nuclear-news

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

USA pushing India on Nuclear Liability Bill, Westinghouse & Genl Elecectric might pull out

Nuclear liability law: US seeks special exemption, Sep 10, 2010, By Uttara Choudhury: NEW YORK : DNA The US and India have been gunning for each other through the summer …..And now, India’s new nuclear liability law threatens US energy deals.

Despite the perennial irritants, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Wednesday that the two crotchety friends are discussing ways for American nuclear suppliers to get around the liability law. It said that if the two sides can’t find a workaround, American companies such as General Electric and Westinghouse would pass on the India nuclear deal……Nuclear liability law: US seeks special exemption – World – DNA

September 10, 2010 Posted by | politics international, USA | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Medical radiation to be controlled in new Californian law

New California regulation could limit medical radiation | abc7news.com,  Carolyn Johnson, 9 Sept10, California could soon take a major step to protect patients from dangerous levels of radiation. A proposed bill, awaiting the governor’s signature, would add new regulations for the use and monitoring of powerful imaging devices like CT Scanners.The push for this regulation came about after hundreds of cases of radiation overdoses at a prominent hospital in Southern California were made public….
California lawmakers recently passed a bill that will put new safety measures in place, to protect patients from receiving too much radiation.The bill requires hospitals and other facilities to record the actual level of radiation delivered during CT scans and to include that information in the patient’s medical file as well as the CT scan report. Any dosages 50 percent or more above normal would have to be reported to the health department.

The bill also sets up a new accreditation program for CT technicians……,New California regulation could limit medical radiation | abc7news.com

September 10, 2010 Posted by | health, USA | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Secret Manhattan Project caused danger for thousands of years

In 2000, the National Academy of Sciences declared that the Manhattan Project sites would pose risks to humans for tens of thousands of years into the future.

How Little Boy Atom Bomb Grew Up in Company Towns: Bloomberg, By Lewis Lapham – Sep 10, 2010 With Albert Einstein urging President Roosevelt to beat the Nazis to an atom bomb, the government created the Manhattan Project.Top secret research sites included Hanford, Washington, Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and uranium-enrichment facilities in Tennessee. Continue reading

September 10, 2010 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League seeks hearing over its objections to nuclear plant

Nuclear board to hear arguments over Ga. plant – BusinessWeek, September 9, 2010, A nuclear regulatory board will hear arguments over whether environmental groups can raise new concerns about the design of a proposed nuclear power plant in Georgia.

The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board has scheduled arguments Sept. 17 to consider whether it should weigh the objections over the design of two reactors that the Atlanta-based Southern Co. wants to build at Plant Vogtle.

Local environmental advocates including the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League have said that the Westinghouse Electric Co.’s AP1000 reactor picked for the project could be vulnerable to corrosion. They worry that if radioactive material escaped through a corroded spot during an accident, the public could be harmed. Nuclear board to hear arguments over Ga. plant – BusinessWeek

September 10, 2010 Posted by | Legal, USA | , , , , | Leave a comment

Nuclear industry in South Africa – secretive and poorly regulated

Activists in South Africa maintain that …. the regulation,  monitoring and standards practised by the nuclear industry remain among the most secretive and fatally flawed in the world.

New liability law “could end civil nuclear growth in India” – little wonder South African nuclear industry refuses to discuss the issue | Coalition Against Nuclear Energy, 7 Sept 10, “………….In South Africa, the nuclear industry has for years been trying to establish whether changes will be brought about to a virtually non-existent nuclear liabilities law. Continue reading

September 9, 2010 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, South Africa | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

More uranium workers eligible for nuclear compensation

Mallinckrodt refined uranium at its plant in north St. Louis during World War II for the nation’s first atomic bombs, and continued work there and at other locations until 1966. Waste from uranium processing at Mallinckrodt was dumped at the airport site.

Compensation for nuclear-bomb workers expanded to new site, BY TIM O’NEIL , September 8, 2010 St. louis • Special federal compensation for workers who handled material for nuclear weapons has been expanded to include those who worked at a waste-storage site near Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.

Former workers or their survivors are eligible for $150,000 and payment of medical expenses Continue reading

September 9, 2010 Posted by | health, USA | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Retirement time for Germany’s old nuclear reactors

Nearly two thirds of German citizens oppose nuclear power, and 150,000 people participated in the recent big demonstration against it. It remains to be seen whether the government has the power or the mandate to force through its wishes.

Time for Germany’s nuclear reactors to retire | Greenpeace International, by jmckeati – September 7, 2010 So, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced at the weekend that her government will seek extension to the country’s nuclear reactors’ lifetimes of between 8 and 14 years. Germany’s reactors are the nuclear old men of Europe, more than ready for retirement. All nuclear reactors are dangerous and the older they are the more dangerous they become. Frau Merkel is making a grave mistake by seeking to extend the operating life of Germany´s nuclear reactors. Continue reading

September 8, 2010 Posted by | Germany, politics | , , , , , | Leave a comment

USA plays musical chairs with cancer-causing nuclear wastes moving from California to Utah

“significant amounts of soil contaminated with carcinogenic dioxins, heavy metals and radioactive materials” will be removed from the site and taken to licensed waste dumps, including one in Utah,

Santa Susana Nuclear Site’s Toxic Dirt to be Shipped to Utah : Clean Ups : Curbed LA, September 7, 2010, by Adrian Glick Kudler,The Santa Susana Field Laboratory, home to a Cold War nuclear test site, should be all cleaned up, just 58 years after a partial nuclear meltdown. Continue reading

September 8, 2010 Posted by | USA, wastes | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Austrian and Bavarian challenges to extending life of Germany’s old nuclear reactors

Anschober said there had been a “decision for the profit interests of the atomic energy lobby and against safety concerns.”

Nuclear extension sparks Austrian meltdown — The Local. 7 Sept 10, Germany’s plan to extend the lives of its nuclear reactors has upset neighbouring Austria, where a environmental official has warned that a reactor near the border poses clear “safety risks.”
Rudi Anschober, environment minister for the state of Upper Austria, which borders Bavaria, also warned that the Austrian Federal Government was preparing to attack Germany’s plan. Continue reading

September 8, 2010 Posted by | Germany, politics international | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

UK govt’s secret research into dead nuclear test veterans

The UK Government is battling a High Court compensation bid by 1,000 veterans and widows for health problems.

The Ministry of Defense  insists almost none was exposed to dangerous levels of radiation and the high rates of cancer, death and birth defects are a coincidence.

Nuke test veterans health files to be probed after they die,  mirror.co.uk, By Susie Boniface 5/09/2010 Scientists keep tabs in secret A nuclear test veteran has discovered the Government has ordered secret research into his health – after he dies. Continue reading

September 6, 2010 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | , , , , , | 1 Comment

Radioactive pollution from uranium milling can no longer be ignored

Regulators are examining hydrology, seismology, demographic impacts and effects on flora and fauna, as well as demanding complete plans for how ….. the site would be reclaimed.

Toxic legacy of uranium haunts proposed Colorado mill – The Denver Post, Nancy Lofholm, 5 Sept 10, GRAND JUNCTION — “………..More than a billion dollars has been spent cleaning up radioactive tailings piles and lessening toxic leaks into rivers and aquifers at nine defunct mills in Colorado. Nearly 20 million tons of radioactive tailings sit in disposal sites where they must be monitored in perpetuity. Hundreds of acres of unusable water fill contaminated aquifers. Continue reading

September 6, 2010 Posted by | Legal, Uranium, USA | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ionising radiation is especially dangerous for children

Department of Health (DOH ) recommends practices to reduce radiation exposure in pediatric imaging, including using alternative, non-radiation diagnostic imaging procedures such as MRIs and ultrasounds when possible;…The pamphlets and pocket cards are available for download at the state Health Department website.

(USA) Parents can track kids’ radiation exposure, Times Union, By CATHLEEN CROWLEY Staff Writer   ccrowley@timesunion.com.    September 3, 2010 ALBANY — Doctors track your child’s height, weight and inoculations. Now, add radiation exposure to the list.

The state Department of Health wants your parents and pediatricians to keep a list of your child’s exposure to X-rays and more potent CT scans. Continue reading

September 4, 2010 Posted by | health, USA | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cameco uranium company spins a yarn on ionising radiation

Christina Macpherson's websites & blogs

The Nuclear Industry copies the Tobacco Industry. Same old tactics. You cast around to find a scientist willing to be paid to say that your product is “healthy” and “clean”.

Cameco uranium mining company is running “Community Liaison Forums”.  And guess what?  They’ve found that low dose ionising radiation is not only healthy – it even prevents illness!

Not a surprise, really, from Cameco. For years they’ve been pitching radiation to kids, as a fun thing. (picture at left from Cameco’s brochure for kids)

Dunno that Indian nuclear worker Rajesh would agree  “Rajesh (name changed), a contract worker at the nuclear facility. Rajesh’s three-year-old daughter, Abhi has been diagnosed with retinoblastoma, or cancer of eyes, and doctors have just confirmed the eventuality of her death……
Rajesh’s story is by no means an isolated one. –
” from story below  Tehelka – India’s Independent Weekly News Magazine

September 4, 2010 Posted by | Canada, spinbuster, Uranium | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Secrecy over India’s nuclear radiation

a significant nuclear accident that took place on 21 January 2003 at the Kalpakkam Atomic Reprocessing Plant….Since plant operations began in the early 1980s, incidents of cancer and auto-immune thyroid diseases in the surrounding villages have increased….

30,000 villagers have been asked to leave once the Kudankulam plant is functional.”

Accident Sites – radiation, cancer, blindness, tardiness, cover-ups.The lessons from the Kalpakkam nuclear facility, Tehelka – India’s Independent Weekly News Magazine, BY KUNAL MAJUMDER, 4 Sept 10, Continue reading

September 4, 2010 Posted by | India, secrets,lies and civil liberties | , , , , , | Leave a comment

USA – nuclear radiation meltdown area to be cleaned up

One of the reactors, which had no containment dome to prevent radiation from leaking into the environment, experienced a partial meltdown in 1959. There were other problems over the years, including two more accidents, burn pits with radioactive contaminants and a rocket fuel explosion that killed two scientists and resulted in a $650 million fine after Rocketdyne illegally disposed of the hazardous waste

Deal to clean up LA-area nuclear accident site, Google hosted news, By NOAKI SCHWARTZ (AP) – 4 Sept 10 LOS ANGELES — State and federal officials announced Friday a potentially historic agreement to remove all radioactive contamination from a partial nuclear meltdown in 1959 at a rocket testing site just outside Los Angeles. Continue reading

September 4, 2010 Posted by | safety, USA | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment