radiation « nuclear-news

NASA’s cruel monkey experiments to be shamed

monkeys would be blasted with a harmful dose of radiation. As a result, the animals would likely suffer from brain damage, cancerous tumors, or a loss of motor control. Following the radiation exposure, these highly intelligent and social animals would spend the rest of their lives in a laboratory where they would be isolated in cages and subjected to years of behavioral experiments.

PETA ‘TREKKIES’ TO CRASH NASA’S ‘STAR TREK LIVE’ OPENING TO PROTEST AGENCY’S RADIATION EXPERIMENTS ON MONKEYSAs Stage Show Debuts, Group Will Call On NASA to Allow Animals to ‘Live Long and Prosper’ Dressed as “Trekkies,” PETA members will greet visitors to the Kennedy Space Center on Friday and call on NASA to pull its funding for cruel and crude radiation experiments on monkeys. Continue reading →

June 11, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Religion and ethics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Health Dept orders closure of leaking uranium mine

(USA) Closed uranium mine ordered to stop discharge, Google hosted news, (AP) 11 June 2010, DENVER — The owners of a closed uranium mine near Golden have been ordered by the state health department to stop discharging polluted water into a creek that flows into a Denver-area reservoir.The state health department is taking action because Cotter Corp. has been discharging pollution without a permit and uranium levels in the water are significantly exceeding the safety standard, Steve Gunderson, director of the state water quality control division, said Thursday.The agency sent the notice earlier this month. The Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety has sent a separate notice to Cotter saying it believes the company is violation of several state laws.State officials are concerned about rising uranium levels in Ralston Creek, which flows into a reservoir that supplies drinking water in the Denver area.

The Associated Press: Closed uranium mine ordered to stop discharge

June 11, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium, water | Leave a comment

Australia’s nuclear agency calls radiation leak whistleblower a “security risk”

Mr Reid made the safety allegations about the ARI facility on the ABC on May 4…The industry watchdog the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) found five safety and procedural concerns in its report released in January……………

Australian Nuclear Science and Technology whistleblower now ”security risk” St George & Sutherland Shire Leader, BY ROSITA GALLASCH, 09 Jun, 2010 DAVID Reid, the whistleblower who raised safety concerns about ANSTO’s radiopharmaceuticals and industrials (ARI) facility last month, is now regarded as a security risk.ANSTO’s chief executive officer Adi Paterson said Mr Reid, who was a safety officer for six years and an employee for 28, now posed a security threat. Continue reading →

June 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, secrets,lies and civil liberties | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive, reactor | Leave a comment

Repeated medical radiation contributes to breast cancer

Do X-rays & other radiation contribute to breast cancer? ALLVOICES, by Anne Hart, Jun 09, 2010 “…….ac a study at Cornell University … showed how it’s well-established that exposure to ionizing radiation can trigger mutations and other genetic damage and cause normal cells to become malignant……In answer to the question “Is ionizing radiation a cause of breast cancer?” Cornell experts say “Yes” and note “… female breast tissue is highly susceptible to radiation effects.”….Radiation builds up. Continue reading →

June 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, health | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, radiation, reactors | Leave a comment

Confidence in nuclear power safety falling, after oil safety failure

this story is especially pertinent now, as the nation reexamines its energy policy in the wake of the calamitous BP Gulf spill.

Nuclear Reactor Eaten by Leaky Acid, Again : TreeHugger, 9 June 2010, Back in 2002, an Ohio nuclear power plant developed a leak that allowed highly pressurized cooling water containing boric acid to seep out. That acid ate away a football-sized hole into the 6-inch steel lid to the nuclear reactor, leaving the reactor’s integrity at grave risk. The cause of the narrowly averted disaster was thought to have been fixed, but the New York Times reports that signs of even more leakage have been showing up again — Continue reading →

June 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, radiation, radioactive, reactor | Leave a comment

Nuclear waste casks, pools, piles, are ticking time bombs

(USA) Ticking time bombs: what should we do with nuclear waste?, SmartPlanet, By Andrew Nusca | Jun 8, 2010 “……..the WSJ report outlines some scary figures:

More than 800 filled casks await a final destination, holding 14,000 metric tons of waste.
Another 49,000 metric tons is being held in spent-fuel pools, waiting to be placed in vessels.
A further 2,000 metric tons of nuclear reactor waste is created every year.

The problem is that the next wave of nuclear reactors are already on the drawing board.

June 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation | Leave a comment

radiation cancer risk with repeated dental X-rays

Repeated Dental X-Rays Increase Thyroid Cancer Risk TopNews United Kingdom, by Rasik Sharma on Mon, 06/07/2010 – It has been stated by the researchers from Brighton, Cambridge (England) and Kuwait that thyroid cancer risk elevates with an increase in the number of dental x-rays. This finding was cited in the medical journal Acta Oncologica.According to the reports, rates of thyroid cancer have doubled from 1.4 per 100,000 in 1975 to 2.9 per 100,000 in 2006 in the UK, as the patients take up more and more number of dental x-rays……

The research was headed by Dr. Anjum Memon, Senior Lecturer and Consultant in Public Health Medicine at Brighton and Sussex Medical School.

This was a combined research conducted by Brighton and Sussex universities and NHS (National Health Service) Brighton and Hove.

It is known that the thyroid gland gets exposed to radiation from many dental x-rays. Thyroid gland is sensitive to ionizing radiation in children especially. The research points out to the potential risks that dental radiography often causes to thyroid gland.

Repeated Dental X-Rays Increase Thyroid Cancer Risk | TopNews United Kingdom

June 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, health | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Radioactive wastes are produced at all stages of the nuclear fuel cycle

The NUCLEAR INDUSTRY and the GLOBAL NUCLEAR WASTE PROBLEM – our theme for June 2010

June 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Nuclear bomb to solve oil spill crisis – a crazy idea, says USA

Nuclear Option on Gulf Oil Spill? No Way, U.S. Says, NYTimes.com, By WILLIAM J. BROAD : June 2, 2010 The chatter began weeks ago as armchair engineers brainstormed for ways to stop the torrent of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico: What about nuking the well?…. Stephanie Mueller, a spokeswoman for the Energy Department, said that neither Energy Secretary, Steven Chu nor anyone else was thinking about a nuclear blast under the gulf. The nuclear option was not — and never had been — on the table, federal officials said. “It’s crazy,” one senior official said.

Government and private nuclear experts agreed that using a nuclear bomb would be not only risky technically, with unknown and possibly disastrous consequences from radiation, but also unwise geopolitically — it would violate arms treaties that the United States has signed and championed over the decades and do so at a time when President Obama is pushing for global nuclear disarmament.Nuclear Option on Gulf Oil Spill? No Way, U.S. Says – NYTimes.com

June 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

At least the USA TALKS about nuclear wastes!

Christina Macpherson's websites & blogs

This website might well give the impression that it is anti-American, anti-British etc, – especially on the subject of nuclear wastes.

But – spare a thought for those two countries. At least the nuclear waste subject is RAISED there. (That’s how we can publish it)

Very hard to get a few lines about Russia’s nuclear wastes.

As for China, France and also a few other countries (India, Korea, European states , Israel...) – well there’s nary a word about their nuclear wastes! What do they do with radioactive wastes? It’s a worry. And it seems to me to be complete lunacy for countries like Australia to piously claim safety policy, while selling uranium to such countries.

June 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, reactors | Leave a comment

Highly radioactive wastes from “next generation” nuclear reactors

waste from the next generation plants that use enriched uranium fuel would be two to 158 times more radioactive than waste from existing Canadian reactors….. unfairly paid for by taxpayers, ratepayers and future generations.”

Waste from proposed nuclear plants more radioactive: report The Vancouver Sun, By Mike Desouza, Canwest News Service May 31, 2010 The latest generation of proposed multi-billion dollar Canadian nuclear plants could be up to 158 times more hazardous than their predecessors, opening the door to massive cost overruns and possibly forcing taxpayers to pick up the tab, warns a report to be released today……….. Continue reading →

June 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, wastes | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

No solution to ever-growing nuclear wastes

the intractability of the nuclear-waste problem confronting the power sector and the failure of policymakers to find a permanent solution.……the president and the energy secretary are looking to a new blue ribbon commission to recommend “a safe, long-term solution” to the waste problem

Solutions Remain Few on Issue of Nuclear- Waste Storage – Atomic Waste Gets ‘Temporary’ Home, WSJ.com, JUNE 1, 2010 By REBECCA SMITH Three months after the U.S. cancelled a plan to build a vast nuclear-waste repository in Nevada, the country’s ad hoc atomic-storage policy is becoming clear in places like Wiscasset, Maine. Continue reading →

June 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

The nuclear industry in decline

Ockham’s Razor – 30 May 2010 – Nuclear energy: a panacea for climate change?

Nuclear energy: a panacea for climate change?. ABC Radio National, Ockham’s Razor, Dr Adam Lucas – 30 May 2010 “………..What is the status of nuclear energy in the world at the moment? And do the arguments of its proponents stand up to scrutiny? Continue reading →

June 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, radiation, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

Some responses to the idea of “nuking the oil spill”

Using a nuclear device in an attempt to shut down the GOM oil spill seems like using a battleship to cross a river.Success is not guaranteed and the side effects could be horrendous.”

Nuking The Oil Slick? The Oil Drum by Big Gav on May 31, 2010 – ]A recent interview with Matthew Simmons on Bloomberg discussed the possibility of a nuclear explosion being used to seal the leaking Macondo oil well. Continue reading →

June 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Leaking and lying – time for Vermont Nuclear Plant to close

Nuclear Power Plant Leaking AGAIN AGAIN – IndyPosted, by Maggie Romuld May 31, 2010 The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant could close in March 2012 when its current license expires. While that might not be good news for some, it seems fair for a plant that has been plagued with problems for years, and leaked once again over the weekend. And, perhaps more importantly, when you consider that radioactive tritium was found in an underground pipe and plant officials “acknowledged they had misled state regulators and lawmakers regarding whether the plant had underground pipes that carried radioactive substances.”

Nuclear Power Plant Leaking AGAIN – IndyPosted

June 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, radiation, reactor, reactors | 1 Comment