January 13, 2012

Child leukemia doubles near French nuclear plants: study

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/11/child-leukaemia-doubles-near-french-nuclear-plants-study/


-snip-

The study, conducted by the French health research body INSERM, found that between 2002 and 2007, 14 children under the age of 15 living in a 5-kilometre radius of France’s 19 nuclear power plants had been diagnosed with leukemia.

This is double the rate of the rest of the country, where a total of 2,753 cases were diagnosed in the same period.

-snip-

The IRSN said it recommended a more thorough study of the causes of the leukemia cases found near nuclear power stations and hoped to set up international research collaboration.

-snip-
----------------------------

leukemia is so painful

January 13, 2012

South Korea has a nuke plant event - in the blink of an eye

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php


The 680,000kW No. 1 reactor at Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do has been shut down due to a malfunctioning component. The reactor, the design life of which expires on November 30 this year, malfunctioned just six months after comprehensive maintenance that lasted two years and three months, prompting controversy over its safety. The Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE) and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. Ltd (KHNP), stated on Thursday that the reactor had been shut down at around 4:24 that morning after a temperature sensor on one of its four reactor coolant pumps malfunctioned. No radiation leak had occurred, and the reactor would be restarted within two to three days after procedures had been followed, they said. Coolant pumps are devices that circulate water in order to take away heat generated by the reactor. When a certain temperature is exceeded, the reactor is shut down. “The temperature did not actually rise: it was simply a component
abnormality,” explained one MKE official.rnrnWolseong’s No. 1 reactor began commercial operation in 1983 and is the second oldest in Korea, approaching the end of its 30-year design life. It is currently being assessed by the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) for an extension to its period of operation. The MKE and KHNP plan to run the reactor for another 10 years if the safety inspection finds no problems. “They give 10 year extensions in other countries, too, after conducting safety inspections according to set procedures,” explained one MKE official. An official from the NSSC said, “We received a final life extension report in December last year and began our assessment. The assessment will last up to 18 months.”rnrnLocal residents and environmental groups, however, are expressing concern over the fact that the No. 1 reactor malfunctioned six months after being restarted in July 2011 following major maintenance work that began in
April 2009 and lasted for two years and three months, including replacement of pressure pipes and control computers. The Korea Federation of Environmental Movements issued a statement saying, “Until this accident, the Wolseong No. 1 reactor has recorded 51 malfunctions over 30 years due to flaws in machinery and components, including radiation leaks, coolant leaks, and reactor shutdowns. Local residents and civic groups have been demanding that the reactor be decommissioned but the government unreasonably restarted it in July last year. Today’s shutdown is the result of that decision.” Lee Sang-hong, the director of a Gyeongju alliance for nuclear safety formed by local civic groups, said, “Because the Wolseong No. 1 reactor has reached the end of its 30-year design life and is worn out, it is expected to keep malfunctioning from now on. There is a high possibility that a small accident could quickly turn into a large-scale one.”
-----------------

January 13, 2012

The level of radiation exposure from holding the tissue box

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php


Area: USA, State of New York, Bed Bath and Beyond, Manhattan, New York City


The level of radiation exposure from holding the tissue box against the body for one hour would be equivalent to a chest X-ray, said state health officials. Health officials said they've removed a dozen metal box tissue holders containing small amounts of radioactive material from four Bed, Bath and Beyond stores in New York. None of the boxes were sold to the public, said the company. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission notified state health officials Tuesday that a shipment of metal box tissue holders to four Bed, Bath and Beyond stores were found to contain low levels of Cobalt-60. Cobalt-60, a man-made product using cobalt, has been used to sterilize medical equipment and in radiation therapy for cancer patients. The level of radiation exposure from holding the tissue box against the body for one hour would be equivalent to a chest X-ray, said state health officials. The NRC said scrap metal containing Cobalt-60 could have inadvertently been incorporated into the product during
smelting. The products arrived in a shipment from India on Dec. 27, and 220 were distributed to Bed Bath and Beyond stores nationwide. Locally, 12 were distributed to a store in Nassau County, a store in Suffolk County, and two stores in Westchester County. Company representatives emphasized none were sold to the public and that no other stores in New York received shipments of the items. "The presence or handling of these boxes poses no imminent public health threat," said Nassau County Health Commissioner Lawrence Einstein, M.D.
------------------------

whatever radiation enters your body stays there forever
radiation accumulates

January 12, 2012

Little Bollywood struggles in Afghanistan

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/NA13Df02.html


At first sight, the green tents standing in a row in the southeastern Afghan city of Jalalabad look like they might be temporary shelter for a group of refugees, but they serve a very different purpose. In a city known as "Little Mumbai" as the nearest thing Afghanistan has to Bollywood, the tents are the local cinema.

For around a US dollar a time, Jalalabad residents can watch a locally-made film in their own language, Pashto.

