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Israel prevents nuclear whistleblower Vanunu from emigrating

Israel bars nuclear whistle-blower from emigrating: media, Google News, 7 Oct 11 JERUSALEM — Israel’s supreme court on Thursday barred nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu from emigrating on the grounds he still poses a threat to state security, Israeli media reported. Vanunu, under orders to stay in Tel Aviv and not to speak to journalists, “has proved several times he can not be trusted and does not respect the letter of the law,” supreme court judges said in turning down his appeal.

The prosecution charged he posed “a real danger to the security of Israel,” while the judges stressed the 56-year-old former nuclear technician had contacts with unspecified “foreign elements.”

Vanunu served 18 years behind bars for disclosing the inner workings of Israel’s Dimona nuclear plant to Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper in 1986. He was released in 2004 but banned from travel or contact with foreigners without prior permission. He has since been sanctioned more than 20 times for breaking the rules.

Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed power in the Middle East, with between 100 and 300 warheads, but it has a policy of neither confirming nor denying that.

The Jewish state has refused to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or to allow international surveillance of its Dimona plant in the Negev desert of southern Israel. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g9x-LXW9KK7ZK3qTE9Lev88ZJTHg?docId=CNG.c05571d1da8b533f5fbbc6407b4da20d.ae1

October 7, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties, Israel | Leave a comment

India: police crack down on Koodankulam anti nuclear protestors

Koodankulam tense, cops step up security, IBN Live 10 Sept 11, TIRUNELVELI: With the announcement of the hunger strike at Idinthakarai near Koodankulam on Sunday, police have initiated preventive measures by detaining a few persons, Continue reading →

September 14, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties, India | Leave a comment

School shuts up Fukushima teacher on radiation risks

Fukushima Teacher Muzzled on Radiation Risks, Bloomberg, By Takahiko Hyuga – Jul 28, 2011 As temperatures soared to 100 degrees Fahrenheit on a recent July morning, school children in Fukushima prefecture were taking off their masks and running around playgrounds in T-shirts, exposing them to a similar amount of annual radiation as a worker in a nuclear power plant.

Toshinori Shishido, a Japanese literature teacher of 25 years, had warned his students two months ago to wear surgical masks and keep their skin covered with long-sleeved shirts. His advice went unheeded, not because of the weather but because his school told him not to alarm students. Shishido quit this week.

“I want to get away from this situation where I’m not even allowed to alert children about radiation exposure,” said Shishido, a 48-year-old teacher who taught at Fukushima Nishi High School. “Now I’m free to talk about the risks.”…..

Radiation Exposure   About a fifth of the 1,600 schools in Fukushima are exposed to at least 20 millisieverts of radiation a year, the Network to Protect Fukushima Children from Radiation said, citing the most recent government readings in April. That’s the limit for an atomic plant worker set by theInternational Commission on Radiological Protection.

More than three-quarters of the schools receive radiation readings of 0.6 microsievert per hour, said the network, a group comprising 700 parents. That’s 10 times more than the readings in Shinjuku, central Tokyo, on average….. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-28/fukushima-teacher-muzzled-on-radiation-risks-for-school-children.html

July 29, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties, Japan | 1 Comment

Japan about to censor Internet news on nuclear radiation?

On June 17, 2011 the Japanese Parliament passed “The Computer Network Monitoring Law” . Prof. Ibusuki of Seijo Univ. Law Dept. comments that “The Computer Network Monitoring Law will enable the police to monitor anyone’s internet activity without restriction.”…

The question is, will METI draw the line at “clarifying” erroneous information, or will it act to clamp down and suppress sources of information that it finds inconvenient?

New Japan Law Cleanses Bad Nuclear News, UK PROGRESSIVE,  | JULY 24, 2011  Friday, July 15, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (METI) – Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, opened a call for bids (tender) regarding the “Nuclear Power Safety Regulation Publicity Project”, for contractors to monitor blogs and tweets posted about nuclear power and radiation……. Continue reading →

July 24, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties, Japan | 4 Comments

Doctor ejected from airport for refusing radiation scanning

Airport Boots Doctor for Refusing Radiation Assault, (NEWSER) 2 July 11– An eye specialist on his way to treat child patients in Switzerland was escorted out of Britain’s Manchester airport by police after refusing a full-body scan. Tony Aguirre declined the scan on both medical and ethical grounds, calling the technology a “radiation assault,” reports the Daily Mail. Fliers at the three British airports that have installed the scanners are not offered the dreaded “pat-down” option offered to American travelers who refuse the scan.

