radiation « nuclear-news

Video: Australia imposing nuclear waste dump on Aboriginal land

VIDEO Australia nuclear waste dump row – Asia-Pacific – Al Jazeera English Australia nuclear waste dump row – Asia-Pacific – Al Jazeera 17 June 2010, Australia’s government is pushing its plans for a nuclear waste dump in a remote part of the country’s Northern Territory.It has signed an agreement with the traditional owners of the land who will receive $10m in compensation, most of it in cash.But the proposed nuclear dump has divided local people while and environmentalists warn it could one day be used to store waste from overseas.Al Jazeera’s Azhar Sukri reports.

June 17, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, wastes | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Community protest has prevented uranium mining in Balpakram

Uranium Mining Project in Balpakram, PRAGOTI, 15 June 2010, KPM uranium project in West Khasi Hills district is not the only source of uranium related controversy in Meghalaya as UCIL plans to explore uranium in Rongcheng Plateau of Balpakram National Park in South Garo Hills district of the state. However, the Environment Ministry’s National Board on Wildlife (NBWL) has rejected the uranium mining project in Balpakram National Park in Meghalaya after stiff opposition from various quarters. The decision to reject the proposal of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) was taken in New Delhi at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the NBWL headed by Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh (PTI, May 13, 2010).

KPM Uranium Mining in Meghalaya: A Controversial Project | PRAGOTI

June 16, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, politics | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, radiation, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Rio Tinto’s Australian uranium mine radioactively pollutes national park

The Green Gauge: Rio Tinto takes a hit , Reuters, 7 June 2010, “……..Global miner Rio Tinto enters the spotlight this week as one of its uranium mines in Australia leaks toxins into a river leading to the wetlands of the Kakadu National Park,…..Rio Tinto PLC has recently faced controversies concerning the impacts of two of its subsidiaries on their surrounding communities. Reports have emerged that a uranium mine operated by Energy Resources of Australia, which is owned by Rio Tinto, has been leaking high levels of uranium, sulphate and radium into a river flowing into the world-heritage wetlands of the Kakadu National Park in Northern Australia….”

The Green Gauge: Rio Tinto takes a hit | Analysis & Opinion |

June 16, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, water | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

India’s uranium radioactivity hotspot

Uranium, metals make Punjab toxic hotspot, The Times of India. Balwant Garg, TNN, Jun 15, 2010, BATHINDA: After discovery of high levels of uranium in hair samples of a large number of mentally retarded children in Punjab’s Malwa region last year, another study suggests Punjab has become a hotspot of environmental toxicity of multiple types……….. The adverse health effects on plants, animals and humans are visible and some of the studies have proved this. “It’s clear that Punjab is in a deep ecological crisis with its ramifications on socio-economic and cultural aspects of its population,” said Dr Reyes Tirado, a scientist from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, who conducted the study in 50 villages in Muktsar, Bathinda and Ludhiana districts last year under a Greenpeace Research Laboratories investigation.

Uranium, metals make Punjab toxic hotspot – India – The Times of India

June 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, India | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear wastes, radiation, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Italy’s terrorist danger from nuclear waste dumps, and neighbouring reactors

Terrorism report warns of ‘dirty bomb’ risks, says Italy’s nuclear waste deposits vulnerable, The Canadian Press:By The Associated Press (CP) – 15 June 2010, ROME — Italy’s dumps of nuclear waste and other radioactive material are vulnerable to terrorists and should be kept under strict security, a terrorism report released Monday said. Continue reading →

June 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Italy, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Insects much more resistant to ionising radiation

PODCAST Cockroaches V. Radiation: Who Wins? | A Moment of Science – Indiana Public Media 15 June 2010, Cockroaches V. Radiation: Who Wins? | A Moment of Science – Indiana Public Media You may have heard that cockroaches can survive nuclear war. Have you wondered if there is any truth to this?Well, they couldn’t survive the heat of a nuclear blast at ground zero, but their resistance to radiation may surprise you. In fact, most insects are much more resistant to ionizing radiation than mammals. Continue reading →

June 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, environment | AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Niger radio station, critical of AREVA uranium company, re-opens

….who announced in January 2008 a campaign against uranium mining, including by French state-controlled nuclear company Areva, in the north..

Niger radio in rebel area back on air after 2 years , Google hosted news 15 June 2010, NIAMEY — The main private radio station in uranium-rich northern Niger was on air again on Monday after being closed two years earlier by the deposed president following broadcasts linked to the Tuareg rebellion. Continue reading →

June 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | media, Niger | antinuclear, AREVA, France, nuclear secrecy, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

USA population the most exposed to medical ionising radiation

FDA Concerned About Exposure to Medical Radiation | FairWarning, By Elise Craig on June 14, 2010 The Food and Drug Administration is considering new protocol to make sure that patients and their doctors know how much radiation they get exposed to in common medical tests like CT scans, the Associated Press reports Continue reading →

June 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

India’s Nuclear Liability Bill designed to serve U.S. commercial interests

designed to safeguard the interest of American supplier of nuclear power plant

US pressure behind nuke liab bill: BJP. India Blooms News ServicePatna, June 13 (IBNS) The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday said the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has introduced the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill hastily under US pressure, leaving the Indians with a raw deal from any Bhopal tragedy like accident.

