nuclear-news

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

Cancers the result of radiological spraying in St. Louis?

She has watched four siblings die of cancer

Victims of suspected radiological spraying in St. Louis suffer thyroid, other cancers — Helicopters covered children in powder — “Oh my God, if they did that there’s no telling what else they’re hiding” http://enenews.com/victims-of-suspected-radiological-spraying-in-st-louis-suffer-thyroid-other-cancers-oh-my-god-if-they-did-that-theres-no-telling-what-else-theyre-hiding  October 4th, 2012 Title: Secret Cold War tests in St. Louis raise concerns Source: Associated PressDate: October 4, 2012

“…In the mid-1950s, and again a decade later, the Army used motorized blowers atop a low-income housing high-rise, at schools and from the backs of vehicles, to send a potentially dangerous compound into the already-hazy air in predominantly black areas of St. Louis. Continue reading →

October 5, 2012 Posted by | health, USA | Leave a comment

Fukushima residents treated with discrimination, like the hibakusha

 the same sort of discrimination is happening to people who were exposed to radiation in Fukushima.

Voices of the “Explosion Covered People”    http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2012/09/25/161755636/voices-of-the-explosion-covered-people  More than 65 years after atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there are still thousands of people suffering. In addition to experiencing lingering effects from the radiation, many are also considered social outcasts.

The term hibakusha  in Japanese means “explosion-covered people” and applies to anyone who came within 2 kilometers (approximately 1.25 miles) of the hypocenter  of the bomb — within two weeks of the explosion. Thought to be diseased and contagious, many people hid their experience from friends, family and society at large to avoid being shunned. Continue reading →

October 5, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, Japan, social effects | Leave a comment

Radiation tablets for Delaware residents near nuclear plant

Delaware residents near nuclear plants urged to take tablets http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/45173 October 5, 2012 By Nichelle Polston n the next few days, residents who live within a ten mile radius of the Salem/Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Stations will have access to some pills that are usually given out during a radiation emergency.
The Delaware Emergency Management Agency and Delaware Division of
Public Health will distribute potassium iodide also known as KI
tablets.  The pills are believed to help protect the thyroid gland
from ingested or inhaled radioactive iodine possibly released in a
radiation emergency. Officials say the medicine does not protect
against external radiation.  If you take a look at Delaware’s
emergency plans developed for use in a nuclear incident, you’ll notice
KI tablets are listed as one of the precautions residents should take
along with evacuation.
Delaware received the tablets due to its participation in a program
led by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The pills are only
being distributed in the event of an emergency related to radiation.
If that happens, emergency officials will inform residents in those
areas through messages on Emergency Action System radio stations. When
the emergency messages are aired they will include instructions on how
residents should react, directions to evacuation routes, emergency
reception centers, and also when to take the KI tablets.
In the meantime, the pills will be distributed next week on October
11th at the Townsend Fire Station.  They’re also available to
residents who live outside the 10 mile radius area and those who
currently want to get rid of their expired KI tablets.  Delaware
Emergency Management Agency Radiological Emergency Planning section
can be reached for more information about the tablets at 302-659-3362.

October 5, 2012 Posted by | health, USA | Leave a comment

Fukushima’s new hospital equipment can NOT measure internal radiation

 Technohill, the Japanese distributer of this equipment commented on their website that this equipement cannot measure internal exposure unlike the hospital explained on their press conference.

Fukushima hospital imported new WBC equipment, distributer “It can’t measure internal exposure” http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/09/fukushima-hospital-imported-new-wbc-equipment-distributer-it-cant-measure-internal-exposure/  by Mochizuki   September 29th, 2012 Kuwano kyoritsu hospital in Koriyama city held a press conference on 9/24/2012. Continue reading →

October 1, 2012 Posted by | health, Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | 1 Comment

Radiation exposure to Nevada’s Native American communities

The assessment of radiation exposures in Native American communities (Nevada) http://nuclearhistory.wordpress.com/2012/09/28/the-assessment-of-radiation-exposures-in-native-american-communities-nevada/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10795343

Risk Anal. 2000 Feb;20(1):101-11.
The assessment of radiation exposures in Native American communities from nuclear weapons testing in Nevada.
Frohmberg E, Goble R, Sanchez V, Quigley D.
Source
Clark University, Center for Technology, Environment, George Perkins Marsh Institute, Worcester, MA 01610, USA.
Abstract
Native Americans residing in a broad region downwind from the Nevada Test Site during the 1950s and 1960s received significant radiation exposures from nuclear weapons testing. Because of differences in diet, activities, and housing, their radiation exposures are only very imperfectly represented in the Department of Energy dose reconstructions. There are important missing pathways, including exposures to radioactive iodine from eating small game. The dose reconstruction model assumptions about cattle feeding practices across a year are unlikely to apply to the native communities as are other model assumptions about diet. Thus exposures from drinking milk and eating vegetables have not yet been properly estimated for these communities. Through consultations with members of the affected communities, these deficiencies could be corrected and the dose reconstruction extended to Native Americans. An illustration of the feasibility of extending the dose reconstruction is provided by a sample calculation to estimate radiation exposures to the thyroid from eating radio-iodine-contaminated rabbit thyroids after the Sedan test. The illustration is continued with a discussion of how the calculation results may be used to make estimates for other tests and other locations.
PMID: 10795343 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

September 29, 2012 Posted by | health, indigenous issues, USA | Leave a comment

Margaret Chan VERSUS World Health Organisation  http://tekknorg.wordpress.com/2012/05/27/margaret-chan-versus-world-health-organisation/ May 27, 2012 by Mikkai “it is recognized by the World Health Organization that the International Atomic Energy Agency has the primary responsibility for encouraging, assisting and coordinating research and development and practical application of atomic energy for peaceful uses throughout the world without prejudice to the right of the World Health Organization to concern itself with promoting, developing, assisting and coordinating international health work, including research, in all its aspects. ”http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Infcircs/Others/inf20.shtml#note_c

VERSUS:

Radiation Is Always Dangerous, Says World Health Organization Director-General:  http://concernforhealth.org/radiation-is-always-dangerous-says-world-health-organization-director-general/

“INTERNAL radionuclides are 10 to 100 times more damaging than the equivalent EXTERNALdose” Dr. Michel Fernex, former WHO employee

FROM W.H.O.:http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2012/wha65_closes_20120526/en/index.html“Dr Margaret Chan appointed to a second term as Director-General of the World Health Organization by the 65th World Health Assembly” Continue reading →

September 28, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, health | Leave a comment

Fukushima study on cows shows how radioactive cesium collects in the kidneys

New Japan Study: Kidneys accumulate most radioactive cesium by far — Highest levels of any tissue inside cows: http://enenews.com/study-kidneys-accumulated-most-radioactive-cesium-highest-levels-of-any-tissue-inside-japanese-cows  September 21st, 2012   By ENENews 
« 1 quadrillion becquerels of total strontium into Pacific via wastewater — Giant spike in levels offshore Fukushima many months after 3/11    Chemist: Dangerously elevated hydrocarbons in sinkhole sludge — Levels may be in flammable range »
New Japan Study: Kidneys accumulate most radioactive cesium by far — Highest levels of any tissue inside cows
September 21st, 2012
Title: Radiocesium distribution in the tissues of Japanese black beef heifers fed fallout-contaminated roughage due to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station accident
Source: Biosci Biotechnol Biochem.
Authors: Sasaki K, Hayashi M, Narita T, Motoyama M, Oe M, Ojima K, Nakajima I, Muroya S, Chikuni K, Aikawa K, Ide Y, Nakanishi N, Suzuki N, Shioya S, Takenaka A. (National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization)
Date: 2012 Aug 7
Abstract
This study examined the accumulation and tissue distribution of radioactive cesium nuclides in Japanese Black beef heifers raised on roughage contaminated with radioactive fallout due to the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station on March 2011. Radiocesium feeding increased both (134)Cs and (137)Cs levels in all tissues tested. The kidney had the highest level and subcutaneous adipose had the lowest of radioactive cesium in the tissues. Different radioactive cesium levels were not found among parts of the muscles. These results indicate that radiocesium accumulated highly in the kidney and homogenously in the skeletal muscles in the heifers.

See the full report here   Title: Radiocesium distribution in the tissues of Japanese black beef heifers fed fallout-contaminated roughage due to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station accident

September 24, 2012 Posted by | health, Japan | Leave a comment

Continuing sickness in children from irradiated food in Belarus

Children Radiation Maps, Blog by Jan Hemmer April 14, 2012 by Mikkai“………“for 15 years new children were born who, thanks to God, did not experience the first radioactive shock. For 15 years, they have eaten contaminated food. Children receive the highest doses, because the dose coefficients, in a 3 year old child, are 5 times higher than in adults. Contaminate food spreads like locusts In the whole Republic. It is not surprising to find in Minsk, children with a dose load of 700-900 Bq/kg.

