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World Heritage Kakadu parkland poisoned by Rio Tinto’s uranium wastes

For 30 years about 100,000 litres of contaminated water a day has been leaking from the tailings dam into fissures beneath Kakadu

Radioactive water threatens Kakadu, The Age, Lindsay Murdoch, April 16, 2011 Radioactive water is in danger of spilling into an Aboriginal community and Kakadu’s World Heritage-listed wetlands if record rainfalls continue to deluge the vast Ranger uranium mine. Continue reading →

April 16, 2011 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, environment | 2 Comments

Time for World health Organisation to sever connection with International Atomic Energy Agency

The World Health Organization (WHO) must sever its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in place since 1959, and assume independent responsibility in support of international health.

Is the Fukushima nuclear plant breakdown worse than Chernobyl? | San Francisco Bay View, by Janette D. Sherman, M.D., 16 April 11 “….Many pro-nuclear critics have downplayed the risks from Chernobyl, attributing concerns to “radio-phobia”; but documentation of disease is not limited to the human population. With few exceptions, animal and plant systems that were studied demonstrated structural abnormalities in offspring, loss of tolerance and viability, and genetic changes. Wild animals and plants do not drink alcohol, smoke or worry about compensation – so those factors cannot be held responsible. Continue reading →

April 16, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Nuclear payout not adequate for Fukushima refugees

Nuclear plant evacuees call for bigger payouts, The Independent 16 April 2011 * The operator of Japan’s tsunami-damaged nuclear plant said yesterday it would pay an initial £7,400 for each household that was forced to evacuate because of leaking radiation – a handout some displaced families said was too little.Tens of thousands of residents unable to return to their homes near the nuclear plant are bereft of their livelihoods and possessions, unsure when, if ever, they will be able to return home.

Some have travelled hundreds of miles to the headquarters of Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) to press the company president Masataka Shimizu for higher compensation. At the government’s request, the company will start paying out roughly ¥50bn (£370m) in compensation from 28 April to those forced to evacuate; families will get ¥1m and single adults ¥750,000, the government said.

Roughly 48,000 households will be eligible for the payments. But many families are disappointed. “I’m not satisfied,” said Kazuko Suzuki, a 49-year-old single mother of two teenagers from the town of Futuba, next to the plant. She has lived at a shelter at a high school north of Tokyo for the past month. “We’ve had to spend money on so many extra things and we don’t know how long this could go on,” she said….Nuclear plant evacuees call for bigger payouts – Asia, World – The Independent

April 16, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Australian Aboriginal leader writes to UN about uranium mining

Yvonne Margarula’s letter to the UN expressing solidarity with the people of Fukushima , | Indymedia Australia, 16 Apr 2011 Below is a letter sent by Yvonne Margarula of the Mirrar people to Ban Ki Moon the Secretary General of the UN on the 6th of April 2011. The Mirrar are the traditional owners of the land that Ranger and Jabiluka Uranium mines are located on. These mines have been developed without the consent of the Mirrar people. The letter expresses solidarity with the people of Japan and sorrow that uraniun from the land of the Mirrar was used in the Fukushima plant. Continue reading →

April 16, 2011 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, indigenous issues, Uranium | Leave a comment

Determined opposition to Jaitapur nuclear plant

Opposition to huge India nuclear plant hardens after Japan By Tony Munroe JAITAPUR, India  Apr 15, 2011, India (Reuters) – As far as Taramati Vaghdhare is concerned, there is no question of accepting compensation to make way for the world’s largest nuclear power plant………..Long-running opposition to the proposed plant at Jaitapur has hardened amid the unfolding nuclear crisis in Japan, with village posters depicting scenes of last month’s devastation at the Fukushima plant and warning of what could be in store for this region in the Western Ghats north of Goa…..

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh staked his political career on a 2008 deal with the United States that ended India’s nuclear isolation dating to its 1974 test of a nuclear device, opening up a $150 billion civilian nuclear market……

Opposition to huge India nuclear plant hardens after Japan | Reuters

April 16, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Public has right to know radiation effects of Fukushima and Chernobyl

After Chernobyl, there was a delay in collecting and releasing information. The nuclear industry and many governments are reluctant to alarm the public, but the public has a right to know what the risks are and how, if possible, to avoid those risks – as much as possible…… Decades of research have confirmed that radioisotopes become deposited in various parts of living systems.In humans, I-131 and I-129 concentrate in the thyroid, Cs-137 in soft tissue and Sr-90 in teeth and bones……..

