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Last November, the Daily Press published a special enterprise reporting project on the Energy Fuels Pinon Ridge mill, uranium mining and human health. It led us to the conclusion that there is much to be mulled over when considering the permitting of a uranium mill. We suggested two appropriate moves by Montrose County. One, declare a moratorium of a year; and two, at least wait until the State of Colorado defines through a state permit what type of beast the mill would be before issuing a special use permit. The Press' report, "Uranium & Health, the Pinon Ridge Mill," adopted the methodology of an environmental impact statement, at least in regard to human health. We treated the mill as a part of mining processing, or development as the county defines it. We then examined what the impacts of the mill would be on the health of miners, transporters, mill workers and neighbors. The mining occupational health analysis indicated definite risks beyond normal occupations. The milling occupational health was a bit of a mystery. One revelation from the special section: according to Phil Egidi of the Colorado Department of Health and Environment's (CDPHE), the state leaves room for creativity in permits based on community and regional requests. (The entire report is on our Web site: montrosepress.com under the link 'special sections.')

New research reveals that thyroid cancer rates near the Indian Point nuclear power plant are among the highest in the nation. Government statistics show that, compared to the U.S., thyroid cancer rates are 106 percent higher in Rockland County; 102 percent higher in Putnam County; 87 percent higher in Orange County; and 42 percent higher in Westchester County. These figures are alarming. Unfortunately, Westchester County Health Commissioner Joshua Lipsman maliciously attacks this research, done by the Radiation and Public Health Project. RPHP, which I direct, comprises professional scientists. Our research is factual, while he has no proof to support his statements. My colleagues and I have published 25 papers on radiation health risk in scientific journals, including the esteemed Lancet and British Medical Journal. All papers were peer-reviewed by expert scientists who found them to meet high professional standards. Lipsman never published a single journal article on radiation health.

New research reveals that thyroid cancer rates near the Indian Point nuclear power plant are among the highest in the nation. Government statistics show that, compared to the U.S., thyroid cancer rates are 106 percent higher in Rockland County; 102 percent higher in Putnam County; 87 percent higher in Orange County; and 42 percent higher in Westchester County. These figures are alarming. Unfortunately, Westchester County Health Commissioner Joshua Lipsman maliciously attacks this research, done by the Radiation and Public Health Project. RPHP, which I direct, comprises professional scientists. Our research is factual, while he has no proof to support his statements. My colleagues and I have published 25 papers on radiation health risk in scientific journals, including the esteemed Lancet and British Medical Journal. All papers were peer-reviewed by expert scientists who found them to meet high professional standards. Lipsman never published a single journal article on radiation health.

The World Health Organisation is seeking studies for up to 20 years to keep watch over public health in Japan following the Fukushima nuclear emergency, a senior official said on Wednesday. WHO environmental health chief Maria Neira played down a current risk to public health outside the 30-kilometre exclusion zone around the Fukushima Daiichi plant, based on tests and monitoring by Japanese authorities. "There is no need for new public health measures," Neira told journalists. She nonetheless underlined that the UN health agency could not let its guard drop while the radiation emergency at the plant was underway, as the WHO maintained permanent monitoring with the Japanese and global detection networks.

Uranium mining could present WA communities with a variety of health problems, from leukemia to congenital defects, according to a health expert at a recent forum. Speaking at the Public Health Association of Australia's "Uranium Mining: What are the health risks for WA?" seminar, Nobel Peace Prize nominee Dr Helen Caldicott said the public health effects on Western Australians could be disastrous if plans to begin uranium mining in the State go ahead. Dr Caldicott said miners and nearby residents could be at risk should they be exposed to harmful materials.

Federal researchers have begun a public health review in Cañon City amid renewed concerns about pollution from a closed uranium mill. The study, by the Health and Human Services Department, is examining potential exposure to pollution from the Cotter Corp. mill and the possible health risks. "We're not saying these (potential health impacts) were caused by the contamination," said environmental scientist Teresa Foster. "We're not at the point where we can make that determination. We're taking the community's concerns very seriously."

The Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) is a quango that is supposed to be a watchdog on the health issues arising from the activities of nuclear installations in the UK. COMARE's terms of reference are "to assess and advise Government . on the health effects of natural and man-made radiation and to assess the adequacy of the available data and the need for further research". But how seriously does this body take its responsibilities? Not very, it seems. A recent authoritative health study commissioned by the German government entitled KiKK (Kinderkrebs in der Umgebung von KernKraftwerken, or Childhood Cancer in the Vicinity of Nuclear Power Plants) found increased leukemias near all German nuclear facilities. The Environmental Health Sub-Committee of the West Cumbria Site Stakeholder Group, a group that discusses nuclear issues mainly concerning Sellafield, raised the findings of this study with COMARE and asked for its views. A one-page COMARE briefing was sent by Professor Alex Elliott, the COMARE chairman, and was read out to the May 2009 meeting of the Environmental Health Sub Committee as COMARE's official view. It is likely that other stakeholder groups near other UK nuclear sites were informed along similar lines. However the COMARE briefing was never published on its website.

Federal researchers have begun a public health review in Canon City amid renewed concerns about pollution from a closed uranium mill. The study, by the Health and Human Services Department, is examining potential exposure to pollution from the Cotter Corp. mill and the possible health risks. "We're not saying these (potential health impacts) were caused by the contamination," said environmental scientist Teresa Foster. "We're not at the point where we can make that determination. We're taking the community's concerns very seriously."

Residents living close to uranium mines, especially large mines, are more likely to have kidney disease, hypertension, diabetes, and autoimmune disease, according to a University of New Mexico health researcher. Johnnye Lewis, Ph.D., principal investigator for the DiNEH Network for Environmental Health Project and director of the Community Environmental Health Program at the UNM Health Sciences Center, briefed a joint state Indian Affairs/Radiation and Hazardous Materials Committee Thursday at UNM on results of an ongoing study.

"The U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has repeatedly affirmed that any exposure to radioactivity, no matter how small, carries a health risk. In its 2006 BEIR VII report ("Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation," 7th iteration), NAS even reported mounting evidence that low dose radiation carries a supra-linear health hazard. That is, low doses are disproportionately more harmful, per unit dose, than high dose radiation. The bottom line is, exposure to low dose radiation, such as intentional "routine" discharges or "accidental" leaks of tritium into the Connecticut River and downstream drinking water supplies and food chains, risks human and wildlife health impacts. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 20,000 picocuries per liter limit on tritium in drinking water is not a conservative health standard. The state of California has a goal to limit tritium in drinking water to 400 picocuries per liter, a fifty-fold strengthening. The state of Colorado's goal is 500 picocuries per liter, a forty-fold strengthening. EPA's and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) radiological health standards are inappropriately based on "Reference Man" faulty assumptions, which leaves more vulnerable women, children and fetuses at increased risk."

Quebec will create a special committee to study the potential effects of uranium exploration and mining on public health, says the province's chief public health officer Dr. Alain Poirier. Poirier made the announcement Friday, following a meeting with a group of 23 doctors in the province's North Shore region. The doctors at the Sept-Îles Hospital have threatened to resign unless the province puts in place a ban on uranium mining and exploration, which they said is a threat to public health. "We agreed to look at all the options and not just only to think if one day there will be a mine - but what are the effects now on the population," Poirier said.

Quebec will create a special committee to study the potential effects of uranium exploration and mining on public health, says the province's chief public health officer Dr. Alain Poirier. Poirier made the announcement Friday, following a meeting with a group of 23 doctors in the province's North Shore region. The doctors at the Sept-Îles Hospital have threatened to resign unless the province puts in place a ban on uranium mining and exploration, which they said is a threat to public health. "We agreed to look at all the options and not just only to think if one day there will be a mine - but what are the effects now on the population," Poirier said.

"According to a report by researchers at the Oak Ridge Insitute for Science and Education, undergraduate degrees in health physics (the science of radiation protection) increased slightly in 2009 -- cotninuing a recent trend -- but the number of doctorate degrees awarded hit a 40-year low. The report, "Health Physics Enrollments and Degrees Survey, 2009 Data," surveyed 24 academic programs -- including the University of Tennessee -- with students majoring in health physcis or in "an option program equivalent to a major." ORISE reported that a total of 154 degrees in health physics -- B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. -- were awarded in 2009, but only nine of those were Ph.D.s."

The Department of Health should rewrite a 1977 radiological health rule it uses to monitor radiation releases from the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant and make sure the public has an opportunity to comment, a legislative oversight committee concluded Wednesday. Critics of the nuclear plant have said the Health Department had re-interpreted the emission measurement rule over the years, allowing radiation at the edge of the plant's property to violate state standards. Health Department officials have countered there's science behind their measurement practices.

Notice of Issuance of Early Site Permit and Limited Work Authorization for the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant ESP Site AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of Issuance of Early Site Permit and Limited Work Authorization. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: [[Page 44880]] I. Introduction Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.106, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is providing notice of the issuance of Early Site Permit (ESP) ESP-004 to Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC), Georgia Power Company, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, and the City of Dalton, Georgia, an incorporated municipality in the State of Georgia acting by and through its Board of Water, Light and Sinking Fund Commissioners, for approval of a site located in Burke County, Georgia, 26 miles southeast of Augusta, Georgia for two nuclear power reactors; this action is separate from the filing of an application for a construction permit or combined license for such a facility. The NRC has found that the application for an early site permit (ESP), and accompanying limited work authorization (LWA), filed by Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC), on behalf of itself and the other four entities named above, complies with the applicable requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the applicable rules and regulations of the Commission. All required notifications to other agencies or bodies have been duly made. There is reasonable assurance that the permit holders will comply with the regulations in 10 CFR Chapter I and the health and safety of the public will not be endangered. There is reasonable assurance that the site is in conformity with the provisions of the Act and the Commission's regulations. SNC is technically qualified to engage in the activities authorized. Issuance of the ESP will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public. Issuance of the LWA will provide reasonable assurance of a

Notice of Issuance of Early Site Permit and Limited Work Authorization for the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant ESP Site AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of Issuance of Early Site Permit and Limited Work Authorization. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: [[Page 44880]] I. Introduction Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.106, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is providing notice of the issuance of Early Site Permit (ESP) ESP-004 to Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC), Georgia Power Company, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, and the City of Dalton, Georgia, an incorporated municipality in the State of Georgia acting by and through its Board of Water, Light and Sinking Fund Commissioners, for approval of a site located in Burke County, Georgia, 26 miles southeast of Augusta, Georgia for two nuclear power reactors; this action is separate from the filing of an application for a construction permit or combined license for such a facility. The NRC has found that the application for an early site permit (ESP), and accompanying limited work authorization (LWA), filed by Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC), on behalf of itself and the other four entities named above, complies with the applicable requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the applicable rules and regulations of the Commission. All required notifications to other agencies or bodies have been duly made. There is reasonable assurance that the permit holders will comply with the regulations in 10 CFR Chapter I and the health and safety of the public will not be endangered. There is reasonable assurance that the site is in conformity with the provisions of the Act and the Commission's regulations. SNC is technically qualified to engage in the activities authorized. Issuance of the ESP will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public. Issuance of the LWA will provide reasonable assurance of a

Deceptions about our nuclear weapons have "threatened the survival of the human species." Two Years After Nisour Square Massacre, Blackwater Still Armed and Dangerous In Iraq Jeremy Scahill Holbrooke on Afghanistan: It's Not Whether You Win or Lose, It's How You Play the Game Danielle Kurtzleben The Tragedy of Our 'Disappeared' Veterans Penny Coleman Why Are U.S. Officials Protecting the Pakistan Military on Aid to Taliban? Gareth Porter Honduras: "People Are In The Streets Every Day" Jessica Pupovac A Statement On My Friends, Three U.S. Hikers Reportedly Detained at Iran/Iraq Border Shon Meckfessel More stories by Daniel Ellsberg RSS icon World RSS Feed RSS icon Main AlterNet RSS Feed Advertisement Upcoming AlterNet stories on Digg Digg What is Digg? * 62 diggs Burning Questions for the Authors of 'Marijuana Is Safer' The authors of a new book on misconceptions about marijuana respond to the torrent of comments on an excerpt published on AlterNet. On August 6, AlterNet posted an excerpt from the new book Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving Americans to Drink? (Chelsea Green, 2009). Reader response was overwhelming. Within hours, the excerpt was.... * 58 diggs 10 Awesome Things Would Happen If Health Reform Passes Forget the fearmongering scare tactics of the right, here's how your life will actually be better. The truth about health care reform. * 45 diggs Lou Dobbs Tours Single-Payer Systems Abroad and Realizes... Has CNN's government-out-of-my-face bloviator actually had a change of heart when it comes to Obama's health plan? * 34 diggs Right-Wing Militias Haven't Always Been Racist- they are now There are growing signs that militias are on the rise again and now their target isn't just government, but Blacks and Latinos. * 29 diggs 7 Ways We Can Fight Back Against the Rising Fascist Threat | Why the right-wing extremism must be stopped in its tracks or else

