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

Radiation dangers to surgeons performing fluoroscopy procedures

Surgeons reach radiation limits with 291 PELDs per year http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-surgeons-limits-pelds-year.html#jCp  April 12, 2013   Surgeons performing minimally invasive transforaminal percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy, involving fluoroscopy, are exposed to the maximum allowable radiation dose after 291 procedures performed without protective shielding, according to a study published in the April 1 issue of Spine. Continue reading →

April 13, 2013 Posted by | health, radiation, Reference | Leave a comment

UK greatly underestimated nuclear decommissioning costs

nuke-reactor-deadhighly-recommended Public Accounts Committee – Thirty-Seventh Report  HM Treasury: Whole of Government Accounts 2010-11 HM Treasury: Whole of Government Accounts 2010-11 – Public Accounts Committee Contents
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmpubacc/867/86706.htm
11 April 2013   “…… The C&AG’s report on the 2010-11 WGA shows the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s estimated cost of civil nuclear decommissioning increased by around £16 billion to £53 billion between 2007 and 2011. We asked the Treasury how the WGA would be used to influence any decision made in relation to future investments in the nuclear sector. The Treasury acknowledged that not considering these costs when the power stations were built had been a mistake, and considered that the critical issue was to factor in these costs in future, so that the taxpayer would not be burdened with unexpected additional costs of £60 billion.[   http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/Claverton/message/10673

April 12, 2013 Posted by | business and costs, Reference, UK | Leave a comment

The danger in radioactive iodine

text ionising Radiation Is Not On People’s Radar, Dr. Mark Sircus, Activist Post, 9 April 13, “……….Iodine in the Air  The risks associated with iodine-131 contamination in Europe were not “negligible,” after Fukushima exploded in 2011, according to CRIIRAD, a French research body on radioactivity. They advised at that time for pregnant women and infants against “risky behavior,” such as consuming fresh milk or vegetables with large leaves. In response to thousands of inquiries from citizens concerned about fallout from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Europe, CRIIRAD has compiled an information package on the risks of radioactive iodine-131 contamination in Europe.

CRIIRAD said it had detected radioactive iodine-131 in rainwater in south-eastern France. In parallel testing, the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), the national public institution monitoring nuclear and radiological risks, found iodine 131 in milk. In normal times, no trace of iodine-131 should be detectable in rainwater or milk. Radiation monitors in Canada, in Ontario, New Brunswick and British Columbia also detected radioactive iodine.

In the United States the 2011 EPA data showed rising levels of Iodine-131, Cesium-134, and Cesium-137 up to 300% of maximum limits. Hawaii milk samples showed radiation 800% above normal for Cesium-134, 633% for Cesium-137, and 600% for Iodine-131. Continue reading →

April 12, 2013 Posted by | 2 WORLD, radiation, Reference | 1 Comment

TEPCO on a tightrope in attempt to move tons of radioactive water

water-radiationJapan nuclear safety plans too lax for crowded, quake-prone nation, say nuclear experts The Star,  By: Mari Yamaguchi The Associated Press,Apr 08 2013 TOKYO

“…….TEPCO is moving tons of highly radioactive water from the temporary tanks to two similar ones nearby to minimize the leak. They are among seven underground tanks of different sizes which employ the same design.

TEPCO admitted Sunday it had dismissed earlier signs of water loss as within a margin of error and waited until a spike in radiation levels around the tanks was detected. Critics suspect cash-strapped TEPCO built poorly designed underground pits instead of safer and more manageable steel tanks to save money. TEPCO has also been criticized for delaying replacement of makeshift equipment, raising questions about whether the plant is really under control.

The underground tanks, several times the size of an Olympic swimming pool and similar to an industrial waste dump, are dug directly into the ground and protected by double-layer polyethylene linings inside an outermost clay-based lining, with a felt padding between each layer. Officials suspect there were ruptures in the linings due to the weight of the water.

Contaminated water at the plant, which suffered multiple meltdowns after the 2011 disaster, has escaped into the sea several times during the crisis. Experts suspect a continuous leak into the ocean through an underground water system, citing high levels of contamination in fish caught in waters just off the plant.

The contaminated water in the tanks is part of more than 270,000 tons of water used to cool melted fuel at the plant’s reactors damaged in the disaster. So much water has been used that TEPCO is struggling to find storage space. The water is also kept in hundreds of steel tanks.

NRA commissioner Toyoshi Fuketa told reporters Monday that the water leak poses a more immediate threat to the plant’s water management than to the environment. He questioned TEPCO’s risk evaluation in the tanks’ design process, but acknowledged that regulators have to allow TEPCO to use the remaining underground tanks for now.

“Although we need more long-term plans, we have to tackle the most immediate problem first. TEPCO’s decommissioning process is a tightrope situation to begin with,” he said. http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/04/08/japan_nuclear_safety_plans_too_lax_for_crowded_quakeprone_nation_say_nuclear_experts.html

April 9, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, Japan, Reference, water | Leave a comment

Caldicott Versus The Nuclear Industry – an impressive symposium

Caldicott,H1highly-recommendedConference Highlights Fukushima Consequences http://rense.com/general95/confhigh.htm By Richard Wilcox Ph.D.
4-6-13      ”….Caldicott Versus The Nuclear IndustryLong time activist and medical doctor, Helen Caldicott, recently assembled some of the world’s top experts to enlighten us about the situation:

 

“The Medical and Ecological Consequences of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident,” a two-day conference is now posted onlinehttp://www.totalwebcasting.com/view/?id=hcf#

. Held at the New York Academy of Medicine on March 11 – 12, 2013, the meeting was “a unique, two-day symposium at which an international panel of leading medical and biological scientists, nuclear engineers, and policy experts” made presentations on the “bio-medical and ecological consequences of the Fukushima disaster.” The conference was “a project of The Helen Caldicott Foundation” and was “co-sponsored by Physicians for Social Responsibility.”….
Conference Contents Continue reading →

April 8, 2013 Posted by | 2 WORLD, opposition to nuclear, Reference | Leave a comment

Internal radiation emitters – cesium and iodine – far more dangerous than external exposure


Risk from internal exposure is 200-600 times greater than risk from external exposure. See this, this, this and this.

cesium-137 and radioactive iodine – the two main radioactive substances being spewed by the leaking Japanese nuclear plants – are not naturally-occurring substances, and can become powerful internal emitters which can cause tremendous damage to the health of people who are unfortunate enough to breathe in even a particle of the substances, or ingest them in food or water.

internal emitters

Fake Science Alert: Fukushima Radiation Can’t Be Compared to Bananas or X-Rays http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-04-01/fake-science-alert-fukushima-radiation-can%E2%80%99t-be-compared-bananas-or-x-rays George Washington   04/01/2013

“….Mixing Apples (External) and Oranges (Internal) Moreover,  radioactive particles which end up inside of our lungs or gastrointestinal track, as opposed to radiation which comes to us from outside of our skin are much more dangerous than general exposures to radiation.

The National Research Council’s Committee to Assess the Scientific Information for the Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program explains:

  Radioactivity generates radiation by emitting particles. Radioactive materials outside the the body are called external emitters, and radioactive materials located within the body are called internal emitters.

Internal emitters are much more dangerous than external emitters. Specifically, one is only exposed to radiation as long as he or she is near the external emitter.

For example, when you get an x-ray, an external emitter is turned on for an instant, and then switched back off.

But internal emitters steadily and continuously emit radiation for as long as the particle remains radioactive, or until the person dies – whichever occurs first. As such, they are much more dangerous. Continue reading →

April 5, 2013 Posted by | 2 WORLD, radiation, Reference | 9 Comments

Medicine struggles to deal with nuclear radiation -caused illness

radiation-warningTop Docs’ (Partial) Cure for Nuclear Radiation: Bone-Marrow Drugs http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/04/health-department-nuclear/ BY ROBERT BECKHUSEN  04.04.13 

Even if a nuclear bomb exploded far enough away for you to survive the blast, the radiation could still kill you. Now the U.S. government wants to find a cure for one the most vexing causes of radioactive death — starting with your bones.

According to a research solicitation released this week by the Department of Health and Human Services, the department is preparing to spend up to $8 million beginning in 2014 to research ways to treat severe thrombocytopenia — or the loss of cell platelets — caused by excessive radiation poisoning of vital blood-producing organs and tissues like bone marrow and the spleen. Once your organs get blasted with radiation from a catastrophic nuclear detonation, you will likely begin to suffer from internal bleeding and get really sick. Then you’ll die. Continue reading →

April 5, 2013 Posted by | health, radiation, Reference, USA | Leave a comment

The very real risk of Hanford nuclear waste tanks exploding

The nuclear safety board warned about the risk of explosion to Wyden, who wanted comment on the safety and operation of Hanford’s tanks, technical issues that have been raised about the design of a plant to treat the waste in those tanks, and Hanford’s overall safety culture.

