Anti-radiation pills irrelevant in case of nuclear accident
In other words, if there’s an accident at McGuire and you live within 10 miles of it, you are essentially screwed: the roads are going to be clogged and probably at a standstill, so getting away in one, four, eight, or probably even 24 hours, is not real likely.
Poor nuclear evacuation plans offset KI pills’ benefits | theCLog, September 14th, 2010 by John Grooms in Boomer with Attitude, “……..Health departments in five counties, including Mecklenburg, will hand out potassium iodide (aka KI) to folks living within 10 miles of our area’s two nuclear plants, McGuire and Catawba. Taking the KI is supposed to reduce the risk of thyroid cancer resulting from radiation leaks during what is delicately termed a “nuclear emergency.” It’s a shame – and we mean that literally – that the whole thing is a charade.
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Legal action looming against German govt’s nuclear plans
Greenpeace, the environmental NGO, suspects foul play and intends to sue. Its assumption is that the government has tried to hide the fact that demand for nuclear energy is falling and that there is no need to extend the lifespan of nuclear plants.
Merkel’s ‘nuclear tour’ remains inconclusive | EurActiv, 14 Sept 10, For several months, Germany has been discussing the future of its energy policy. Last month, Chancellor Angela Merkel went on an ‘energy tour’ across the country to meet different stakeholders and visit various power plants. These included renewable energy as well as nuclear sites. EurActiv Germany reports.
Merkel’s energy journey identified energy security as its highest priority, but did not address issues of safety such as the question of final storage of radioactive waste. Continue reading
Merkel’s murky deals with nuclear lobby now arousing German opposition
Opposition, both within her government and elsewhere, is on the rise……the cloak-and-dagger approach would only spark suspicions among the public that the government had reached a secret agreement benefiting the power companies.
Coalition Fission – Merkel’s Nuclear Plan Encounter Mounting Opposition :Free Internet Press, 13 Sept 10 Chancellor Angela Merkel had hoped that with a quick resolution, she could sidestep a national debate over nuclear energy. Many, though, see her new plan as a windfall for the country’s power utilities. Continue reading
Civil nuclear reactors – soft targets for devastating attack
Its civil nuclear reactors are the “softest” and easiest targets for conventional military attack – with guaranteed devastating sequels
Nuclear Renaissance or The End of Nations ? : The Market Oracle, By Andrew McKillop, 15 Sept 10, “……..THE END OF THE NATION STATE , national security as we know it and with any real meaning no longer exists. Any country with large sized nuclear reactors is not defensible. Its has already positioned Weapons of Mass Destruction – for the enemy side – inside its national territory.
When both belligerent nations have nuclear reactors, they have guaranteed and massive Mutually Assured Destruction.When we take account of the full risks of the coming worldwide nuclear boom, the exploding number of civil reactor numbers, the full extent of fuel production and reprocessing, accumulated nuclear wastes, plutonium production and storage, and the spiralling amounts of ‘new’ nuclear waste being produced each day, the nation state itself has no remaining signification or meaning.
Its civil nuclear reactors are the “softest” and easiest targets for conventional military attack – with guaranteed devastating sequels.The nation state’s “prerogative” of making war, for example in Afghanistan and Iraq is no longer feasible or defensible – but is this known to politicians and the public ? Do they want to know this ? What is the level of debate on this subject ?
Moscow facing up to its nuclear radiation mess
There is also an issue of unknown radioactive dumps. Tens of them are found every year all over Moscow…People just do not know whether any nuclear waste is nearby and what the level of radiation on the surface is.
Radiation scare for Moscow parks The Moscow News, – Evgeniya Chaykovskaya – 13 Sept 10, Levels of radiation on Moscow’s streets have reached a level so high that the authorities are about to spend 4.7 billion roubles to get rid of it.The $153 million clean-up will run from 2011-2013 amid reports of no fewer than 18 dangerous radioactive objects within the capital.
And they can be found in heavily built-up areas like Kuzminki, Continue reading
Airport screening staff should wear radiation measurement badges
Why do dentists, doctors, med techs, etc.. who work in other x-ray environments gladly wear these exposure detectors on their clothing but TSA employees do not or cannot?
Airport Screeners: Denied radiation badges? | The Science Friday Blog. September 13, 2010 by Ira Flatow I continue to wonder why those TSA folks who stand by x-ray machines for a whole day do not know how much radiation they are exposed to. Last weekend, one of them told me she asked for a common radiation badge and was told she could not wear one. Continue reading
America’s rickety old nuclear reactors becoming dangerous
As reactor owners petition to extend operating licenses for decades to come, the rickety, embrittled old plants become increasingly dangerous.
Is the “Nuclear Renaissance” Dead Yet?, HUFFINGTON POST, Harvey Wasserman: 13 Sept 2010, “……America’s aging fleet of first generation reactors is leaking profusely. Indian Point, north of Manhattan, has suffered seven unplanned shut-downs in two years. In recent months serious emissions of tritium and other radioactive substances into the air and water have been found at Vermont Yankee, Indian Point, New Jersey’s Oyster Creek and many more. Ohio’s infamous Davis-Besse, where boric acid ate virtually all the way through a reactor pressure vessel, has sprung some two dozen leaks which cannot be explained by its owner, First Energy. In Vermont, leaks from pipes the operators said did not exist have seeped contaminated water into the Connecticut River. As reactor owners petition to extend operating licenses for decades to come, the rickety, embrittled old plants become increasingly dangerous.
Scanner making companies design the safety tests for airport X-Ray Scanners
guess who was on the committee that developed the guidelines for the X-ray scanners? Representatives from the companies that make the machines and the Department of Homeland Security, among others. In other words, the machines passed a test developed, in part, by the companies that manufacture them and the government agency that wants to use them..….
Body scan or pat down: Decisions abound with airport security – San Jose Mercury News, By Susan Stellin, New York Times 09/12/2010 “…….The more controversial “backscatter” devices project an X-ray beam onto the body, creating an image displayed on a monitor viewed by a TSA employee in another room. The “millimeter wave” machines, considered less risky because they do not use X-rays, bounce electromagnetic waves off the body to produce a similar image. Continue reading
Ionising radiation a cancer causer in nearby, non-irradiated cells
The Bystander Effect may be more damaging in the longer term than direct radiation exposure.
Emerging role of radiation induced bystander effects:Cell communications and carcinogenesis, 7th Space.3 Sept 10, Rajamanickam Baskar, Ionizing radiation is an invaluable diagnostic and treatment tool used in various clinical applications. On the other hand, radiation is a known cytotoxic with a potential DNA damaging and carcinogenic effects.
However, the biological effects of low and high linear energy transfer (LET) radiations are considerably more complex than previously thought. Continue reading
South Africa has virtually no control over its radioactive materials
The current situation is a serious indictment on the ANC-government, as it will result or has already resulted in South African citizens being exposed to unnecessary radiation and danger…..
Govt’s radiation control dept almost kaput, Politicsweb, – DAMike Waters 12 September 2010 Mike Waters says vacancy rate at 50%, 64% inspections outstandingRadiation Control Directorate: Non-operation poses threat to public safety The Democratic Alliance (DA) is in possession of internal documents dating as far back as 2003, which reveal that the Department of Health’s Directorate for Radiation Control is almost non-operational. Continue reading
Nuclear factory workers to be compensated for their cancers
it is reasonable to conclude workers at Blockson Chemical Co. were exposed to radiation in large enough doses from 1951 to 1960 to cause illness, even if it is impossible to determine the precise amount of radiation exposure.
Joliet workers’ path to radiation compensation eased – Chicago Tribune, September 11, 2010|By Ted Gregory, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Friday ended a decade-long wait and eased compensation claims for Joliet factory workers who contracted cancer while helping build and test nuclear weapons in the 1950s. Continue reading
UK’s Ministry of Defence stalling on compensation, as nuclear veterans die
A veteran of the nuclear bomb tests in the South Pacific today told how he fears he may not live long enough to see the Government apologise for sending them there. SGClub.com Friendly Singapore Forums, 11 Sept 10, Kieran Boomer, 74, is one of hundreds of veterans of the tests on Christmas Island in the 1950s fighting for an apology and compensation. Continue reading
Squirrel monkeys the victims of NASA radiation experiments
NASA engineer quits over animal experiment, By Hayley Kappes,The Daily News September 12, 2010 JOHNSON SPACE CENTER — April Evans wrestled for weeks whether to quit her dream job working for NASA’s operations with the International Space Station.She concluded in March there was no other option but to resign after learning the space agency proposed a $1.75 million experiment to irradiate 18 squirrel monkeys to determine astronauts’ ability to withstand high levels of continuous radiation in deep space……. ……NASA engineer quits over animal experiment
Danger in blending Class A radioactive wastes with hotter classes
blended waste should be dealt with as part of a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s low-level radioactive waste, with careful attention paid to public-safety issues…..Under Utah law, Energy- Solutions is banned from taking waste hotter than Class A.
NRC head urges caution on waste blending | The Salt Lake Tribune, By JUDY FAHYS Sep 10, 2010 Las Vegas • Blended radioactive waste won’t be coming to Utah anytime soon if the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission adopts its leader’s position. Continue reading
Russia’s secrecy over nuclear incident, as it promotes nuclear sales
Russia wants a big slice of the nuclear ‘renaissance ’. Talk of nuclear accidents at reactors with incompetent management and under-trained staff doesn’t look good to potential investors.
What happened at Russia’s Kursk nuclear power plant? | Greenpeace International, by jmckeati – September 9, 2010 , On July 22, it appears that one of the reactors at the plant may have come close a Chernobyl-style disaster……..official details from the authorities are few and sketchy. The story that is slowly leaking out however, via Bellona, is one of a highly dangerous mix of incompetence, arrogance, cover-up and propaganda. Continue reading
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