The Bill seeks to cap the level of compensation (likely at $450 million) in the event of an accident and makes the operator, not the supplier (US companies like GE and Westinghouse or France’s Areva), liable for it. Continue reading →

June 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, politics international | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

India’s Civil Nuclear Liability Bill in doubt, following Bhopal gas case

the same absence of criminal liability in the bill will let suppliers of nuclear technology and equipment in the U.S. go scratch free in case of a nuclear disaster which would be much bigger and dangerous than the gas leak tragedy.

In shadow of Bhopal tragedy, Indian gov’t urged to scrap nuclear liability bill English.news.cn 2010-06-11 NEW DELHI, June 11 (Xinhua) — The recent verdict on the world’ s worst industrial disaster, Bhopal gas leak tragedy, which handed out a meager penalty to the convicts, is casting a shadow on the American hope of the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill from being passed in Indian Parliament………….. Continue reading →

June 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, politics | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

“Blending” of radioactive wastes will avoid safety requirements

“blending” would allow utilities, processors, and waste disposal sites to avoid existing environmental and safety requirements for how they dispose of the hotter waste……….the new “blended” waste has significantly higher concentrations of radioactivity than the typical lowest level radioactive waste…..

In the past year, state governments have also had to deal with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s reclassification of Depleted Uranium (which becomes more radioactive over time) as Class A waste.

Obama Administration Should Say “No” to Blending Radioactive Waste, THE HUFFINGTON POST, Joseph DiCamillo, 12 June 2010, The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will consider whether to allow for the first time nuclear waste processors to “blend” higher level radioactive waste with the lowest level radioactive waste at a hearing on June 17. Continue reading →

June 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, depleted, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Delhi University compensating victims of ionising radiation

DU hands out compensation to victims of radiation exposure- Hindustan Times, 12 June 2010, Delhi University on Friday handed out compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to victims of radiation exposure who suffered serious health hazards from radioactive waste disposed off by the institution.Several people at Mayapuri’s scrap market were exposed to radiation and were taken ill in April this year.One of them, Rajender (35), a worker at a shop in the scrap market, had died due to multiple organ failure at AIIMS after being exposed to radiation.Relief amount of Rs two lakh was handed over to Ram Jiyavan, Gaurav, Ram Kalap Yadav and Himanshu Jain, the victims who suffered injuries, a statement from the varsity said on Friday……The trail of the radioactive substance led to Delhi University’s Chemistry Department and it was found that the institution had disposed off the radioactive waste that reached the Mayapuri scrap market.

DU hands out compensation to victims of radiation exposure- Hindustan Times

June 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, Legal | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Need for more safety in use of medical ionising radiation

A number of errors discovered by FDA have involved massive doses of radiation being directed at the wrong parts of the body, and machines being set incorrectly, resulting in overly large radiation doses.

Radiation Exposure Concerns Lead To New Industry Standards – AboutLawsuits.com, 11 June 2010, Radiation therapy equipment manufacturers have launched an initiative to implement new industry-wide safety standards in the face of FDA scrutiny and growing concern over the radiation risks of CT scans and radiation-emitting medical devices… Continue reading →

June 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Inaccuracies in measuring medical ionising radiation

Indirect estimated radiation during thoracoabdominal aneurysm repair found inaccurate, CVardiology Today, 11 June 2010, Assessing indirect estimated radiation doses given to patients during endovascular thoracoabdominal aneurysm repair may not be an accurate method of assessing peak skin dose, according to study findings……“Given that JACHO standards are all based on the estimated dose, and the estimated dose for aortic procedures is very inaccurate, peripheral vascular/aortic procedures are not being assessed properly,” Roy Greenberg, MD, a vascular surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, said in a press release. “We believe these are critical issues with regard to radiation exposure and this will result in problems with hospital documentation and reporting sentinel events.”

Indirect estimated radiation during thoracoabdominal aneurysm repair found inaccurate

June 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, health | antinuclear, nuclear, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Bhopal injustice – a prelude to future nuclear injustice for India?

Under the civil liabilities for nuclear damage bill, central to a deal with the controversial nuclear pact with the US, costs for cleaning up a catastrophic failure would end up being paid by the Indian taxpayer…….so that shareholders of large US corporations would not be forced to pay out for sloppy, deadly mistakes…………..

Obama hasn’t learned lessons of Bhopal, Randeep Ramesh guardian.co.uk 10 June 2010 Foreign companies such as BP are shown the big stick, but Washington offers a big shield for its multinationals abroad

While Barack Obama is lambasting BP for spreading muck in the Gulf of Mexico, he should perhaps pencil in a date with the people of Bhopal when he visits India later this year. While 11 men lost their lives on BP’s watch and the shrimps get coated with black stuff, the chemicals that killed thousands of people in Bhopal in 1984 are still leaching into the ground water a quarter of a century after a poisonous, milky-white cloud settled over the city. Continue reading →

June 11, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, Legal | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment