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As the Nuclear Regulatory Commission begins a public comment period on the permit application for a new reactor at the DTE Energy's Fermi complex in Monroe, a public health expert is warning that a rise in cancer rates in Monroe County appears to be linked to operations at the existing 1,130 megawatt nuclear reactor. In a statement submitted to the NRC at a public hearing in Monroe last week, Joseph Mangano, a public health administrator and researcher with the Radiation and Public Health Project, said that data from the Centers for Disease Control shows an increasing cancer death rate, particularly among children, since Fermi 2 became operational in the 80's.

The Navajo Nation's top health official told the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that Navajos continue to live with the Cold War legacy of uranium mining, and that a long-term, comprehensive assessment and research program with adequate resources is needed to address it. Anslem Roanhorse Jr., executive director of the Navajo Nation Division of Health, said 520 radioactive uranium mines on the Navajo Nation were abandoned without being cleaned up. The uranium taken from Navajo land from 1944 to 1986 was used to meet the federal government's demand for nuclear weapons material, he said. Testifying Thursday before the bi-annual CDC and Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry Tribal Consultation session on the Environmental Public Health in Indian country, Roanhorse said four million tons of uranium ore, known as "yellow cake," were mined from Navajo land for more than 40 years. "There are about 500 abandoned uranimum mine sites throughout the Navajo Nation and only one has been fully assessed,

Vermont lawmakers are still worried about the state Department of Health's decision to change the way radiation from Vermont Yankee is measured. A special legislative panel heard testimony Thursday as it weighs whether to force the Health Department to revisit the way it now calculates the releases. Advertisement William Irwin, radiological health chief for the Health Department, says the Vernon nuclear plant releases 30 percent more radiation now than it did before boosting its power production by 20 percent in 2006. The releases are still within state limits, however. Rep. Richard Marek, D-Newfane, says the panel may require the Health Department to go through the regulatory process some lawmakers say was ignored last year.

A legislative committee on Wednesday criticized the Vermont Health Department for reworking the way it measures radiation being emitted by the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant without first bringing the changes to the committee. The Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules put the Health Department's radiological health chief in the hot seat over changes that have made it easier for Vermont Yankee to stay within state limits for radiation as measured at the plant boundary.

"Radiation is not uranium's only health concern, say researchers who report the less radioactive form of the metal can also damage DNA, but in a different way that could also lead to cancer. ShareThis Meticulous research identifies for the first time how two main types of uranium - enriched and depleted - damage a cell's DNA by different methods. The manner - either by radiation or by its chemical properties as a metal - depends upon whether the uranium is processed or depleted. This study shows that both types of uranium may carry a health risk because they both affect DNA in ways that can lead to cancer. Why does it matter? Regulatory agencies determine safe uranium exposure based on the metal's radioactive effects. Currently, safe exposure levels for workers and military personnel are based on enriched uranium - which is the more radioactive form and is considered to have a higher cancer risk than depleted uranium. Uranium exposure has been shown to affect bone, kidney, liver, brain, lung, intestine and the reproductive system. Yet, many people are exposed at work or through military activities to the less radioactive, depleted form. They may not be adequately protected based on current methods that evaluate uranium's health risks."

A U.S. agency has overturned its 2003 research that said no health hazards were caused by decades of military exercises on Vieques, a bombing range-turned-tourist destination off Puerto Rico's east coast. The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry said Friday it intends to "modify" some of its earlier research on Vieques, where the U.S. and its allies trained for conflicts from Vietnam to Iraq. The agency, a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, used its own studies to conclude in 2003 that there was essentially no health risk from the bombing range - a conclusion widely criticized by academics and residents on the 18-mile-long island of less than 10,000 people.

A U.S. agency has overturned its 2003 research that said no health hazards were caused by decades of military exercises on Vieques, a bombing range-turned-tourist destination off Puerto Rico's east coast. The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry said Friday it intends to "modify" some of its earlier research on Vieques, where the U.S. and its allies trained for conflicts from Vietnam to Iraq. The agency, a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, used its own studies to conclude in 2003 that there was essentially no health risk from the bombing range - a conclusion widely criticized by academics and residents on the 18-mile-long island of less than 10,000 people.

Environmental monitoring of operations at LLNL in 2008 indicates no adverse impact to public health or the environment from Lab operations. The findings are presented in the Laboratory's Environmental Report 2008. The annual report demonstrates LLNL's continuing commitment to providing responsible stewardship of the environmental resources in its care. Environmental monitoring of operations at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 2008 indicates no adverse impact to public health or the environment from Laboratory operations. The findings are presented in the Laboratory's Environmental Report 2008. The annual report demonstrates LLNL's continuing commitment to providing responsible stewardship of the environmental resources in its care. The report also documents the integration of environmental stewardship into strategic planning and decision-making processes through the Lab's Environmental Management System.

Environmental monitoring of operations at LLNL in 2008 indicates no adverse impact to public health or the environment from Lab operations. The findings are presented in the Laboratory's Environmental Report 2008. The annual report demonstrates LLNL's continuing commitment to providing responsible stewardship of the environmental resources in its care. Environmental monitoring of operations at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 2008 indicates no adverse impact to public health or the environment from Laboratory operations. The findings are presented in the Laboratory's Environmental Report 2008. The annual report demonstrates LLNL's continuing commitment to providing responsible stewardship of the environmental resources in its care. The report also documents the integration of environmental stewardship into strategic planning and decision-making processes through the Lab's Environmental Management System.

Last December, 141 states supported a General Assembly resolution requesting that the United Nation's agencies - the WHO, IAEA and UNEP - update their positions on the potential threat to human health and the environment posed by the use of uranium weapons. Of these, it seems to be that of the WHO which will prove the most influential. 17 November 2009 - Doug Weir and Gretel Munroe This was the second NAM resolution on uranium weapons in recent years and it garnered more support than its 2007 predecessor. Abstentions were down as Finland, Norway and Iceland voted in favour while France, Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom were left more isolated than ever. Following the vote, the UK justified its position by stating that all the research that has ever needed to be undertaken into the potential health impact of uranium weapons has been completed and that we can now therefore ignore the subject.

Last December, 141 states supported a General Assembly resolution requesting that the United Nation's agencies - the WHO, IAEA and UNEP - update their positions on the potential threat to human health and the environment posed by the use of uranium weapons. Of these, it seems to be that of the WHO which will prove the most influential. 17 November 2009 - Doug Weir and Gretel Munroe This was the second NAM resolution on uranium weapons in recent years and it garnered more support than its 2007 predecessor. Abstentions were down as Finland, Norway and Iceland voted in favour while France, Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom were left more isolated than ever. Following the vote, the UK justified its position by stating that all the research that has ever needed to be undertaken into the potential health impact of uranium weapons has been completed and that we can now therefore ignore the subject.

The Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), has a requirement for a contractor to provide technical assistance to the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (ABRWH). The purpose of this announcement is to provide a draft statement of work and invite public comments about this requirement. The draft is shown below. Comments should be submitted to Ms. Florence Black at the Contracting Office Address shown above, via email to fpblack@cdc.gov, or via fax at 412-386-6843. Comments are requested by no later than October 31, 2007.

The safety and health community shouldn't hold out hope for the long-sought beryllium exposure standard to be issued by OSHA in the final days of the Bush administration. The latest Department of Labor semiannual regulatory agenda, which was published this week, lists one more step in its evolution - a March 2009 completion of a peer review of health effects and risk assessment - but nothing further, such as an NPRM. The agency says it has been working on this rule for more than six years. In 1999 and 2001, the Paper Allied-Industrial, Chemical, and Energy Workers Union, Public Citizen Health Research Group, and others petitioned OSHA to regulate worker exposures to beryllium via an emergency temporary standard.

Between 100 and 150 people attended a program Saturday at the Community Center at Chatham to learn more about the potential health effects of uranium mining in Pittsylvania County. The free educational program was sponsored by the Dan River Basin Association and featured Douglas M. Brugge, an associate professor in the Department of Public Health and Family Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Mass. Brugge spoke on the history and health effects of uranium mining.

Between 100 and 150 people attended a program Saturday at the Community Center at Chatham to learn more about the potential health effects of uranium mining in Pittsylvania County. The free educational program was sponsored by the Dan River Basin Association and featured Douglas M. Brugge, an associate professor in the Department of Public Health and Family Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Mass. Brugge spoke on the history and health effects of uranium mining.

Yesterday, a House panel held an oversight hearing concerning Labor Secretary Elaine Chao's proposal to change the way the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Mine Safety and Health Administration calculate on-the-job risks. Occupational health advocates and good government groups, such as OMB Watch, oppose the controversial rule. However, Bush officials are aggressively pushing the new policy through the rulemaking pipeline.

In Bill Tuer's letter to Northumberland News (May 30), he appears to be satisfied with Health Canada's studies and findings of Port Hope in 1978, 1981, 1988, 1995, 2000 and 2001. These six studies have failed to identify the unnatural uranium isotopes of U234 and U236 in people like myself. Health Canada and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission should be ashamed that the Port Hope Community Health Concerns Committee had to raise the funds for radio-biological testing of 11 people. Waiting on our government gave us nothing. The study was small, it was a start, but look what it found. Of the 11 people, three of four workers were contaminated with U236 - spent reactor fuel; one worker with depleted uranium (DU); all four workers with elevated U234; and five non-workers all with elevated U234.