Deceptions about our nuclear weapons have "threatened the survival of the human species." Two Years After Nisour Square Massacre, Blackwater Still Armed and Dangerous In Iraq Jeremy Scahill Holbrooke on Afghanistan: It's Not Whether You Win or Lose, It's How You Play the Game Danielle Kurtzleben The Tragedy of Our 'Disappeared' Veterans Penny Coleman Why Are U.S. Officials Protecting the Pakistan Military on Aid to Taliban? Gareth Porter Honduras: "People Are In The Streets Every Day" Jessica Pupovac A Statement On My Friends, Three U.S. Hikers Reportedly Detained at Iran/Iraq Border Shon Meckfessel More stories by Daniel Ellsberg RSS icon World RSS Feed RSS icon Main AlterNet RSS Feed Advertisement Upcoming AlterNet stories on Digg Digg What is Digg? * 62 diggs Burning Questions for the Authors of 'Marijuana Is Safer' The authors of a new book on misconceptions about marijuana respond to the torrent of comments on an excerpt published on AlterNet. On August 6, AlterNet posted an excerpt from the new book Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving Americans to Drink? (Chelsea Green, 2009). Reader response was overwhelming. Within hours, the excerpt was.... * 58 diggs 10 Awesome Things Would Happen If Health Reform Passes Forget the fearmongering scare tactics of the right, here's how your life will actually be better. The truth about health care reform. * 45 diggs Lou Dobbs Tours Single-Payer Systems Abroad and Realizes... Has CNN's government-out-of-my-face bloviator actually had a change of heart when it comes to Obama's health plan? * 34 diggs Right-Wing Militias Haven't Always Been Racist- they are now There are growing signs that militias are on the rise again and now their target isn't just government, but Blacks and Latinos. * 29 diggs 7 Ways We Can Fight Back Against the Rising Fascist Threat | Why the right-wing extremism must be stopped in its tracks or else

Are nuclear power plant workers at higher risk to die of cancer? A study conducted by a Canadian researcher concluded the risk is substantially higher to them than to the general public. The document, "Exposure to Radiation and Health Outcomes" was made public last week. It was written by Mark Lemstra, who was formerly a senior research epidemiologist for the Saskatoon, Canada, Health Region. Lemstra left -- or was relieved of, depending on which source you read -- his job last year after a dispute over a report he authored that documented the health disparities between different socioeconomic categories in Saskatoon. In the radiation report, in which Lemstra reviewed 1,725 articles related to radiation studies, he concluded that nuclear power plant workers have a "relative excess risk" of getting cancer. In epidemiology, excess risk is defined as the difference between the proportion of subjects in a population with a particular disease who were exposed to a specific risk factor and the proportion of subjects with that same disease who were not exposed.

Are nuclear power plant workers at higher risk to die of cancer? A study conducted by a Canadian researcher concluded the risk is substantially higher to them than to the general public. The document, "Exposure to Radiation and Health Outcomes" was made public last week. It was written by Mark Lemstra, who was formerly a senior research epidemiologist for the Saskatoon, Canada, Health Region. Lemstra left -- or was relieved of, depending on which source you read -- his job last year after a dispute over a report he authored that documented the health disparities between different socioeconomic categories in Saskatoon. In the radiation report, in which Lemstra reviewed 1,725 articles related to radiation studies, he concluded that nuclear power plant workers have a "relative excess risk" of getting cancer. In epidemiology, excess risk is defined as the difference between the proportion of subjects in a population with a particular disease who were exposed to a specific risk factor and the proportion of subjects with that same disease who were not exposed.

The Quebec government is rejecting calls for a moratorium on uranium exploration in the province. On Thursday, 23 doctors from the province's remote North Shore region sent a letter to the health minister threatening to resign unless the province places a moratorium on uranium exploration in the region. The doctors from the Sept-Îles Hospital, who are also calling for a province-wide moratorium, said they are concerned about the impact on the health and well-being of the population. "Our main problem is concern about public health [from] long-term exposure to ionizing radiation," said respirologist Dr. Bruno Imbeault, spokesman for the doctors.

The Quebec government is rejecting calls for a moratorium on uranium exploration in the province. On Thursday, 23 doctors from the province's remote North Shore region sent a letter to the health minister threatening to resign unless the province places a moratorium on uranium exploration in the region. The doctors from the Sept-Îles Hospital, who are also calling for a province-wide moratorium, said they are concerned about the impact on the health and well-being of the population. "Our main problem is concern about public health [from] long-term exposure to ionizing radiation," said respirologist Dr. Bruno Imbeault, spokesman for the doctors.

Twenty doctors have handed in their resignations at the Centre hospitalier regional de Sept-Iles, the Quebec news network LCN reports. In an open letter addressed to Quebec Health Minister Yves Bolduc, the physicians say they have quit, as a group, to protest plans to build an uranium mine on Quebec's North Shore. The protest comes on the heels of the introduction new government mining legislation, which does not impose a moratorium on uranium exploitation in Quebec. The doctors say they fear for their own families' health as well as for the health of the population in the region.

Twenty doctors have handed in their resignations at the Centre hospitalier regional de Sept-Iles, the Quebec news network LCN reports. In an open letter addressed to Quebec Health Minister Yves Bolduc, the physicians say they have quit, as a group, to protest plans to build an uranium mine on Quebec's North Shore. The protest comes on the heels of the introduction new government mining legislation, which does not impose a moratorium on uranium exploitation in Quebec. The doctors say they fear for their own families' health as well as for the health of the population in the region.

The Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health today recommended that Oak Ridge Hospital workers, 1950-59, be desigated a Special Exposure Cohort, NIOSH spokeswoman Shannon Bradford said. The ruling is based on the likelihood they were exposed to chronic levels of radiation. The SEC status, if it stands, would make it easier for those workers with cancer to receive compensation under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program. The advisory board concurred with an earlier recommendation from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and now it will be sent to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, who will make a recommendation to Congress, Bradford said. If Congress doesn't act within 30 days, the secretary's recommendation stands, she said.

The Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health today recommended that Oak Ridge Hospital workers, 1950-59, be desigated a Special Exposure Cohort, NIOSH spokeswoman Shannon Bradford said. The ruling is based on the likelihood they were exposed to chronic levels of radiation. The SEC status, if it stands, would make it easier for those workers with cancer to receive compensation under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program. The advisory board concurred with an earlier recommendation from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and now it will be sent to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, who will make a recommendation to Congress, Bradford said. If Congress doesn't act within 30 days, the secretary's recommendation stands, she said.

County public health officials are offering free doses of the radiation-blocking drug potassium iodide to people who live and work downwind of Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. The pills, also known by their chemical name KI, are available at six locations. They are only to be taken at the direction of public health officials in the event of a radiation leak at Diablo Canyon. The county has enough doses to cover hundreds of thousands of people, said Michelle Shoresman, spokeswoman for the county public health department. They will be available as long as supplies last, which should be a year or so.

County public health officials are offering free doses of the radiation-blocking drug potassium iodide to people who live and work downwind of Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. The pills, also known by their chemical name KI, are available at six locations. They are only to be taken at the direction of public health officials in the event of a radiation leak at Diablo Canyon. The county has enough doses to cover hundreds of thousands of people, said Michelle Shoresman, spokeswoman for the county public health department. They will be available as long as supplies last, which should be a year or so.

"After reports from a German lab highlighted the threat of high uranium content in water, linking it with high incidence of abnormalities among residents of the Southern-West Malwa region of Punjab, another preliminary report by Baba Atomic Research Center (BARC), Mumbai, and researchers at Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), Amritsar, has found unsafe concentrations of uranium and heavy metals in water samples collected from Bathinda, Faridkot, Muktsar and adjoining areas. This comes at a time when the state health department is facing flak for its alleged attempts to play down this serious threat to people's health. Dr HS Kushwaha, director health, safety and environment group of BARC, said, "235 water samples were collected from the region about a year back, and many of these were found to have high uranium content. So, we assigned the task of exploring the possibility of uranium prospect and health risk assessments in area to physics department of GNDU, about six months back." "