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

Local authorities would be left to deal with catastrophic nuclear blast

VIDEO Nuclear blast victims would have to wait – USATODAY.com


Nuclear blast victims would have to wait , By Steve Sternberg, USA TODAY  14 April 2010. The White House has warned state and local governments not to expect a “significant federal response” at the scene of a terrorist nuclear attack for 24 to 72 hours after the blast, according to a planning guide. Continue reading

April 14, 2010 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | , , , , | Leave a comment

Weapons plutonium for USA and Russia’s fast neutron reactors

US, Russia, Sign Protocol to Dispose of 17 Thousand Weapons’ Worth of Plutonium,  Political Punch April 13, 2010 As the first Nuclear Security Summit began coming to a close, Secretary o f State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed that their countries would each dispose up at least 34 metric tons of excess weapon-grade plutonium – 68 metric tons total — enough material for approximately 17,000 nuclear weapons. Continue reading

April 14, 2010 Posted by | Russia, technology, USA | , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The economic and social realities of nuclear energy

Waste not … or get nukes — High Country News, Eric Jantz Apr 13, 2010 “……..To begin with, there’s the issue of who benefits from increasing nuclear power generation. At every point along the nuclear fuel chain, the flow of money reinforces current economic and social power disparities. Continue reading

April 14, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, Religion and ethics | , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Old Russian nuclear warheads to become fuel for U.S. commercial nuclear reactors

Nuclear twist sees Russian warheads warming US homes Herald Sun  AFP , April 13, 2010, IN A strange twist of Cold War enmity on the melt, uranium from what once were Russian nuclear warheads is used to heat and light American homes, thanks to the Megatons to Megawatts Program – a successful example of nuclear non-proliferation. Continue reading

April 13, 2010 Posted by | politics international, Russia | , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ukraine will get rid of its Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU)

Ukraine to dispose of enriched uranium, Sydney Morning Herald April 13, 2010 –  AFP Ukraine pledged on Monday to dispose of its stocks of highly enriched uranium by 2012, as the United States vowed to work with the nation still haunted by the Chernobyl accident over two decades ago….

Ukraine to dispose of enriched uranium

April 13, 2010 Posted by | politics international, Ukraine | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nuclear near misses

Nuclear near misses,The Age, by Daniel Flitton, April 13, 2010. Nuclear near misses- THE most infamous accident involved a US Air Force B-52 bomber colliding with a refuelling aircraft at high-altitude above Palomares, Spain, in 1966. The bomber dropped two nuclear weapons – one fell to the ground, another into the Mediterranean, setting off what was described as ”the most expensive, intensive, harrowing and feverish underwater search for a man-made object in world history”. The other bomb exploded on impact. No nuclear detonation occurred, but radioactive plutonium was scattered across a wide area. Continue reading

April 13, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, safety | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Kazakhstan has paid a high price for hosting nuclear weapons

Why Kazakhstan Is Front and Center at the Global Nuclear Security Summit THE HUFFINGTON POST, Al Eisele, 11 April 2010, “………..The radioactive fallout from all the above ground and atmospheric tests left Mrs. Koloskova with health problems and occasional nightmares. “I don’t know what happened with me, but from that moment, I felt headaches and nervous disorders, and I imagined it many times,” she said.

But she was one of the lucky ones. Still vigorous and able to walk with aid of a cane, she was not afflicted with any of the horrific tumors or the radiation-caused genetic mutilations and birth defects that affected many residents of Semey and other settlements near the 7,000-square-mile test site known as the Polygon, Russian for “firing range.”

Her story, and those of thousands of others like her, is the reason why Kazakhstan, a Central Asia country unknown to most Americans, is standing front and center among the 47 nations represented at the two-day Global Nuclear Security Summit beginning Monday in Washington…….

[Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev]  was the first foreign leader to renounce the possession and use of nuclear weapons. Al Eisele: Why Kazakhstan Is Front and Center at the Global Nuclear Security Summit

April 13, 2010 Posted by | Kazakhstan, politics international | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Damage to bone marrow through ionising radiation

Radiation victims continue to be critical, The Hindu :, Staff Reporter , NEW DELHI, April 11, 2010 Doctors suspect extensive damage to bone marrow. The condition of all six persons exposed to radioactive material at a scrap market in the Capital’s Mayapuri area continued to be highly critical on Saturday with doctors suspecting extensive damage to their bone marrow, making them severely susceptible to infections.Deepak Jain, who is admitted to Indraprashtha Apollo Hospital, is reported to be “very critical” and his treatment is being managed in consultation with senior Bhabha Atomic Research Centre officials.

The Hindu : News / National : Radiation victims continue to be critical

April 12, 2010 Posted by | health, India | , , , , | Leave a comment

More radiation victims feared in India

Experts fear more affected by radiation in Mayapuri, The Times of India, Risha Chitlangia, TNN, Apr 11, 2010, NEW DELHI: Scientists from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and experts from National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), along with Delhi Police, will launch a search operation to track down all the people who visited Deepak Jain’s shop in the past two weeks as they fear that more people had been affected by the radioactive waste. Continue reading

April 12, 2010 Posted by | health, India | , , , , | Leave a comment

First shipment to USA of highly dangerous Highly Enriched Uranium

A team of Americans finally shipped it out last month just after the country’s massive earthquake, weaving a convoy of trucks around shattered highways in the middle of the night to reach a functioning port.

Chile gives its last weapons-grade uranium to US By MICHAEL WARREN and MEG KINNARD (AP) – Google News Hostimg 12 April”.…..”It” is highly enriched uranium 235, HEU for short. It’s the material that most worries anti-terrorism experts. Just 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of it in a nuclear bomb could devastate an entire city, in the same way the United States destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. Continue reading

April 12, 2010 Posted by | safety, SOUTH AMERICA | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Radiation illnesses need special hospital treatment

Hospitals not equipped to tackle radiation, The Times of India, Risha Chitlangia, TNN, Apr 10, 2010, NEW DELHI: The incident of radiation exposure in the capital has brought to light the city’s lack of preparedness in dealing with any such incident. Not many hospitals in the city are equipped or their staff trained to deal with patients of radiation exposure, nor do they have a special decontamination room as per the National Disaster Management Authority’s (NDMA) guidelines. Experts also point out that there is no central command that can guide hospitals and the police in dealing with this kind of emergency….

… A person exposed to radiation has to be decontaminated and ideally should be kept in isolation,” said Dr Sanjeev Kumar Bhoi, assistant professor, Medicine, AIIMS Trauma Centre, Hospitals not equipped to tackle radiation – The Times of India

April 12, 2010 Posted by | health, India | , , , , | Leave a comment

To be banned – whole body CT scans for healthy people

Government to ban whole-body CT scans for ‘health MOTs’ |Guardian UK  7 April 2010 BMJ Group The Department of Health is introducing new rules limiting the use of CT scans – detailed 3D X-rays – in private health checks offered to healthy people. Continue reading

April 12, 2010 Posted by | health, UK | , , , | Leave a comment

Exelon nuclear power plant’s radiation monitor not working

Radiation monitor at Oyster Creek nuclear plant is inoperable, officials say  NJ.com, By The Associated Press, April 10, 2010, A monitor that measures radiation emissions at the nation’s oldest operating nuclear plant has been found to be inoperable…….Exelon Corp., which owns the plant, recently notified the state Department of Environmental Protection about the problem. But it’s not clear how long the equipment — known as a stack monitor — has been out of service. Radiation monitor at Oyster Creek nuclear plant is inoperable, officials say | – NJ.com

April 12, 2010 Posted by | safety, USA | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Laser technology increases nuclear power danger

Laser Nuclear Technology Might Pose Security Risk by Richard Harris  NPR  12 April 2010, “…..a new technology that’s been developed to enrich uranium. It’s intended to make fuel for nuclear power plants — but it could be used for weapons, too. Continue reading

April 12, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, technology | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

As nuclear industry materials proliferate, the threat of nuclear terrorism is real

More than 1600 tonnes of highly enriched uranium and 500 tonnes of plutonium are estimated to have been produced worldwide for civilian and military use – enough material to build 120,000 nuclear bombs. Estimates vary as to how much of it remains unsecured and at risk of falling into terrorist hands……

Obama wrestles with nuclear nightmare that won’t go away Sydney Morning Herald ,SIMON MANN IN WASHINGTON, April 10, 2010 So, what if terrorists did get their hands on a nuclear weapon? It doesn’t bear thinking about. Except, thousands of people are thinking about it now. Continue reading

April 10, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, safety | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment