The harsh fact is that nuclear accidents leave a legacy of sicknesses which develop over the years and are spread across the globe. If the wind blows you "hot spot" particles to breath in or eat and those hot spots causes you cancer, it doesn't make much difference if your friends have them or not.. Those ones are yours. This means that countries have a global responsibility to their neighbours.
We seem to be very quick in offering to go and bomb someone else's country, in England. Well, not me, but our government. Maybe they don't mind what they do to other people, and it's up to us to point out to them.. because the Lib Dems certainly seem to have forgotten.. that nuclear power is dangerous, accidents do happen and countries like Norway have already chosen not to have nuclear power. However, the wind from Sellafield only takes minutes to reach them, if it's blowing in the right direction. We don't have the right to risk giving the Norwegian people cancer. They didn't vote this government in and my guess is that if a lot of people in this country had known how it would turn out.. they wouldn't have either.
Showing posts with label cancer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cancer. Show all posts
Thursday, 9 June 2011
Saturday, 28 May 2011
It was an ordinary Sunday morning,... but radioactive water was seeping into the laundry room
Yes it was... One of the contractors working on the decommissioning of the Sizewell A nuclear power station in Suffolk in the U.K..decided to wash out some dirty clothes and while he was in the laundry room he spotted something out of the ordinary: radioactive cooling waster which was leaking out of the pond which holds the reactor's extremely radioactive spent nuclear fuel... No... none of the alarms had gone off and Yes..by the time the next patrol came round, the pond level would have gone down enough to expose the nuclear fuel rods. Potentially, they could have overheated, caught fire and sent a plume of radioactive contamination along the coastline.. or which ever way the wind blew. Does the scenario sound horribly familiar?
This is very well reported in the Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jun/11/nuclear-waste-nuclearpower but the episode took place on January 7, 2007 and when was it reported? June 11, 2009. Why the gap, when it was so significant?
This report from the HM Nuclear Installation Inspectorate was obtained under the freedom of information act by John Large, when he was compiling a dossier for the local "Shutdown Sizewell Campaign, otherwise would we have found out?
The U.K is ringed with nuclear power plants and this government would still like more. This is a link to a dynamic map, to show what would happen if there was an accident at a nuclear power plant in Britain, it's from No 2 Nuclear Power and you can make the wind blow in different directions. http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/Chernobyl-UK.php
I don't suppose the leaking water looked different to any other leaking water, but the contractor knew it was...what if he hadn't. Would you know? Why did it take an independent nuclear consultant to ferret this out? Luckily there are a few.
Do you feel confident that we won't ever be in a similar situation to Japan? We don't have earthquakes of that ferocity, but even if less people would develop cancer some years later, if that cancer is the one which affects you, it probably doesn't make too much difference how many other people are suffering in the same way, except for the NHS resources to treat you.
This is very well reported in the Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jun/11/nuclear-waste-nuclearpower but the episode took place on January 7, 2007 and when was it reported? June 11, 2009. Why the gap, when it was so significant?
This report from the HM Nuclear Installation Inspectorate was obtained under the freedom of information act by John Large, when he was compiling a dossier for the local "Shutdown Sizewell Campaign, otherwise would we have found out?
The U.K is ringed with nuclear power plants and this government would still like more. This is a link to a dynamic map, to show what would happen if there was an accident at a nuclear power plant in Britain, it's from No 2 Nuclear Power and you can make the wind blow in different directions. http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/Chernobyl-UK.php
I don't suppose the leaking water looked different to any other leaking water, but the contractor knew it was...what if he hadn't. Would you know? Why did it take an independent nuclear consultant to ferret this out? Luckily there are a few.
Do you feel confident that we won't ever be in a similar situation to Japan? We don't have earthquakes of that ferocity, but even if less people would develop cancer some years later, if that cancer is the one which affects you, it probably doesn't make too much difference how many other people are suffering in the same way, except for the NHS resources to treat you.
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
A is for alpha particles
It would be good if A was mainly for apple, a round, red, wholesome flavourful, juicy organic apple. Right now it's for alpha particles. Why? Well you can't identify them easily with every Geiger counter... You can make a reasonable assumption, I have read, from spikes in Geiger counter readings from other radioactive sources, that they are present.... or you need a Geiger counter that you can specifically measure them with.
What is so special about them? I was taught at A level that they couldn't get through a thin sheet of paper...bumbling, heavy kind of things in an atomic kind of way. Oh how little we knew then! I reckon that when you thought you knew it all, then... when you realise that you know very, very little, in fact almost nothing at all.... this is the beginning of true learning.
