trekkies,” PETA members will greet visitors to the Kennedy Space Center on Friday and call on NASA to pull its funding for cruel and crude radiation experiments on monkeys. Continue reading →

June 11, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Religion and ethics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

100 % renewable energy to power UK data centre

U.K. data center commits to 100 percent renewable energy sources, ZDNet, By Heather Clancy | June 9, 2010,
The operator of a newly opened 750,000 square foot data center in Wales has contracted with a renewable energy supplier to ensure that all of the energy that powers the new facility is generated from renewable energy sources.

The operator, Next Generation Data Ltd., has contracted with SmartestEnergy, which aggregates renewable energy on behalf of its customers, which include the likes of Marks & Spencer, Toyota, Hitachi and Eurostar. SmartestEnergy is using a wide variety of generation sources including biogas, landfill gas, wind and hydropower.

U.K. data center commits to 100 percent renewable energy sources | ZDNet

June 11, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, UK | climate change, energy efficiency, global warming, renewable energy, renewables, solar, wind | Leave a comment

Burma developing nuclear power, funded by multinational oil companies

how could Burma, Southeast Asia’s poorest country, possibly afford to finance a nuclear program? The answer involves the military regime’s partnerships with multinational companies, including some of the world’s largest and best known oil firms

Oil Companies Financing Nuclear Threat in Burma, Refusing Transparency, THE HUFFINGTON POST, Mathew Smith, June 10, 2010 , The world has a new nuclear threat on its hands; the first ever in Southeast Asia.According to a disturbing five-year study released Friday by the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), carried on Al Jazeera, and vetted by a nuclear scientist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the ruling military junta in Burma (Myanmar) is “mining uranium, converting it to uranium compounds for reactors and bombs, and is trying to build a reactor and or an enrichment plant that could only be useful for a bomb.” Continue reading →

June 11, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Burma, secrets,lies and civil liberties | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons, uranium | Leave a comment

Health Dept orders closure of leaking uranium mine

(USA) Closed uranium mine ordered to stop discharge, Google hosted news, (AP) 11 June 2010, DENVER — The owners of a closed uranium mine near Golden have been ordered by the state health department to stop discharging polluted water into a creek that flows into a Denver-area reservoir.The state health department is taking action because Cotter Corp. has been discharging pollution without a permit and uranium levels in the water are significantly exceeding the safety standard, Steve Gunderson, director of the state water quality control division, said Thursday.The agency sent the notice earlier this month. The Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety has sent a separate notice to Cotter saying it believes the company is violation of several state laws.State officials are concerned about rising uranium levels in Ralston Creek, which flows into a reservoir that supplies drinking water in the Denver area.

The Associated Press: Closed uranium mine ordered to stop discharge

June 11, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium, water | Leave a comment

India’s Atomic Energy Dept makes shortcuts for nuclear trade

DAE notified as ‘competent authority’ to approve all nuclear imports, The Hindu, R. Ramachandran , 11 June 2010,
In a bid to promote civil nuclear trade with other countries, the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has issued new guidelines that would allow a person (or entity) in India to do nuclear commerce directly with suppliers even if there are no formal bilateral agreements for nuclear cooperation with such trading countries. Continue reading →

June 11, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, politics | antinuclear, nuclear | Leave a comment

BHP Billiton’s deceptive recording of uranium radiation exposures

The whistleblower produced documents that show BHP uses manipulated averages and distorted sampling to ensure the figures are below the maximum exposure levels set by government,…to manipulate the sampling by transferring workers, whose exposures were escalating, to a different area

Radiation unsafe at BHP’s Olympic Dam: whistleblower, Sydney Morning Herald, June 4, 2010 Workers at BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam are being exposed to unsafe levels of radiation, according to a company whistleblower. Continue reading →

June 11, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, secrets,lies and civil liberties | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear secrecy, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty – USA now to join up

POLITICS: US MOVES TO SUPPORT NUCLEAR FREE ZONE TREATY, Islands Business, Nic Maclellan, 11 June 2010, In a major policy change, the US government has announced it will move to support the Rarotonga Treaty for a South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone (SPNFZ)—25 years after the treaty was first signed by Pacific nations. Continue reading →

June 11, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | OCEANIA, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

National Anti-Nuclear Gathering at USA Weapons Complex

Nukewatch – July 4th weekend, 2010At Maryville College and the Y-12 Nuclear Weapons Complex, Tennessee.

The Nuclear Resister, Nukewatch and the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance (OREPA) invite you to join us for a national gathering, culminating with nonviolent anti-nuclear direct action, July 3-5, 2010, to declare our independence from nuclear weapons and nuclear power. The gathering will be held at Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee (tentative), with protest and action at the Y-12 nuclear weapons complex in nearby Oak Ridge, where OREPA has sustained a nonviolent campaign for over 20 years. Nukewatch

June 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, peace, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Resistance to pro Nuclear Bills now in USA Congress

If there are going to be voices to counter the insanity of new bomb plants in the name of arms control, they will have to be ours. If there are going to be people standing to say NO!, they will have to be us.”

Bills making their way through Congress right now include the largest single increasein nuclear weapons funding in history.

(USA) Morning of Resistance’ at Y-12 July 5 | Frank Munger, knoxnews.com, 9 June 2010, “The timing is right–and not just because2010 marks the anniversaries of such auspiciousorganizations and actions. Last year, President BarackObama declared himself committed to a world freeof nuclear weapons. Whatever his ambitions mayhave been, they have gotten waylaid by the statusquo power brokers who are determined to maintain nuclear dominance and a highly funded industry that is determined to build more nuclear reactors at taxpayer expense. Continue reading →

June 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment