How plutonium infiltrates the body’s cells
Plutonium Trojan Horse in the Body , Mining Awareness Plus, 26 Feb 15 Plutonium shares some important similarities with biologically important trivalent transition metals, especially iron. This could have importance from a material science point of view, as well.
“Plutonium tricks cells by ‘pretending’ to be iron
By Jared Sagoff July 8, 2011
Plutonium gets taken up by our cells much as iron does,…
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern University have identified a new biological pathway by which plutonium finds its way into mammalian cells. The researchers learned that, to get into cells, plutonium acts like a ‘Trojan horse,’ duping a special membrane protein that is typically responsible for taking up iron.
This discovery may help enhance the safety of workers who deal with plutonium, as well as show the way to new ‘bio-inspired’ approaches for separating radioactive elements from other metals in used nuclear fuel.
Because the bodies of mammals have evolved no natural ability to recognize plutonium—the element was first produced in 1941—scientists were curious to know the cellular mechanisms responsible for its retention in the body. The researchers exposed adrenal cells from rats to minute quantities of plutonium to see how the cells accumulated the radioactive material.
Using the high-energy X-rays provided by Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source, the researchers were able to characterize a particular protein known as “transferrin,” which is responsible for bringing iron into cells. Each transferrin is made up of two subunits, known as N and C, that normally bind iron. When another protein—the transferrin receptor—recognizes both the N and C subunits, it admits the molecule to the cell. However, when both the N and C subunits contain plutonium, the transferrin receptor doesn’t recognize the protein and keeps it out.
Contrary to their expectations, the researchers discovered that in one of the mixed states—when an iron-containing N-subunit is combined with a plutonium-containing C-subunit—the resulting hybrid so closely resembles the normal iron protein that the uptake pathway is ‘tricked’ into allowing plutonium to enter the cell.
‘Although the interaction between plutonium and bodily tissues has been studied for a long time, this is the first conclusive identification of a specific pathway that allows for the introduction of plutonium into cells,’ said Mark Jensen, an Argonne chemist who led the research.
… The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science as well as by the National Institutes of Health.”http://www.anl.gov/articles/plutonium-tricks-cells-pretending-be-iron Author manuscript found here: “An iron-dependent and transferrin-mediated cellular uptake pathway for plutonium“, Mark P. Jensen et. al. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3462652/)
From the Jensen et. al. author manuscript: “… Pu is radiotoxic and is strongly retained by organisms1, Pu uptake from an accident, environmental contamination, or a nuclear or radiological attack can pose significant health risks. Plutonium localizes principally in the liver and skeleton in humans where it remains for decades2. It associates in vivo with the iron-containing proteins serum transferrin and ferritin3,4, but despite the danger of plutonium poisoning, the specific molecular-level pathways Pu travels to enter and localize in cells have never been identified2,5…”………. https://miningawareness.wordpress.com/2015/02/26/plutonium-trojan-horse-in-the-body/
Report of India’s Integrated Regulatory Review Services (IRRS) on Atomic Energy Board
India’s nuclear regulators have been audited, THE HINDU, MP RAM MOHAN ELS REYNAERS KINI , 3 JAN 16 But what’s the point? Parliament hasn’t passed the Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority Bill 2015 as yet
Now, the full IRRS report has been made public and can be viewed on the AERB’s website. This is certainly one of the most significant transparency efforts initiated by the AERB in recent times. The authors believe this signals an important commitment to adopt a new public engagement model. At a substantive level, the IRRS team identified several good practices, but also areas warranting attention or in need of improvement, to enhance the overall performance of the regulatory system in India………
Many in civil society and the AERB itself in private communication maintain that its “de facto” independence should be cemented in a law “de jure” as well. That said, the IRRS mission observed that the “professionalism and integrity of the AEC, NPCIL and AERB senior staff towards ensuring the regulatory decision making processes/arrangements were completed independently and did not notice instances in which de facto AERB independence was compromised”.
Another important aspect that would need to be addressed is the grievance redress system or appeal procedure against decisions by the AERB. Currently, the constitution of the AERB states that appeals against decisions of the AERB shall be with the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) whose decision shall be final. Here, the IRRS mission remained rather timid by merely referring to and not fully suggesting a more coherent appeal procedure which would be more in tune with a fully independent mechanism.
Addressing grievances
This is regrettable because one of the most important functions in any democratic system is the redressal of grievances, whether sought by an operator, a service provider, the public or anyone who has a role in an NPP activity. Moreover, the AERB constitution remains vague as to precisely who can appeal. These are aspects that also would need to be addressed more comprehensively to ensure that the public has faith in the nuclear regulatory system. The current redressal system also explains why people so far have generally opted to approach the courts with their grievances, rather than the AEC.
The DAE and the AERB should consider the IRRS mission review and many such suggestions of civil society in all earnestness, and thereby acknowledge that it is in the interest of the nation to make the regulatory system better, efficient and people-centric. It is important to remember what the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission of Japan concluded: “The TEPCO Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident was the result of collusion between the government, the regulators and TEPCO, and the lack of governance by said parties. They effectively betrayed the nation’s right to be safe from nuclear accidents.”
The winter session of Parliament had in its agenda to consider the NSRA Bill 2015, but it didn’t see legislative light. The Bill going into hibernation again is a missed opportunity when the expansion of nuclear power is going ahead. …..
Mohan is an associate professor at TERI University; Kini is a partner at MV Kini & Co, Mumbai. The writers are members of the Nuclear Law Association, India. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/indias-nuclear-regulators-have-been-audited/article8061473.ece
Wisconsin Republicans’ outrageous lies about nuclear power and renewable energy
These are the same Republicans who publicly deny the overwhelming scientific evidence of global warming, threaten to fire any state employee who even breathes the words, and vow to legally battle EPA clean energy standards to the death.
As soon as Walker and Republicans gained control of state government, they began blocking wind farms around Wisconsin.
Joel McNally: They’re still lying about nuclear power, The CAP Times, Madison, Wisconsin JOEL McNALLY | state columnist Jan 2, 2016 I still remember the party that night in 1983 when Wisconsin voters passed a statewide referendum banning construction of new nuclear power plants until the nation created someplace to safely store deadly, radioactive nuclear waste. It was a victory for ordinary citizens over just about every powerful force in government, and industry united in condemning us as totally unreasonable and irresponsible.Three decades later, we now know that was an outrageous lie.
Wisconsin was one of the first of 13 states to pass a moratorium. But even in states that ignored the threat to public safety, soaring costs soon brought new construction to a halt anyway.
And during those three decades, our political system still has failed to create a safe storage repository for radioactive nuclear waste that remains deadly for hundreds of thousands of years.
As a result, dangerous waste remains spread all over this country at nuclear sites that were abandoned years ago. Who knows how long we’ll even remember what went on there. Future archeologists uncovering our so-called civilization in, let’s say, just tens of thousands of years may be in for a deadly surprise.
There was nothing unreasonable or irresponsible about the Wisconsin anti-nuclear movement………
here’s the good news for Wisconsin. All those elected officials who kept pushing nuclear power weren’t telling the truth. We’ve never needed it. Continue reading
Days after restart, Belgium’s Doel nuclear reactor went offline again
Belgian nuclear plant’s reactor shuts down days after reboot ,Rt.com 3 Jan, 2016 Belgium’s Doel nuclear reactor went offline on Saturday, after it was restarted just three days ago, the plant’s spokesperson said. Meanwhile, Germany has stepped up criticism on operational safety of its neighbor’s aging nuclear facilities.
Doel 1 nuclear reactor, located in northern Belgium, was taken offline automatically, RTL broadcaster quoted the communications manager Els De Clercq as saying……..
Meanwhile, Germany, which is also eliminating the use of nuclear power, has been raising red flags over possible environmental consequences, arguing that it is too dangerous to keep the Doel reactors going.
The German government said it is preparing “critical questions” to the Belgian authorities on operational safety at the nation’s two active nuclear power plants. German Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks has demanded Brussels scrap its nuclear energy program altogether. https://www.rt.com/news/327763-belgium-nuclear-reactor-offline/
A nuclear expert has serious concerns about safety, in South Africa’s nuclear project
Serious Nuclear oversight concerns, News 24, Desmund Bernardo , 3 Jan 16 I started my career within the South African Nuclear industry at Koeberg Nuclear Power Station in 1992. The country was going through a serious transition at the time that brought with it excitement as well as trepidation. I had a bright future ahead of me with continuous growth and opportunity. ………I now ask myself if the NNR is in itself, as an independent government body, skilled enough and have the qualified staff to license current and future licensed staff at Koeberg and future Nuclear Power stations?
To answer this question I had to use common sense and world-best practice. In the USA the NRC is their equivalent of the South African National Nuclear regulator. Within the NRC you find experts and highly skilled professionals that have reached the highest echelons of the American Nuclear industry. These people are accomplished and the Licensees in the industry treat them with utmost respect. The people that oversee and administer exams have at some stage also received a license to manipulate reactor controls. They know what to look out for…….
Today however the invaluable industry experience is sorely lacking within the NNR. Most of the staff in the NNR has never worked within the Nuclear industry at all. Very few have spent time at a Nuclear Power station never mind holding a license to operate from a control room……
Is the Government honest with us when they say that SA is ready to build more Nuclear power stations? Do the Government and the NNR understand their true duty to public safety? Can the President of South Africa assure the public that the employees within the NNR are capable and skilled? Can the NNR assure the public that they will ensure their safety as a watch-dog?
If you are concerned about the oversight issues in the Nuclear industry, the nuclear new build public participation process is a great opportunity for you to raise your concerns and hold the government accountable. Make your voice heard. http://www.news24.com/MyNews24/serious-nuclear-oversight-concerns-20160103
The message of Mahatma Ghandi is relevant today
Ecological Meltdown And Nuclear Conflict: The Relevance Of Gandhi In The Modern World By Colin Todhunter Global Research, January 03, 2016 ………. Gandhi was ahead of his time. Although he might not have used today’s terms, ideas pertaining to environmentalism, agroecology, sustainable living, fair trade, local self-sufficiency, food sovereignty and so on were all present in his writings. He was committed to inflicting minimal damage on the environment and was concerned that humans should use only those resources they require and not amass wealth beyond their requirements. People have the right to attain certain comforts but a perceived right to unbridled luxuries would result in damaging the environment and impinge on the species that we share the planet with. His own lifestyle was a highly sustainable one, focusing on simplicity, austerity and need rather than want…………. government after government aggravates the problems by creating an impression that the villagers are a backward, inefficient and unproductive lot who can survive only on relief. With proper investment and appropriate policies, India’s rural economy could once again thrive.
T N Khoshoo argued that Gandhi’s advocacy of an ‘non-interventionist lifestyle’ provides the answer to the present day problems. The phrase ‘health of the environment’ is not just a literary coinage, he argues. It makes real biological sense because, as Gandhi argued, our planet is like a living organism. Without the innumerable and varied forms of life that the earth inhabits, without respecting the species we share this place with, our world will become lifeless.
Alternatively, before that happens, humans will become extinct and the planet will shake us off like a bad case of fleas. But, in the meantime, how much damage will have done by then and how much suffering will we have caused by a system that thrives on turning people into slaves to their desires and allowing imperialism to reign free?
Gandhi was “an apostle of applied human ecology,” according to T N Khoshoo. He offered a vision for a world without meaningless consumption which depleted its finite resources and destroyed habitats and the environment. Given the problems facing humanity, his ideas should serve as an inspiration to us all, whether we live in India or elsewhere.
Unfortunately, his message seems to have been lost on many of today’s leaders who have capitulated to an out-of-control ‘capitalism’ that is driving the world towards resource-driven conflicts with the ultimate spectre of nuclear war hanging over humanity’s head. http://www.globalresearch.ca/ecological-meltdown-and-nuclear-conflict-the-relevance-of-gandhi-in-the-modern-world/5499007
Nuclear Strategic Alliance for FLEX Emergency Response SAFER (NOT): Depends on Emergency Resources which may be Needed Elsewhere-Unavailable
“The first tier of the SAFER plan is established through PEICo contracts with commercial heavy-lift helicopter vendors for “first call out of services.” With this type of contract, the vendors are not obligated to support SAFER’s response, and helicopter availability is dependent on the utilization and deployment location of the vendor’s fleet of helicopters at the time the request is made. …”
“The second tier of the SAFER plan is to request State helicopter resources (National Guard or other) via the site’s State emergency response organizations…
The third tier of helicopter support is for the site to request Federal helicopter resources…” (See more below.)
