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

Danger of poor oversight of rare earths mining in Greenland

Will Mining For Rare Earth Metals Destroy Greenland?  http://www.fastcoexist.com/1680333/will-mining-for-rare-earth-metals-destroy-greenland  12 Aug 12,  To stop China’s stranglehold on the minerals necessary for our digital economy, mining companies are looking to the icy expanse of Greenland. But with no regulation, no light, and no oversight, what will those mines do to this pristine Arctic landscape?  Continue reading →

August 13, 2012 Posted by | environment, EUROPE, Reference | Leave a comment

Protest organised against uranium mining in Selous Game Reserve

UNESCO sacrifices wildlife preserve for uranium mine New World Heritage sites are always announced with an especially effective publicity. However, the decision for the boundary change in the Selous Game Reserve was not communicated to the public. Now that the UNESCO has accepted the boundary change, they have made way for a major uranium mine called  Mkuju River Uranium Project . It will be owned by  Russian ARMZ, a  subsidiary of ROSATOM, together with the Canadian company Uranium One.

“Uranium mining is incompatible with World Heritage”

In 2011, the UNESCO announced that „mining activities and dam projects would be incompatible with the status of World Heritage sites“. At the same time, the government of Tanzania announced that they had agreed to a declaration of intent for the construction of a dam in the Rufiji river with a Brasilian Company. The river runs through the centre of the Selous Reserve and is supposed to secure the electricity for the planned uranium mining project.

The „Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage“ of UNESCO has been ratified by 189 states. The UN runs a list of 962 World Heritage sites, this includes 188 World Natural Heritages, as well as the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania.

In the areas where uranium mines are active, there have been severe damages to the environment and the health of the local communities. With their decision, the UNESCO is co-responsible for the future destruction of the environment and human life in the Selous Game Reserve.

Environmental groups accuse the UNESCO of failure and irresponsibility. Their decision appears to be influenced by corporate and lobby interests. Now there is a risk that this case has set a precedent that endangers the protection of other World Heritage sites for similiar interests.

We must not let a World Heritage site be sacrificed. Please support this letter of protest to the UNESCO. https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/mailalert/883/unesco-sacrifices-wildlife-preserve-for-uranium-mine#.UCZ9m-i6aQF.facebook

August 13, 2012 Posted by | AFRICA, environment | Leave a comment

Research on butterflies shows the genetic effects of low level radiation

experimental demonstration of genetic mutations in the germ-line cells that are inherited by the offspring of radiation-exposed parents has been scarce, although the germ-line damage was shown in barn swallows 

We address these important issues in connection with the recent Fukushima Dai-ich NPP accident. We use the pale grass blue butterfly Zizeeria maha (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) as an indicator species to evaluate the environmental conditions.

 We conclude that artificial radionuclides from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant caused physiological and genetic damage to this species.

The biological impacts of the Fukushima nuclear accident on the pale
grass blue butterfly – Nature science journal. 9 Aug 12,Primary source. “……Prompt and reliable evaluation of the biological influences of the artificial radionuclides from the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP is lacking, and only a few studies have been performed to date 9, 10. In the case of the Chernobyl accident, changes in species composition and phenotypic aberration in animals11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and an increase in the incidence of thyroid and lymph cancers in humans18 have been reported. Continue reading →

August 11, 2012 Posted by | environment, Fukushima 2012, Reference | Leave a comment

Radiation effects on birds – Fukushima compared to Chernobyl

University of South Carolina, Prof Tim Mousseau et al, genetic survey of small wildlife, Fukushima.  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749112000255   “…….  Abundance of birds was negatively related to radiation in Chernobyl and Fukushima. ► Effects of radiation on abundance differed between Chernobyl and Fukushima and among species. ► For 14 species common to the two areas the effects of radiation on abundance were stronger in Fukushima than in Chernobyl.…..

Low-level radiation in Fukushima Prefecture appears to have had immediate effects on bird populations, and to a greater degree than was expected from a related analysis of Chernobyl, an international team of scientists reported Feb. 8 in Environmental Pollution. Continue reading →

August 11, 2012 Posted by | environment, Fukushima 2012, Reference | Leave a comment

Art and science of radiation induced mutations in small animals

Cornelia Hesse-Honegger. Genetic damage small wild life due to “normally venting” reactors. http://www.wissenskunst.ch/en/biographie.htm have a look at the illustrations. quote: Biography Cornelia Hesse-Honegger,scientific illustrator and science artist, was born in 1944 in Zurich, Switzerland. For 25 years she worked as a scientific illustrator for the scientific department of the Natural History Museum at the University of Zurich. Since 1969 she has collected and painted leaf bugs, Heteroptera. Her watercolors are exhibited internationally at museums and galleries. Her work is an interface between art and science; it plays witness to a beautiful but endangered nature.

Since the catastrophe of Chernobyl in 1986, she has collected, studied and painted morphologically disturbed insects, which she finds in the fallout areas of Chernobyl as well as near nuclear installations. As a result of her studies, she is convinced that in

Picture:
Eyes of the Drosophila Mutant ey.opt.
Black painted eyes with different shapes and part of wings growing out of the eyes.
Watercolor, 1987 end quote

http://trendland.net/cornelia-hesse-honegger-morphologically-disturbed-insects/#

Cornelia Hesse-Honegger : Morphologically Disturbed Insects

http://www.designfederation.net/illustration/the-bugs-of-cornelia-hesse-honegger/

www.mendel-museum.com/eng/1online/popart/bio/c.pdf

August 11, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, environment, Reference, resources - print | Leave a comment

Call to protect Selous Game Reserve from uranium mining

  The radioactive wastes pose a serious threat to Selous Game Reserve which is home to the world’s largest elephant population and other wildlife. No proven methods exist to keep the radioactive and toxic slush and liquids from seeping into surface waters, aquifers or spreading with the dry season wind into the Reserve.

The environmental groups urge the World Heritage Committee to reconsider its decision on the Selous Game Reserve Boundary Change and call upon the Government of Tanzania to refrain from licensing a uranium mine in Selous Game Reserve or on lands cut out from it.

World Heritage Comittee Decision on Selous Game Reserve Boundary Changes  uranium-network.org, Freiburg, Germany Gunter Wippel , Elephants, Rhinos and the environment under threat from 60 million tons of radioactive waste as World Heritage Committee agrees boundary change that will allow uranium mining at the Tanzania Selous Game Reserve – a World Heritage site. Freiburg, Germany, July 30, 2012

A foreign uranium mining conglomerate will be allowed to exploit the precious Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania after the World Heritage Committee (WHC) decided, at its July 2012 session in Russia, to accept what was described as a “minor boundary change” of the site. The change had been requested by the Government of Tanzania, in order to make way for the development of a major uranium mine, Mkuju River Uranium Project, owned by Russian ARMZ and Canadian Uranium One.

The decision to allow the boundary change would allow the Mkuju River uranium project, situated in the South of the Selous Game Reserve at its transition to the Selous Niassa Wildlife Corridor, to go forward. The Tanzanian Government lobbied heavily for the boundary change, after declaring its intent to ” win the battle” against the UNESCO WHC.

Dozens of environmental groups around the world, many of them members of the German-based Uranium Network, decried the WHC decision which could lead to the creation of 60 million tons of radioactive and poisonous waste by the mine during its 10-year lifespan (139 million tons if a projected extension of the mine should be implemented) Continue reading →

August 10, 2012 Posted by | AFRICA, environment, Uranium | Leave a comment

Highest Yet: 300 times over cesium limit in wild mushroom

Highest Yet: 300 times over cesium limit in wild mushroom — Found far
from Fukushima plant, 140 km away in Tochigi Prefecture
http://enenews.com/highest-yet-310-times-safety-limit-in-wild-mushroom-found-outside-fukushima-in-tochigi-prefecture August 7th, 2012
 August 6, 2012 report in the Nikkei Shinbun translated by EXSKF:
Highest level of cesium detected in wild mushroom
Tochigi Prefecture announced on August 6 that 31,000 Bq/kg of
radioactive cesium was detected in wild “Lactarius volemus” (tawny
milkcap mushroom) harvested in Nikko City, far exceeding the national
safety standard (100 Bq/kg).

[…]

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, it is the highest
level exceeding the amount detected in “Lactarius volemus” harvested
in Tanakura-machi in Fukushima Prefecture in September last year,
which measured 28,000 Bq/kg. The Tochigi prefectural government says,
“We believe the cesium absorption was largely from the soil, but
radioactive materials from the surrounding trees may also have
affected it.”