“X-rays are known to cause cancer and I think somebody will get cancer from this body scanner whether it’s me or someone else,” the doctor told officials. The “no scan, no fly” rule “raises the suspicion that perhaps it’s more expensive to do a manual search and that’s why they are forced to go through an X-ray,” he says. The doctor eventually flew to Switzerland from Liverpool airport, which does not have the scanners…..http://www.newser.com/story/122386/airport-boots-doctor-for-refusing-radiation-assault.html
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July 2, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties, UK | Leave a comment

Japanese actor punished for his anti nuclear stance

“I received an email from my manager today. ‘Your planned role in a July 8 drama has gone away because of your statements regarding nuclear power plants.’”…

It’s Not Easy Being Antinuclear – Japan Real Time – WSJ* May 30, 2011, By Yoree Koh It’s a difficult time to trumpet the virtues of nuclear energy in Japan, but it appears naysayers are finding that speaking out can have negative consequences. Continue reading →

May 31, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties, Japan | Leave a comment

Broadening spying on Julian Assange – Australian govt introduces new law

Last week the government introduced legislation to define ASIO’s role more broadly to include collection of intelligence ”about the capabilities, intentions or activities of people or organisations outside Australia.”..

ASIO eye on WikiLeaks,The Age 23 May 11, “………declassified official briefings do not support Ms Gillard’s public assertion that Assange broke Australian law by publishing leaked US government secrets. Continue reading →

May 23, 2011 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, civil liberties | Leave a comment

How a Fukushima safety whistleblower was blackballed

Despite a new law shielding whistle-blowers, the regulator, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, divulged Mr. Sugaoka’s identity to Tokyo Electric, effectively blackballing him from the industry

Safety Left Out in Japan’s ‘Nuclear Power Village, Culture of Complicity Tied to Stricken Nuclear Plant, New York Times, By NORIMITSU ONISHI and KEN BELSON,  April 26, 2011, TOKYO — Given the fierce insularity of Japan’s nuclear industry, it was perhaps fitting that an outsider exposed the most serious safety cover-up in the history of Japanese nuclear power. It took place at Fukushima Daiichi, the plant that Japan has been struggling to get under control since last month’s earthquake and tsunami. Continue reading →

April 27, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties, Japan | 1 Comment

Japanese govt raises “acceptable”radiation standard for children

3.8 μSv/h is roughly 6 times the standard for “Radiation Controlled Areas” (0.6 μSv/h or more). The Labour Standards Act prohibits those under the age of 18 from working under these conditions. Forcing children to be exposed to such radiation doses is an exceedingly inhumane decision….”The cancer risk will visibly rise in the future. By setting these standards, the government will steer clear of any liability legally, however not morally.”

Urgent Petition Against Imposing 20 milli-sievert Radiation Exposure Standard onto  Children in Fukushima
http://blog.canpan.info/foejapan/daily/201104/24

On April 19th, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) notified the Board of Education and related institutions in Fukushima Prefecture the level of 20 milli-sievert per year (mSv/y) as a Radiation Safety Standard for schools in Fukushima Prefecture. This is the standard to be used for school grounds and buildings. The Government has indicated that 20 mSv/y is equivalent to 3.8 micro-sievert per hour (μSv/h) measured outdoors. Continue reading →

April 25, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties, Japan | Leave a comment

Retired judges among 135 anti nuclear protestors arrested in India

Activists of anti-nuclear plant yatra detained  THE  HINDU, 24 April 11,A three-day Tarapur-Jaitapur anti-nuclear plant yatra was stopped the moment it began and hundreds of activists were detained at Boisar in this district on Saturday.

Activists and supporters, including Justices (retired) B G Kolse-Patil and P.B. Sawant, social activist Vaishali Patil, and Admiral (retd) L Ramdas, were whisked away in police vans from Panchmarg Tarapur, where they had addressed a public meeting in the morning. They were brought to the Boisar police station around 4.30 p.m., along with 135 protesters, and detained under Section 68 of the Bombay Police Act.

While Justices Patil and Sawant were released, the rest continued in detention till late evening.

Chandrakant Pavaskar, Additional Superintendent of Police, Thane (rural), told The Hindu that since the activists were at the police station, “We can continue to detain them under Section 68 for violating prohibitory orders. We have kept them since they are planning to go to Jaitapur.”

Heavy police bandobust was in place. The small lane where the meeting was held was lined with police vans and vehicles. Twice the protesters were prevented from going ahead and at this they sat in dharna on the road, blocking traffic. After much deliberation, they agreed to proceed to the police station……..http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/24/stories/2011042463041300.htm

April 24, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties, India | Leave a comment

Allegations of Indian govt making false charges against anti nuclear former judge

Kolse-Patil also sought exemplary compensation from the government for “deliberately prosecuting him on false and concocted charges and subjecting him to mental and physical torture”. 

Retired judge alleges torture by govt, moves court, Hindustan Times Mumbai, April 23, 2011 Retired judge BG Kolse-Patil has moved the Bombay high court challenging his prosecution for purportedly breaching prohibitory orders and entering Ratnagiri district to participate in protests against the proposed Jaitapur nuclear power plant. Continue reading →

April 24, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties, India | Leave a comment

Police crackdown on Jaitapur anti nuclear leaders

Cops tapping our phones, say anti-nuclear plant leaders MidDay

By: Kaumudi Gurjar

2011-04-22

 jaitapur

 The Ratnagiri police are allegedly tapping phones and scrutinising call records of leaders including those of political parties to gather crucial information related to the agitation against the proposed nuclear plant in Jaitapur. Senior leaders like B G Kolse-Patil, Justice P B Sawant and Vaishali Patil have alleged that since they are heading the protests, the police are monitoring their movements continuously through technical surveillance.

Cops evasive
When asked about phone tapping, Superintendent of Police Pradeep Raskar was evasive about the issue. “We do sometimes check the phone call records but that does not mean we do it everytime. We will comment on the phone tapping at the right time,” Raskar said…….Retired Justice Sawant said the police often indulged in tapping phone calls of leaders under the pretext of gathering intelligence for public interest, which may not always be the case. “In any case, it will not affect our agitation against the proposed nuclear plant,” he said……http://www.mid-day.com/news/2011/apr/220411-Jaitapur-tapping-phones-anti-nuclear-plant-leaders.htm

April 22, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties, India | Leave a comment

Jaitapur nuclear project highlights conflict of interest

Despite assurances by the government, experts feel an honest assessment of hazards is impossible. “Like the International Atomic Energy Authority, the Indian DAE too is trapped in conflict of interest. They are both the promoters and regulators of atomic energy. How can one expect an honest assessment from them?” asks Krishna. “Safety audit should be independent,” says Bidwai. Even Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has called for an independent regulatory body for nuclear energy.  “Fukushima has changed everything,” says Krishna

JAITAPUR’S own Fukushima | Hard News After the Fukushima nuclear disaster, it’s time for a moratorium on all unsafe nuclear complexes in India, Sadiq Naqvi 12 April 11, “…….”JAPAN HAS CHANGED the paradigm of debate vis-à-vis the proposed Jaitapur nuclear park,” says Vivek Montero of the Konkan Bachao Samiti. He says that the Fukushima disaster has shown that radioactivity affects everything, all life, agriculture, plantations, animals, human lives. “People have categorically stated their position. The question is not of compensation. We don’t want the project, that’s all,” he adds. Continue reading →

April 12, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties, environment, India | Leave a comment

Whistleblower sues nuclear power company

San Onofre nuclear plant worker files whistleblower suit,  SignOnSanDiego.com, By Onell R. Soto  March 30, 2011 A former manager at the San Onofre nuclear plant in North County said Wednesday that he was fired after complaining to nuclear regulators that his superiors were ignoring worker complaints.

Paul Diaz, 35, of Oceanside, said he tried to go through channels within the plant when people he supervised raised questions, but was shot down.

“I needed to do something,” he said. And so he went to Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspectors based at the plant. He was then fired from his job as manager of business accounting and project services…….. San Onofre nuclear plant worker files whistleblower suit – SignOnSanDiego.com

 

March 31, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

USA Freedom of Information request on Fukushima nuclear radiation

Groups Demand Data on Radiation Release – NYTimes.com, 28 March 11, As the Japanese authorities order a wider evacuation area around the stricken Fukushima reactor complex to as far out as 19 miles, three health and environmental groups in the United States announced that they were seeking further information about why American officials recommended that its citizens keep at least 50 miles away……
-The American groups — Friends of the Earth, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service and Physicians for Social Responsibility — said on Friday that they were filing a Freedom of Information Act request with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy. They are seeking access to all information about radiation levels gathered by American radiological monitoring equipment and helicopter overflights…..
Groups Demand Data on Radiation Release – NYTimes.com

March 28, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties | Leave a comment

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