In a positive step, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is tightening its oversight of radioactive devices that contain potentially dangerous isotopes. A proposed new rule would give federal and state officials more muscle to regulate almost 2,000 items, mostly industrial gauges containing radioactive material. Taken individually, these devices pose no great hazard, but there is the potential for a dedicated terrorist to assemble enough material to make a dirty bomb. Such a weapon uses conventional explosives to spread radioactive material, rendering the contaminated area unusable. The NRC proposal, published Aug. 3, says, "A licensee's loss of control of radioactive sources, whether it be inadvertent or through a deliberate act, could result in significant health impacts, which could constitute a threat to the public health and safety."

In a positive step, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is tightening its oversight of radioactive devices that contain potentially dangerous isotopes. A proposed new rule would give federal and state officials more muscle to regulate almost 2,000 items, mostly industrial gauges containing radioactive material. Taken individually, these devices pose no great hazard, but there is the potential for a dedicated terrorist to assemble enough material to make a dirty bomb. Such a weapon uses conventional explosives to spread radioactive material, rendering the contaminated area unusable. The NRC proposal, published Aug. 3, says, "A licensee's loss of control of radioactive sources, whether it be inadvertent or through a deliberate act, could result in significant health impacts, which could constitute a threat to the public health and safety."

A 50-year-old agreement with the IAEA has effectively gagged the WHO from telling the truth about the health risks of radiation Fifty years ago, on 28 May 1959, the World Health Organisation's assembly voted into force an obscure but important agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency - the United Nations "Atoms for Peace" organisation, founded just two years before in 1957. The effect of this agreement has been to give the IAEA an effective veto on any actions by the WHO that relate in any way to nuclear power - and so prevent the WHO from playing its proper role in investigating and warning of the dangers of nuclear radiation on human health.

Health care push could help residents of Idaho and Montana gain compensation, they say. WASHINGTON, D.C. - For years, Idaho residents downwind of Cold War-era nuclear weapons testing have fought for recognition. This year, the downwinders believe they'll finally get their opportunity, in the form of federal legislation that could make a federal compensation fund available to residents of Idaho and Montana with cancer attributable to fallout from testing in the 1950s and 1960s. "I think it has a better chance this time than it's had for a long time," said Tona Henderson, an Emmett resident and one of the leading advocates for downwinders in Idaho. "I'm not necessarily a supporter of Barack Obama, but he's bringing up health care and health issues, and I think there are more people in Congress who already are thinking in that vein."

"The state's top health official said Tuesday it's reasonable to assume a radioactive substance leaking from the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant is reaching the Connecticut River. Dr. Wendy Davis, commissioner of the state Department of Health, told The Associated Press that the volume and direction of flow of tritium-tainted groundwater leads to the conclusion that it's reaching the river. Previous statements from the Health Department had indicated the water containing tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that has been linked to cancer when ingested in large amounts, was believed to be flowing toward or to the river. But they also said it was diluted by uncontaminated river water, so that lab instruments were not detecting it in samples of river water."

"Children exposed to 137Caesium (137C) released from the Chernobyl disaster fallout show signs of breathing difficulties, according to research published online this week in Environmental Health Perspectives. The research adds changes in lung function to the list of health problems associated with long-term exposure to the radiation. "The long term prognosis of these children is poor," Erik Svendsen and colleagues write. "Some will probably develop significant respiratory problems as they age." Chernobyl was the most serious nuclear accident in history. One of the plant's reactors exploded in 1986, showering radioactive material across many European countries with parts of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine worst hit. The health of people living in these countries has been affected by the radiation, which is known to cause thyroid cancer, leukaemia, cataracts, and cardiovascular disease. More than twenty years after the event people living in some areas continue to be exposed to radioisotopes that linger in the environment through tainted water supplies and locally grown food. One of these is the Ukrainian farming district of Narodickesky, which lies 80km west of the nuclear power plant. The region experienced "considerable" radioactive fallout from the disaster leaving the soil in some areas heavily contaminated with 137C, according to the authors. "

"People often go to the doctor thinking in their minds that they are a picture of health, and boom, it happens. However, there are times when a doctor hits a person with those dreaded words that something is "not just right" with our bodies. Hearing bad news about our health is never welcomed, especially when it involves the "C" word, cancer. There are numerous factors that can cause cancer. A large portion of these are environmental. Because of that, organizations such as the South Carolina Cancer Registry Office and the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) research and trying to uncover cancer clusters. A cancer cluster is a location or period of time where in a greater-than-expected number of cancer cases occur. According to the DHEC, in order for a true cancer cluster to exist, the number of cancers occurring must be significantly more than would be expected by chance. The report also states that additionally, a cancer cluster would more likely involve more rare types of cancer rather than more common types, such as lung, breast, prostate, or colon. A cancer cluster would usually occur with excess in one specific type of cancer rather than in several different types of cancer. Along with statistical testing, there are several other criteria that determine whether a true cancer cluster exists. "