August 8, 2012 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Gov’t Releases Last Year’s Tests: “Contamination detected even in the Sea of Japan” — “Airborne material” blamed — Includes Niigata, Shizuoka, and Iwate  http://enenews.com/govt-releases-last-years-tests-contamination-detected-sea-japan-airborne-material-blamed-includes-niigata-shizuoka-iwate 
   August 5th, 2012  
By ENENews Title: Radioactive cesium found off of Niigata, Shizuoka, Iwate coasts: gov’t study

Source: Mainichi
Date: August 4, 2012

Radioactive cesium likely from the Fukushima nuclear disaster was detected last year in a survey of ocean waters and fish off Niigata, Shizuoka, and Iwate prefectures, the government announced on Aug. 3. “Even if taken internally, the radiation levels detected are not a risk to human health,” the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology stated. The ministry added it believes the small amount of contamination detected even in the Sea of Japan off Niigata was probably originally airborne material that made it to coastal waters through rain and river courses.

[…]

Test results:

  • In May last year that there were 9.1 millibecquerels of radioactive cesium per liter of seawater off Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture
  • In December, the survey found two becquerels per kilogram in a type of flounder in [Shizuoka]
  • In May last year, the survey found dried sea floor dirt from the southeast of Sado Island […] was contaminated with 31 becquerels of cesium per kilogram
  • In the ocean off Yamada, Iwate Prefecture […] 0.7 becquerels per liter of seawater were detected in May 2011

August 8, 2012 Posted by | Japan, oceans | Leave a comment

Environment sacrificed as UNESCO caves in to pressure on Tanzania uranium mining

Uranium Mining Project Posed to Destroy One of World’s Last Remaining Wildlife Heritage in Tanzania http://hamsayeh.net/articles/2110-uranium-mining-project-posed-to-destroy-one-of-worlds-last-remaining-wildlife-heritage-in-tanzania.html , 06 August 2012  UNESCO Fails to Protect World Heritage at Cradle of Mankind by uranium-network.org    August 02, 2012
Elephants, Rhinos and the environment under threat from 60 million tons of radioactive waste as World Heritage Committee agrees boundary change that will allow uranium mining at the Tanzania Selous Game Reserve – a World Heritage site. – A foreign uranium mining conglomerate will be allowed to exploit the precious Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania after the World Heritage Committee (WHC) decided, at its July 2012 session in Russia, to accept what was described as a “minor boundary change” of the site. The change had been requested by the Government of Tanzania, in order to make way for the development of a major uranium mine, Mkuju River Uranium Project, owned by Russian ARMZ and Canadian Uranium One.

The decision to allow the boundary change would allow the Mkuju River uranium project, situated in the South of the Selous Game Reserve at its transition to the Selous Niassa Wildlife Corridor, to go forward.
The Tanzanian Government lobbied heavily for the boundary change, after declaring its intent to ” win the battle” against the UNESCO WHC. Continue reading →

August 6, 2012 Posted by | AFRICA, environment | Leave a comment

Radioactivity in Tokyo

Dr. Chris Busby: Entomb the reactors or have ‘Mad Max’ scenario.  http://optimalprediction.com/wp/dr-chris-busby-entomb-the-reactors-or-have-mad-max-scenario/ 3 Aug 12,  Chris Busby is calling for sealing off the Fukushima reactors, since they are still releasing huge amounts of radionuclides. Cost is no object. I would say that the whole site needs to be entombed, since steam and smoke are coming out of fissures in the ground. Also a boronated concrete barrier needs to be built underground, to stop the leakage of corium into the groundwater and the sea.

Busby has also done tests on an air-conditioning filter in a Tokyo apartment (here andhere), and has found huge amounts of cesium and uranium in it. Where there is uranium, there is plutonium too. These radionuclides are incredibly toxic.

August 3, 2012 Posted by | environment, Japan, Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

Human effect on the atmosphere leads to skin cancer in fish

A whopping 15% of the fish surveyed had melanoma. … While 15% sounds high, Sweet and his colleagues believe it’s only a minimum estimate. “Once the cancer spreads further you would expect the fish to become quite sick, becoming less active and possibly feeding less, hence less likely to be caught. This suggests the actual percentage affected by the cancer is likely to be higher than observed in this study.”….

Fish with Melanoma – Our Enduring Environmental Legacy Scientific American. By Christie Wilcox | August 1, 2012 |     We’ve all heard the horror stories.   Melanoma is one of the most dangerous kinds of skin cancer, killing around 50,000 people worldwide every year. If caught early enough, it can be cured, but once it invades past the skin, it’s deadly. On the advice of doctors, we try to protect ourselves, donning floppy hats and coat upon coat of SPF 50 sunblock. We pick over our bodies in the mirror regularly, looking for dark, irregularly-shaped spots.  . The recent rise in the incidence of skin cancer,   though, is our own fault.

It is the result of our environmental hubris, a combination of a chemically-depleted ozone layer and our pathological obsession with a tanned physical appearance. Now, we’re becoming increasingly aware that our choices don’t just impact our own species. The rest of life has to deal with our poor decisions, and studies are just now determining the wide-ranging consequences of our actions.
Unable to slather on sunscreen, the creatures on our planet are much more limited in their ability to deal with the sun’s radiation Continue reading →

August 2, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, oceans | Leave a comment

Mystery still shrouds uranium tailings storage

It is presently unknown what type of containment system —if any — would offer any degree of protection to groundwater or for how long at Coles Hill.

Mystery still shrouds uranium tailings storage, Star Tribune,  Karen B. Maute  August 1, 2012 Virginia Uranium Inc.’ website states: “Much of the tailings will be mixed with a cement-like substance and put back into the mine shafts and drifts, and the rest will be stored in heavily-monitored and regulated below-grade storage facilities.” Continue reading →

August 2, 2012 Posted by | Uranium, USA, water | Leave a comment

High cesium levels in migratory fish in Pacific: Is Fukushima still leaking radiation?

the persistently high cesium numbers may be a sign that the Fukushima plant is still leaking radiation into the ocean.

Lead scientist surprised by Japan data: Fukushima plant still leaking radiation into ocean?  By ENENews Title: Post-Fukushima, Japan’s irradiated fish worry B.C. experts Source: Vancouver Free Press Author: Alex Roslin Date: July 19, 2012

The numbers show that far from dissipating with time, as government officials and scientists in Canada and elsewhere claimed they would, levels of radiation from Fukushima have stayed stubbornly high in fish. Continue reading →

July 20, 2012 Posted by | Japan, oceans | Leave a comment

TEPCO covering seafloor with enormous amounts of concrete. Why?

Tepco completes covering seafloor with layers of cement mix — More coating used at Reactors 5 & 6 than for Reactors 1, 2, 3 & 4 combined (PHOTOS & VIDEOS)  July 19th, 2012   By ENENews   http://enenews.com/tepco-completes-covering-seafloor-with-layers-of-cement-mix-more-coating-used-outside-reactors-5-6-than-for-reactors-1-2-3-4-combined-photos-videos

And all those funny looking black containers which were placed/dropped into the water..just COVER those things up with LAYERS of CONCRETE. Next generation can worry about it. Sadly, Mr. TEPCOman, one has to ask WHAT next generation will be healthy enough to work the problem?

One question to ask..what happened at Reactors 5 and 6 to require as much concrete or MORE than Reactors 1-4? Were more containers dumped into the ocean? More meltdown corium heading for the ocean..or is the ground so unstable..I hope its not the last. Subsidence(loss of ground HEIGHT) could be raising its ugly head. That is bad– almost as bad as Reactor 1-4 “payloads.”

Also note the non-concern of “radiation” going out into the OCEAN. What do they think the ocean is? An endless pit? Its not.

July 20, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, Japan, oceans, Resources -audiovicual, wastes | Leave a comment

Fukushima radiation will be higher on USA West coast, than off Japan

Study: N. America’s West Coast to be most contaminated by Fukushima cesium of all regions in Pacific in 10 years — “An order-of-magnitude higher” than waters off Japan (MAPS) July 15th, 2012 Title: Model simulations on the long-term dispersal of 137Cs released into the Pacific Ocean off Fukushima, IOPscience, Erik Behrens, Franziska U Schwarzkopf, Joke F Lübbecke and Claus W Böning Continue reading →

July 16, 2012 Posted by | oceans, USA | Leave a comment

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