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Indian Point nuclear plant tests fabricated – former supervisor charged

justiceEx-supervisor at Indian Point nuclear plant charged with fabricating fuel tests http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-supervisor-indian-point-nuclear-plant-charged-fabricating-fuel-tests-article-1.1406963 Daniel Wilson, 57, the Westchester County plant’s chemistry manager from 2007 to 2012, was charged in Federal Court in White Plains with two counts of violating rules of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. BY / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS TUESDAY, JULY 23, 2013, 5:11 PM A FORMER CHEMISTRY MANAGER AT THE INDIAN POINT NUCLEAR PLANT IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY ALLEGEDLY FABRICATED FUEL TESTS TO PREVENT THE FACILITY FROM BEING SHUTTERED.

reactor-Indian-PointAn ex-supervisor at the Indian Point nuclear plant was arrested Tuesday on charges he fabricated fuel tests on backup generators to prevent the facility from being shut down.

Daniel Wilson, 57, the Westchester County plant’s chemistry manager from 2007 to 2012, was charged in Federal Court in White Plains with two counts of violating rules of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

July 24, 2013 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

New Mexico court ruling against uranium mine permit

justiceFlag-USAJudge overturns uranium mine permit http://www.abqjournal.com/main/224658/abqnewsseeker/judge-overturns-uranium-mine-permit.html By Associated Press on Tue, Jul 23, 2013 SANTA FE (AP) — A lawyer for environmental groups say a Santa Fe judge has overturned a decision by Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration granting a permit for a uranium mine to remain inactive without any cleanup.

Eric Jantz of the New Mexico Environmental Law Center said District Judge Raymond Ortiz’s decision on Monday will send the case back to the state Mining and Minerals Division for further public hearings.
The agency renewed a standby permit last year for Rio Grande Resources’ Mount Taylor mine near Grants.

The judge ruled Amigos Bravos and the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment weren’t adequately allowed to raise issues about protecting ground water from contamination from mining waste piles.
The judge also said the agency wrongly kept a company report confidential on the mine’s economic viability.

July 24, 2013 Posted by | Legal, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Criminal charges against India’s Kudankulam anti nuclear protestors

flag-indiaKudankulam: Criminal cases against nuclear plant protestors to stay , TNN | Jul 23, 2013 CHENNAI: The situation in Kudankulam is neither conducive nor ripe for withdrawal of criminal cases registered against the anti-nuclear power plant activists, the Tamil Nadu government informed the Madras high court on Tuesday.

When three PILs seeking fulfillment of 15 conditions laid down by the Supreme Court prior to the operationalisation of the nuclear power plant and also for withdrawal of cases against the agitating activists came up for hearing before the first bench, advocate general of Tamil Nadu A L Somayaji said: “The stage is not ripe for withdrawal of criminal cases already filed.” 

Somayaji told the bench comprising acting Chief Justice R K Agrawal and Justice M Sathyanarayanan that the agitators faced cases for snatching a pistol, holding ‘marana porattam’ (stir unto death) and fishing boycott. He said their agitations continued even after the apex court ruling and they were targeting the unit-II of the plant as well.

Pointing out that the tenor of the apex court’s condition no. 14 that endeavours should be made to withdraw cases against the agitators was different from other conditions such as AERB and NPCIL clearances for operationalisation of the plant, Somayaji said there was no positive sign for the state government to drop the cases. ……http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Kudankulam-Criminal-cases-against-nuclear-plant-protestors-to-stay/articleshow/21280617.cms?

July 24, 2013 Posted by | India, Legal | Leave a comment

Now for the legal wrangles over the costs of San Onofre nuclear plant

Fallout Over Nuclear Energy Debacle Underway Forbes, Ken Silverstein,  19 July 13 It’s not a bombshell. But it is the fallout from the retirement of two nuclear units dotting Southern California’s coastline. Southern California Edison has just filed a so-called Notice of Dispute on its former vendor, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It is the first step toward gaining a settlement in what has become a huge blemish on the nuclear energy sector — the leakage of radiation at one of the units and the subsequent revelation that both companies had known about the underlying causes years before the incident. If the two are unable to reconcile, the case would then go to mandatory arbitration before it could get tried before a judge and jury. Judicial systems, though, are not prepared to resolve complex nuclear energy questions.

“Our action is about making sure that Mitsubishi takes responsibility for providing the defective steam generators that led to the closing of SONGS,” says Ron Litzinger, president of SCE, in a formal declaration.

SONGS refers to the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station owned by Southern California Edison. …. Edison is alleging that Mitsubishi, as designer and manufacturer of the steam generators, is responsible for the economic damages. …..

The price tag associated with all the woes: Estimated to be at least $700 million and as much as $2 billion. Just how will that be paid? Chairman Ted Craver explained on an earlier conference call that there are potentially four pools of money: ratepayers, shareholders, insurance companies and Mitsubishi Heavy………

Friends of the Earth which had led the attack on the utility since the leak, has said that Southern California Edison has been “untruthful.” The environmental organization has also said that while Mitsubishi does not have “clean hands” here, it merely designed the steam generators to meet the utility’s specifications.

The environmental organization added that the utility downplayed the design changes it had made so as to avoid public hearings, and scrutiny. In addition, it is highly critical that Edison denied any knowledge of issues with excessive vibrations — until the leaks surfaced in 2012. As a result of all this, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the California Public Utility Commission and, perhaps, the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating. It’s a huge legal morass — and one that court system is unaccustomed to hearing. That’s why the two sides should amicably resolve their dispute. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2013/07/19/fallout-over-nuclear-energy-debacle-underway/2/

July 20, 2013 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

New Zealand’s and other countries’ veterans, victims of Mururoa nuclear tests

In April 2006, the Herald reported Dr Rowland saying a small but statistically significant level of genetic damage had been found.

“Taking all confounding factors [like smoking, alcohol and medical x-rays] into account, we are left with only one other interpretation of what it is about this group that’s different to the control group: they went to Operation Grapple.”

His work on chromosome damage – the first step in the formation of cancer – gave hope of compensation to thousands of men from Britain, Australia, Fiji and New Zealand.

The research was commissioned by Nuclear Test Veterans’ Association chairman Roy Sefton, who sought Government acknowledgment that men were harmed in their teens and had no choice on whether they went to Mururoa.

Tony Cox, who was on HMNZS Otago and heads the Rimpac veterans’ rights organisations, said an attempt was being made to convert Dr Rowland’s findings to apply to the Mururoa veterans.

“Just because the Government did not accept the Rowland study does not mean that it can’t come up for a review.”

Mr Cox said he had cancer of a type that was contracted only through exposure to ionised radiation…

Mururoa – our darker legacy New Zealand Herald By Wayne Thompson Jul 19, 2013  A band of men who “drove the taxis” – the naval frigates carrying the official New Zealand protesters against French nuclear testing in the air of the Pacific Ocean – will be in a sombre and angry mood at their 40th anniversary reunion in Tauranga tomorrow.

“Our feeling in 1973 was there was one protester, Government minister Fraser Colman,” said one of the former crew members of HMNZS Canterbury, Wayne O’Donnell.

“We were there just to keep the ship going and do what we were employed to do.

“By the time the blast was observed we were glad to head home.

“We did not expect any major radiation fallout, which has been proven wrong.” Continue reading →

July 19, 2013 Posted by | Legal, New Zealand, radiation, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Lawsuit against TEPCO by US service personnel affected by Fukushima radiation

Sailors were drinking desalinated seawater and bathing in it until the ship’s leadership came over the public address system and told them to stop because it was contaminated, Hair said. They were told the ventilation system was contaminated, and he claims he was pressured into signing a form that said he had been given an iodine pill even though none had been provided. As a low-ranking sailor, he believed he had no choice.

The Navy has acknowledged that the Reagan passed through a plume of radiation 

The Defense Department created the Operation Tomodachi Registry to show radiation dose estimates based on shore locations — and to list more than 70,000 DOD-affiliated people in the area March 12-May 11, 2011 and their individual exposure levels. More than two years after the disaster, the registry remains incomplete.

In growing lawsuit, service members fault TEPCO for radiation-related illnesses By Matthew M. Burke Stars and Stripes July 15, 2013 SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — Five months after participating in humanitarian operations for the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami that led to nuclear disaster in Japan, Petty Officer 3rd Class Daniel Hair’s body began to betray him.

Hair,-Daniel-1

He had sharp hip pains, constant scabbing in his nose, back pain, memory loss, severe anxiety and a constant high-pitch ringing in his
ears as his immune system began to attack his body. The diagnosis, he said, was a genetic immune system disease, which on X-rays looked to have made his hip joint jagged and his spine arthritic. He was put on a host of medications and eventually separated from the Navy job heloved.

