Dental X rays a significant cause of cancer
“I would keep your dental X-rays to a minimum.”
Radiation safety of dental X-rays questioned Straight.com, by ALEX ROSLIN on AUG 14, 2013“………..In a study in the journal Cancer last year, 1,433 people with meningioma were found to be two times more likely to have had a “bitewing” dental X-ray as those without the illness. Those who reported having a panorex scanning dental X-ray (which gives a two-dimensional panoramic view of the mouth) before age 10 were 4.9 times more likely to have meningioma.
Meningioma is the most common form of primary brain tumour (tumours that start in the brain). Women get it more than twice as often as men.
Other studies have linked dental X-rays to thyroid cancer, breast cancer (in women who hadn’t worn a shielded apron), saliva-gland tumours, and glioma (a cancerous type of brain and spinal tumour).
Pregnant women who got a dental X-ray were three times more likely to deliver a low-birth-weight baby (weighing less than 2.5 kilograms), according to a 2004 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Dental X-rays are the most common way Americans are exposed to human-made radiation, the 2012 Cancer study said. Continue reading
US unexploded bombs found by Australian Navy, on Barrier Reef
Navy finds US bombs dumped on Great Barrier Reef ABC News, By Francis Tapim Aug 16, 2013 The Royal Australian Navy has found four unexploded bombs that were dropped onto the Great Barrier Reef during a military exercise off central Queensland last month.
The bombs were dumped by two US fighter jets during Exercise Talisman Sabre at Shoalwater Bay in mid July.
The Navy’s mine hunting vessel HMAS Gascoyne found the bombs today and is working out a plan to retrieve the ordnance.
The Navy says the bombs were detected at a depth of 60 to 70 metres using sonar equipment in a remote-control submersible.
It says it is working with the US Navy to recover the bombs….. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-16/navy-finds-us-bombs-dumped-on-barrier-reef/4893174
Australians in France’s anti nuclear walk reinforce movement against uranium mining
French walk ends with renewed commitment to stop uranium mining in Australia http://walkingforcountry.com/2013/08/15/french-walk-ends-with-renewed-commitment-to-stop-uranium-mining-in-australia/#comment-1579 (Great photographs) Walkatjurra Walkabout, August 15, 2013 by Marcus Atkinson It’s been a couple of weeks since the walk through the Rhone Valley in France finished. After having time to reflect on the situation that France is faced with and the connection we have with the movement there due to Australia being one of the largest exporters of uranium.
Along the walk it really hit home that uranium from Australia had taken this same path over the last few decades and many of the accidents that have happened in France would have more than likely involved uranium that had been exported from Australia.
Just in this short 4 week walk we touched on so many aspects of the industry, from the enrichment facilities to the fabrication of fuel rods and the development of MOX fuel along with nuclear power plants that are nearing their use by date with the possibility of an extension in their license.
Bugey where we finished the walk has local community members fighting to shut down the nuclear power plant by it’s used by date is in 2016. There is also the concern of decommissioning and where all the radioactive material will be stored when this finally happens. The local group made us extremely aware of the issues that they face. When they finally close down the plant then a whole new struggle begins to make sure that the decommissioning is done properly and that the radioactive material is isolated from the environment..
The problem that they and many others in similar positions have is the question of where will this be stored!!! ? NOBODY wants the waste and NOBODY knows what to do with it!!!
It is unacceptable that this industry has been able to continue, and the fact that Australia is playing a major role in supplying uranium while also trying to expand the uranium mining industry here is something that we must all take responsibility for.
All along the way we heard stories of intimidation, bribes and coercion, but we also heard the stories from brave individuals who have stood strong against the industry even in the face of health concerns.
This has empowered many of us to fight even harder against the proposed uranium mines here and to work in collaboration with the global community to end the nuclear industry.
We hope that many of you will join us on the Walkatjurra Walkabout in Western Australia next year or become involved with groups in your own area. Check out the video of the MADador who made a special appearance at the Bugey Nuclear Power Plant for a show down with the TORO BULL!! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10201328478109318
There will be more information at www.walkingforcountry.com in the coming months..
How the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) manipulates cancer data
The Nuclear Cancer inside of the United Nations, blog by Jan Hemmer June 1, 2013 by Mikkai 妊娠中の日本人女性の避難すぐ “……The main way in which the “radiation protection industry” has succeeded in hugely underrating the ill-health caused by nuclear power is by insisting on a group of extremely restrictive definitions as to what qualifies as a radiation-caused illness statistic. For example, under IAEA’s criteria:
> If a radiation-caused cancer is not fatal, it is not counted in the IAEA’s figures
> If a cancer is initiated by another carcenogen, but accelerated or promoted by exposure to radiation, it is not counted.
> If an auto-immune disease or any non-cancer is caused by radiation, it isnot counted.
> Radiation-damaged embryos or foetuses which result in miscarriage or stillbirth do not count
> A congenitally blind, deaf or malformed child whose illnesses are are radiation-related are not included in the figures because this is not genetic damage, but rather is teratogenic, and will not be passed on later to the child’s offspring.
> Causing the genetic predisposition to breast cancer or heart disease does not count since it is not a “serious genetic disease” in the Mendelian sense.
> Even if radiation causes a fatal cancer or serious genetic disease in a live born infant, it is discounted if the estimated radiation dose is below 100 mSv [mSv= millisievert, a measurement of radiation exposure. One hundred millsievert is the equivalent in radiation of about 100 X-Rays].
> Even if radiation causes a lung cancer, it does not count if the person smokes — in fact whenever there is a possibility of another cause, radiation cannot be blamed.
> If all else fails, it is possible to claim that radiation below some designated dose does not cause cancer, and then average over the whole body the radiation dose which has actually been received by one part of the body or even organ, as for instance when radio-iodine concentrates in the thyroid. This arbitrary dilution of the dose will ensure that the 100 mSv cut-off point is nowhere near reached. It is a technique used to dismiss the sickness of Gulf War veterans who inhaled small particles of ceramic uranium which stayed in their lungs for more than two years, and in their bodies for more than eight years, irradiating and damaging cells in a particular part of the body.
quote by Dr. Rosalia Bertell, November 1999 issue of The Ecologist, pp. 408-411:http://ratical.org/radiation/NAvictims.html http://tekknorg.wordpress.com/2013/06/01/the-nuclear-cancer-insidie-of-the-united-nations/#comment-5111
Melbourne to host Australia’s first Energy Storage Conference
Mixed Greens: Energy storage conference coming to Australia REneweconmy,By Staff Reporter on 14 August 2013 Melbourne is set to host Australia’s first ever energy storage conference, which will be held in conjunction with the Solar 2014 conference in May 2014. The Australian Energy Storage Conference will bring together equipment providers, manufactures, utilities, policy makers and energy experts, to explore the market ready applications for energy storage at all scales. It will host a two-day conference program, while also showcasing all the latest technology, solutions and application case studies.
Energy storage is not only widely considered to be the new frontier for the renewable energy industry, addressing one of its major challenges – intermittency, many believe it will be one of the major catalysts that will fundamentally change the entire energy industry. With global investment in energy storage tipped to reach $122 billion by 2021, cost effective solutions are rapidly emerging. The Australian Energy Storage Conference and Exhibition will be the first event in Australia to specifically showcase these, and their applications for renewable energy and beyond. http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/mixed-greens-2-92321
Doubts growing that Fukushima radiation zone can really be cleaned up
The mushrooms that used to provide a livelihood for foragers are now steeped in dangerous levels of caesium
Nothing on the same scale had ever been attempted before. After the Chernobyl accident in 1986, highly contaminated houses were entombed in concrete and the surrounding area was abandoned.
By contrast, Japan’s government is attempting to bring background radiation levels [down]
“Decontamination in the true sense of the word is not being carried out,” “I think the government recognises that Fukushima cannot be returned to how it was.”
INSIGHT – JAPAN’S NUCLEAR CLEAN-UP: COSTLY, COMPLEX AND AT RISK OF FAILING YAHOO 7 NEWS, 15 AUG 13 BY SOPHIE KNIGHT KAWAUCHI, Japan (Reuters) – The most ambitious radiation clean-up ever attempted has proved costly, complex and time-consuming since the Japanese government began it more than two years in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear meltdown. It may also fail.
Doubts are mounting that the effort to decontaminate hotspots in an area the size of Connecticut will succeed in its ultimate aim – luring more than 100,000 nuclear evacuees back home.
If thousands of former residents cannot or will not return, parts of the farming and fishing region could remain an abandoned wilderness for decades. Continue reading
RADIO: Saturday 17 Aug – Ending Nuclear Deterrence – before it ends us
10am Saturday on the Radioactive Show (855 on the AM dial) or listen at www.3cr.org.au.
– Richard Tanter (Nautilus Institute and University of Melbourne) explains the doctrine of extended nuclear deterrence and reveals our nuclear “umbrella” to be quite leaky. We explore why this doctrine, and the Australian Govt’s reliance on it is “absurd, obscene and reckless.”
– Bruce Gagnon of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space speaks about Australia’s role in the US war machine.
– We dip into an action held at the Future Fund’s Melbourne office on Nagasaki Day and hear music by the Hiroshima Junior Marimba Ensemble, performed at the recent Peace Concert at Federation Square.
Last week’s show (Japan Focus) is up online at www.3cr.org.au/radioactive if you missed it and want to listen!
Radioactive Special: Fukushima, 2 Years On Released on 09 March 2013 Running time: 30 minutes
Synopsis: To mark the second anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan we listen to a documentary written and narrated by Dave Sweeney and produced by Jessie Boylan, compiled of recordings and interviews that Dave collected on his visit to the region in August 2012. To give an insight into life in Fukushima today and to highlight the ongoing human and environmental impacts from this nuclear disaster, we hear from a range of local and international voices who are trying to offer support, and to pick up the pieces of the worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown. – See more at: http://www.3cr.org.au/radioactive#sthash.N0y1TnAd.dpuf
About Radioactive Show An anti-nuclear program with up-to-date news and information on nuclear, peace and energy issues. It features interviews, news updates and on-the-spot action reports, with music breaks and insights from the presenters. The producers of the show are committed anti-nuclear activists with wide national and international experience. The Radioactive Show has been broadcast on Community Radio 3CR at the Saturday morning time slot for over 20 years.
This program is also broadcast to stations around Australia through the Community Radio Network, the satellite service of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia, on Thursday evening at 18:04.
– See more at: http://www.3cr.org.au/radioactive#sthash.N0y1TnAd.dpuf
AUDIO: Hear Bill Gammage on Aboriginal Land Management
Historian pays tribute to Aboriginal land management http://caama.com.au/historian-pays-tribute-to-aboriginal-land-management 13 Aug 13, Historian and adjunct professor in the Humanities Research Centre of the Australian National University (ANU), Bill Gammage, was in Alice Springs to delivery a presentation at the desertSMART EcoFair.
Author of The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines made Australia, a book which challenges the myth that pre-settlement Australia was an untamed wilderness, says the claim has nothing to do with what Aboriginal people know now. It is this knowledge that they should be allowed to share with others.
“And it’s what they (Aboriginal people) know now, that they can teach us, which will let us show more respect and let Aboriginal people express all the skills that they have for managing country, and surely we need it.”
Speaking with CAAMA Radio Professor Gammage says that Australia is already a world leader in species extinction and Aboriginal people are the way of the future by sharing their knowledge they’ve acquired over thousands of years.
Radiation testing of seafoods recommended for West Coast of USA
Calls for US seafood testing after revelations of Fukushima radiation leaks http://japandailypress.com/calls-for-us-seafood-testing-after-revelations-of-fukushima-radiation-leaks-1633993/ AUGUST 16, 2013 by IDA TORRES NUCLEAR EXPERTS IN THE UNITED STATES ARE CALLING FOR TESTING OF SEAFOOD CAUGHT IN THE WEST COAST WATERS AS NEWS CAME OUT THAT THE FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI PLANT HAS BEEN LEAKING CONTAMINATED WATER INTO THE PACIFIC OCEAN FOR SOME TIME NOW. THE PLANT OPERATOR TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER ADMITTED LAST WEEK THAT EVERYDAY, 300 TONS OF WATER CONTAINING RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS HAVE BEEN SEEPING INTO THE OCEAN.
Dr. Arjun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, said that because the Pacific Oceanis such a large body of water, the contaminated water would have already been diluted by the time it reached the West Coast. But he acknowledges that no one knows up until now how contaminated the ocean has become and so a sampling of the US West Coast waters would be helpful, as well as a random sampling of seafood caught from that area.
The immediate concern though is for the people in Fukushima, particularly the fishermen, residents and cleanup crews, who are possibly directly affected by the leaks. There is fear that the spike in levels of strontium 90 which bio-concentrates in the bones of fish and algae. He said the accumulation effect of the radioactive strontium 90 could be extremely dangerous for a pregnant woman who has eaten or drank contaminated materials because the baby will be born with a weak immune system. Joseph Mangano, executive director of the nonprofit Radiation and Public Health Project, said that “a cocktail of more than 100 radioactive chemicals” from Fukushima can bring certain dangers when ingested through food or just breathing contaminated air. Health risks include birth defects and thyroid cancer.
Electricity retailers may be ripping off solar households
Solar Households May Be ‘Ripped Off’ By Electricity Retailers http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3893 16 Aug 13, For solar households, it really pays to shop around for the best electricity retailer deals.
According to a new report commissioned by the Alternative Technology Association (ATA), there is potential for solar households to be ‘ripped off’ by electricity retailers as solar customers can be treated as second-class citizens.
The report, Retail Offers and Market Transparency for New Solar Customers, states depending on the region; the difference between the best and the worst offer may translate to between $150 to $300 per year.
It’s not just about feed in tariff rates says the ATA – other factors may have a more substantial financial impact on the overall economics of a household solar installation. “There’s been a lot of attention and publicity about feed-in tariffs for solar, but very little about retail consumption tariffs and other aspects of retail deals, including where retailers take away pay-on-time discounts when someone installs solar,” said Damien Moyse; the ATA’s energy projects and policy manager. Continue reading
9/11 type attacks possible against nuclear power plants- USA vulnerable
U.S. nuclear power plants vulnerable to 9/11-style attacks: report By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON | Thu Aug 15, 2013 (Reuters) – U.S. nuclear power plants are not adequately protected from threats, including the theft of bomb-grade material that could be used to make weapons and attacks intended to cause a reactor meltdown, a University of Texas report said on Thursday.
Not one of the country’s 104 commercial nuclear reactors or three research reactors is protected against an attack involving multiple players such as the ones carried out by 19 airplane hijackers on 9/11, said the report by the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Project, or NPPP, at the University of Texas, Austin The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) only requires power plants to protect against attacks carried out by five or six people, according to the report, entitled Protecting U.S. Nuclear Facilities from Terrorist Attack. In addition, the NRC does not require plants to protect themselves against attacks from high- powered sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. Continue reading
CT not advisable for bone density scans, less radiation in alternative method
DXA, not CT, still best for bone density scans, Endocrinology Update, 15 August, 2013 Nicola Garrett Endocrinology Update
But after consulting experts in the field the network concluded that there was no evidence that CT scans were better than DXA.
In fact CT scans posed unique problems not seen with DXA scans, the communication noted. For example spine CT could be ‘spuriously low’ in a patient with normal…(doctors only registration) http://www.endocrinologyupdate.com.au/latest-news/dxa-not-ct-still-best-for-bone-density-scans
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 