Is the Fukushima nuclear plant breakdown worse than Chernobyl? | San Francisco Bay View, by Janette D. Sherman, M.D., 16 April 11, Love lavished on the children in this orphanage near Chernobyl cannot cure the terrible effects of radiation. ..A little over six months ago I wrote: “Given profound weather effects (earthquakes, floods, tsunamis etc.), human fallibility and military conflicts, many believe that it is only a matter of time before there is another nuclear catastrophe. Nuclear fallout knows no state or national boundaries and will contribute to an increase in illnesses, decrease in intelligence and instability throughout the world. Continue reading →

April 16, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, secrets,lies and civil liberties | 1 Comment

Nuclear Energy Institute writes the rules for Nuclear Regulatory Commission

allowing the NEI to play such a large role means the industry can shape much of what nuclear companies are required to do…….. NRC’s precursor agency, the Atomic Energy Commission, was disbanded after Congress concluded it had become too concerned with promoting nuclear power instead of regulating safety…..over the years, NRC has become more accommodating to the industry.

U.S. Nuclear Regulator Lets Industry Help With the Fine Print by John Sullivan, Special to ProPublica April 13, 2011, “…….Large parts of the guides, issued by NRC, incorporate or endorse material written by the industry’s trade group, the Nuclear Energy Institute[6]. Continue reading →

April 15, 2011 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

The Faustian bargain of nuclear power

Fukushima Daiichi Is a ‘Ticking Time Bomb’ HUFFINGTON POST, 04/14/11 “…..DR. MICHIO KAKU: Well, there’s something called a Faustian bargain. Faust was this mythical figure who sold his soul to the devil for unlimited power. Now, the Japanese government has thrown the dice with a Faustian bargain. Japan has very little fossil fuel reserves, no hydroelectric power to speak of, and so they went nuclear. However, in the United States, we’re now poised, at this key juncture in history, where the government has to decide whether to go to the next generation of reactors. These are the so-called gas-cooled pebble bed reactors, which are safer than the current design, but they still melt down. The proponents of this new renaissance say that you can go out to dinner and basically have a leisurely conversation even as your reactor melts down. But it still melts. That’s the bottom line.
AMY GOODMAN: And so, what do you think should happen? Do you think nuclear power plants should be built in this country?

DR. MICHIO KAKU: I think there should be a national debate, a national debate about a potential moratorium. The American people have not been given the full truth, because, for example, right north of New York City, roughly 30 miles north of where we are right now, we have the Indian Point nuclear power plant, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has now admitted that of all the reactors prone to earthquakes, the one right next to New York City is number one on that list. And the government itself, back in 1980, estimated that property damage would be on the order of about $200 billion in case of an accident, in 1980 dollars, at the Indian Point nuclear power station…..Democracy Now!: Fukushima Daiichi Is a ‘Ticking Time Bomb’

April 15, 2011 Posted by | Japan, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

Grave danger of depleted uranium weapons used on Libya

“We are saturating the ground with Depleted Uranium ammunition ……we are subjecting civilians of Libya to a far greater danger in the long run than they currently face from the civil war that’s going on.”…

AUDIO   PressTV – US heavily dependent on use of Depleted Uranium , PressTV, 14 April 11, NATO continues to deny the use of depleted uranium in its humanitarian efforts in Libya. Conn Hallinan, Columnist for Foreign Policy in Focus, spoke to Press TV’s U.S. Desk on Thursday regarding the continued use of Depleted Uranium ammunition. “I think you have a situation now where the United States and Britain and France, being the major countries involved here are basically claiming that they are engaged in the Libyan Civil War in order to protect the civilians. Unfortunately, what is happening is that in the process of attacking Muammar Gaddafi’s military forces, particularly his tanks and armor and artillery the U.S. is heavily dependent on the use of Depleted Uranium Munitions,” Hallinan said. Continue reading →

April 15, 2011 Posted by | depleted uranium, Libya | Leave a comment

Risk of radiation in milk, rainwater, says French radiation agency

Global Radiation Levels ‘No Longer Negligible’ In Milk, Water, Produce Care 2, by: Beth Buczynski 15 April 11,  A French research authority on radioactivity is now warning expectant European mothers and young children to avoid drinking milk or rainwater, while EPA data released on Sunday shows that at least three different milk samples — all from different parts of the US — have tested positive for radioactive Iodine-131 at levels that exceed the current maximum thresholds for safety.

The radiation risk from Fukushima is “no longer negligible,” says CRIIRAD, the French agency. Two weeks ago, the FDA began blocking imports of some Japanese milk and produce.

CRIIRAD told Europeans that eating these items qualifies as “risky behavior.”….
it may still be some time until we learn the true extent of the contamination.
Global Radiation Levels ‘No Longer Negligible’ In Milk, Water, Produce

April 15, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Hanover International Trade Fair heralds the post nuclear economy

“This is a market that keeps expanding,”…“Growth is in renewables.”

German Firms Move Toward Postnuclear Economy  NYTimes.com By JUDY DEMPSEYApril 14, 2011 HANOVER, Germany — Josef Mehrer, a family-owned German company established more than 120 years ago, has survived by adapting with the times….In the early 1990s, the company placed a bet on the renewable energy sector Continue reading →

April 15, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, EUROPE | Leave a comment

German Bill to shut down nuclear power industry

The main opposition Social Democratic Party will put a bill to the upper house in Berlin today calling for the immediate closure of eight reactors and all 17 nuclear plants to be shut within about a decade. The opposition holds a majority in the upper house, the Bundesrat, where states are represented.

Merkel Faces Nuclear Exit Bill as States Exert Pressure After Japan Crisis, Bloomberg, By Tony Czuczka and Nicholas Comfort – Apr 15, 2011  Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a bid by members of the upper house of parliament to force her to abandon nuclear power as she tries to rally German state leaders behind an overhaul of energy policy by the middle of May. Continue reading →

April 15, 2011 Posted by | Germany, politics | Leave a comment

Save Japanese nuclear workers by collecting their stem cells

the solution is not perfect, the team admits. High exposure to radiation would also attack cells in the gut, skin or lung — problems a stem cell transplant could not fixYet, with containment and clean-up efforts at the damaged plant expected to drag on for months or even years, Tanimoto and Taniguchi say taking steps to protect the workers’ from future harm is paramount.

Banking stem cells could save Japan nuclear workers By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO   Apr 14, 2011  (Reuters) – Health officials should collect blood from workers at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in case they are accidentally exposed to high levels of radiation and need a stem cell transplant, Japanese researchers said on Thursday. Continue reading →

April 15, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, health, Japan | Leave a comment

Fukushima cleanup plan means continued radioactive leaking

VIDEO
Plan to End Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Leaves Reactor Leaking Radiation For Another 3 Months :   – The Intel Hub, By Alexander Higgins  April 14th, 2011 Japan’s plan to end the Fukushima nuclear reactor crisis involves letting radiation leak for the next 3 months.The manufacturer of the Fukushima nuclear reactor revealed the plan to end the nuclear reactor radiation leak which will be split into 3 phases over 10 years. The first stage will take about three months during which they plan to stabilize the nuclear reactor and spent fuel pools while preventing the radiation leak from increasing.You read that correct, NO PLAN TO STOP THE RADIATION LEAK WITHIN THE NEXT 3 MONTHS – ONLY A PLAN TO STOP THE LEAK FROM INCREASING.
Plan to End Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Leaves Reactor Leaking Radiation For Another 3 Months :

April 15, 2011 Posted by | Resources -audiovicual | 1 Comment

Fukushima Prefecture children must stay indoors

Schools keep kids indoors The Yomiuri Shimbun 15 April 11,  Outdoor activities in Fukushima Pref. stopped over radiation  Worried about radiation, schools in Fukushima Prefecture have stopped holding physical education classes in their school yards regardless of schools’ distance from the crippled nuclear power plant in the prefecture……the central government’s failure to provide any guidelines on students’ outdoor activities has left schools wondering what to do.

During soil inspection in school yards, inspectors took five-centimeter-deep samples to check the levels of radioactive iodine and cesium.

The school yard of Yamakiya Primary School in Kawamatamachi recorded the highest level: 59,059 becquerels per kilogram of soil for both isotopes. The school began holding its physical education class indoors after the new academic year started on April 6 and such events as excursions and hiking will be suspended…..Schools keep kids indoors / Outdoor activities in Fukushima Pref. stopped over radiation : National : DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE (The Daily Yomiuri)

April 15, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

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