nuclear-news

The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

Radioactive fallout from Fukushima travelled in the atmosphere to USA

Gov’t Map: Fukushima fallout transported directly to U.S. — Canada, Mexico avoided much of contamination after 3/11 (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/map-fukushima-fallout-transported-directly-canada-mexico-avoided-contamination-video
January 3rd, 2013
 Title: Measurement of Radioactive Fallout from the March 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Reactor Incident
Source: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in collaboration with the National Atmospheric Deposition Program
h/t Anonymous tip

Atmospheric back trajectories from sites where radioactive fallout was measured in NADP wet deposition samples. NOAA’s HYSPLIT model was used for this analysis

Map-Fukushima-fallout-to-US
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collaborated with the National Atmospheric Deposition Program in an effort to monitor North American precipitation samples for the presence of nuclear fallout in response to the Japan Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station incident that occurred on March 11, 2011. […] Continue reading →

January 5, 2013 Posted by | environment, USA | Leave a comment

Will USA’s EPA continue allow radioactive wastes to be injected into groundwater

water-radiationThe situation at Christensen Ranch underscores the overlaying problem of the sheer number of underground waste and injection wells. According to the UIC Well Inventory of 2011, there are 659,345 injection wells across the nation. Even in water-strapped states like California there exist a staggering 67,302 underground waste wells

 former EPA officials are concerned of well leaks and that completely removing pollutants from water is not possible.

EPA Approved Underground Waste Dumping for Flag-USAUranium Mine Giant IVN, By  | 01/04/2013 | ProPublica recently published journalist Abraham Lustgarten’s special project series covering injection wells. The latest story in the series converges on Christensen Ranch in Wyoming where industry giant Uranium One mines for uranium and disposes of its waste in an aquifer with EPA permission.

However, the Safe Drinking Water Act outlawed injecting toxic and nontoxic industrial waste into or above water aquifers. Any company wishing to dispose of waste underground must first apply for a deep injection well permit and register with the Underground Injection Control Program (UIC). These permits come in several classes to distinguish between waste and industry.For example, radioactive material in class I wells that must be deposited below the lowermost underground source of drinking water versus oil and gas waste in class II wells, which can be deposited closer to the surface. Though these different categories are supposed to help protect water sources, the Environmental Protection Agency has allowed for hundreds of exemptions nationwide in the last few decades, Christensen Ranch being one of them….. Continue reading →

January 5, 2013 Posted by | Uranium, USA, water | Leave a comment

Toshiba’s plan to put nuclear reactor under permafrost in Alaska

eyes-surprisedRadio: New nuclear reactor to be buried 100 feet under permafrost in middle of Alaska? (AUDIO) http://enenews.com/radio-nuclear-reactor-be-buried-100-feet-permafrost-middle-alaska-audio
January 1st, 2013
 Title: The New Normal Is No Normal
Source: Radio Ecoshock Show
Date: Jan 2, 2013

Toshiba is very interested in, it has been in talks with the mayor of Galena [Alaska] to build a, what they call a 4S Toshiba, it’s a liquid sodium reactor that they propose to bury under the permafrost — 100 feet under the permafrost, on the Yukon River floodplain.

So the last of the pristine rivers in the world, there’s been negotiations and machinations to put a liquid sodium reactor under the permafrost on the floodplain there in the middle of Alaska.
Full broadcast here

January 4, 2013 Posted by | climate change, environment, USA | Leave a comment

Turkey now testing all food from Japan for radiation

Report: Turkey begins testing all food from Japan for radiation — Imports suspected to be contaminated http://enenews.com/report-turkey-begins-testing-all-food-japan-radiation-imports-suspected-be-contaminated
January 2nd, 2013 
 Excerpt From: Turkey to test Japanese products for radiation
Source: World Bulletin
Date: December 30 2012
h/t Anonymous tip

Turkey to test Japanese products for radiation

The arrangement will go into effect on January 1, 2013 and will cover all Japanese products sent to Turkey after March 11, 2011. […]

Fukushima Diary summarizes a Japanese-language report on Turkey’s move:

[…] They state imports from Japan are suspected to be radioactively contaminated.