The tent cinemas are only open for business on public holidays. Gaps in the cloth are patched up to prevent daylight getting in.

-snip-

"I wish there was a cinema hall in Nangarhar province," Zerawar said. "Our officials are busy looting, and they don't attend to things like this."

-long snip about how hard is to make and view a film and because of the religiously insane they have to hire women actors from Pakistan, etc.-

Sadeq remains optimistic despite all the obstacles. He cites two success stories - a film called Handprint won first prize in a national film festival, while a 22-part drama serial called White Poison has been taken up by the national television network.

-snip-
------------------------------

wishing them well

anyone seen 'Handprint' or 'White Poison'?

January 12, 2012

Florida Legislation Paves Ground for Water Privatization (egads!)

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/01/10-2


Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn open to selling water for industry, agriculture; may consider "toilet to tap" measures


Recent moves by Tampa Mayor Buckhorn and state Rep. Dana Young (R-FL) have some residents fearing privatization of the state's water is on the way.

Buckhorn and Young have a bill pending in legislature, HB 639, that would transfer public drinking water and reclaimed wastewater from being a public resource to being owned by the utility company.

-snip-

In Texas, recent water privatization efforts have left residents overwhelmed by rate increases, as an in-depth report in the Statesman showed:

-snip-
------------------------

Buckhorn and Young must have found a way to make money off of Fl. water.

they better be stopped

January 11, 2012

2 Vt. utilities sue nuke plant over tower failure

http://news.yahoo.com/2-vt-utilities-sue-nuke-plant-over-tower-175400319.html


-snip-

"Entergy's failure to implement and exercise sound practices with respect to the maintenance, repair and improvements of the facility's cooling towers caused tower failures in August 2007 and July 2008," Green Mountain Power Corp. and Central Vermont Public Service Corp. said in a joint statement Tuesday.

"The failures resulted in significantly reduced power output, which in turn deprived us of power due to us and our customers at specified, below-market prices," the companies added.

The companies announced the suit on Tuesday, a day after filing it in Windham Superior Court in Newfane. They are seeking $6.6 million — the amount they say they had to pay to replace the power they had been getting from Vermont Yankee during two power reductions triggered by the cooling tower failures in August 2007 and July 2008. The two utilities said they would also seek to recover interest and legal fees, and requested a trial by jury.

-snip-

Relying on Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspection reports, the lawsuit said the initial failure of one of the cooling towers was due to rotting of wooden support beams caused by a chemical compound containing iron, fungus growing on the beams and bolts that were tightened too much. The second problem arose because of an inadequate repair of the first, the suit said.

-snip-
-----------------------

in the blink of an eye human error can cause a hellish situation

January 11, 2012

Statin use linked to more diabetes in women - study

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/01/10/health-statin-women-idINDEE80901L20120110?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=70622


Cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins may be linked to an increased risk of diabetes in middle-aged and older women, according to a U.S. study -- but researchers said the benefits of the drugs still make them valuable for people at risk.

-snip-
----------------------------

a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation?

January 11, 2012

N.Y. has a nuke plant event - shut down - 230 days since the last one

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php


A suburban New York nuclear reactor has been shut down to repair a pump. Entergy Nuclear, owner of the Indian Point power plant in Buchanan, says there was no release of radioactivity. The pump is one of four that supply cooling water to the Indian Point 2 reactor. An Entergy spokesman says operators had noticed an increase of water flow through the pump's mechanical seal over the past two weeks. He says that on Monday night, the extra flow reached a point at which operators decided to shut down for a repair. He says it's not yet known how long Indian Point 2 will be offline. It had been 230 days since its last shutdown. The other reactor at the plant, Indian Point 3, continued operating at full power.
---------------------

January 10, 2012

Lost . . . lost homes

http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/4455


Women are peculiar beings . . . whoever, whatever they are . . . they are always attached to home.

Our home is our shell, our protection . . . the men may come and they may go, but our homes are our shelter . . . you take away our homes, you strip us naked . . .

Many of us Iraqi women have been stripped naked that way, some of us even more, a full striptease . . . until we ended up in brothels . . .

-snip-

Specially don’t count on empathy from those in the “first world,” they are too polluted, these are people cut off from the most basics . . . they are far gone—down. Forget them.

-snip-

Turn that grief into the real thing . . . into an accounting exercise. Your language does not count no more . . . the language of grief, of feelings, of emotions, of sentiments, mean shit . . . you need to learn a new language . . . the language of accounting, of adding up figures . . . of even out . . .

-snip-

You may never recover your home, your protective shell, but at least you would have learned a new language. You have been taught a new language for well over 9 years now . . . Speak it. And speak it well.

Layla Anwar’s blog is An Arab Woman Blues—Reflections in a sealed bottle where this was first published.
-----------------

we took away their homes, we are guilty