Nuclear Leak Puts California At Risk

February 6, 2012

RT

A leak at a Southern California nuclear facility that regularly provides power to roughly 1.4 million households has caused the plant to shut down a reactor.

Despite officials insisting that everything will be perfectly alright at the San Onofre nuclear site, this is not the first time as of late that power plants have raised serious questions about their safety in America.

A reactor at the San Onofre nuclear power station was halted Tuesday afternoon after personnel at the plant identified a leak in a steam generator tube. Gil Alexander, a spokesman for Southern California Edison, explains to Reuters that the reactor will remain offline for at least a couple of days.

“We don’t expect any impact on our customers tomorrow,” Alexander adds, yet notes that the reactor in question usually churns out around 1,100 megawatts of electricity to one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the country.

The shutdown is forcing officials to halt operations in Unit 3 of the plant. Unit 2 of the station was already offline at the time of the incident, of which officials say was the result of routine maintenance and upgrades.

Speaking of the alleged minuteness of the leak, Alexander tells the Los Angeles Times that “it wouldn’t even qualify as the least severe” infraction under guidelines set up by the United States’ Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Regardless, the plant, located south of San Clemente, California, reported the incident to them anyway.

As it would be, the regulations in place for American facilities are actually more lax than one would expect.

“While the NRC and the nuclear industry have been reassuring Americans that there is nothing to worry about – that we can do a better job dealing with a nuclear disaster like the one that just happened in Japan – it turns out that privately NRC senior analysts are not so sure,” Edwin Lyman, a Union of Concerned Scientists nuclear expert, explained to Reuters last year. Even after the nuclear disaster at Japan’s Fukushima plant in early 2011 raised questions internationally over safety regulations, the United States has done little to improve conditions since.

The reason, some say, is that the regulations in place don’t call for them. In a report conducted by the Associated Press last year, it was revealed that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has repeatedly weakened safety requirements for facilities, regularly allowing antiquated plants to continue operating by making it easier to pass tests in lieu of actually upgrading the facility. The AP found that of the 104 nuclear plants operating in America last year, 66 of them had been re-licensed for an additional 20 years of service. The vast majority of plants in the US, however, are already older than a quarter of a century.

San Onofre, located around 70 miles south of Los Angeles, is one of those.

“I think we need nuclear power, but we can’t compromise on safety. I think the vulnerability is on these older plants,” engineer Richard T. Lahey Jr., formerly with General Electric Co, told the AP last year. Although one-fifth of the nation’s power comes from nuclear plants — and much of Southern California relies on the San Onofre, loosened regulations are repeatedly putting much of America and the world at risk.

Click here for the full report from RT.

Bed, Bath and Beyond Work To Remove Radioactive Tissue Holders From Shelves

January 16, 2012

Natural News

By Mike Adams

The Dual Ridge Metal Boutique tissue boxes sold at Bed, Bath & Beyond stores have been discovered to be radioactive. Made with the extremely dangerous material used to blast cancer tumors with radiation — cobalt-60 — they emit gamma rays that are known to cause both cancer and infertility. They were manufactured in India, shipped on a commercial container to New Jersey, and then distributed to Bed, Bath & Beyond stores in 20 states.

How much radiation do these tissue holders emit, exactly? Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman David McIntyre said, on the record, that standing near one of these tissue holders for 30 minutes a day would expose you to the equivalent of “a couple of chest X-Rays” each year. The Illinois Emergency Management Agency went even further, issuing a release stating that every 10 hours spent near the product would expose you to the equivalent of one chest X-Ray.

In case you were wondering, a chest X-Ray is not a small dose of radiation.

Ever since Fukushima, the corporate-run media has downplayed the risks of radiation exposure, and now they’re claiming that these radioactive products are “no big deal” because they “only” expose you to the equivalent of multiple chest X-Rays each year.

What if a customer has this on their nightstand, near their head, and they’re sleeping next to it for 8 hours a night? That means they’d be getting nearly the equivalent radiation of a chest X-Ray each night for 365 nights a year!

Click here for the full report from Natural News.

Map Shows Nuclear Material Spread Across United States

November 14, 2011

Yahoo News

By Zachary Roth

“Long live the USA.  Long live war.”  –KTRN

The Cold War ended more than two decades ago. But the United States still has more than 5,000 atomic warheads scattered around the country or on submarines around the world. And President Obama’s push for a nuclear-weapons-free world is moving at a frustrating, glacial pace.

More than likely, there’s highly radioactive nuclear material not too far from you right now. The hair-raising map above, compiled by Mother Jones magazine using data from the Defense Department and nuclear watchdog groups, lets you see just where those warheads are–while also showing civilian nuclear facilities, as well as the far-flung labs and factories that make up the American weapons complex. Our scattered system for making and storing weapons is needlessly expensive and dangerous, watchdog groups have said.

Click here for the full report.

Dr. John Apsley

Click the picture or link below to hear Dr. John Apsley’s interview on The Kevin Trudeau Show and click here to learn more about how to protect yourself and your family from the Fukushima radioactive fallout.

Dr. John Apsley on The Kevin Trudeau Show 06/07/11

The Kevin Trudeau Show: 6-7-11

Today, Dr. John Apsley, stops by the show to explain how the effects of the Fukushima radioactive fallout can hurt you and your family for generations to come. Plus, Dr. Apsley provides you with the real solutions that the government officials will not!

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The Kevin Trudeau Show: 11-9-10

Today, Kevin reveals the top four things happening right now that have been designed to keep you fearful and alter your perception of what you consider ‘normal.’

Self Help:
Have Dinner With KT
Weight Loss Cure

Health:
290,000 Eggs Recalled Due To Salmonella At Ohio Egg Farm
Drug Company Money Affects Doctors’ Prescriptions
Cancer Patients Radioactive!
Drug Companies Hire Troubled Doctors As Experts
Cancer Is Purely Man Made Say Scientists
Amino Acids In Watermelon Lower Blood Pressure
Abbott Labs Sold Bug Tainted Baby Formula
Why Technology Is Really Bad For Your Health

Wealth:
As Fed Policy Sinks, The Dollar Prices of Essentials Soar

Government:
Supreme Court Weighs Consequences of Vaccine Cases
US Not Tracking Afghan Spending
Wall Street Mogul Picked For State Department Post

NWO:
Launch of Unknown Missile Caught on Tape in California
Strange Signal Comes From Alien Planet
NASA Digitally Alters Picture

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Cancer Patients Radioactive!

October 20th, 2010

MyWay News

By: Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar

Cancer patients sent home after treatment with radioactive iodine have contaminated hotel rooms and set off alarms on public transportation, a congressional investigation has found.

They’ve come into close contact with vulnerable people, including pregnant women and children, and the household trash from their homes has triggered radiation detectors at landfills.

Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., says the problem stems from a decision years ago by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to ease requirements that thyroid cancer patients remain in the hospital a few days after swallowing doses of radioactive iodine to shrink their tumors.

“There is a strong likelihood that members of the public have been unwittingly exposed to radiation from patients,” Markey wrote Wednesday in a letter to the NRC that details findings by his staff. “This has occurred because of weak NRC regulations, ineffective oversight of those who administer these medical treatments, and the absence of clear guidance to patients and to physicians.”

The letter coincides with an NRC meeting Wednesday to examine the issue. It’s unclear whether the radiation exposure occurs at levels high enough to cause harm.

About 40,000 people a year develop thyroid cancer, which generally responds well to treatment. Certain types are treated by swallowing radioactive iodine, or iodine-131. It concentrates in the thyroid, but small amounts are excreted through urine, saliva and sweat.

People given high doses may be kept in the hospital, but many patients are sent home with instructions on how to minimize exposure to others over the next few days. Most of the radiation is gone in about a week, says the National Cancer Institute’s website for patients.

Traditionally such patients were kept in the hospital, but treatment has now shifted to less costly outpatient facilities. Patients sent home are supposed to follow specific precautions, such as sleeping alone in their beds and not giving hugs and kisses to young children. Markey’s investigation indicates that’s where the breakdown is occurring.

Staffers on the House Energy and Environment subcommittee that Markey chairs sent detailed questionnaires to states that enforce the NRC rules and conducted an online survey of more than 1,000 thyroid cancer patients.

The investigation found that:

- A patient who had received a dose of radioactive iodine boarded a bus in New York the same day, triggering radiation detectors as the bus passed through the Lincoln Tunnel heading for Atlantic City, N.J., a casino Mecca. After New Jersey state police found the bus and pulled it over, officers determined that the patient had received medical instructions to avoid public transportation for two days, and ignored them. The 2003 case highlighted that NRC rules don’t require patients to stay off public transportation.

- About 7 percent of outpatients said in the survey they had gone directly to a hotel after their treatment, most of them with their doctors’ knowledge. Hotel stays are a particular concern, since the patient can expose other guests and service workers. In 2007, an Illinois hotel was contaminated after linens from a patient’s room were washed together with other bedding. The incident would probably have gone unreported but for nuclear plant workers who later stayed in the same hotel and set off radiation alarms when they reported to work.

- About one-fourth of outpatients said in the survey they never discussed with their doctors how to avoid exposing pregnant women and children to radiation. The survey found 56 cases in which a patient shared a bathroom or bedroom with a pregnant woman or a child, or had other close contact, which is strongly discouraged in medical guidelines.

- At least two states – Maryland and Massachusetts – said they had encountered problems with household trash from the homes of patients treated with radioactive iodine. Garbage trucks set off radiation alarms at landfills, requiring loads to be unpacked and examined, exposing sanitation workers to a range of hazards.

Markey scolded the NRC for its previous assurances that current regulations are adequate to protect the public. “It is difficult to conclude based on the survey results that this belief is justified,” he wrote.

The congressman urged the agency to revise its rules so that more patients are kept in the hospital. Patient advocates say insurance companies routinely refuse to pay for a hospital room because it’s not required.

Markey also urged a ban on releasing patients to hotels and letting them take public transportation. And he called for tighter government oversight of medical facilities that provide treatment with radioactive iodine.

Click here for the full report from MyWay

FDA Cracking Down On Radiation From Medical Imaging Devices

June 22, 2010

Natural News

by: David Gutierrez

The FDA has announced a plan to reduce patients’ unnecessary exposure to radiation from three different medical imaging tests. The three-pronged strategy will focus on increasing the safety of the devices, increasing patient awareness of risks, and improving the ability of patients and doctors to make informed decisions.

The tests in question are computed tomography (CT) scans, nuclear medicine studies and fluoroscopy. CT scans produce three-dimensional images of different areas of the body, nuclear medicine studies involve consumption of a radioactive substance to observe its motion through the body, and fluoroscopy uses a continuous beam of radiation to produce a real-time, moving image.

“The FDA continues to support a strong dialogue between patients and physicians over the medical necessity and risk associated with these types of imaging studies,” the agency said. “However, like all medical procedures, CT, nuclear medicine, and fluoroscopy pose risks.”

The FDA chose to focus on the three procedures because together they provide the single greatest source of radiation exposure for the U.S. population. CT scans, nuclear medicine studies and fluoroscopy all deliver much higher doses than other radioactive imaging procedures, such as mammography or X-rays. For example, a single CT abdomen scan uses as much radiation as 400 chest X-rays or 800 dental X-rays.

Yet in spite of the risks, which according to the FDA include cancer, cataracts and burns, the use of radioactive imaging tests has become much more common in the United States in recent years.

“The amount of radiation Americans are exposed to from medical imaging has dramatically increased over the past 20 years,” said Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

The FDA plans to reduce unnecessary exposure by encouraging “appropriate justification” of all radiation tests, as well as “optimization of the radiation dose.”

“Working together,” said Shuren, “the FDA and other organizations hope to help patients get the right imaging exam, at the right time, with the right radiation dose.”

Under the first prong of its three-prong strategy, the FDA seeks to encourage safer use of the three techniques. Toward this goal, it plans to require manufacturers of radiation imaging devices to implement specific safeguards in the machines and implement standardized training for all device operators. The specific requirements to be established have yet to be determined, but might include making all devices display, record and report radiation doses and other relevant settings; having devices issue alerts when a higher-than-normal dose is entered; and making devices immediately add information about each test to a patient’s permanent medical record and a national dose registry.

The FDA is also working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to impose new accreditation requirements on all facilities that perform radioactive imaging, with the goal of improving oversight and safe device use.

In order to improve patient awareness, the FDA is working with a number of other organizations to design a patient medical imaging history card, which would record every radiation test undergone by a specific patient in a fashion similar to an immunization card. This card (which will also be available via the FDA web site) could then be presented to physicians to inform them about the patient’s prior lifetime radiation exposure.

In service of the final goal, informed consent, the FDA is encouraging the development of a national radiation dose registry so that researchers can monitor nationwide radiation exposure and help produce more targeted recommendations on when the risk of a procedure outweighs its benefits.

“Health care decisions made by patients and their physicians should include discussions of the medical need and associated risks for each procedure,” the agency said.

Click here for full report

9 Unexpected Things Found in Drinking Water

December 8, 2009

AOL News

By Dana Chivvis

Charles Duhigg of The New York Times today delivered the latest unsettling news about the nation’s water supply: It’s not as clean as you might think. An analysis of federal data from the last five years revealed that more than 20 percent of the nation’s water-treatment systems have broken provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act, the standards enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency. The result? As many as 19 million Americans are sickened each year.

Over the years, the EPA has identified many substances in water supplies far and wide. Here are nine unexpected things that they’ve spotted.

