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Anti-radiation pills for those living near nuclear power plants

State offering anti-radiation pills for those near nuke plants,  York Dispatch, EYANA ADAH MCMILLAN ,  08/07/2010 York County residents living near nuclear power plants can receive free potassium iodide tablets from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.  Potassium iodide helps protect the thyroid gland against the harmful effects of radioactive iodine that may be released during a radiological emergency.The tablets will be distributed Thursday, Aug. 12, at 12 locations around the state, the department said……… State offering anti-radiation pills for those near nuke plants – York Dispatch

August 9, 2010 Posted by | health, USA | , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Move to help nuclear workers exposed to radiation

John  thought he was manufacturing laundry detergents during his 23 years at Blockson. He wore only a paper mask while handling tanks that, unknown to him, were filled with uranium and radium to be used in the production of nuclear weapons.

Workers exposed to radiation may soon benefit from fund, The Washington Post, By Gerry SmithSunday, August 8, 2010;  CHICAGO — Four years ago, then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama called them “veterans of the Cold War” and pledged to help them receive compensation.But today, many former workers at Blockson Chemical in Joliet, Ill., and their survivors still have not been paid from a fund created in 2000 to make amends for exposing workers to high levels of radiation without telling them or providing adequate protection. Continue reading →

August 9, 2010 Posted by | Legal, USA | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Remembering Nagasaki: British nuclear veterans

Speaking ahead of Monday’s 65th anniversary of the US dropping a nuclear bomb on Nagasaki, the servicemen talked about their experience of living through 20 test blasts carried out between 1952 and 1958.

Nagasaki 65 years on: British nuclear test vets push for MoD   compensation,  Metro.co.uk John Higginson – 8th August, 2010, Britain’s nuclear test veterans who are battling to secure £20million in compensation are urging the government to pay up before any more of them die. Continue reading →

August 9, 2010 Posted by | UK, weapons and war | , , , , | Leave a comment

Long term cancer, brain damage, risks from overdose of radiation scanning

the radiation overdoses were larger and more common than previously known–involving about 400 patients at eight hospitals, including six in California. And experts believe that patients may face long-term risks of cancer and brain damage.

Brain Scan Radiation Overdoses More Widespread Than Previously Known, FAIR WARNING, By Elise Craig, August 2, 2010 Within the last few years, some patients across the country who underwent sophisticated brain scans to determine if they had suffered strokes began to experience odd symptoms, including a stripe of baldness running around the backs of their heads, memory loss and confusion.

Eventually, doctors discovered that the problem stemmed from accidental radiation overdoses from the analytical procedure itself, known as a CT brain perfusion scan.An investigation by The New York Times, however, has found that the radiation overdoses were larger and more common than previously known–involving about 400 patients at eight hospitals, including six in California. And experts believe that patients may face long-term risks of cancer and brain damage.

Brain Scan Radiation Overdoses More Widespread Than Previously Known | FairWar

August 7, 2010 Posted by | health, USA | , , , | Leave a comment

Russian efforts to save nuclear weapons plant from wildfires

Russian troops have dug a eight kilometre long canal to keep wildfires away from a nuclear arms site. Radio New Zealand News,  2010 : 08 : 08 Forest and peat fires in Russia, caused by a heatwave, have killed at least 52 people and destroyed thousands of homes.Smoke from the wildfires has blanketed the capital, Moscow, forcing people to wear surgical masks to filter out the smog.

A Russian radio station says army troops have excavated a canal around the Sarov nuclear arms facility, 350km east of Moscow, which is ringed by forest……..Radio New Zealand News : Stories : 2010 : 08 : 08 : Russian troops dig canal to protect nuclear site

August 7, 2010 Posted by | Russia, safety | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Legal action to stop ‘backscatter’ airport radiation scanning

Backscatter technology emits low-dose X-ray radiation to take images that help detect weapons and explosives hidden under clothing, ……, who is there to calibrate them and make sure they are only given the correct amount of radiation?”

Lawsuit Filed Over Airport Scanner Privacy, Health Concerns,  Body-Scan Technology | TechNewsDaily, By Samantha Murphy,  06 August 2010 A public interest group has filed a lawsuit against the federal government demanding the suspension of the full-body scanners increasingly being used in airports nationwide. Continue reading →

August 7, 2010 Posted by | Legal, USA | , , , | 3 Comments

Cancers will increase as young Hiroshima victims live on

Those exposed to A-bomb radiation in early adolescence or at a younger age have shown a higher rate of cancer than those exposed to the radiation as adults. Most of the survivors living now were adolescents or younger at the time of the blast. Many more cancer patients are expected to emerge — probably 70,000 to 80,000 new cases by 2040………

Disease and regret weigh on atomic-bomb survivors By NANAO KAMADA, M.D., chief director of the Hiroshima Atomic-bomb Survivors Relief Foundation. The Japan Times Aug. 6, 2010 “……Among the survivors, various types of malignant tumors developed over time because of their exposure to atomic radiation. The occurrence of leukemia started to increase three years after the bombing, thyroid gland cancer eight years after, breast and lung cancer 10 years after, and stomach and colon cancers 15 years after. Continue reading →

August 7, 2010 Posted by | health, Japan | , , , , , | Leave a comment

U.S. Republican Senators concerned over airport radiation scanning

“We have not seen TSA address the issue of airport and airline personnel who work at the airport and therefore could receive multiple doses of radiation every work day,”
Citing Radiation Concerns, Republicans Request Full-Body Scanner Review; Talk Media News,  AuthorJustin Duckham DateFriday, August 6, 2010 Three Senate Republicans have sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration asking the government entities to review the health effects incurred by the use of full body scanners at airports.

Issued by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Me.) and signed by fellow GOP Senators Tom Coburn (Okla.) and Richard Burr (N.C.), the letter focuses on concerns surrounding the radiation emitted from the machines and its effects on both passengers at TSA workers.

“We have not seen TSA address the issue of airport and airline personnel who work at the airport and therefore could receive multiple doses of radiation every work day,” the letter states. Citing Radiation Concerns, Republicans Request Full-Body Scanner Review

August 7, 2010 Posted by | general | , , | Leave a comment

Utah to suffer again the fallout from nuclear weapons testing?

there simply is no military requirement for new nuclear weapons capabilities that might require the resumption of U.S. nuclear testing.

Nuclear Weapons Testing is Back on the Table in Utah, Blog for Iowa, Editor’s Note, 6 Aug 2010, Nuclear weapons testing is back on the election agenda in Utah, the reddest of red states, home of many “downwinders” who suffered cancer from the fallout of our previous regime of nuclear weapons testing in Nevada. Continue reading →

August 7, 2010 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | , , , , , | 1 Comment

Plea for disarmament – Japan’s children speak

VIDEO  MillionPleas A reminder of the real significance of today: 65 years since Hiroshima August 6, 2010 , by Croakey Today is an important day. Thanks to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons for reminding us of the day’s significance.
The first pleas come from Japanese children at the Hiroshima Peace Park together with one of the survivors of the original nuclear attack. Join them at http://www.millionpleas.com.” MillionPleas

A reminder of the real significance of today: 65 years since Hiroshima – Croakey

August 6, 2010 Posted by | general | , , , | Leave a comment

Wildfire danger to Russia’s top secret nuclear facility

Russian Wildfire Threatens Nuclear Facility, Voice of America, James Brooke | Moscow, 5 Aug 2010, As record hot temperatures reaching 35 degrees Celsius continue to bake Russia, wildfires threaten the nation’s nuclear-weapons laboratory and other military facilities.  A thick haze of wood smoke blankets Moscow……
Eight firefighting planes and 20 trucks are helping to keep flames out of Sarov, the location of the country’s top-secret nuclear research facility and a city closed to foreigners……..

Russian Wildfire Threatens Nuclear Facility | Europe | English

August 5, 2010 Posted by | Russia, safety | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Continuing issue of smuggling of Highly Enriched Uranium

The Georgian ministry of interior has foiled eight attempts of illicit trafficking of enriched uranium during the last ten years, including several cases of weapons-grade enrichment.”

Nuclear Smuggling in the Former Soviet Union, THE HUFFINGTON POST, Rizwan Ladha , 4 Aug 2010, “……..In 2006, a North Ossetian man named Oleg Khintsagov (sometimes spelled Khinsagov) was arrested for selling 100 grams of highly enriched uranium (HEU) to an undercover Georgian official. He was sentenced to 7 years in prison. An excellent detailed report of the entire episode (in PDF format) is available from the Belfer Center here, and is covered briefly in the new feature film,  Countdown to Zero. Continue reading →

August 5, 2010 Posted by | EUROPE, secrets,lies and civil liberties, Uranium | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Medical scanners’radiation overdoses, but Toshiba still wants nuclear taxpayer funds

the overdoses were larger and more widespread than previously known, with patients reporting serious health problems. They face long-term risks of cancer and brain damage…..Given the information emerging about Toshiba’s safety record, is that [funding] a risk U.S. taxpayers want to take?

Company seeking nuclear subsidies under investigation for radiation overdoses to stroke patients, FACING SOUTH, By Sue Sturgis August 4, 2010 The U.S. Senate could vote as soon as next month on a proposal to give $9 billion in taxpayer-backed loan guarantees to companies planning to build new nuclear reactors — and one of the companies seeking the aid for a project in Texas is currently under federal investigation for its role in the radiation overdoses of patients who received CT scans on its equipment. Continue reading →

August 5, 2010 Posted by | safety, USA | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Public anxiety over plan to use plutonium fuel in Browns Ferry reactors

The plutonium in MOX also makes fuel rods less stable, Lyman said. That increases the chance of a reactor meltdown. Not only is such a meltdown more likely, he said, but the use of plutonium would increase the number of fatalities by about 25 percent compared to a meltdown involving conventional fuel rods.

(USA) Crowd expresses concern over plutonium proposal, The Times Daily | Florence, AL, By Eric Fleischauer Decatur Daily, August 4, 2010 . A frustrated crowd of about 60 people confronted TVA and Energy Department officials at a public hearing Tuesday, and few expressed comfort with a proposal to use plutonium in Browns Ferry reactors. Continue reading →

August 5, 2010 Posted by | technology, USA | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Plan to ship radioactive bus-sized nuclear generators across Greatr Lakes

Opponents of the plan argue that the school-bus sized generators are too dangerous to ship across waterways that millions of people in Canada and the U.S. rely on for drinking water. Some worry that it will also open up the lakes as a main thoroughfare for other nuclear shipments.

Public hearing delays planned nuclear shipment, Montreal Gazette, 4 Aug 2010, TORONTO — A controversial plan to ship 16 aging radioactive steam generators across Ontario’s Great Lakes has been delayed so a public hearing can take place. Continue reading →

August 5, 2010 Posted by | Canada, opposition to nuclear | , , , , , | Leave a comment

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