A start to addressing the scandal of Navajo radiation contamination from uranium mining
The cleanup at the Skyline Mine represents not only a reduced risk of exposure for Begay and her family, but marks the first significant remediation of a mine on the country’s largest American Indian reservation where such sites number in the hundreds.
Tests have found gamma radiation activity greater than two times the background level at 80 locations on the site. In the traditional Navajo home where Begay once lived with two of her sons, the radiation levels were up to 100 times the acceptable level. The two sons have died — one of lung cancer and the other from a tumor.
Navajo woman helps prompt uranium mine cleanup, Houston Chronicle, FELICIA FONSECA, September 5, 2011 MONUMENT VALLEY, Utah (AP) — The stretch of high desert on the Arizona-Utah border gives way to towering rock formations that resemble huge mittens, chimney spires and castles. But to the west of Monument Valley lies a reminder of what has been blamed for much heartache and tragedy in Elsie Mae Begay‘s family: A mesa stained with a gray streak where uranium was mined decades ago. Continue reading
Nuclear bomb testing – a horror that is hard to ban
Perhaps because its people understand firsthand the horrors of living with the effects of nuclear testing, Kazakhstan has fully supported efforts to ban nuclear testing and nuclear weaponry, and has given up its nuclear arsenal.
Politics Clouds Efforts to Ban Nuclear Testing, By Elizabeth Whitman, UNITED NATIONS, Sep 5, 2011 (IPS) – On Aug. 29, 1949, the Soviet Union conducted the first of 456 nuclear tests in Semipalatinsk in Eastern Kazakhstan, at the site where it ultimately held over two-thirds of all Soviet nuclear tests without warning inhabitants of the region of the impact of exposure to these tests.On Aug. 29, 1991 the site closed, yet the devastating health and environmental effects continue to plague the region to this day. Continue reading
Nuclear Summit in Seoul with safety as top priority
Safety to top Seoul nuclear summit agenda, 2011-09-05,The Korea Herald, By Shin Hae-in “…Some 50 state leaders will also deal with North Korea uranium issue Following Japan’s nuclear crisis at Fukushima, next year’s nuclear security summit in Seoul will focus on how to improve safety in atomic energy, organizers said Monday…..
Among leaders attending the Seoul summit will be heads of five nations in the six-party talks, including U.S. President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao. The talks involve the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia. http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20110905000686
Still no way to monitor radiation in Mayapuri scrap market
No radiation detectors still in Mayapuri scrap market – Hindustan Times, 6 Sept 11, Even 16 months after it was hit by radiation, leaving one person dead and eight seriously injured, the Mayapuri market in west Delhi, the biggest scrap market in India, still does not have a regulatory body. In April 2010, radioactive Cobalt 60 from a Delhi University (DU) laboratory thatwas auctioned off found its way to the market.
Although six professors were charge sheeted by the Delhi Police on Friday, the scrap dealers are still on the edge, as there is no mechanism to detect hazardous materials.
“The market is not equipped with detectors, even though it is common practice in steel recycling factories in other countries. The presence of toxic heavy metals and harmful chemicals threatens people living in the area,” said Deepak Jain, who suffered radiation injuries in the crisis last April.
Sharad Sinha, a scrap dealer, said, “We have been facing an acute shortage of workers after the incident. Ever since the incident, no one wants to come and work here.” No radiation detectors still in Mayapuri scrap market – Hindustan Times
Libya lied about nuclear weapons – documents reveal
MI6 caught Libyans lying about nuclear weapons, documents reveal MI6 caught the Libyans lying about their stock of nuclear weapons after uncovering a secret network of arms supplies from Pakistan, documents found in Tripoli reveal.Telegraph, By Duncan Gardham, and Richard Spencer 05 Sep 2011…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8743226/MI6-caught-Libyans-lying-about-nuclear-weapons-documents-reveal.html
Japan’s crisis of radioactive waste in sewage plants
VIDEO Radioactive waste swamps Japan sewage plants – Asia-pacific – Al Jazeera English 3 Sept 11, Environmental experts warn of new crisis over build up of contaminated sewage far from Fukushima plant.
Environmental experts in Japan are warning of new fallout from the country’s nuclear crisis.
Radioactive waste is piling up at several sewerage plants, well away from the crippled Fukushima reactor.
Months after the tsunami and earthquake that triggered the nuclear meltdown, the government still has no policy on what to do with the waste.
Nuclear company Exelon sued over child’s brain cancer
The demand came about after the parents of a girl sued Exelon claiming their daughter developed brain cancer as a result of living close to the nuclear plant, Dresden Generating Station in northern Illinois.
Judge Orders Exelon to Divulge Radiation Data in Child Brain Cancer Lawsuit, AllGov – News, -Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky, September 03, 2011, Energy company Exelon has been ordered by a federal judge to turn over data regarding radiation leakage from one of its power plants. Continue reading
Kazakhtsan – land of nuclear human nuclear radiation guinea pigs
As for the locals, they were little more than guinea pigs…. it is so hard to prove the link between nuclear fallout and the diseases that may strike afterwards.According to Dr. Marat Sandybaev, head of the local oncology centre, cancer rates in the area are still twice as high as the national average, and it is estimated that birth defects are up to 10 times higher.