Hanford Nuclear Waste Tanks Could Explode, Agency Warns http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/02/hanford-nuclear-waste-could-explode_n_3001134.html?utm_hp_ref=green   includes video  By SHANNON DININNY 04/02/13  YAKIMA, Wash. — Underground tanks that hold a stew of toxic, radioactive waste at the nation’s most contaminated nuclear site pose a possible risk of explosion, a nuclear safety board said in advance of confirmation hearings for the next leader of the Energy Department.

Hanford-waste-tanks

State and federal officials have long known that hydrogen gas could build up inside the tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, leading to an explosion that would release radioactive material. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board recommended additional monitoring and ventilation of the tanks last fall, and federal officials were working to develop a plan to implement the recommendation.

The board expressed those concerns again Monday to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who is chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and had sought the board’s perspective about cleanup at Hanford. Continue reading →

April 4, 2013 Posted by | Reference, safety, USA | Leave a comment

Nuclear lobby lies about bananas and radiation

When you eat a banana, your body’s level of Potassium-40 doesn’t increase. You just get rid of some excess Potassium-40. The net dose of a banana is zero.

 And that’s the difference between a useful educational tool and propaganda.

nuke-bubbleFake Science Alert: Fukushima Radiation Can’t Be Compared to Bananas or X-Rays , Zero Hedge,   George Washington  04/01/2013 Nuclear apologists pretend that people are exposed to more radiation from bananas than from Fukushima.

But the EPA explains:

  The human body is born with potassium-40 [the type of radiation found in bananas] in its tissues and it is the most common radionuclide in human tissues and in food. We evolved in the presence of potassium-40 and our bodies have well-developed repair mechanisms to respond to its effects. The concentration of potassium-40 in the human body is constant and not affected by concentrations in the environment.

Wikipedia notes:

  The amount of potassium (and therefore of 40K) in the human body is fairly constant because of homeostatsis, so that any excess absorbed from food is quickly compensated by the elimination of an equal amount.

It follows that the additional radiation exposure due to eating a banana lasts only for a few hours after ingestion, namely the time it takes for the normal potassium contents of the body to be restored by the kidneys. Continue reading →

April 4, 2013 Posted by | 2 WORLD, Reference, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

“Background Radiation” – a favourite lie of the nuclear lobby

Angwin-liesFake Science Alert: Fukushima Radiation Can’t Be Compared to Bananas or X-Rays,Zero Hedge,  April 2013

“…….Most “Background Radiation” Didn’t Exist Before Nuclear Weapons Testing and Nuclear Reactors

Nuclear apologists also pretend that we get a higher exposure from background radiation (when we fly, for example) and or x-rays then we get from nuclear accidents.

In fact, there was exactly zero background radioactive cesium or iodine before above-ground nuclear testing and nuclear accidents started.

Wikipedia provides some details on the distribution of cesium-137 due to human activities:

 Small amounts of caesium-134 and caesium-137 were released into the environment during nearly all nuclear weapon tests and some nuclear accidents, most notably the Chernobyl disaster.

Caesium-137 is unique in that it is totally anthropogenic. Unlike most other radioisotopes, caesium-137 is not produced from its non-radioactive isotope, but from uranium. It did not occur in nature before nuclear weapons testing began. By observing the characteristic gamma rays emitted by this isotope, it is possible to determine whether the contents of a given sealed container were made before or after the advent of atomic bomb explosions. This procedure has been used by researchers to check the authenticity of certain rare wines, most notably the purported “Jefferson bottles”.

As the EPA notes:

  Cesium-133 is the only naturally occurring isotope and is non-radioactive; all other isotopes, including cesium-137, are produced by human activity.

Similarly, iodine-131 is not a naturally occurring isotope. As the Encyclopedia Britannica notes: (Fukushima has spewed much more radioactive cesium and iodine than Chernobyl. The amount of radioactive cesium released by Fukushima was some 20-30 times higher than initially admitted.  Japanese experts say that Fukushima is currently releasing up to 93 billion becquerels of radioactive cesium into the ocean each day.   And the cesium levels hitting the west coast of North America will keep increasing for several years.  Fukushima is still spewing radiation into the environment, and the amount of radioactive fuel at Fukushima dwarfs Chernobyl.)

