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Maralinga veterans still battling for justice - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
While the Maralinga Tjaratja people are excited and relieved about this week's land hand-back, the veterans who served at the British nuclear testing site are still fighting for compensation.
Yesterday, the final parcel of land at Maralinga was returned to the Tjaratja people after years of remediation work by the Federal Government.
However, the thousands of Australian servicemen involved in the series of atomic tests there in the 1950s are still battling for their compensation and are turning to the British courts for justice.
VA apologizes but denies radiation violations | Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/18/2009
The Department of Veterans Affairs yesterday apologized repeatedly for a prostate-cancer program that gave incorrect radiation doses to veterans for six years at its main Philadelphia hospital.
At the same time, officials from the Philadelphia VA Medical Center and the Veterans Health Administration mounted a vigorous defense against charges by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that they had apparently violated eight regulations in the medical use of radioactive materials.
In a hearing that was often pointed, VA officials also withdrew their own previous estimates of the number of patients who were affected, asserting that the mistakes were far less common than previously believed.
Oak Ridge Hospital workers (1950-59) get special status in nuke worker compensation program | Frank Munger's Atomic City Underground | knoxnews.com
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius has signed the designation that adds the 1950s employees at Oak Ridge Hospital -- when the hospital was being used for pioneering cancer treatments with radiation -- as a "Special Exposure Cohort" in the Energy Employees Occupational Illness and Compensation Program. The SEC status makes it easier for workers with cancer to collect under the compensation program.
The designation was forwarded to Congress and will become effective Jan. 9, unless Congress acts on it prior to that date, according to NIOSH spokeswoman Shannon Bradford.
Hanford News: Expanded cancer compensation OK'd for Hanford workers
The federal secretary of Health and Human Services has agreed to expand automatic compensation of $150,000 to more Hanford workers who may have developed cancer because of exposure to radiation.
If Congress does not object, the decision by Secretary Kathleen Sebelius takes effect Jan. 10. The action was recommended in October by a federal advisory board.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, will review 340 pending claims of former Hanford workers, some filed by their survivors. The claims are for workers who had cancers covered under the automatic compensation program and who worked at Hanford during the years the new expanded rules would cover.
Those pending claims are in addition to hundreds of past claims that have been denied but would be reviewed by the Department of Labor to see if they now qualify for compensation under the eased rules. The new rules also could help some middle-aged Hanford workers and recent retirees who yet may develop cancer.
Nuclear-test veterans' outrage as legal bill soars to £16m - mirror.co.uk
Lawyers have charged £16million in the battle to get justice for Britain's nuclear test veterans.
The money has been spent by legal teams for the UK Ministry of Defence and the veterans during a fiercely contested High Court action. It means the final bill could be much higher than any com-pensation eventually received.
The revelation comes after a judge told both sides, who are meant to have been negotiating a settlement for the past six months, to start talks. Some 22,000 men, who were sent to Australia and the South Pacific to witness atomic bomb tests, allegedly suffered a range of health problems.
Many of the 3,000 survivors have joined together in a major legal case to sue the MoD for negligence. But the case has descended into farce, with the MoD claiming a confidential offer has been made, but vets' lawyers saying they haven't received one. The High Court was told on Friday that costs are already at £15m for the three-year case, with a further £1m expected to pay for an appeal brought by the MoD which will be heard in May.
Whitehaven News | News | Sellafield is fined as workers exposed to highly toxic radiation
SELLAFIELD has been fined £75,000 over a catalogue of safety failures that led to two workers being exposed to a “serious and significant” dose of highly toxic radiation.
Two men working for Workington building company Stobbarts were subject to “airborne radioactive contamination” when plutonium escaped from a floor they were drilling at the site in July 2007.
The men were carrying out work to remove plutonium from the floor of the site’s Central Waste Handling Facility, which was to be converted into offices.
One worker was operating the drill, while the other was spraying water on the area to clear dust.
They were both wearing PVC suits and respirators and were working inside a protective tent.
MoD unmoving on atomic veterans - politics.co.uk
The government is refusing to back down over attempts to force it to compensate British nuclear test veterans.
Armed forces minister Kevan Jones admitted he had sympathy for over 1,000 veterans of nuclear tests carried out in the 1950s who are seeking compensation.
But he said their attempts would continue to be rejected by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) because of a lack of "hard evidence" that their illnesses were caused by exposure to radiation.
Labour backbencher Siobhain McDonagh, who obtained the adjournment debate, told the Commons the husband of one of her constituents had committed suicide in 1976 "after 18 years of pain".
Health probe started in Rialto water contamination | Inland News | PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California
The state is combing old water records to determine whether highly contaminated groundwater -- which now stretches for miles from an industrial site in Rialto -- caused illnesses among residents in the many decades before it was discovered, health officials said during a community meeting Wednesday night.
In 1997, three wells were found to have high levels of perchlorate, an ingredient in rocket fuel, and trichloroethylene, or TCE, an industrial solvent, which seeped into the soil and underground water. Water was not tested for perchlorate before then.
The source is a 160-acre site north of Interstate 210, between Alder and Locust avenues, where private companies and government agencies stored, tested and manufactured munitions, rocket motors and fireworks.
It is the Inland region's largest uncontrolled plume of perchlorate in a drinking-water supply.
DEMOLISHED BUT NOT FORGOTTEN: Are Radioactive Materials Still Affecting Huntington Workers Who in 2006 Alleged Cancer Clusters from 2004? - Huntington News Network
During the Cold War, Huntington contained a DOE plant involved in the production of radioactive and/or potentially nuclear materials. After its decommissioning, the remains --- except for the compressor building --- were hauled away and buried in Piketon, Ohio.
During a 2006 meeting with union members representatives of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Office of Compensation Analysis and support discussed compensation for health conditions acquired due to working near contaminated materials.
After an exhaustive search of the internet, HNN at this time emphasizes the official analysis that current potential radiation exposure --- even at the remaining Compressor Building ---- was/is considered negligible as it results in an annual dose of less than 1 m/rem to the maximally exposure organ. (Based on CDC/OSAS documents)
However, worker reports taken from the 2006 meeting create unanswered questions. In fact, the internet search did NOT turn up further documents related to the local USWA and NIOSH.
Thus, we have a series of unanswered (or unfound) questions raised by those in attendance.
Residents around plant get locked in - dnaindia.com
The mischief at India's most modern nuclear power plant in Kaiga, 35 km south of Karwar (Karnataka), that left 55 employees ill has struck fear among the residents of nearby Mallapuram. Almost a week after the incident, the township where the affected were taken for medical care, wears a deserted look, with most people keeping indoors.
Though the authorities have signaled 'no danger', employees of the plant and other residents alike are not venturing out even for daily needs. The entire area has been cordoned off and the road to Kaiga from Mallapuram blocked by investigators.
"We are living in constant fear since the incident took place," Suguna (name changed), a teacher who lives with her husband in one of the Type-B quarters, said.She is angry at the restrictions that have been put in place after radioactive material found its way into drinking water at the plant.
Radiation leakage in India nuclear power plant act of sabotage: official _English_Xinhua
The radiation leakage in a state-run nuclear power plant in southern India is an "act of sabotage" possibly by a disgruntled employees at the plant, India's Atomic Energy Commission chief Anil Kakodkar said on Sunday.
Some 50 employees of highly protected Kaiga Atomic Power Plant in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, southern India, fell ill for being exposed to the radiation leakage, after they drank water from a cooler in the operating area on Nov. 24.
"Somebody deliberately put the tritiated water vials into a drinking water cooler. Therefore, we are investigating who is behind the malevolent act. People involved will be punished under the Atomic Energy and other acts after investigation," Kakodkar told the media.
"The investigations are being carried out from two angles. First to ascertain as to who contaminated the water cooler with tritiated heavy water, and the second from radiation protection angle," said Kakodkar.
Radiation Leak at India Nuclear Plant Sickens Workers (Update1) - Bloomberg.com
Workers at a nuclear plant in India took ill after radioactive heavy water contaminated their drinking water and the state-run Nuclear Power Corp. suspects “mischief” may have been the cause.
An unspecified number of workers at the Kaiga plant, in southern Karnataka state, were advised to visit doctors for “routine medical consultation” and are back on normal work schedules, the company said in a statement on its Web site late yesterday. At least 45 workers were hospitalized on Nov. 25 after they received higher levels of radiation than permissible, the Times of India newspaper reported, without citing anyone.
Union Workers Alleged Use of Contaminated Materials Before DOE Plant Buried in Portsmouth, Ohio - Huntington News Network
Places Where Snow Does Not Stick Remain; Residual Radiation Claim Made Regarding Another Manufacturer; 73 Huntington Workers Filed Claims in 2006
Huntington, WV (HNN) -- USA TODAY’s investigative “Smokestack Effect: Toxic Air and America’s Schools” ---used an EPA model to show toxic air near America’s 128,000 schools. The article listed numerous Huntington schools in the First Percentile of schools with worse air. For instance, the Cabell County Career Technology Center was ranked 56 of 127,809 schools for worst air.
Other Cabell County Schools in the First (Worst) Percentile included Alternative Education High/Middle School (old HEHS), Altizer Elementary, Beverly Hills Middle School, Enslow Middle School, Highlawn Elementary School, Hite Saunders Elementary, Meadows Elementary, and Spring Hill Elementary. http://content.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/smokestack/school/96893 and, response of Cabell County School Board, http://www.huntingtonnews.net/state/090401-rutherford-stateairquality.html
Nickel and nickel compounds are listed by USA Today as 89% responsible for “toxicity outside this school.”
During an UNRELATED inspection of public documents available on the internet, HNN found one from 2006 alleging possible continuing contamination from the former secret uranium processing plant in Altizer known as the Huntington Pilot Plant (a.k.a. Reduction Pilot Plant, HPP, or IPP ) The AEC Site consisted of 3.2 acres located east of International Nickel Company’s “Huntington Works” plant. The property was bounded on the north by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, on the east by Cole Street, on the south by Altizer Avenue, and on the west by the “Huntington Works” site. The plant was enclosed by a chain link fence. Based on final minutes of an April 17, 2006 Rollout Meeting for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Dose Reconstruction Project for the Huntington Pilot Plant, the following historic descriptive profile is included:
Former nuclear workers win step toward payments | NevadaAppeal.com
Sen. Harry Reid says the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is changing position to support a key measure for compensating sick former Nevada Test Site workers.
Reid, D-Nev., said Wednesday the next step is for the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health to approve the NIOSH “special cohort status” recommendation next month.
The designation lets case evaluators attribute illnesses to work at the nation's nuclear proving ground north of Las Vegas without a cumbersome government “dose reconstruction” process.
Former workers complain sick colleagues are dying while the government slowly processes claims for medical benefits and $150,000 payments under a program created by Congress in 2001.
NIOSH has estimated about 500 of workers from the years of underground nuclear tests, 1963 to 1992, could qualify.
Radioactive waste contaminating water supply: report
Controlled Ottawa River leak OK, AECL says
Nuclear facilities and power plants are contaminating Canadian food and water with radioactive waste that increases risks of cancer and birth defects, says a new report to be released today.
The report, Tritium on Tap, produced by the Sierra Club of Canada, warned that radioactive emissions from various nuclear plants across the country have more than doubled over the past decade. The figures were based on statistics compiled by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, which measured pollution coming from the plants.
Cancer testing effort returns | chillicothegazette.com | Chillicothe Gazette
Nobody has to convince Edna Brackey how important the mobile Early Cancer Detection Program discontinued at the end of 2006 really was.
"I really owe eight years of a very enjoyable life to this program," said Brackey, who will turn 90 next summer, during a ceremony Thursday announcing the resumption of the testing program for current and former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant workers
Brackey, like many who develop lung cancer, had no visible early symptoms of the disease, although she did have a prior problem with a cancer in her mouth. Due to the testing program that was in place in Piketon in 2001, however, a very small cancerous mass in her lung was detected with the free CT scan.
Sick worker advocates seek rules changes | knoxnews.com
According to info distributed by the Alliance of Nuclear Worker Advocacy Groups, ANWAG and the action groups at Linde Ceramics are petitioning NIOSH and the Dept. of Labor to make rules changes in the administration of the sick nuclear worker compensation program.
"Congress never intended this program to develop into the ongoing and overwhelming burden it has become for sickened nuclear weapons workers or their survivors," Terrie Barrie of ANWAG said in a statement. "Congress was well aware when they passed EEOICPA that the Department of Energy did not keep adequate exposure records, particularly for chemicals and heavy metals. Yet, DOL requires claimants to provide proof of exposure where none exists. It is long past due to return this program to the original intent of the law."
Worcester Telegram & Gazette: US to compensate Norton workers
At least 19 Norton Co. workers who have cancer - perhaps caused through exposure five decades ago to nuclear materials such as uranium and thorium - will receive compensation and benefits from the federal government. Their survivors may be eligible as well.\n\nThe U.S. Department of Labor announced yesterday that all former Norton Co. employees who worked at the Worcester plant between Jan. 1, 1945, and Dec. 31, 1957, are part of a "special exposure cohort" that entitles them to the compensation and benefits.\n\nTo be eligible, workers must have worked for at least 250 days at the plant, according to Michael Volpe, a Department of Labor spokesman. The workers must also have developed one of 22 cancers considered likely to have been caused by exposure to radioactive material. Those cancers include lung cancer, leukemia, bone cancer, liver cancer, lymphomas, multiple myeloma, renal cancer, as well as a long list of other cancers.
Kansas City News - As Honeywell closes its 60-year-old site, workers are dealing with the fatal aftereffects - page 1
Tony Ross' bat connected, sending the softball rocketing to the fence. While the outfielders scrambled after what should have been a home run, Ross stopped at second, doubled over and gasped for breath. Then he sat down on the base.
The two teams playing were made up of machinists, custodians and guards from the late shift at the Bannister Federal Complex in south Kansas City. They had met, as usual, around midnight on the baseball diamond at the nearby Hickman Mills High School to play until four or five in the morning.
US Department of Interior Issues Grants to Marshall Islands :: Everything Marshall Islands :: http://www.yokwe.net
DOI's Insular Affairs Assistant Secretary, Tony Babauta made available $1 million to support the Prior Service Trust Fund Administration. The PSTFA administers benefit payments to individuals in the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau who worked for the U.S. Department of the Navy and the U.S. Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. The program is designed to provide social security-type benefits to former employees of the TTPI government (or the predecessor-U.S. Navy administration) who were employed for at least five full years prior to 1968, when a TTPI Social Security System was created. The program also provides benefits to survivors of the former employees.
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