I want to draw your attention on the research of Prof. Bandazhevsky. We worked with him. He came to the conclusion that 50 Bq/kg bodyweight in children, represent a threshold where pathologies appear in vital organs like kidneys, liver, heart and others. I want to say that today the health of children is such that if we do not take urgent measures, I cannot see good prospects for our children.” Continue reading →

September 23, 2012 Posted by | Belarus, health | Leave a comment

Less than a quarter of Japan’s nuclear engineers think that the industry is trustworthy

Only 23.4 percent, down from 43.8 percent a year earlier, said they “can agree” with the view that “the safety awareness and efforts of those engaged in the use of nuclear energy are trustworthy.”

Atomic engineers feel less confident about nuke safety September 22, 2012 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN After watching one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters in their own backyard, members of the Atomic Energy Society of Japan, a pro-nuclear association of nuclear engineers, are not surprisingly feeling much less confident about the safety of their industry. Continue reading →

September 22, 2012 Posted by | Japan, psychology - mental health | 1 Comment

Radiation caused cancer hit US movie stars

“The connection between fallout radiation and cancer in individual cases has been practically impossible to prove conclusively. But in a group this size you’d expect only 30-some cancers to develop. With 91, I think the tie-in to their exposure on the set of The Conqueror would hold up even in a court of law.” 

FROM PEOPLE MAGAZINE:Occupy the NRC 21 Sept 12,  Few moviegoers remember The Conqueror, a sappy 1956 film about a love affair between Genghis Khan and a beautiful captive princess. But to the families of its stars, John Wayne and Susan Hayward, and of its director-producer, Dick Powell, memories of The Conqueror have begun to acquire nightmarish clarity.

The movie was shot from June through August 1954 among the scenic red bluffs and white dunes near Saint George, Utah, an area chosen by Powell for its similarity to the central Asian steppes. At the time it did not seem significant that Saint George was only 137 miles from the atomic testing range at Yucca Flat, Nev.; the federal government, after all, was constantly reassuring local residents back then that the bomb tests posed no health hazard. Now, 17 years after aboveground nuclear tests were outlawed, Saint George is plagued by an extraordinarily high rate of cancer (PEOPLE, Oct. 1, 1979)—and the illustrious alumni of The Conqueror and their offspring are wondering whether their own grim medical histories are more than an uncommon run of bad luck.  Continue reading →

September 21, 2012 Posted by | health, secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

Europe’s increase in Downs syndrome births due to Chernobyl radiation

Evidence for an increase in trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) in Europe after the Chernobyl reactor accident.http://push-zb.helmholtz-muenchen.de/frontdoor.php?source_opus=7180&la=de Genet. Epidemiol. 36, 48-55 (2012) The objective of this study is to investigate the prevalence of Down syndrome (DS) associated with Chernobyl fallout.

Maternal age-adjusted DS data and corresponding live birth data from the following seven European countries or regions were analyzed: Bavaria and West Berlin in Germany, Belarus, Hungary, the Lothian Region of Scotland, North West England, and Sweden from 1981 to 1992.

To assess the underlying time trends in the DS occurrence, and to investigate whether there have been significant changes in the trend functions after Chernobyl, we applied logistic regression allowing for peaks and jumps from January 1987 onward.

The majority of the trisomy 21 cases of the previously reported, highly significant January 1987 clusters in Belarus and West Berlin were conceived when the radioactive clouds with significant amounts of radionuclides with short physical
half-lives, especially (131) iodine, passed over these regions. Apart from this, we also observed a significant longer lasting effect in both areas.

Moreover, evidence for long-term changes in the DS prevalence in several other European regions is presented and
explained by exposure, especially to (137) Cs. In many areas, (137) Cs uptake reached its maximum one year after the Chernobyl accident. Thus, the highest increase in trisomy 21 should be observed in 1987/1988, which is indeed the case.

Based on the fact that maternal meiosis is an error prone process, the assumption of a causal relationship between low-dose irradiation and nondisjunction is the most likely explanation for the observed increase in DS after the Chernobyl reactor accident.

September 21, 2012 Posted by | EUROPE, health | Leave a comment

Nuclear tests’ radiation caused fewer girl births, world wide

The 1960s and ’70s increase is attributed in the study to the global dispersal of radioactive atoms from atmospheric atomic bomb tests. The tests lofted radioactive atoms high into the atmosphere, where air currents caught the atoms and then dispersed them around the planet.

The new study is “the most convincing documentation” to date that radiation can lead to sex bias in humans, according to geneticist Karl Sperling of the Institute of Medical Genetics and Human Genetics in Berlin.

The findings challenge the conventional belief that exposure to nuclear radiation has no, or negligible, genetic effects in humans,

Millions Fewer Girls Born Due to Nuclear Radiation? “Unexpected” findings suggest bomb tests, plant accidents boosted male births Ker Than National Geographic News  June 2, 2011 Nuclear radiation from bomb tests and power plant accidents causes slightly more boys than girls to be born, a new study suggests. While effects were seen to be regional for incidents on the ground, like Chernobyl, atmospheric blasts were found to affect birth rates on a global scale. Continue reading →

September 21, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, health, women | Leave a comment

Chinese news reports increased exposure to radioactivity as one cause of birth defects

Consumption of prohibited medicine, increased exposure to radioactivity and drinking have also contributed to the increase, experts said.

900,000 Chinese born with birth defects every year http://www.beijingnews.net/index.php?sid/209107845/scat/55582c89cb296d4c/ht/900000-Chinese-born-with-birth-defects-every-year Beijing News.Net   12th September, 2012 Around 900,000 babies are born with birth defects in China every year, the health ministry said Wednesday.
This constitutes about 5.6 percent of the total number of newborns, Xinhua reported.

The ministry report for 2012 on prevention and treatment of defects in newborn babies said birth defects — at 19.1 percent — have become the second-biggest cause of infant deaths in China.
Birth defects are a serious problem in China’s rural areas. Continue reading →

September 20, 2012 Posted by | China, health | Leave a comment

Japan Times: “Alarming estimate of cancer fatalities… 1 million extra deaths” — Nobody mentions krypton and xenon that poured from Fukushima plant, says Gundersen — 2-3 times greater than Chernobyl  http://enenews.com/japan-times-nobody-mentions-cancer-causing-krypton-and-xenon-that-poured-from-fukushima-plant-says-gundersen-2-3-times-greater-than-chernobyl

September 15th, 2012
By ENENews Title:  ‘The government could still save lives’
Source: The Japan Times Online
Author: DAVID MCNEILL
Date: Sep. 16, 2012

[…]

Experts waved away fears about radiation, cabinet ministers scoffed at comparisons to Chernobyl, and the word “meltdown” itself was effectively scoured from the media.

Some observers, however, were quick to hit the panic button. One of the best known was U.S. antinuclear campaigner Arnie Gundersen, who predicted that the disaster would lead to 1 million extra deaths from cancer.

[…]

Gundersen, a nuclear engineer, says [the official release amount is] an underestimate. He puts the release of cesium at about half that of Chernobyl, and says little attention has been paid to radioactive gases, Xenon and Krypton, which poured out of the No. 1 plant in quantities “two to three times” greater than the 1986 Ukraine meltdown. He is sticking to his original alarming estimate of cancer fatalities.

[…]

Gundersen bases much of his assessment of Fukushima on what he learned from America’s worst nuclear accident, the 1979 partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania. As an expert witness during the probe that followed, Gundersen said the official estimate of radioactive releases there was also much too low. “You have to remember, we don’t know how much radiation was released. It’s guys like me who have to calculate it.” His assessment upped the official radiation figure for the accident by five times. “I’m dead sure that’s too low,” he says, adding that he believes the true figure could be 15 times higher than the industry estimate.

[…]

He cites the work of Steve Wing, an epidemiologist who says he has tracked 10,000 extra deaths from lung cancer in the first six to seven years after the accident.

“The same gases (Xenon and Krypton) that caused those cancers leaked out of the containment vessel at the Daiichi (No. 1) plant,” he says. “Nobody is talking about it.” He says the gases quickly disperse and are notoriously hard to measure. Other emissions are more straightforward. Plutonium is heavy and does not widely disperse. Cesium is relatively easy to track.

[…]

September 17, 2012 Posted by | health, Japan | Leave a comment

Japan’s radiation standards relaxed following lobbying by nuclear power companies

Fukushima Nuclear Disaster  – Public Health Lessons and Challenges
“Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan has successfully lobbied radiation specialists including ICRP members and the Nuclear Safety Commission to relax radiation standards.”
—
FEPC has covered travel costs for ICRP members
to attend international conferences through the
Radiation Effects Association….

Conclusions
The health risks posed by radiation are not
limited to cancer.
There is risk of cancer even at levels less than 100mSv.
There is both theoretical and epidemiological evidence
for this.
The risk is purported to be an unknown. Is this to maintain
the power of MEXT, METI, and the utilities in order to
promote nuclear power?…

CITIZENS’ RESPONSES    IPPNW public mee.ng, 27 August 2012, Tokyo
HOSOKAWA Komei（細川弘明）, k22m@me.com
Takagi Fund for Ci.zen Science / Asia-Pacific Resource
Center / Greenpeace Japan / Kyoto Seika University      http://fukushimasymposium.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/e382abe38390e383bceng.pdf

September 15, 2012 Posted by | civil liberties, health, Japan | Leave a comment

« Previous Entries     Next Entries »