Radiation Protection News Room

News for July 10, 2009

Radioactive Waste

                    Hanford

• Work to start on K reactors burial ground at Hanford (Tri-City Herald)
  Work should begin this month to dig up another Cold War burial ground at Hanford used to dispose of boron balls once employed to soak up radioactive neutrons.

                    WIPP

• Nuclear waste shipments leave Nevada for Idaho (The Salt Lake Tribune – AP)
  The Nevada Test Site says the last of 65 truckloads of repackaged radioactive waste has been shipped to Idaho, pending final disposal at the federal Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M.

                    YUCCA

• After Yucca Mountain: How to store US nuclear waste (ARS Technica)
  There's a general consensus that nuclear power will be an inevitable part of US attempts to wean itself off fossil fuels.

Health

• Ottawa's Heart Institute makes its own medical isotopes after Chalk River shutdown (Canada.com)
  Six thousand people each year pass through the glass doors off Ruskin Avenue in Ottawa, walk past the turkey burgers and beef stroganoff at Tickers cafeteria, and go upstairs to have radioactive dye injected into their arms.

Nuclear Weapons

• Medvedev warns US against missile shield (WP-AP)
  Russia's president says his threat to deploy missiles near Poland if the U.S. pushes ahead with a possible missile shield in Eastern Europe remains in force.
• Obama says G-8 leaders concerned about Iran (WP-AP)
  President Barack Obama said Friday the international community is "not going to just wait indefinitely" for Iran to renounce an interest in developing nuclear weapons.
• Obama: Washington and Moscow must lead on nukes (WP-AP)
  President Barack Obama says the United States and Russia must show they're "fulfilling their commitments" to lead global efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons.
• N.Korea to build more nuclear bombs after UN vote (Ethiopian Review)
  A defiant North Korea on Saturday vowed to build more nuclear bombs and to start enriching uranium for a new weapons programme after the UN Security Council imposed sanctions over last month's nuclear test.

News for July 09, 2009

Safety and Security

• US, UAE nuclear deal would end if terms violated (WP-AP)
  The U.S. would cancel a nuclear energy agreement with the United Arab Emirates if the Middle East nation were to violate any terms of the deal, an Obama administration official said Wednesday.
• Senate seeks hike of Hanford budget; House wants it cut (Tri-City Herald)
  The Senate version of the Hanford budget for 2010 would increase environmental cleanup spending, but the House version would cut it.

Health

• Some Chinese drywall may be tainted with radioactive materials (Miami Herald)
  Some Chinese-made drywall imported into the United States contained radioactive material, news reports suggest, but state and federal tests so far haven't detected it.
• Canadian nuclear reactor that produces medical isotopes to stay shut until later this year (Chicago-Tribune-AP)
  A Canadian nuclear reactor that produces much of the world's radioactive isotopes will be shut down until late this year, the company that owns the reactor said Wednesday.

Nuclear Power

• Mine in Weld County could double in size (Denver Post)
  A Canadian uranium-mining firm has acquired options to nearly double the surface area of a proposed Weld County mine.
• South Korea Seeks Nuclear Energy Expansion (NTI)
  Officials from South Korea and the United States are set to hold discussions this fall on expansion of the Asian nation's nuclear energy program, the Yonhap News Agency reported yesterday (see GSN, June 23).

Nuclear Weapons

• White House: Brazil should press Iran on nukes (Seattlepi.com – AP)
  The White House says it is counting on Brazil to help convince Iran that it
• G-8 Nations Press Iran on Nuclear Program (NY-Times)
  The world’s major industrial nations have given Iran until September to negotiate the dispute over its nuclear program, but remain vague and divided over what consequences they might try to impose should Tehran continue to defy them

Science

• Experts Learn to Insert Radio-Active Atoms Inside Fullerenes Remotely (Softpedia)
  A lot of people have thankfully heard of carbon nanotubes in recent years, and most of them know that they are incredibly small constructs, built at the nanoscale, and which are made of single layers of carbon atoms, stuck together in the shape of tubes.

News for July 08, 2009

Radioactive Waste

• DOE Idaho Sends First Offsite Waste to New Mexico (SuperIdaho)
  Five months ahead of schedule, Idaho sent the first shipment of offsite radioactive transuranic waste received from the U.S. Department of Energy's Nevada Test Site for permanent disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, New Mexico.

Safety and Security

• Mullen: Strike on Iran an option, but a bad one (WP-AP)
  WASHINGTON -- A military strike to thwart Iran's nuclear weapons capability remains on the table but could have grave and unpredictable consequences, the top U.S. military officer said Tuesday.

Nuclear Power

• Land added to proposed Colorado uranium operation (WP-AP)
  CARR, Colo. -- A Canadian company hoping to open a uranium mine in northern Colorado has obtained options for up to 3,585 more acres, plus access to minerals it owns under the land.
• Canadian isotope reactor to remain idle (Seattle Post – AP)
  TORONTO -- A Canadian nuclear reactor that produces much of the world's radioactive isotopes will be shut down until late this year, the company that owns the reactor said Wednesday.

Nuclear Weapons

• U.S.-Russia Summit Brings Series of Advances (WP)
  MOSCOW, July 7 -- President Obama called Tuesday for a new relationship States and Russia, saying that the frequent rivals would both prosper by joining forces to combat common threats and pursue their mutual interests.
• Iran's nuclear ambitions not democratic credentials occupy western minds (Gaurdian.co.uk)
  Iran's domestic crisis in the aftermath of June's disputed presidential election has dominated world headlines in recent weeks. But as the dust settles it is the international dimension of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's second term – and especially the future of the Islamic republic's nuclear programme – that is concentrating minds in the US, Europe and Israel.

News for July 07, 2009

Policy and Regulations

• The White House
  Joint Statement by President Barack Obama of the United States of America and President Dmitry Medvedev of the Russian Federation on Nuclear Cooperation

                    WIPP

• Last of radioactive waste shipped from Los Alamos
  Los Alamos National Laboratory has shipped its final canister of a special type of radioactive waste to southern New Mexico.

                    Hanford

• Garbage in, profits out   A hazardous-waste disposal firm cleans up.
  Not just any trash, but gooey oil-refinery sludge, contaminated Superfund mystery material and radioactive protective clothing.

Safety and Security

• NYPD SUVs Get Radiation Detectors        
  The New York City Police Department (NYPD) has received a gift from the Department of Homeland Security: three Advanced Spectroscopic Portal Monitors to search the city for dirty bombs.

Health

• EPA Commits to Review Radon Emissions
  Reid Rosnick, of the EPA’s Radiation Protection Division in Washington D.C., was in attendance and gave a presentation about the National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants Subpart W regulations and the current process for review and possible revision of the regulations
• Team 4 Investigates Radon Levels In Western Pa. Neighborhoods
  A Team 4 investigation finds more than half of all areas in western Pennsylvania have high levels of radon -- a cancer-causing gas.

News for July 06, 2009

Policy and Regulations

• Update Of Radiation Exposure Guidance For The UK (Medical News Today - UK)
  Scientists at the Health Protection Agency have published their advice to UK bodies following new international guidance on ionising radiation.
• Cañon City residents fear risk of former mill's radioactivity (Denver Post)
  Under pressure from Coloradans, the government has launched a review of radon emission standards at uranium-processing facilities.

Safety and Security

• NYPD cars get fitted with Advanced Spectroscopic Portal Monitors (New York Daily News)
  The NYPD is installing state-of-the-art radiation detectors inside three police vehicles that will patrol city streets in search of dirty bombs and other nuclear threats, the Daily News has learned.

Health

• Physicians Who Order CT Scans Know Little About Risk of Radiation (Oncology Nursing News)
  Physicians lack knowledge about the radiation risk associated with the computed tomography (CT) scans they order for their patients, according to a study presented at the 2009 American Roentgen Ray Society Annual Meeting.

Nuclear Power

• 2-Failed German nuclear restart sparks war of words (Reuters)
  The failed restart of an ageing German nuclear power plant on Monday sharpened the political battlelines within the coalition government, ahead of an election, on how quickly atomic power should be shut down.

Nuclear Weapons

• US, Russian leaders sign agreement to negotiate lower limits on long-range nuclear weapons (Chicago Tribune – AP)
  President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have signed what they call a "joint understanding" to negotiate a new arms control treaty that would set substantially lower levels of nuclear warheads for both countries.
• Downwinders still waiting for RECA coverage (Times News)
  A common fear among victims of radiation fallout caused by nuclear testing in Nevada during the 1950s and '60s is that they will not live long enough to see the government take accountability.
• Obama’s Youth Shaped His Nuclear-Free Vision (New York Times)
  In the depths of the cold war, in 1983, a senior at Columbia University wrote in a campus newsmagazine, Sundial, about the vision of “a nuclear free world.” He railed against discussions of “first- versus second-strike capabilities” that “suit the military-industrial interests” with their “billion-dollar erector sets,” and agitated for the elimination of global arsenals holding tens of thousands of deadly warheads.
• Iran ready to Israel attack on nuclear facilities (AP)
  Iran is ready to take "real and decisive" action if Israel attacks its nuclear facilities, a senior Iranian parliamentary official said Monday.
• Suspected North Korea weapons ship heads home (Washington Post – Reuters)
  A North Korean ship tracked by the U.S. Navy on suspicion of carrying a banned arms cargo is expected to return home on Monday after a voyage that tested U.N. sanctions aimed at punishing Pyongyang for its May nuclear test.

Space/Cosmic Radiation

• Mysterious Light Originates Near A Galaxy's Black Hole (Space)
  Photons with a trillion times more energy than visible light are flying out of a relatively nearby galaxy.Until now, scientists didn't understand this light's origin, but a new study shows that its source is a giant black hole inside the M87 galaxy.