As such, the concept of “background radiation” is largely a misnomer. Most of the radiation we encounter today – especially the most dangerous types – did not even exist in nature before we started tinkering with nuclear weapons and reactors. In a sense, we are all guinea pigs …….  http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-04-01/fake-science-alert-fukushima-radiation-can%E2%80%99t-be-compared-bananas-or-x-rays

April 3, 2013 Posted by | radiation, Reference, secrets,lies and civil liberties | 4 Comments

Texas new rules for medical radiation starting May 1st

medical-radiationNew Texas radiation rule takes effect May 1 By Eric Barnes, AuntMinnie.com staff writer March 28, 2013 — Hoping to avoid the rash of radiation overexposures that shook California radiology like an earthquake a few years back, the state of Texas has decided to implement its own radiation exposure rule beginning May 1.

Unlike the California law, however, Texas will administer its new highly-recommendedregime as an administrative directive by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS).

Texas Administrative Code rule §289.227 includes guidelines for radiation reporting, training personnel, and establishing acceptable dose thresholds, Continue reading →

April 3, 2013 Posted by | health, radiation, Reference | Leave a comment

Global warming as the cause of harsher winters

highly-recommendedGlobal warming cause of harsher winters? http://main.omanobserver.om/node/158846, 30 March 2013 By globe-warmingRichard Ingham and Claire Snegaroff — Millions of people in northern Europe are still battling snow and ice, wondering why they are being punished with bitter cold when — officially — spring has arrived and Earth is in the grip of global warming. Yet some scientists, eyeing the fourth year in a row of exceptionally harsh late-winter weather in parts of Europe and North America, suggest warming is precisely the problem. Continue reading →

March 30, 2013 Posted by | 2 WORLD, climate change, Reference | Leave a comment

Nuclear lobby’s disinformation campaign neglects “internal” radiation emitters

Their first piece of disinformation is to confuse the effects of external and internal radiation.

 Entering the body, these elements – called internal emitters – migrate to specific organs such as the thyroid, liver, bone, and brain, continuously irradiating small volumes of cells with high doses of alpha, beta and/or gamma radiation, and over many years often induce cancer.

internal emitters

Fukushima: Nuclear Apologists Play Shoot the Messenger on Radiation Dr Helen Caldicott global research.ca March 15th, 2013 “………Their first piece of disinformation is to confuse the effects of external and internal radiation. The former is what populations were exposed to when atomic bombs were detonated over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Internal radiation, by contrast, emanates from radioactive elements that enter the body by inhalation, ingestion, or by skin absorption. The grave effects of internal emitters are of the most profound concern at Fukushima – as indeed they continue to be at Chernobyl.

It is erroneous and misleading to use the term ”acceptable levels of external radiation” in assessing internal radiation doses. To do so is to propagate inaccuracies and to mislead the public worldwide and journalists who are seeking the truth about radiation’s hazards. Continue reading →

March 16, 2013 Posted by | 2 WORLD, radiation, Reference | 1 Comment

Poop protection against ionising radiation!

faecesMars Mission to use astronaut feces as radiation shield
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/mars-mission-to-use-astronaut-feces-as-radiation-shield/1082496/2#sthash.4CxWh740.dpuf-
 LONDON, MAR 03 2013, Astronauts onboard a privately-funded expedition
to Mars in 2018 will use their own feces to protect themselves against
cosmic radiation. Continue reading →

March 4, 2013 Posted by | 2 WORLD, radiation, Reference | Leave a comment

Fukushima nuclear reactors: water pumped in just leaks out

exclamation-The melted core cracked the containment vessel, there really is no containment. So as soon as they pump the water in it leaks out again.

Loss of containment of nuclear fuel also exists within the spent fuel pools at Fukushima. 

Fukushima Daiichi Reactor 3 Spent Fuel Pool – Fuel racks where refueling water-radiationmachine mast rests http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3A1YA1lt8k&feature=player_embedded

 Nuclear Expert: “The Melted Core Cracked The Containment Vessel ” There Really Is No Containment” At Fukushima Reactors http://www.opednews.com/articles/Nuclear-Expert–The-Melte-by-G-Washington-130302-594.html Nuclear Cores and Spent Fuel Pools Have Both Lost Containment Steven Starr – Director of the Clinical Laboratory Science Program at theUniversity of Missouri/Senior Scientist at Physicians for Social Responsibility – said :

The Japanese basically lied about what happened with the reactors for months. They said they were trying to prevent a meltdown, when in fact they knew within the first couple of days Reactors 1, 2, and 3 at Fukushima Daiichi had melted down, and they actually melted through the steel containment vessels.

So there was a worst case scenario that they were trying to hide, they even knew that at that time enormous amounts of radiation were released over Japan and some of it even went over Tokyo […]  Continue reading →

March 4, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, Japan, Reference, secrets,lies and civil liberties | 3 Comments

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