Australian atomic radiation victims not compensated
Ex-servicemen who were ordered into radiation zones and to clean planes and vehicles following the blasts have not received any compensation….Many have died from blood disorders and cancers
Veterans clear to chase compo over Brit N-tests Brisbane Times ANDREA HAYWARD January 16, 2010
Australian veterans exposed to British nuclear testing will not be dissuaded from pursuing legal action against the British government, Veterans Affairs Minister Alan Griffin says.
At the height of the Cold War, the then British prime minister Harold Macmillan made a request to the Australian government for a site to test nuclear weapons.
Former Australian prime minister Robert Menzies agreed and 17 atomic bombs were detonated at Maralinga in South Australia and the Monte Bello Islands, off WA’s Pilbara coast between 1952 and 1958…………………..
Ex-servicemen who were ordered into radiation zones and to clean planes and vehicles following the blasts have not received any compensation.
About 8,000 defence personnel were exposed to the blasts but fewer than 2,000 are still alive.
Many have died from blood disorders and cancers, the Australian Nuclear Veterans Association (ANVA) says.
British veterans have won the right to take the UK Ministry of Defence to court for compensation in a class action of almost 1,000 British veterans and widows.
The British government has appealed the decision, which will be heard in May and a judgment is expected later this year.
Sydney law firm Stacks will represent ANVA in London’s High Court in a second class action for Australian servicemen and UK veterans who were not involved in the original proceedings.
If the class action is successful, the Australian government will have to pay the British government the amount it is sued for, to indemnify it.
Lawyer Tom Goudkamp has urged the Australian veterans affairs minister to consider a non-litigious form of compensation.
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1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 
Wednesday, May 5, 2010(5/5/10)
Dear Madam/Sir,
I am a PhD nuclear engineer/scientist, retired for disability from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission(NRC) in January 2000, ending my 32-year nuclear career after I started conspicuous latent symptoms of mysterious illness at Idaho National Laboratory(INL)for the US Department of Energy) for 15 months(11/1/76-1/6/78) and the US NRC commercial reactor sites(The TMI reactor accident site and 21 operating reactors & spent fuel sites)for 26 month(Apr84-Jan2000).
I started having significant dental problems at INL. They required dental work consisted of 5 amalgam restorations, 1 composite restoration, 1 root canal, and 2 crowns. This work was complete on April 1, 1977 within 5 months since my start on 11/1/76. Soon, I left INL on 1/6/78, with my deteriorating eyesight, diarrhia,nausea/vomiting and tooth decay/loss in acid reflux and drymouth, depression. After 2 years teaching as a professor at California Polytechnic State University, international nuclear and petroleum at ARAMCO consulting services, I joined US NRC, starting as a reactor engineer/inspector on the TMI non-accident Unit I and 21 operating reactors & spent fule sites for 26 months before my relocation to the US NRC Headquarters in June 1986. I started my colorental pain/bleeding,requirng enema every 3 to 4hours, deteriorating eyesight, shortness of breath/left bundle branch block(heart condition), lesions developed on my chest, tongue, right ankle and left thigh, depression… The history of concealment,deception and cover-ups of the US AEC, NRC and DOE is well-known, but no longer secret following US Energy Secretary Bill Richardson stepped forward/admitted with apology in January 2000 to CBS60Minutes, CNN, New York Times and Washington Post, ” This is the first time that US Government lied and took a hike on radiation victims and introduced EEOICPA(Energy Employee Occupational Illness Compensation Act) Congress passed in July 2000.” EEOICP is not complete, and still needs to be amended to include NRC and its contractor employees, but it is the first right step. All the five nuclear powers(USA, Soviet Union, China, UK and France) have had similar policy on radiation victims, but USA is one step ahead of them with the EEOICPA. Amrica is a great country, but not a perfect country.
The implementation of the EEOICP may take 5, 10, 20, 30… or forever. I have been fighting US Government for medical expenses since late 1980s, but as of today(5/5/10), I have received none. I have managed to pay for medical expenses from my own pockets and home equity loans so far.
To make a long story short, I could find no American doctor who was willing to see me for radiation exposure and illness because of the US policy on radiation victims. Any doctor who assisted a radiation victim used to be subject to tax audits and research fund cutoff from US Government. I had to e-mail foreign doctors in Germany, Sweden, UK and Japan. Only some German doctors asked me for a copy of my complete radiation records from NRC because I thought that all my radiation exposure/illness cames from NRC sites until 1/3/07 when I received a letter from USW Union letter asking me 1. whether I worked for INL or not, and if I did, whether I was exposed to radiation or toxic chemicals or not and became sick. If my answer is yes to both, file my EEOICP claims against INL. I did on 1/17/07 or in 2 weeks upon the receipt of the letter dated Dec 2006 and received 1/3/07. As of today(5/5/10),I have received no compensation for my medical expenses at all from US Government. I am writing a book titled: The Plight of American Radiation Victims identical to my Paper,5-pagePeer-reviewed/Presented at the 14th International Annual NPA Conference, held at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, US(14 major coutries represented including Russia). It was available on the Internet. I mailed copies to American Government VIPS including the late US Senate Labor Committee Chairman/Sen. Edward M. Kennedy to assist implementation of EEOICPA. Sen. Kennedy made five Congressional inquires on my behalf for radiation victims.
5,683 EEOICP claims was filed at INL as of 4/11/10 with only 728 approvals. 4,729 claims was filed at INL as of 1/1/08. Recently, I found that all of my coworkers at INL retired and most of them already died. Most of claimants are the survivors(wives, children).
In USA, when one is known to be a radiation victim, s/he instantly becomes an enemy and target of senior management. They start blackballing him or her so that s/he can find a job nowhere. I am an engineer/scientist, educated/trained up to PhD and Postdoc at both state and Ivy League schools with 32-year experience and expertise with major American nuclear firms, national lab and US NRC. Shortly after I signed to retire effective 1/28/2000, I applied for various nuclear and non-nuclear positions with major US Government agencies. I had 13 job interviews with DOE(4), NASA(6), NOAA(1),EPA(1) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory(1) in Pasadena/CA in the first two years. I find out that NRC management was blackballing me. I retained Documented Reference Checking Company(DRC) in Diamond Bar, CA to document NRC black-balling. American Court System never worked for radiation victims like in your countries(UK, France, Russia,China…) because it was the US Policy.
You may call following person. I have a home work for you by pasting a vicious NRC Attorney who still runs the Google ad at American taxpayers’ expenses. I signed the agreement of retirement for disability(work stress and depression instead of radiation exposure/illness)when he said, “If you do not agree to leave NRC under the conditions, I will screw you by having your supervisor will give you failing grades to kick you out of NRC. It was when I had a job interview coming as a deputy director for NASA Tracking Station near Morgantown in West Virginia. Soon, I had a 3-hour job interview with all the management and staff at the NASA Tracking Station, then all of sudden, the interview was ended by its Administrator for no reason. I will be 68 this Friday with radiation illness. I hope I can finish my book: The Plight of American Radiation Victims for all the radiation victims, particularly in the USA, UK, France, Russia and China. You may Google Search Unte Cheh, Clik NRC:SECY-00-0031-Annual Report on Court Litigation and go down to the end to find following:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Unte Cheh v. Jackson, No. AW-98:3610 (D. Md., settled Sept. 30, 1999)
Plaintiff, an NRC employee, claims various forms of unlawful discrimination and filed this suit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and under the Americans with Disabilities Act. OGC worked with the United States Attorney’s office in defending the case. It was settled last September.
CONTACT: Marvin L. Itzkowitz
415-1566
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You may call Mr. Marvin L. Itzkowitz about me to find out what he says about me and he lied to/threatened me to sign the retirement for disability with a promise of federal Workers’ Compensation, then my WC was denied 6 months after my retirement on July 7, 2000. He is a sr. NRC Labor Attorney who joined NRC in 1979 when he got out of a small Long Island law school. I heard he is an orthodox member of the most abused/detested ethnic minority group by Hitler and most Europeans and Arabs. I arrived in America as a foreign student from S. Korea to study nuclear energy in Aug. 1966. Please e-mail me what he said so that I can add it in my Book for all the radiation victims in the world. You should add area code 301 to (301)415-1566 to call him. He is carrying the ad at the expenses of US taxpayers, but no one stops it. I do not want to retain an attorney to take him to the Court to stop the illegal activities. The US Court system does not work for radiation victims any way like in your country. I want you to find it out and e-mail me, then I will add it in my book for all the radiation victims in the world. This is one way we can fight the illegal system. I reported him to the US Internal Revenue Service(IRS) and Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI)for his illegal activities when he used IRS and FBI to harass me. I won the IRS tax audits at the footsteps of the US tax Court and FBI raids by telling the truth to FBI agent about the dirty trics of NRC/DOE. Now, I will let the world keep close eye on him and outsmart him. I still remain an ardent supporter for nuclear energy because it is not perfect, but it is viable alternative for human race. I see no alternative for us. I hope my story will be of help and guidance to you in pursuing your struggle for radiation cause. With my best wishes for your good health. Good night!
Unte Cheh, PhD, PE(Professional Engineer in Califonria)
201 Oak Knoll Terrace
Rockville, Maryland, 20850 USA(Washington Metropolitan Area)
Phone/Fax:(301)424-0074
e-mail: ucheh@comcast.net
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My father Hartley Barry Jackson died at an early age of 57 yrs from cancer,
He was in Australian navy ,he told me they had to help clean up Monte Bello.
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