January 4, 2013 Posted by | environment, Japan, Turkey | Leave a comment

Radiation spread from Fukushima in Northern hemisphere

Almost entire ground-level of Northern Hemisphere covered in radioactive fission product after 3/11 (GRAPHIC) — Study: “The impact of Fukushima radioxenon releases on the worldwide Xe-133 background must be investigated” http://enenews.com/almost-entire-ground-level-northern-hemisphere-covered-radioactive-fission-product-after-311-study-impact-fukushima-radioxenon-releases-worldwide-xe-133-background-be-investigated-graphic
December 31st, 2012 
Title: Analysis of Radionuclide Releases from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident Part II
Source: Pure and Applied Geophysics
Authors: Pascal Achim, Marguerite Monfort, Gilbert Le Petit, Philippe Gross, Guilhem Douysset, Thomas Taffary, Xavier Blanchard, Christophe Moulin
Date: September 2012

[…] In this study, the emissions of the three fission products Cs-137, I-131 and Xe-133 are investigated.

[…] worldwide industrial Xe-133 background could be modified by Fukushima radioxenon release affecting the performances of the CTBT radionuclide monitoring network.

[…] during the couple of months after the Fukushima Dai-ichi accident, monitoring capabilities of the network could have been affected by the large amount of radioxenon released by the accident. The impact of Fukushima radioxenon releases on the worldwide Xe-133 background must also be investigated. […]..

Full analysis in here

January 3, 2013 Posted by | 2 WORLD, environment, Fukushima 2013 | Leave a comment

Measuring gamma radiation levels in Virginia

NNSA Helicopters Conduct Radiation Assessment in Northern Virginia
Several residents report hearing helicopters in the skies over the
area.
Annandale Patch, 31 Dec 12, By Jamie M. Rogers “…. The helicopters
began flying over the area Thursday, measuring naturally occurring
radiation, according to the group’s website.

The flights will continue until Jan. 11 during daylight hours
only….. Scientists with NNSA’s Remote Sensing Laboratory (RSL) out
of Joint Base Andrews will use remote gamma radiation-sensing
instrumentals to carry out the assessments.

Naturally-occurring radiation is measured so that baseline levels can
be established and used in security and emergency preparedness,
scientists said.  …
http://annandale.patch.com/articles/nnsa-helicopters-conduct-radiation-assessment-in-northern-virginia

January 3, 2013 Posted by | environment, USA | Leave a comment

After Chernobyl nuclear disaster- “background” radiation estimated at double previous amount

radiation-warningGeneticist Valery N. Soyfer, founder of the former Soviet Union’s first molecular biology laboratory, analyzed the 1986 report to the IAEA, which has since been condemned as a cover-up. Dr. Soyfer says that if only 100 million curies were vented, then world “background radiation doubled at once.”[10] This claim was unsupported by accompanying evidence, butif “background” was doubled by 100 million curies, then it was multiplied 180 times by the release of Chernobyl’s “full inventory.”

Nineteen months after the disaster, in Nov. 1987, the U.S. government officially doubled its estimate of the “background” radiation to which we are exposed every year

Chernobyl at Ten:  Half-lives and Half Truths, Chernobyl, by John M. LaForge “…… In the first part of this article (Spring 1996 Pathfinder) I compared the recent trivialization of Chernobyl’s consequences to news accounts that appeared soon after the explosions and fire. For example, while the commercial press now tell us that the disaster “spread radiation across parts of Europe,” the fact is that the federal EPA announced in mid-May 1986 that, “Airborne radioactivity from the Chernobyl nuclear accident is now so widespread that it is likely to fall to the ground wherever it rains in the United States.”[4]

In this part I look at how much radiation Chernobyl evidently added to the “background,” at official skewing of the inevitable long-term effects, and at recent reports of its human health consequences. Continue reading →

December 31, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, environment, health, Reference | 1 Comment

Helicopters testing for radiation in Washington DC

text ionisingHelicopters to check for radiation in D.C. http://www.wtop.com/41/3172518/Helicopters-to-check-Flag-USAfor-radiation-in-DC Hank Silverberg, WASHINGTON, 27 Dec 12  – An unusual number of low-flying helicopters will be in the Washington region throughout the next two weeks checking for radiation.

The helicopters will fly a 70-square-mile grid around D.C. and will fly 150 feet above the ground through Jan. 11. They will take baseline levels of naturally occurring radiation. The helicopters could fly as fast as 80 mph.

The mission from the National Nuclear Security Administration is part of an effort to that would allow the FBI and other law enforcement to warn the public about higher radiation levels should there be an accident or terrorist incident involving nuclear material.

There are two nuclear power plants within 90 miles of D.C. They are Calvert Cliffs in in Lusby, Md. and North Anna in Virginia’s Louisa County.

Additionally, freight trains travel right through the D.C. just a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

Concern has been expressed in the past about a rail accident involving hazardous material though it’s not clear whether the trains ever carry anything that might be radioactive.

December 28, 2012 Posted by | environment, USA | Leave a comment

Radiation exposure to residents of Treasure Island, USA

Alarming Radiation Levels Found on Treasure Island (includes Video –
see-this.wayon cancers in former residents) ) 
The Navy’s own data suggests that island residents were at risk of
radiation exposure.
East Bay Express, By Ashley Bates, 27 Dec 12, Navy officials have repeatedly downplayed the risks of
radiation exposure to current and former residents on Treasure Island.
But data from the US Navy shows that measurements taken in former
residential areas of the island revealed pockets of alarmingly high
radiation levels. The data, which the Express obtained as a result of
a public records request, also raises questions as to whether former
residents were, in fact, exposed to high amounts of radiation and
whether soil on the island can be sufficiently cleaned up for the
massive “eco-friendly” housing and commercial development planned for
the former Navy base…..
Despite the newly released data, much is still unknown about the
radiation levels on Treasure Island. Continue reading →

December 28, 2012 Posted by | environment, Reference, USA | Leave a comment

A Faustian bargain, uranium mining’s radioactive pollution of groundwater

devil-bargainA Decades-Old Deal With Uranium Miners Is Causing Trouble For The EPA Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica | Dec. 26, 2012, GILLETTE, Wyo. — On a lonely stretch at the edge of the Great Plains, rolling grassland presses up against a crowning escarpment called the Pumpkin Buttes. The land appears bountiful, but it is stingy, straining to produce enough sustenance for the herds of cattle and sheep on its arid prairies.
“It’s a tough way to make a living,” said John Christensen, whose family has worked this private expanse, called Christensen Ranch, water-radiationfor more than a century.
Christensen has made ends meet by allowing prospectors to tap into minerals and oil and gas beneath his bucolic hills. But from the start, it has been a Faustian bargain.

As dry as this land may be, underground, vast reservoirs hold billions of gallons of water suitable for drinking, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Yet every day injection wells pump more than 200,000 gallons of toxic and radioactive waste from uranium mining into Christensen’s aquifers. Continue reading →

December 27, 2012 Posted by | Uranium, USA, water | Leave a comment

Drinking water threatened as EPA allows uranium miners to inject radioactive wastes into groundwater

Flag-USAEnvironmental groups say the EPA should not be letting mining companies write their own rules.

Similar disputes are erupting across the country.

“This is a health issue as much as a water supply issue,”

water-radiationA Decades-Old Deal With Uranium Miners Is Causing Trouble For The EPA Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica | Dec. 26, 2012, GILLETTE, Wyo.“…….The problems and pressures the EPA is facing at Christensen Ranch are not unique.

With uranium mining booming, the agency has received a mounting number of requests for aquifer exemptions in recent years. So far, EPA records show, the agency has issued at least 40 exemptions for uranium mines across the country and is considering several more. Two mines are expanding operations near Christensen Ranch.

In several cases, the EPA has struggled to balance imposing water protections with accommodating the industry’s needs.

In South Dakota, where Powertech Uranium is seeking permits for a new mine in the Black Hills, state regulations bar the deep injection wells typically used to dispose of mining waste. The EPA is weighing whether to allow Powertech to use what’s called a Class 5 well u2014 a virtually unregulated and unmonitored shallow dumping system normally used for non-toxic waste u2014 instead….. Continue reading →

December 27, 2012 Posted by | Uranium, USA, water | Leave a comment

No control over radiation-contaminated products

radiation-warningThe potential danger comes, however, from the cumulative effect of proximity to radiation, particularly over time and in relation to other contaminants. The precise degree of that danger has not yet been definitively determined for low-level radiation, such as that contained in commonplace goods and materials…..
Because the amount of tainted metals in circulation is unknown, the cumulative overall health effect — now and over time — is impossible to calculate. Whatever it is, there is little debate that unnecessary exposure to radiation is best avoided.
“There is no threshold of exposure below which low levels of ionizing radiation can be demonstrated to be harmless or beneficial,”

highly-recommendedRecycled radioactive metal contaminates consumer products: “It’s your worst nightmare,” Engineering Evil, October 20, 2012
2009 report posted for filing  Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com I don’t believe a single thing has been done about this crisis since this report. Not even a simple mention in the nightly news.

Thousands of everyday products and materials containing radioactive metals are surfacing across the United States and around the world.
Common kitchen cheese graters, reclining chairs, women’s handbags and tableware manufactured with contaminated metals have been identified, some after having been in circulation for as long as a decade. So have fencing wire and fence posts, shovel blades, elevator buttons, airline parts and steel used in construction.

A Scripps Howard News Service investigation has found that — because of haphazard screening, an absence of oversight and substantial disincentives for businesses to report contamination — no one knows how many tainted goods are in circulation in the United States.
But thousands of consumer goods and millions of pounds of unfinished metal and its byproducts have been found to contain low levels of radiation, and experts think the true amount could be much higher, perhaps by a factor of 10. Continue reading →

December 26, 2012 Posted by | environment, USA | Leave a comment

Doubts on uranium market’s future add to environment fears in Virginia

Charles Ebinger, the director of the energy security initiative at the Brookings Institution, a research center in Washington. thinks, though, that the United States is moving away from nuclear energy as cheap natural gas and flat electricity demand make nuclear power less competitive. That makes it tougher to argue in favor of the mine, said Ebinger, who’s a supporter of nuclear energy

water-radiationProposed Coles Hill uranium mine: Buried treasure or hidden threat? By Sean Cockerham and John Murawski | McClatchy Newspapers
CHATHAM, Va. 23 Dec 12,  — “….. pitting neighbor against neighbor and North Carolinians against Virginians. North Carolina is only about 20 miles from the proposed uranium mine and residents, public officials and lawmakers there worry that a catastrophic release of radioactive waste could poison Kerr Lake, the drinking water source for more than 118,000 North Carolinians, as well as contaminate the fishing- and recreation-rich Roanoke River as far east as Pamlico Sound.

“My concern is the catastrophic impact it could have on North Carolina’s water, and it could be major,” said state Rep. Mitch Gillespie, a McDowell County Republican. “This is brand new for North Carolina.” Continue reading →

December 24, 2012 Posted by | Uranium, USA, water | Leave a comment

Fukushima radiation’s slow journey to USA and China’s coasts

water-radiationMore Fukushima nuclear pollution to hit U.S. starting in 2015 — Study: Impact strength of Cesium-137 on West Coast to be as high as 4 PERCENT http://enenews.com/report-nuclear-pollution-from-fukushima-to-hit-u-s-in-2015-impact-strength-of-cesium-137-on-west-coast-is-as-high-as-4-percent-due-to-strong-currents
December 20th, 2012 Follow-up to: Ocean Absorbed 79 Percent Of Fukushima Fallout

Title: An ensemble estimation of impact times and strength of Fukushima nuclear pollution to the east coast of China and the west coast of America

Source: Science China Earth Sciences
Authors: GuiJun Han, Wei Li, HongLi Fu, XueFeng Zhang, XiDong Wang, XinRong Wu, LianXin Zhang
Date: November 2012 Continue reading →

December 22, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, oceans | Leave a comment

Great lakes nuclear threat is greater than all its other pollution problems

Nuclear power: The ultimate near shore threat to the Great Lakes? Great Lakes Echo
DEC 21 2012 GARY WILSON 

Commentary

“I hope you rethink your really scary plan to bury radioactive waste located only half a mile from Lake Huron…”

That’s a concerned citizen responding to a Canadian nuclear power company’s proposal to store radioactive waste underground near Lake Huron for 100,000 years.

The best-known near shore threats to the Great Lakes are raw sewage and algae blooms. Both receive considerable attention from government agencies and accounts about them are regularly reported in the popular media.

The threat posed by the nuclear power plants that dot the region could easily trump both. It may be the ultimate near shore threat. Continue reading →

December 22, 2012 Posted by | Canada, environment, USA | Leave a comment

« Previous Entries     Next Entries »