All of the above may have other priorities, such as rescuing people and air-lifting to medical facilities. This is especially true for the National Guard and Military. Precious time will be wasted calling the vendors. The utilities should have their own…
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January 3 Energy News
Opinion:
¶ What’s Ahead for Climate Change in 2016? • This year will kick off with a sense of optimism about climate change after the success of the Paris climate talks in December. Here is a set of projections for what lies ahead in 2016, including the possibility of both low oil prices and declining emissions. [Discovery News]
Lightning strikes may increase by about 12% for every degree Celsius gained. Axel Rouvin via Wikimedia Commons
World:
¶ In 2014, the government of India upped the 2022 target of the national solar mission to 100 GW, from the earlier 20 GW. And at COP21, Prime Minister Modi said that India will produce 175 GW from non-fossil sources by 2022. By 2030, 40% of India’s electricity will be renewably generated. [DEALSTREETASIA]
¶ A major EU-funded home-energy project called RealValue has been set up by an Irish consortium led…
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US House Members Urge Filters on Nuclear Reactor Vents to Protect Public-Environment from Radiation during a Nuclear Power Accident
The US NRC opposed this public and environmental safety measure, of course. It would cost nuclear utilities money.
Emphasis our own. Original here: http://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2.27.13_Markey_NRC_HydrogenVents.pdf
Markey left the House for the Senate.
Not One Fukushima Task Force Recommendation Fully Implemented by USNRC; Many Have No Timeline for Action, Oct. 2015 – Senator Boxer
Google-USGS-San Onofre/Diablo locations from Wikipedia
“Oversight of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Wednesday October 7, 2015, 09:15 AM, EST 406 Dirksen
Ranking Member Barbara Boxer
Boxer: “Not one of the 12 task force recommendations has been fully implemented, and I think we have a chart that shows this. Many of the recommendations still have no timeline for action. I am also concerned with some of the decisions NRC is making on whether to implement important safety enhancements.
For example, the Commission overruled staff safety recommendations. They overruled their staff and voted not to move forward with multiple safety improvements. By a 3 to 1 vote, the Commission decided to remove a requirement that nuclear plants have procedures in place for dealing with severe accidents.
What is wrong? How can we vote that way? How does this make any sense?
This requirement was identified in the aftermath of Fukushima, but…
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January 2 Energy News
Opinion:
¶ A Green Revolution Starts with Partnerships • A lot of proposals have been put forth on how to jump-start a green world economy. And history has proved that public-private partnerships don’t just increase access to funding for startups, but they also incentivize dialogue, cooperation and new ideas. [Triple Pundit]
Image: Floris Oosterveld
¶ Renewables riding momentum into 2016 • The worldwide move toward cleaner energy continued to gain momentum in 2015. Actions at the state, national and international level are all sending an undeniable message that the rise of clean energy is here to stay. Montana is an exception. [The Bozeman Daily Chronicle]
¶ Government takes backward view over renewable energy • In the aftermath of the UN Paris Climate Conference, it is extraordinarily sad that, in the face of the threat of significant climate change, the UK’s Government is showing such poverty of…
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Nuclear Lobby (NEI) to Dominate NRC-Public at Meeting on Venting Radiation into the Environment and Other “Fukushima” Lessons Not Learned
Filtered chimney at Windscale ( Sellafield)Cockcroft Folly
1957 Windscale Nuclear Accident: “Without the filters – installed at the last minute by Nobel Prize-winning scientist Sir John Cockcroft – the effects of the radioactive dust blasted into the Cumbrian air would have been much more devastating./ “Radioactive dust did escape, but the filters caught about 95 per cent of it,” says Christopher Cockcroft, Sir John Cockcroft’s son.” “Windscale Piles: Cockcroft’s Follies avoided nuclear disaster” By Duncan Leatherdale, BBC News, 4 November 2014 http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cumbria-29803990
“Clearly, a high-capacity filter would help protect the public from becoming exposed to radioactive releases if there were venting from either the drywell or wetwell (in cases in which the suppression pool was ineffective at scrubbing and retaining radionuclides)…. a 2005 Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) document on severe accident mitigation alternatives analysis states that the estimated cost of a filtered containment vent would…
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The irrationality of the nuclear industry economics – hundreds of $billions in tax-payer subsidies
*Subsidies at inception, reducing capital costs and operating costs.
*Accounting rules allowing companies to write down capital costs after cost overruns, cancellations and plant abandonments, reducing capital-recovery requirements,
*Recovery of “stranded costs” (costs to a utility’s assets because of new regulations or a deregulated market) passed on to rate payers.
Nuclear Energy Dangerous to Your Wallet, Not Only the Environment, CounterPunch, by PETE DOLACK , 1 JAN 16 The ongoing environmental disaster at Fukushima is a grim enough reminder of the dangers of nuclear power, but nuclear does not make sense economically, either. The entire industry would not exist without massive government subsidies.
Quite an insult: Subsidies prop up an industry that points a dagger at the heart of the communities where ever it operates. The building of nuclear power plants drastically slowed after the disasters at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, so it is at a minimum reckless that the latest attempt to resuscitate nuclear power pushes forward heedless of Fukushima’s discharge of radioactive materials into the air, soil and ocean.
There are no definitive statistics on the amount of subsidies enjoyed by nuclear power providers — in part because there so many different types of subsidies — but it amounts to a figure, whether we calculate in dollars, euros or pounds, in the hundreds of billions. Quite a result for an industry whose boosters, at its dawn a half-century ago, declared that it would provide energy “too cheap to meter.”
Taxpayers are not finished footing the bill for the industry, however. There is the matter of disposing radioactive waste (often borne by governments rather than energy companies) and fresh subsidies being granted for new nuclear power plants. None of this is unprecedented — government handouts have the been the industry’s rule from its inception. Continue reading
Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant: radioactive water is rising
Radiation-contaminated water at Fukushima plant on the rise http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20151231/p2a/00m/0na/022000c (Mainichi Japan) FUKUSHIMA — Efforts to reduce the amount of radiation-contaminated water at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant have proven helpless, and the overall amount of such water has actually increased, it has been learned.
TEPCO started pumping up groundwater from the ocean-side drains in October, but gave up on releasing the water into the ocean after detecting a high concentration of radioactive materials and salt content in the water pumped from four of the five wells on the plant premises. Meanwhile, the amount of groundwater increased after its flow was stemmed by the 780-meter-long seaside impermeable wall, which is designed to prevent tainted groundwater from flowing out into the ocean. The resultant high water pressure warped the impermeable wall by about 20 centimeters, prompting TEPCO to reinforce the wall.
While TEPCO had boasted that it was able to significantly reduce risks at the plant thanks to the completion of the impermeable wall, the situation still remains unstable
“We ended up building extra tanks (due to the increase of overall contaminated water), but we will never leak such water to the outside,” Naohiro Masuda, president of TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Decommissioning Co., told a press conference.
TEPCO aims to cut the influx of groundwater into reactor buildings to somewhere under 100 tons a day by the end of fiscal 2016, and ultimately make the daily increase of tainted water close to zero by the end of 2020 — the year of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics — by putting the multi-nuclide removal equipment called ALPS into operation. TEPCO is planning to complete the entire decommissioning process by 2041-2051.
Rain-sodium reaction caused fire in nuclear waste dump
Beatty waste dump fire blamed on rain-sodium reaction By Wesley Juhl Las Vegas Review-Journal, December 31, 2015 A fire at a low-level radioactive waste dump in Nye County that shut down a 140-mile stretch of Nevada’s main north-south highway for almost 24 hours in October was caused by rainfall that seeped through a compromised cover and reacted with metallic sodium, according to a report released Thursday.
On Oct. 18, during heavy rainfall, the now-closed, state-owned landfill at the US Ecology dump near Beatty roared to life with explosions and fire. Beatty is about 115 miles northwest of Las Vegas, off of U.S. Highway 95.
A state probe of the incident was launched to consider if the fire was related to the wet weather, and if disposal records kept by the state in Carson City and at the site list any materials that could have reacted with water to cause the fire. Monday’s report details how corrosion of the steel drums containing the metallic sodium allowed the packing fluid to seep out, leaving the metallic sodium exposed to underground elements.
The 305-page report released Thursday collects statements from staffers who were there, aerial maps, results of laboratory analyses and a 195-page study on low-level radioactive waste management from 1981 as an attachment……..
Recommendations for long-term fixes from the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection include setting up enhanced monitoring of the waste facility capable of handling remote video surveillance and radioactivity measurement. The agency suggested an evaluation of the various types of wastes placed in the site and a redesign of a more protective cover cap…….. http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/nevada/beatty-waste-dump-fire-blamed-rain-sodium-reaction
1 This Month
Pine Ridge Uranium is the real threat, not Tehran- Tell Burgum: Stop the Extraction.
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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