Actually, alpha particles emitted from plutonium or uranium which has been inhaled or ingested can very definitely cause you problems in the long term. It isn't just alpha particle emitters, some of the other radionuclides aren't too people friendly either.
This is why, when people in the Tokyo region reported that they have swollen lymph nodes and sores in their nostrils, it is concerning.
The website, which I, personally, am very grateful to be able to use at the moment is that of the Low Level Radiation Campaign. It has always been at the forefront of exposing uncomfortable truths and right now, people are beginning to value its content more than ever. If you want to find out more, you can look up alpha particles and cancer for yourselves and I seriously recommend a visit to http://www.llrc.org/ if you want to find out about Japan right now and see what practical steps the Japanese people can take.
I don't blame anybody... we can all make mistakes... let's just learn from them. We are possibly at a cross roads in the future of mankind... whether, frankly, we are going to survive or not .. and I am here only looking at the whole nuclear scenario.... Don't think we haven't had scares in the U.K. because we have. Belarus or Britain, it can happen anywhere.
We still have time.... some of us.
What is so special about them? I was taught at A level that they couldn't get through a thin sheet of paper...bumbling, heavy kind of things in an atomic kind of way. Oh how little we knew then! I reckon that when you thought you knew it all, then... when you realise that you know very, very little, in fact almost nothing at all.... this is the beginning of true learning.
Actually, alpha particles emitted from plutonium or uranium which has been inhaled or ingested can very definitely cause you problems in the long term. It isn't just alpha particle emitters, some of the other radionuclides aren't too people friendly either.
This is why, when people in the Tokyo region reported that they have swollen lymph nodes and sores in their nostrils, it is concerning.
The website, which I, personally, am very grateful to be able to use at the moment is that of the Low Level Radiation Campaign. It has always been at the forefront of exposing uncomfortable truths and right now, people are beginning to value its content more than ever. If you want to find out more, you can look up alpha particles and cancer for yourselves and I seriously recommend a visit to http://www.llrc.org/ if you want to find out about Japan right now and see what practical steps the Japanese people can take.
I don't blame anybody... we can all make mistakes... let's just learn from them. We are possibly at a cross roads in the future of mankind... whether, frankly, we are going to survive or not .. and I am here only looking at the whole nuclear scenario.... Don't think we haven't had scares in the U.K. because we have. Belarus or Britain, it can happen anywhere.
We still have time.... some of us.
Sunday, 10 October 2010
So why would twenty Quebec doctors resign en mass?
It's not usual for one doctor to resign on principle but when twenty Canadian doctors walk together, there has to be a pretty powerful reason. The cause for this extreme move was the concern they had about the proposed mining of uranium in their province. Two other provinces had already refused to allow it. This happened in December of last year and I only recently came across it. You can read the details in the Spring Edition of Nukewatch Quarterly.. under: twenty doctors resign (!) These guys aren't stupid, nor are the members of the Australian trades union, who refuse to work in uranium mines.
....Last year twenty doctors, including specialists, resigned en mass from their hospital in Sept Isles, Canada in protest at the Quebec government's decision not to ban uranium mining in their province, unlike British Columbia and Nova Scotia, who already have. There were plans for Uranium mining on the North Shore of Quebec. The doctors wrote about the historical contamination of drinking water,environmental destruction and, irreversible health hazards. You can read the full report at http://www.nukewatchinfo.org/Quarterly/2010spring/page1%5B1%5D.pdf (It's at the bottom of the page on the right hand side.)These are professional people, and they resigned as a group in an advanced nation. Canada has around 20% of the world's uranium supplies.
Cross to Australia and you will find that the electricians in a trades union.the ETU Queensland and Northern Territories Branch are opposed to uranium mining....The branch refuses to let any of its members work in uranium mining projects "When the Dust Settles" is a DVD production to explain to Members and the people of Australia the dangers and effects that Uranium mining creates.
Now come back to America, and an indigenous people. I read that the Navajo Nation has banned Uranium mining on their land.
According to Wikipedia,
"For a people that historically had almost no cases, currently several types of cancer are in evidence at rates higher than the national average on the Four Corners Navajo Reservation. (Raloff, 2004) Especially high are the rates of reproductive-organ cancers in teenage Navajo girls, averaging seventeen times higher than the average of girls in the United States.
It has been suspected that uranium mines, both active and abandoned, have released dust into the surrounding air and the water supply. Studies done on mice, exposing them to a soluble form of uranium similar to what might enter groundwater from the mines, showed heavy increases in oestrogen levels which might explain the increased cancer levels among Navajo girls. The amount of uranium given to the mice was half the level permitted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and one-tenth the level found in some wells on the Navajo reservation."
Water contamination for many thousands of years is one of the problems that people fear in the areas surrounding uranium mining.
You will see that this is one reason why they don't want it, apart from a history of exploitation, sickness and deaths,from mining..
Now, ask yourself where the uranium mining exploration and granting of licenses is going on at full speed, and one of the places is Africa, and the people who will be affected are some of the poorest and least formally educated in the world. Do you think that their voice will be heard? It's a struggle for people in developed nations with a history of sickness and deaths from uranium mining.
High burn up fuel is not the answer. The waste has to be kept on site for a minimum of 50 to 160 years before it can be safely moved. This is hardly a fair legacy to leave a generation in this country as yet unborn, facing we know not what problems and who will get no benefit from it? I have read that it is too hot to bury safely.
We have brilliant people working on renewables. In this country we have enough wind and wave and tidal energy to keep us supplied and have spare to export. In Australia, in the desert, Dr. Karl states that an area 50km by 50km of solar voltaic would provide enough electrical energy for the whole of Australia and an area 500km by 500km would supply enough electrical energy to supply the whole world. Come on guys, we can do it. Think what a future you could be leaving your grandchildren. Think happy.
....Last year twenty doctors, including specialists, resigned en mass from their hospital in Sept Isles, Canada in protest at the Quebec government's decision not to ban uranium mining in their province, unlike British Columbia and Nova Scotia, who already have. There were plans for Uranium mining on the North Shore of Quebec. The doctors wrote about the historical contamination of drinking water,environmental destruction and, irreversible health hazards. You can read the full report at http://www.nukewatchinfo.org/Quarterly/2010spring/page1%5B1%5D.pdf (It's at the bottom of the page on the right hand side.)These are professional people, and they resigned as a group in an advanced nation. Canada has around 20% of the world's uranium supplies.
Cross to Australia and you will find that the electricians in a trades union.the ETU Queensland and Northern Territories Branch are opposed to uranium mining....The branch refuses to let any of its members work in uranium mining projects "When the Dust Settles" is a DVD production to explain to Members and the people of Australia the dangers and effects that Uranium mining creates.
Now come back to America, and an indigenous people. I read that the Navajo Nation has banned Uranium mining on their land.
According to Wikipedia,
"For a people that historically had almost no cases, currently several types of cancer are in evidence at rates higher than the national average on the Four Corners Navajo Reservation. (Raloff, 2004) Especially high are the rates of reproductive-organ cancers in teenage Navajo girls, averaging seventeen times higher than the average of girls in the United States.
It has been suspected that uranium mines, both active and abandoned, have released dust into the surrounding air and the water supply. Studies done on mice, exposing them to a soluble form of uranium similar to what might enter groundwater from the mines, showed heavy increases in oestrogen levels which might explain the increased cancer levels among Navajo girls. The amount of uranium given to the mice was half the level permitted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and one-tenth the level found in some wells on the Navajo reservation."
Water contamination for many thousands of years is one of the problems that people fear in the areas surrounding uranium mining.
You will see that this is one reason why they don't want it, apart from a history of exploitation, sickness and deaths,from mining..
Now, ask yourself where the uranium mining exploration and granting of licenses is going on at full speed, and one of the places is Africa, and the people who will be affected are some of the poorest and least formally educated in the world. Do you think that their voice will be heard? It's a struggle for people in developed nations with a history of sickness and deaths from uranium mining.
High burn up fuel is not the answer. The waste has to be kept on site for a minimum of 50 to 160 years before it can be safely moved. This is hardly a fair legacy to leave a generation in this country as yet unborn, facing we know not what problems and who will get no benefit from it? I have read that it is too hot to bury safely.
We have brilliant people working on renewables. In this country we have enough wind and wave and tidal energy to keep us supplied and have spare to export. In Australia, in the desert, Dr. Karl states that an area 50km by 50km of solar voltaic would provide enough electrical energy for the whole of Australia and an area 500km by 500km would supply enough electrical energy to supply the whole world. Come on guys, we can do it. Think what a future you could be leaving your grandchildren. Think happy.
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