Hair believes radiation is the cause. He is among 50 sailors and Marines in a growing lawsuit against Tokyo Electric Power Co., alleging that Japan’s nationalized utility mishandled the meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant that spewed radiation into the air and water.

Other servicemembers have been diagnosed with leukemia, testicular cancer and thyroid problems or experienced rectal and gynecologicalbleeding, the lawsuit says. Hair said one of his friends, a fellow USS Ronald Reagan shipmate, was diagnosed with a brain tumor……..
The plaintiffs allege that TEPCO lied about the risk of exposure, luring American forces closer to the affected areas and lulling others
at bases across Japan to disregard safety measures. They are seeking at least $40 million each in compensatory and punitive damages and more than $1 billion for a fund to cover health monitoring and medical expenses. Continue reading →

July 18, 2013 Posted by | Legal, USA | 1 Comment

Cover-up of health effects of soldiers affected by nuclear bomb tests

justiceA victory for the vets would destroy the current radiation risk model and open the floodgates for more claims If the court were to allow the evidence, a victory is more likely, setting a legal precedent for some 900 other veterans waiting in the wings.

 ”Millions have died because of this cover up of the effects of internal radiation, and millions more will die if we don’t succeed in destroying this risk model.”

EXPOSED: Health threats of ‘safe’ levels of radiation covered up by Anglo-American establishment in nuke test; vets fight for pensions http://www.naturalnews.com/041130_Christmas_Island_atomic_bomb_tests_veterans.html, flag-UKJuly 10, 2013 by: Anna Bragga A pensions case has become the site of a vicious battleground between the Anglo-American establishment and a British scientist in a row over accepted safe levels of radiation exposure.

It began in 2011 when a group of 16 veterans of UK nuclear bomb tests in Australia and Christmas Island applied for pensions on the grounds that their illnesses (and those of their children and grandchildren) were most likely caused by particulate uranium inhalation.

In a tale with more twists than a John Grisham novel, the veterans have had their appeals quashed after being forced to change their firm of solicitors and their expert witness – international radiation authority and Scientific Secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk, Dr. Chris Busby, who has a track record of winning five similar cases in a row.

secret-dealsThe veterans, originally represented by Rosenblatts Solicitors, had commissioned Dr. Busby to provide evidence. But Rosenblatts suddenly pulled out of the case in December 2012 after funding provided by the Royal British Legion dried up. Washington-based Hogan Lovells International – a firm with a history of representing government and pharmaceutical companies, quickly filled the gap.

Coincidentally, at the very same time, Dr. Busby had obtained access to secret nuclear test reports by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), revealing information of significance to the case. He had also by then written 12 reports showing new evidence of the link between internal radiation exposure to uranium, the main component of all the bombs and a range of ill health effects. Continue reading →

July 11, 2013 Posted by | Legal, secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | 1 Comment

Legal fightback by Native Americans against uranium mining

The proposed legislation can be found at the website of Defenders of the Black Hills,

Uranium Mining and Native Resistance: The Uranium Exploration and Mining Accountability Act http://intercontinentalcry.org/uranium-mining-and-native-resistance-the-uranium-exploration-and-mining-accountability-act/  BY  • JUL 2, 2013 NATIVE AMERICANS IN THE NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS HAVE THE HIGHEST CANCER RATES IN THE UNITED STATES, PARTICULARLY LUNG CANCER. IT’S A PROBLEM THAT THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT HAS WOEFULLY IGNORED, MUCH THE HORROR OF THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO MUST CARRY THE PAINFUL, LIFE-THREATENING BURDEN.

The cancer rates started increasing drastically a few decades after uranium mining began on their territory.

Map-Lakota-Nation

According to a report by Earthworks, “Mining not only exposes uranium to the atmosphere, where it becomes reactive, but releases other radioactive elements such as thorium and radium and toxic heavy metals including arsenic, selenium, mercury and cadmium. Exposure to these radioactive elements can cause lung cancer, skin cancer, bone cancer, leukemia, kidney damage and birth defects.”

Today, in the northern great plains states of Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas, the memory of that uranium mining exists in the form of 2,885 abandoned open pit uranium mines. All of the abandoned mines can be found on land that is supposed to be for the absolute use of the Great Sioux Nation under the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty with the United States.

There are also 1,200 abandoned uranium mines in the Navajo Nation, where cancer rates are also significantly disproportionate. In fact, it is estimated that 60 to 80 percent of all uranium in the United States is located on tribal land, and three fourths of uranium mining worldwide is on Indigenous land.

Defenders of the Black Hills, a group whose mission is to preserve, protect, restore, and respect the area of the 1851 and 1868 Fort Laramie Treaties, is calling the health situation in their own territoryAmerica’s Chernobyl. Continue reading →

July 5, 2013 Posted by | indigenous issues, Legal, Reference, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Legal case over US government’s uranium mining ban near Grand Canyon

British Uranium Firm Sues U.S. for $132 Million Over Grand Canyon Mining Ban http://www.grandcanyontrust.org/news/2013/06/british-uranium-firm-sues-u-s-for-132-million-over-grand-canyon-mining-ban/ June 25, 2013 by gctrust WASHINGTON D.C.— On June 21st, British uranium firm VANE Minerals sued the United States in Washington’s U.S. Court of Claims over the Department of the Interior’s January 2012 decision to protect 1 million acres of public lands around Grand Canyon National Park from new uranium mining.  VANE’s suit, which claims that uranium mining in Grand Canyon’s watershed “would have no adverse impacts,” seeks up to $132 million from U.S. taxpayers.  This is VANE’s second attempt to bring such a suit against the U.S.

June 29, 2013 Posted by | Legal, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Lynas rare earths company drops defamation case against Save Malaysia Stop Lynas.

Lynas drops case against Malaysia greens AAP JUNE 18, 2013  AUSTRALIAN rare earths miner Lynas Corporation has dropped defamation action against a Malaysian green group. In April last year, Lynas initiated legal proceedings against Save Malaysia Stop Lynas.

Two months later, independent media website Free Malaysia Today apologised for running stories sympathetic to the activists, who opposed plans for a processing plant. Lynas Corporation chief executive Eric Noyrez on Tuesday said solicitors had been instructed to discontinue legal action against the activist group.

“There is no value in continuing disputes with members of our local community,” he said in a statement.

“Therefore, Lynas intends to instruct its solicitors to discontinue its defamation claim against the Save Malaysia Stop Lynas group.”…. Lynas shares fell 1.25 cents, or 2.84 per cent, to 42.75 cents following the statement’s release.http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/breaking-news/lynas-drops-case-against-malaysia-greens/story-fni0xqe4-1226665659143

June 19, 2013 Posted by | Legal, Malaysia | Leave a comment

High Court orders withdrawal of criminal charges against Kudankulam protestors

flag-indiaHC notice to Govt for withdrawal of cases against anti-nuclear
activists http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/hc-notice-to-govt-for-withdrawal-of-cases-against-antinuclear-activists/article4825993.ece  , 18 June, 13 The Madras High Court on Tuesday ordered issueof notice to Tamil Nadu Government asking why steps were not taken to withdraw cases filed against anti-nuclear activists protesting against Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project.

First Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Kumar Agrawal and
Justice M. Sathyanarayanan, ordered notice to the state government and
sought reply within three weeks.

The notice was issued on a petition which sought a direction to the
state government to withdraw all criminal cases filed against
anti-nuclear activists, who have been protesting against the
Indo-Russian project in Tirunelveli District.

The petition referred to the Supreme Court’s direction to the state
government to withdraw all criminal cases against the protestors.

June 19, 2013 Posted by | India, Legal | Leave a comment

Legal fights loom, as USA’s nuclear plant dominoes fall

The news in both the California and Kentucky cases also goes to show that the Attorney Age has banished the Atomic Age. The most important line in the SCE news release is the last one: “SCE intends to pursue recovery of damages from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the supplier of the replacement steam generators … ” Likewise, USEC filed suit against the Department of Energy on May 30. Nuclear energy, once billed as providing unlimited power, is fulfilling its promise—the power of lawyers. “Don’t radiate: Litigate!” may be coming soon to a button or bumper-sticker near you.

nuclear-dominoesNuclear Dominoes Fall in California and Kentucky Neighbors for an Ohio Valley Alternative http://ecowatch.com/2013/nuclear-dominoes-fall-in-california-and-kentucky/    By Geoffrey Sea  7 June 13,   [Read Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV of this series] Southern California Edison (SCE) has abandoned plans to restart its two nuclear reactors at San Onofre. The announcement this morning comes exactly one week aftertermination of operations at the Paducah, Kentucky, uranium enrichment plant, which for decades had provided the fuel for San Onofre. It drops the number of operating nuclear reactors in the U.S. below one hundred for the first time since the early 1980s.

The San Onofre decision ends 18 months of wrangling between the utility and environmental opponents, after serious leaks were detected in a steam generator that had been newly installed. The news release by SCE has a detectable tone of relief that the company will no longer have to defend the indefensible. Similar tones have emanated from the Washington headquarters of the Department of Energy (DOE) around the Paducah decision, sending a message that the era of illegalities involving USEC privatization may be nearing an end. Continue reading →

June 10, 2013 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Suicide of Fukushima farmer: TEPCO admits culpability

Fukushima operator admits culpability by: Shingo Ito From: AAP June 06,  JAPAN’S Tokyo Electric Power has conceded the Fukushima disaster played a part in a farmer’s suicide, lawyers said, its first admission of culpability in such a case.

The utility, known as TEPCO, has reached an out-of-court settlement with the bereaved family of Hisashi Tarukawa, a Fukushima farmer who took his own life days after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant went into meltdown.

It was the first time the company has accepted in a settlement that the nuclear disaster at its plant was a factor in a suicide, the lawyers said, adding that terms of the settlement package were not being made public. The 64-year-old hanged himself from a tree in a vegetable field after authorities banned shipments of some farm produce from Fukushima because of fears it was contaminated by radiation.

“I just didn’t want TEPCO to keep saying no one was killed because of the nuclear accident,” said Kazuya Tarukawa, the dead man’s 37-year-old son.He said he still wanted the company to make an official apology for his father’s suicide.

“Does TEPCO think everything is finished if money is paid?” he said.”I want them to come to my house under the name of the company and bow to my father’s altar. My fight is not over yet.”

TEPCO refused to comment on the details of the settlement. http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/world/fukushima-operator-admits-culpability/story-e6frfkui-1226659001710#ixzz2VZUeJYmy

June 8, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, Japan, Legal | Leave a comment

Travesty of justice – Bradley Manning on trial

Manning,-BradleyThe United States should be in the dock, not Bradley Manning, The Independent, Owen Jones, 2 June 2013   The whistleblower has allowed us to scrutinise the hidden realities of US power “…..Today, American hero stands in the dock,  damned for a relatively tiny ray of light he shone on the darker recesses of this elite. Over three years ago, US soldier Bradley Manning – even now just 25 years old – leaked 250,000 US diplomatic cables and half a million army reports. There has never been a bigger leak of classified material in the history of the United States.

His punishment has already been severe. According to Juan Méndez, the UN special rapporteur on torture, he has faced cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. For months, he was deprived of human contact. He was stripped of his clothes, left without privacy, and forced to sleep without any darkness. In 2011, P J Crowley was forced to resign as the US state department’s official spokesman after slamming Manning’s treatment as “ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid”. Continue reading →

June 4, 2013 Posted by | Legal, Reference, USA | Leave a comment

Compensation for Fukushima evacuees’ radiation anxiety

justiceFukushima Evacuees To Get Radiation Uncertainty Compensation http://www.rttnews.com/2128844/fukushima-evacuees-to-get-radiation-uncertainty-compensation.aspx?type=gn&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=sitemap 6/3/2013   A government-backed arbitration body in Japan directed the operator of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant to pay compensation to former residents of a district for radiation exposure and future healthuncertainties.

As per a directive issued by the Nuclear Damage Claim Dispute Resolution Center, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has to pay about $10,000 each to pregnant women and those aged below 18 years. The other residents of Nagadoro district would get $5,000 each, Japanese media reported on Sunday.

Nagadoro is near the Fukushima plant where radiation levels remain high and it is the only district that the government declared uninhabitable for a long period.

An evacuation order for the area was issued more than a month after the nuclear accident on March 11, 2011. The arbitrators accepted the residents’ claim of fear and anxiety as they had lived without any protection against high radiation doses because of their delayed evacuation. The residents had already received compensation for having to evacuate, but the amount did not cover health anxieties. Lawyers representing the residents said it was for the first time that compensation for health anxietywas granted.

The massive tsunami severely damaged four reactors at the Fukushima plant north of Tokyo, knocking out its cooling systems and triggering meltdowns and radiation leaks. Tens of thousands of people fled their homes in the worst atomic disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident.

June 4, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, Japan, Legal, psychology - mental health, social effects | Leave a comment

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