Bringing life to a nuclear wasteland Can a nuclear test site be reclaimed? The Soviets detonated hundreds of bombs in Kazakhstan, poisoning the land and people. Louise Gray of the Telegraph travels to the notorious Polygon site and reports on plans to restore the region By Louise Gray, The Telegraph September 4, 2011 “…. Between 1949 and 1989, the Soviet Union detonated more than 456 nuclear devices on the Semipalatinsk test site, better known as the “Polygon.” Continue reading
Germany’s renewable energy use increases to 20%
Green Energy Use in Germany Passes 20 Percent of Total Power Mix Environmental News Network, 4 Sept 11, During the first half of 2011, Germany for the first time generated more than 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, a new report says. While the country’s total electricity demand remained stable during the first six months of 2011, the share generated by renewable sources increased from 18.3 percent to 20.8 percent, according to the German Association of Energy and Water Industries.
hat increase provides a boost to government initiatives to produce 35 percent of the country’s electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020, while phasing out all of the nation’s nuclear reactors, an aggressive target announced after the Fukushima disaster in Japan.
Alternative Energy and Fuel News: Green Energy Use in Germany Passes 20 Percent of Total Power Mix
Pictures of Fukushima’s nuclear ghost town
PICTURES Eerie echoes of Chernobyl: Inside Fukushima’s nuclear ghost town abandoned by people fleeing the fallout, Mail Online 4 Sept 11,By Daniel Miller, 4th September 2011
Inside Fukushima’s nuclear ghost town abandoned by people fleeing the fallout | Mail Online
Renewable energy a a sound investment for USA
“We will need subsidies for a little while, but not for the indefinite future and we do expect that renewables will, whether it’s going to be competitive 10 years or 20 years from now, it’s going to be on that time scale,” Chu said. “And it will certainly be far less than the amount we needed for other traditional energies, like oil and gas.”….
Congress should see potential in renewable energy and invest in it Las Vegas Sun, , Sept. 4, 2011 Under President Barack Obama’s administration, the federal government has taken a more aggressive stance on developing renewable energy. It has been met with resistance by the fossil fuel industry and its supporters in Congress.
They have groused about the cost of subsidies and tax breaks for renewable energy projects (never mind the billions of dollars a year in handouts the oil industry gets). Continue reading
Farmland ruined by radioactive “superdumps” from uranium mining
He blames the recent toxic and radioactive spillages on Mine Waste Solutions, a subsidiary of Canadian First Uranium, which is reprocessing mining waste from 15 old slimes dams – some of which are located on his expansive farm – in the Klerksdorp area….
Superdumps are huge dams that store toxic waste form the smaller, historical dumps that are reprocessed for gold and uranium.
(South Africa) Radioactive spillages condemn farmlandAugust 31 2011 IOL Science Tech, By Sheree Bega INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS Johan Kondos can only use a small portion of his land to grow lucerne. “……This lone field, and a few beloved cattle, is all Kondos has left of his farm in Hartbeesfontein in the North West.
Like many of his neighbours, he blames surrounding mining operations for contaminating his farm, situated about 5km from the Vaal River.
“Some of the pollution is historic but some of it is so recent, it’s still wet,” he explains.
“I’ve had calves born with two heads on my farm. At one time I was having 70 percent abortions and very high mortality with my animals. They drank from the Koekemoerspruit and ate the lucerne I produced.
He blames the recent toxic and radioactive spillages on Mine Waste Solutions, a subsidiary of Canadian First Uranium, which is reprocessing mining waste from 15 old slimes dams – some of which are located on his expansive farm – in the Klerksdorp area.
As part of this, the company is also constructing a controversial central tailings storage facility, or superdump, about 2km from the Vaal River, touting it as a model rehabilitation plan, where the mining waste from the 15 tailings dams is piped. Superdumps are huge dams that store toxic waste form the smaller, historical dumps that are reprocessed for gold and uranium.
In July, the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) shut down Mine Waste Solutions’ operations after its inspection revealed spillages and leakages of tailings materials along the company’s extensive pipeline and on the properties of farmers like Kondos.
But a week later, Mine Waste Solutions was back on line, stating it said it had been given conditional approval to restart operations provided it follow an “enhanced pipeline maintenance programme” and submit monthly reports.
Radioactive spillages condemn farmland – IOL SciTech | IOL.co.za
Editor resigns over sloppy anti climate change publication
Journal editor resigns over ‘problematic’ climate paper, BBC News, Richard Black, 2 September 2011 The editor of a science journal has resigned after admitting that a recent paper casting doubt on man-made climate change should not have been published. Continue reading
Nuclear power company Exelon in court over child’s cancer
Plant Must Disclose Data to Fight Cancer Lawsuit, Courthouse News serBy JACK BOUBOUSHIAN CHICAGO (CN), 3 Sept 11 – The parents of a girl who developed brain cancer can access over a decade of data on an Exelon power plant they claim discharged harmful radiation, a federal judge ruled, but the energy giant can withhold certain other information.
Joseph and Cynthia Sauer say their daughter, Sarah, was diagnosed with a medulloblastoma, a highly malignant brain tumor, roughly three years after the family moved to Grundy County, where Exelon operates the Dresden Generating Station and Unitech Services Group has a nuclear facility.
They claim that radioactive discharges from the plants traveled through the groundwater, causing Sarah’s cancer……..
Courthouse News Service
Poor radiation safety at Indian university
Atomic energy regulator shuts down radiotherapy machines at Safdarjung – Indian Express, 3 Sept 11, In line for its first MCI inspection after being brought under the Indraprastha University (IP), the radiotherapy department of Safdarjung hospital and Vardhaman Medical College, faces risk of derecognition. The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), the apex body monitoring radiation safety standards in hospitals, has already directed the department to shut down two cobalt and one brachytherapy machines due to a dearth of radiation safety norms and inadequate posts of radiation safety officers. ..Atomic energy regulator shuts down radiotherapy machines at Safdarjung – Indian Express
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Cuba Is Not a Failed State – It Is a Besieged State
PETITION: “Global Appeal to Endorse Palestinian Right of Return of Refugees”
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