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

University’s nuclear radiation mishap

KSU divulges reactor mishap   CJOnline.com, By Tim Carpenter

September 29, 2010 – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is investigating a Kansas State University nuclear reactor operator’s exposure to radiation during an experiment, a university official said Wednesday…..TRIGA Mark II reactor had been shut down since Sept. 22 to accommodate the NRC’s evaluation of the mishap. The NRC and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment were notified of the incident. KSU divulges reactor mishap | CJOnline.com

September 30, 2010 Posted by | safety, USA | , , , , | Leave a comment

Government opposition to Cameco uranium mine in Australia’s Northern Territory

The project has been strongly opposed by environmentalists, who say it could pollute underground water. Chief Minister Paul Henderson says there is strong community opposition to the mine and Labor is listening to the concerns…….

Government opposes Alice uranium mine  ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 28 Sept 10, The Northern Territory Government has decided to oppose moves to establish a uranium mine on the Angela Pamela deposit near Alice Springs. Continue reading

September 28, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, politics | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nuclear Regulator contradicting Eskom’s claims on radiation leak

(SouthAfrica) Regulator, Eskom at odds over nuke leak, Times LIVE, Sep 26, 2010   By NASHIRA DAVIDS Radiation levels at the Koeberg nuclear power station had increased for two days before almost 80 employees were found to have been contaminated.
This was revealed by the National Nuclear Regulator.

The regulator has started interviewing the workers contaminated with low levels of cobalt-58 while doing maintenance work on Koeberg’s unit 1 earlier this month.

Eskom said earlier that the workers had been exposed to contamination for only one day.

But according to the regulator “elevated levels of airborne activity were detected in the reactor building” from 11 to 12 September.

Regulator, Eskom at odds over nuke leak – Times LIVE

September 27, 2010 Posted by | general | , | Leave a comment

Yellow Dirt: An American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed

Uranium author visits Shiprock, Farmington Daily Times, By Alysa Landry The Daily Times 09/25/2010 SHIPROCK — The book begins much the same as did the betrayal of the Navajo people during the boom of Cold War-era uranium mining — with Anglo men creeping onto its pages like poison.The book is “Yellow Dirt: An American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed.“Its author is Judy Pasternak, a former investigative reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Its story, based on two years of research, unfolds with a clarity spared from the Navajo miners who were never told that the “yellow dirt” they mined would be a devastating character in the tale of the Diné people…….

Uranium author visits Shiprock – Farmington Daily Times

September 27, 2010 Posted by | general, Uranium | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Indian insurance company to cover nuclear accidents?

Irda to allow cover for N-accidents, New Delhi:, 27 Sept 10,  The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has decided to frame guidelines for allowing insurance cover for nuclear accidents.The agency is awaiting the the nuclear liability law to provide framework for the proposed rules. “Insurance companies would be happy in providing cover for nuclear accidents, if the customers show interest,” Irda chairman J Hari Narayan said. India is all set to engage in nuclear commercial trade with various countries following the clearance of a Nuclear Liability Bill in Parliament during the monsoon session. The bill now awaits for the nod of the President before becoming a law.More from News

Irda to allow cover for N-accidents

September 27, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, India | , , , , | Leave a comment

Royal British Legion supports nuclear veterans call for justice

Now the respected British Legion – the nation’s leading armed forces charity – has said it will put up £25,000 to pay for 17 veterans to fight the MoD at the tribunal.

THE ROYAL British Legion has pitted itself against the Government by backing veterans of British nuclear weapons tests who are seeking compensation from the Ministry of Defence. By joseph watts telegraph.co.uk 26 Sept 10, The veterans took part in the UK’s nuclear tests in the 1950s and 1960s in Australia and the South Pacific and say they now suffer health problems from being exposed to radiation. Continue reading

September 27, 2010 Posted by | health, UK | , , , , , | Leave a comment

UK Member of Parliament calls for justice for nuclear veterans

These were young men who were put in the vicinity of weapons tests of which we had no idea about what the side effects would be. “Many of them have now died, many of them are extremely ill and successive governments have done all they can to block compensation to these men.

A MEMBER of an influential parliamentary committee has backed the Derby Telegraph’s campaign to make the Government compensate British nuclear test veterans. derbyshire telegraph 21Sept 10, Some 20,000 servicemen took part in Britain’s atomic bomb tests in the 1950s and 1960s, with many now claiming they suffer ill health as a result of radiation exposure. Continue reading

September 23, 2010 Posted by | general | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lawsuit about uranium mill’s contamination of water

The creek contains uranium levels as high as 310 parts per billion, which is more than 10 times the 30 ppb health standard for drinking water.

Group Sues Over Cotter Corp. Uranium Mill Cleanup – cbs4denver.com, Sep 22, 2010 U.S. MountainGroup Sues Over Cotter Corp. Uranium Mill Cleanup DENVER (AP) ― A citizens group has filed a lawsuit accusing Colorado regulators of failing to require Cotter Corp. to set aside enough money to clean up its uranium mill in Canon City. Continue reading

September 23, 2010 Posted by | Legal, Uranium, USA | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Workers contaminated with radiation at South African nuclear plant

The Democratic Alliance has accused Eskom of mishandling the contamination and risking the health of workers.

Koeberg workers contaminated, News24: South Africa: News, 2010-09-20 Koeberg shut down due to corrosion Johannesburg – A total of 91 Eskom workers were contaminated with a small amount of radiation while doing maintenance work at the Koeberg power plant, the parastatal said on Monday. Continue reading

September 21, 2010 Posted by | safety, South Africa | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

250,000 tonnes of nuclear waste to be stored for 100,000 years

there’s a big question mark over whether future generations will have the knowledge to understand nuclear waste’s silent but deadly threat.

Where do you put 250,000 tonnes of nuclear waste? Wired UK, By Duncan Geere 20 September 2010 Around the world, nuclear power plants are churning out high-level radioactive waste at a rate of knots. It’s estimated that about 250,000 tonnes of the material is currently in interim storage, submerged in huge tanks of water in facilities that keep it safe — temporarily.

But there’s very little agreement on what to do with the stuff long-term, as it will remain a danger for around 100,000 years — almost as long as humans have existed, and far longer than we’ve been using tools. Continue reading

September 21, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, wastes | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Unsolved nuclear waste problem may stop nuclear industry in USA and EU

On Wednesday last week, Greenpeace launched a broadside against the European repository plans, arguing that leaders were being misled over safety issues – particularly relating to groundwater contamination. It appears the repository battle is about to go nuclear here, too.

President Barack Obama’s Yucca Mountain decision is a blow to US nuclear power- Telegraph UK, By Garry White 20 Sep 2010, US President Barack Obama appeared to deal a decisive blow to America’s nuclear power industry earlier this year, when he pulled the funding for a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. Continue reading

September 21, 2010 Posted by | USA, wastes | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cover-up of uranium news in India

As we shuttled between the police station and the district court in Jamshedpur for a week to get our equipment back, we got a glimpse into the kind of helplessness local villagers experience throughout their lives. If a journalist working for a national newsmagazine could be arrested and booked for visiting villages that have an overview of the mine, who would listen to the villagers?

Uranium mines afecting health of workers and local communities, India Info Online, 20 Sept 10, “…….UCIL seems to believe that national interest overrides the baggage of liabilities the pursuit of nuclear ambitions carries. Is it in our national interest to stand by silently as this scenario plays out in other uranium mines in the next year? Continue reading

September 21, 2010 Posted by | India, secrets,lies and civil liberties, Uranium | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Opposition to nuclear waste transport across Great Lakes

the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, which represents municipalities in the region, says the amount of nuclear waste in the proposed shipment exceeds by 50 times the International Atomic Energy Agency’s radioactivity standard for a single freight vessel. The cities group says the commission hasn’t released enough information about how it assessed potential ecological damage.

Plan to ship nuclear boilers stirs fears CBC News, September 20, 2010 9The Associated PressEnvironmentalists and some local government officials in the U.S. are protesting an Ontario power company’s proposal to haul 16 scrapped nuclear steam boilers with radioactive components across three of the Great Lakes on their way to a recycling plant in Sweden. Continue reading

September 21, 2010 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, USA | , , , , | Leave a comment

German anti nuclear movement to keep up the pressure on Merkel

rallies were planned on October 6 in the southern city of Stuttgart, on October 9 in Munich and on November 6 against the arrival of a shipment of highly radioactive nuclear waste in the northern region of Wendland.

German anti-nuclear movement vows to continue protests,  Expatica Germany, 20 Sept 10, After a major protest that drew tens of thousands of people to the streets of Berlin, Germany’s anti-nuclear movement vowed Sunday to keep up the pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government. Continue reading

September 20, 2010 Posted by | general | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Radiation poisoning of Navajo due to uranium mining

The Church Rock flood is only one incident among many in the “slow-motion disaster” investigative journalist Judy Pasternak comprehensively recounts in her chilling new book, “Yellow Dirt: An American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed.”

“Yellow Dirt”: Radioactive reservation, The shocking story of how industry and government poisoned and then abandoned the Navajo Nation, Salon.com,  Laura Miller, 19 Sept 10,

In the summer of 1979, an earthen dam over the town of Church Rock, Utah, broke, flooding the arroyo below and then the bed of the Rio Puerco (an intermittent stream) on the southern border of the Navajo Nation. It was a small flood, but a dangerous one. It burned the feet of a boy who stepped into it, and caused sheep and crops along the banks to drop dead. That’s because the pond it came from had been used by a nearby uranium mine to store the tailings (residue) of its excavations — the water kept the radioactive dust from blowing away. The 93 million gallons of contaminated water that poured into the Rio Puerco remains the largest accidental release of radioactive material in U.S. history, bigger than the notorious Three Mile Island reactor meltdown that occurred 14 weeks later. Continue reading

September 20, 2010 Posted by | indigenous issues, resources - print, Uranium, USA | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment