AUSTRALIA « nuclear-news

Ionising radiation a bigger cancer risk to young people

Younger Patients Face Double Radiation Risk from CT Scans: Study, Ethiopian Review, May 13th, 2010 Younger patients run a higher risk of health problems from radiation exposure caused by computed tomography (CT) scans, according to a new study. Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina found that the radiation risk for younger patients were double those of older patients in a CT radiation exposure study presented last week at the American Roentgen Ray Society 2010 annual meeting in San Diego, CA. Scientists say that the findings indicate that age is another factor that doctors should consider when ordering CT scans.

Younger Patients Face Double Radiation Risk from CT Scans: Study

May 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, health | AUSTRALIA, nuclear, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Nuclear risk expert warns on terrorist risk of Australia’s planned nuclear waste dump

Nuclear waste site a target for terrorists, expert warns, Sydney Morning Herald, LINDSAY MURDOCH DARWIN May 11, 2010 A BRITISH nuclear risk expert has warned that terrorists could target radioactive waste being transported thousands of kilometres across Australia to a proposed waste dump in the Northern Territory. Continue reading →

May 11, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, safety | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Australian govt ignored true indigenous owners in planning nuclear waste dump

“We find it quite astonishing when we compare their determination against the land commissioner’s report which clearly identifies the traditional owners we’re speaking to as owners of the land.”

Lawyers step in as waste dump gets nod, ABC Alice Springs – Australian Broadcasting Corporation, By Alex Johnson 11 May 2010, A team of solicitors will travel to Tennant Creek today to prepare their case against the Federal Government’s plan to build a nuclear waste dump north of the town. Continue reading →

May 11, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, indigenous issues | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, indigenous, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

CT scans as a cause of cancer

Avoiding cancer, The Star, By Dr ALBERT LIM KOK HOOI, 9 May 2010, “..Radiation doses from common CT procedures are higher and more variable than previously thought…….In the first article, researchers found out that radiation doses from common CT procedures are higher (about 66%) and more variable than previously thought. Radiation is a known cause of cancer. In the second study, researchers estimated future cancer risk from current CT use in the United States and projected that 29,000 future cancers will be directly attributable to CT scans that were performed in 2007 alone. It is expected that the majority of these projected cancers will be caused by scans of the abdomen and pelvis (n = 14,000), chest (n = 4,100) and head (n = 4,000) and by CT angiography (n = 2,700)…….
The irony of it all is that 80% of our population are having their cancer diagnosed late and inadequately treated. The other 20% are overserviced whether by overtreatment or unnecessary CT scans. Avoiding cancer

May 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, health | AUSTRALIA, cancer, nuclear, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Australia: controversial report on nuclear waste arouses suspicion and opposition

ts “heavy handed” overriding of Territory and Aboriginal heritage protection laws, and the reliance on secret documents

Inquiry dumps on Northern Territory, Northern Territory News, TBEN LANGFORD, May 7th, 2010 T HE Senate inquiry into laws which could put a nuclear waste dump in the Northern Territory has recommended the new legislation be passed.But the inquiry’s report was immediately criticised as “an unbalanced and closed-minded justification for a foregone conclusion” by one of the committee members. Continue reading →

May 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, politics | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Obama to visit Australia: gets nuclear agreement first

Australian-U.S. Nuclear Trade Deal Sent to Congress, NTI: Global Security Newswire May 6, 2010

U.S. President Barack Obama yesterday submitted for congressional approval a deal that would permit Australia and the United States to trade in nonmilitary nuclear materials and technology (see GSN, March 19)………….the deal would enable “the transfer of information, material, equipment (including reactors), and components for nuclear research and nuclear power production………..The pending “123” agreement could only be canceled after it has been in force for 30 years, he said. The deal would take effect following 90 days of “continuous session” of Congress unless lawmakers move to block it within that period…………The United States is also moving ahead with a similar deal with Russia and is finalizing terms of its nuclear trade pact with India (see GSN, May 5; White House release, May 5).

NTI: Global Security Newswire – Australian-U.S. Nuclear Trade Deal Sent to Congress

May 7, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international, USA | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Footprints for Peace speakers in U.S. talk about Australia’s uranium mining

“Australians feel a deep responsibility,” said Atkinson. “We are sending this poison around the world.” ………. The uranium mining has destroyed sites sacred to the aborigines, polluted their water and food supplies and endangered their hunter/gatherer way of life, said Atkinson…………..

Uranium: The Australia-Vt. connection, Brattleboro Reformer, By BOB AUDETTE / Reformer StaffThursday May 6, 2010 BRATTLEBORO — Australia and Vermont are connected in a way not many people think about — through uranium.”We are pretty sure that some of the uranium mined in Australia is being used in the fuel rods at Vermont Yankee,” Continue reading →

May 7, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons, radiation, reactors, uranium, water | Leave a comment

Uranium mining project in Australia abandoned due to low uranium prices

$57m uranium deal falls through in Central Australia, ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), By Louisa Rebgetz May 4, 2010 Australian uranium producer Toro Energy has pulled out of a project in Central Australia.The company says a drop in uranium prices has made it unviable to go ahead with the Napperby uranium project, 160 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs.

$57m uranium deal falls through in Central Australia – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

May 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, business and costs | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear costs, uranium | Leave a comment

Radioactive dust from Australia’s uranium mines found in Antarctica

Australian uranium dust found in Antarctic ice ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) 3 May, 2010, An ice core from the Antarctic bears traces of uranium that may have been carried by the wind from Australian mines in 1995, a glacier expert has told a Chilean newspaper.The minuscule amounts of the radioactive element “correspond to a year (1995) when Australia increased its uranium production,” Ricardo Jana, who participates in an international research effort in the frozen continent, told El Mercurio daily.He said scientists theorise the uranium particles were carried by the wind from Australia and deposited in the northern part of the Antarctic’s Detroit peninsula. Australian uranium dust found in Antarctic ice – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporati

May 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ANTARCTICA, environment | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Strong opposition to importing radioactive wastes to Hanford

Groups demand DOE end plans to send waste to Hanford By Annette Cary, Tri City Herald 30 April 2010, A coalition of Northwest environmental groups is demanding that Energy Secretary Steven Chu end any plans to import radioactive waste to Hanford.The Department of Energy agreed as part of a proposed settlement with the state of Washington not to send most types of radioactive waste to Hanford for disposal until the vitrification plant is in full operation to treat the worst waste now stored in underground tanks. That’s scheduled for 2022. Continue reading →

May 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear weapons, radiation, reactors | Leave a comment

Australian govt imposing nuclear waste dump on aboriginal land

a proposed measure before the parliament has deleted the use of the Australian Defence Force land in the Northern Territory,

Aboriginal landowners oppose nuclear waste dump in Northern Territory International Business Times, By Xien Jana Vencio | April 27, 2010Aboriginal landowners in the Northern Territory are up in arms against a government plan to construct the country’s first long-term nuclear waste storage facility on their territory. Continue reading →

April 30, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, wastes | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear | Leave a comment

New Colorado legislation puts the brakes on the uranium industry

Colo. Legislature passes uranium cleanup bill, Google hosted news, By COLLEEN SLEVIN (AP) – 29 April DENVER — Colorado lawmakers have passed a bill that requires uranium mills to clean up radioactive waste before accepting more radioactive material.The Senate voted 24-9 in favor of the bill Wednesday. Later the House agreed with changes made in the Senate and readopted the bill by a vote of 60-3. It now goes to Gov. Bill Ritter. Continue reading →

April 30, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, USA | AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, radiation, uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear waste dump rejected by Australian Aborigines

Australian aborigines reject nuclear waste plant, fullstory, Canberra, Apr 29 (Prensa Latina) Aborigines from northern Australia rejected government plans to build a plant for nuclear waste storage in their territories.Diane Stokes, an indigenous woman from the Warumungu and Warlmanpa tribes in the Northern Territory Muckaty Station, about 125 miles north of Tennat Creek town, opposed to the discharging of radioactive waste on their land.The government now seeks to build a permanent facility to house the nuclear waste that Australia used in hospitals, industries, agriculture and research.In 2007, the Labour Party promised a new study to select the site based on inclusion and consent of the community through a process of solid and transparent principles.Activist Dave Sweeney from the Australian Conservation Foundation, declared there is a lot at stake with radioactive waste that lasts thousands of years and can cause cancer and genetic changes

fullstory

April 30, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear weapons, radioactive | Leave a comment

uranium mining company telling convenient falsehoods to Australian aborigines

Miner accused of misleading radiation claims , ABC North West WA – Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 23 April 2010, A Canadian mining company has been accused of giving misleading information to traditional owners during a community workshop in the Pilbara. Continue reading →

April 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, secrets,lies and civil liberties | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, uranium | Leave a comment

Big uranium mining company involved in corruption

BHP Reveals Possible Corruption, – Australasian Investment Review – (AIR) 22 April 2010, BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest mining company, has joined its smaller rival, Rio Tinto, in being implicated in possible corrupt activities.The news was buried in the company’s first quarter exploration and development report, issued yesterday……
The ASX and or ASIC should ask BHP to provide more details as soon as possible……The disclosure laws here in Australia will have to be applied to see if BHP has provided timely and adequate disclosure to the local (and London) markets……There’s no word on whether the US Justice Department will become involved, but if it involves a breach of America’s bribery laws, it will.

If the reports are confirmed then authorities in countries in Europe, especially the European Commission and China could also become involved…..the fact that the allegations have been raised by the SEC shows the lax controls inside BHP, Australasian Investment Review