Arsenic A naturally occurring element found in soil and minerals, arsenic is used as a pesticide and wood sealant. Ingesting high levels of arsenic, Madame Bovary can tell you, is deadly. At lower levels, over longer periods of time, it can darken skin and spur corns and warts. A carcinogen, arsenic can increase the risk of skin, liver, bladder and lung cancers.

The EPA has said that more than 3 million Americans have been exposed to water with illegal concentrations of arsenic since 2005.

Uranium The element Iran insists on enriching despite howls from the U.S. and other Western nations, it is also used in helicopters, airplanes, armor, fertilizer and household items like certain microwaves. After it’s mined and processed, some of it is released back into the environment in waste material, called mill tailings. Large amounts of uranium can lead to kidney disease and cancer, though naturally occurring uranium is much less radioactive.

The EPA says levels of uranium in drinking water are usually low and safe, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. However, the 3 million Americans exposed to illegal amounts of arsenic were also exposed to illegal amounts of radioactive substances.

Radium This radioactive metal has been used to treat cancer, for scientific research and in instrument calibration. Everyone is exposed to low levels of the substance, but higher levels are found near uranium mines, coal-burning industries and sometimes in drinking water that comes from wells. Radium can cause anemia and cataracts. At high levels, it is a carcinogen, causing increased bone, liver and breast cancer.

The EPA has reported that levels of radium were 2,000 times the legal limit in water flowing in some areas.

Tetrachloroethylene Used in dry cleaning and for metal degreasing, this chemical usually evaporates when it meets water, soil or air, but high exposure can cause headaches, dizziness, confusion, nausea and unconsciousness. Women who are exposed to high levels of tetrachloroethylene may have menstrual problems and even spontaneous abortions. It is also believed to be a carcinogen.

The New York Times found that the drinking water in Ramsey, N.J., located 35 miles outside of New York City, has had illegal concentrations of tetrachloroethylene since 2004.

Lead Houses built before 1986 are more likely to have lead pipes than newer ones. Because hot water dissolves lead more easily, people who live with older plumbing should never drink hot water from the tap. Kids who drink lead-tainted water above the legal limits are at risk for physical and mental development problems. In adults, lead can lead to high blood pressure and kidney trouble.

The EPA’s threshold for lead is 0.015 parts per million. If you are concerned about the levels of lead in your water, you can have it tested at a certified laboratory.

Prozac, Birth Control, Makeup, Shampoo Along with deceased goldfish and incriminating evidence, it turns out Americans like to flush their drugs and personal care products down the toilet, too. These substances leave the toilet (or bathtub and shower) and end up in our waterways. In fact, most of the waterways the EPA tested had pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in them.

While there is evidence that ecological harm can come from PPCPs in the water, scientists are not yet sure of the threat to humans.

You can find reports on the drinking water in your area at the EPA Web site.

Click here for the full report

EPA Says Drinking Radioactive Water is Good for Us

December 8, 2009

Prison Planet

By Paul J. Watson

While the EPA declares the gas that we exhale to be a deadly poison, as protesters at Copenhagen decry the suffering of polar bears as their population figures increase to record levels, and as delegates in the Danish capital warn of the dastardly peril of cows farting, a New York Times report confirming that U.S. drinking water contains dangerous levels of arsenic, uranium and other radioactive substances barely gets noticed.

Furthermore, the new study shows that the Environmental Protection Agency knew that water systems all over the United States were contaminated with dangerous levels of numerous toxic substances, yet failed to punish the vast majority of water authorities involved.

Since the environmental movement was completely hijacked by globalists hell bent on world government and devastating carbon taxes, real environmental problems have been swept aside as the contrived scam of man-made global warming swallows up all the attention.

Our drinking water is contaminated with toxic waste, our food supply is poisoned by genetically modified garbage, and our consumer products are laced with cancer-causing chemicals, but who cares right? Surely all this pales in comparison to the effort to stop the world warming by a percentage of a degree over the next 100 years?

    More than 20 percent of the nation’s water treatment systems have violated key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act over the last five years, according to a New York Times analysis of federal data.

    That law requires communities to deliver safe tap water to local residents. But since 2004, the water provided to more than 49 million people has contained illegal concentrations of chemicals like arsenic or radioactive substances like uranium, as well as dangerous bacteria often found in sewage.

But unlike the mammoth threat posed by the life-giving gas carbon dioxide, which the EPA yesterday classified as a health threat to the same humans that exhale it, the Environmental Protection Agency is noticeably less concerned about the fact that our water is filled with contaminants that are “linked to millions of instances of illness within the United States each year.”

Indeed, records show that fewer than 6 percent of the water systems that broke the law were ever punished or fined by the EPA.

Click here for the full report