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TORONTO - Lisa Raitt, the Minister of Natural Resources, tried yesterday to assuage public fears that Canada is in the throes of a grave medical crisis, saying world isotope experts are working on a solution to medical isotope shortage and getting the Chalk River, Ont., facility up and running again is a top priority. "We do have a shortage of medical isotopes. The province, the government and the medical community have been working together to ensure those who really need the medical isotopes will get medical isotopes," she said. "It's not like we have no isotopes. This week we had 75% of our normal supply."

PPL Corp.'s Susquehanna nuclear station in Salem Township failed to ensure two staff members met medical requirements, an inspection of the power plant found. The company could be cited for the "apparent violations" and receive additional future scrutiny, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced on Friday. The NRC, which performed the inspection, found that two senior reactor operators failed to meet the medical prerequisites for their individual licenses. One operator worked after failing an eye examination, PPL spokesman Joe Scopelliti said. The other worked for about three months after the deadline for a biennial medical exam had expired.

PPL Corp.'s Susquehanna nuclear station in Salem Township failed to ensure two staff members met medical requirements, an inspection of the power plant found. The company could be cited for the "apparent violations" and receive additional future scrutiny, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced on Friday. The NRC, which performed the inspection, found that two senior reactor operators failed to meet the medical prerequisites for their individual licenses. One operator worked after failing an eye examination, PPL spokesman Joe Scopelliti said. The other worked for about three months after the deadline for a biennial medical exam had expired.

Call it a case of having too many medical eggs in too few baskets. Just over a year ago, in December 2007, a nuclear reactor in Chalk River was in the news because of maintenance issues. The reactor had been shut down for repairs, and Canada's nuclear regulatory agency, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, would not allow it to restart until safety improvements were made. Problem was, the reactor produced most of the world's medical isotopes - used to test for cancer, heart problems and bone ailments. Faced with a massive diagnostics problem, the federal government passed legislation that allowed the reactor to be restarted, despite the regulatory body's objections. The 50-year-old reactor is crucial to the world supply of medical isotopes. Even though it was supposed to be decommissioned in 2005, it and another reactor in Petten, Netherlands, produce close to 85 per cent of the world's medical isotopes, through a process that involves the nuclear decay of molybdenum-99.

U.S. Labor Department reaches $5 billion in benefits paid and 8th anniversary of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that it has paid more than $5 billion in compensation and medical benefits to more than 52,600 claimants nationwide under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). This milestone coincides with the eighth anniversary of the Labor Department's administration of the EEOICPA, which provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. "I am proud to announce that the Labor Department has delivered more than $5 billion in compensation and medical benefits to deserving workers and their families during the eight years it has administered the EEOICPA," said Shelby Hallmark, acting assistant secretary of labor for employment standards. "The department is dedicated to carrying out the vital mission of this program: getting compensation and medical benefits to eligible workers and their survivors as quickly and consistently as possible. We will continue to strengthen the adjudication process, our outreach efforts and claimant services in order to carry out the EEOICPA in a manner that is consistent with the law as enacted by Congress."

The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that it has paid more than $5 billion in compensation and medical benefits to more than 52,600 claimants nationwide under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). This milestone coincides with the eighth anniversary of the Labor Department's administration of the EEOICPA, which provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. "I am proud to announce that the Labor Department has delivered more than $5 billion in compensation and medical benefits to deserving workers and their families during the eight years it has administered the EEOICPA," said Shelby Hallmark, acting assistant secretary of labor for employment standards. "The department is dedicated to carrying out the vital mission of this program: getting compensation and medical benefits to eligible workers and their survivors as quickly and consistently as possible. We will continue to strengthen the adjudication process, our outreach efforts and claimant services in order to carry out the EEOICPA in a manner that is consistent with the law as enacted by Congress."

"Though multiple doctors weigh in, an administrator makes final medical decisions on sick nuke worker's claim Imagine being sent to get a second medical opinion about your fatal lung disease from the same doctor you went to the first time. Then imagine having the differences of opinion between multiple doctors about your fatal condition resolved by someone who is not a doctor. It happened to Michael Fellinger, a former worker at the Ames Laboratory whose widow, Bo Fellinger, is struggling to get compensation from a Department of Labor program intended to help those sickened by their work in our nation's nuclear weapons program. Occupational health specialists around the country who work with claimants say they routinely have their opinions trumped by medical consultants with too little expertise and too much authority. They are calling for an independent oversight board to be established, either by congressional legislation or by the Department of Labor itself, to improve the claims process."

The Department of Energy will make the medical records of former Los Alamos National Laboratory workers available to help them prove whether they qualify for federal compensation for exposure to radiation and beryllium. Sen. Jeff Bingaman and Sen.-elect Tom Udall, both New Mexico Democrats, welcome the DOE's announcement Thursday of its decision to provide the records available to lab employees. The medical records are from the Los Alamos Medical Center and were created before the facility was privatized in 1964.

As many as two-thirds of adults underwent a medical test in the last few years that exposed them to radiation and in some cases, a potentially higher risk of cancer, a study in five areas of the U.S. suggests. It is the latest big attempt to measure how much radiation Americans are getting from sometimes unnecessary medical imaging. Though the annual average radiation exposure from X-rays, CT scans and other tests was low, researchers found about 20 percent were exposed to moderate radiation doses and 2 percent were exposed to high levels. "Super X-rays" to check for heart problems accounted for nearly a quarter of the radiation people received. "Given the growing use of medical imaging procedures, our findings have important implications for the health of the general population," the researchers reported in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

An expert panel is recommending that the federal government build a new nuclear reactor to produce medical isotopes and guarantee an adequate supply for the country. The Expert Review Panel On Medical Isotope Production says the best way to keep isotopes stocked is to build a new research reactor to replace the downed unit at Chalk River, Ont. It makes the recommendation in a report to Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt, which the government received Monday and released Thursday. "We recommend that the government expeditiously engage in the replacement of the (National Research Universal) reactor as we believe a multipurpose research reactor represents the best primary option to create a sustainable source of (the isotope molybdenum 99), recognizing that the reactor's other missions would also play a role in justifying the costs," the report says.

An expert panel is recommending that the federal government build a new nuclear reactor to produce medical isotopes and guarantee an adequate supply for the country. The Expert Review Panel On Medical Isotope Production says the best way to keep isotopes stocked is to build a new research reactor to replace the downed unit at Chalk River, Ont. It makes the recommendation in a report to Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt, which the government received Monday and released Thursday. "We recommend that the government expeditiously engage in the replacement of the (National Research Universal) reactor as we believe a multipurpose research reactor represents the best primary option to create a sustainable source of (the isotope molybdenum 99), recognizing that the reactor's other missions would also play a role in justifying the costs," the report says.

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.

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.

"The U.S. Department of Labor will visit Livermore, Calif., on June 29 and Emeryville, Calif., on June 30 to present information about the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act, which provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. Through town hall meetings, officials will present details about two new classes of former employees at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory recently added to the EEOICPA's Special Exposure Cohort, as well as provide an overview of the program. The Labor Department's California Resource Center staff will also be available at the town hall meetings for extended periods of time to assist individuals with the filing of claims under the EEOICPA. A worker who is included in a designated SEC class of employees, and who is diagnosed with one of 22 specified cancers, may receive a presumption of causation under the EEOICPA. On April 5, 2010, the secretary of health and human services designated the following two classes of employees as additions to the SEC: all employees of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors, who worked at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., from Jan. 1, 1950, through Dec. 31, 1973, and at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., from Aug. 13, 1942, through Dec. 31, 1961, for at least 250 workdays occurring either solely under this employment or in combination with workdays within other classes of employees in the SEC. Both designations became effective on May 5, 2010. As the Department of Health and Human Services determines and introduces new SEC classes into the EEOICPA claims process, the Labor Department's role is to adjudicate these claims based on the new SEC class definition. To date, more than $118 million in compensation and medical bills have been paid to 1,0

The U.S. Department of Labor has notified all former Mallinckrodt Chemical Company, Destrehan Street Plant workers about a new class of employees added to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act's (EEOICPA) Special Exposure Cohort (SEC). The EEOICPA provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. Survivors of qualified employees may also be entitled to benefits. A worker who is included in a designated SEC class of employees, and who is diagnosed with one of 22 specified cancers, may receive a presumption of causation under the act. To date, more than $80 million in compensation and medical benefits has been paid to eligible Mallinckrodt Chemical Company, Destrehan Street Plant employees and more than $4.6 billion in compensation and medical benefits has been paid to eligible claimants nationwide under the act.

A new study of older construction workers at four U.S. Department of Energy nuclear weapons sites found the workers have a higher risk of having asbestos-related disease. The study, conducted by researchers at Duke University, the University of Cincinnati and other institutions, found that trades workers at Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington, Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee, Savannah River Site in South Carolina or the Amchitka site in Alaska had significantly elevated asbestos-related cancers. The study was published in the current issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, a medical publication. The research was funded by the Department of Energy. The study tracked the mortality of 8,976 construction workers at nuclear weapons facilities who had participated in voluntary medical screening programs from 1998 through 2004. The workers were predominantly white and nearly all male. Researchers identified 674 deaths among the overall group -slightly less than expected-but noted a significantly higher death rate among those identified as asbestos workers and insulators. The incidence of cancer was elevated at all four sites with the highest rates at Savannah River.

A new study of older construction workers at four U.S. Department of Energy nuclear weapons sites found the workers have a higher risk of having asbestos-related disease. The study, conducted by researchers at Duke University, the University of Cincinnati and other institutions, found that trades workers at Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington, Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee, Savannah River Site in South Carolina or the Amchitka site in Alaska had significantly elevated asbestos-related cancers. The study was published in the current issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, a medical publication. The research was funded by the Department of Energy. The study tracked the mortality of 8,976 construction workers at nuclear weapons facilities who had participated in voluntary medical screening programs from 1998 through 2004. The workers were predominantly white and nearly all male. Researchers identified 674 deaths among the overall group -slightly less than expected-but noted a significantly higher death rate among those identified as asbestos workers and insulators. The incidence of cancer was elevated at all four sites with the highest rates at Savannah River.

Canada may divide its nuclear agency into two units in a bid to resolve the global shortage of medical isotopes, which are used for medical imaging to diagnose cancer and heart disease, Canada's natural resources minister said Friday. Lisa Raitt said the government would likely separate state-owned Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. into a research division that includes the medical isotopes reactor and another division for the pressurized heavy water reactors that generate electric power. The government has hired investment bankers N.M. Rothschild & Sons to develop a restructuring plan for AECL, Raitt said, and they are scheduled to report back to her in the next few months.

On the eighth anniversary of a program to compensate ill Hanford workers or their survivors, the federal government has paid out $472 million for Hanford and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory claims. Nationwide the program has paid out $5 billion in compensation and medical claims for illnesses in World War II and Cold War workers in the nuclear weapons industry. At Hanford $389 million has been paid in compensation plus $12 million for medical bills. At PNNL $68 million has been paid in compensation and $2 million for medical bills. The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act pays compensation of $150,000 for employees with cancer or beryllium disease believed to be caused by radiation exposure on the job. A second part of the program pays compensation up to $250,000 for a wider range of illnesses believed caused by exposure to radiation or hazardous chemicals. For more information, call the Hanford Resource Center at 946-3333 or 888-654-0014.

REGARDING A PETITION FOR CONGRESS TO END THE NEGLIGENT DELAY OF THE PROMISED COMPENSATION AWARDS AND MEDICAL BENEFITS TO THE NUCLEAR FACILITY WORKERS WHO WERE MADE ILL FROM THEIR SERVICE TO THEIR COUNTRY. THE U.S. PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS DEEMED THE ESTIMATED 600,000 NUCLEAR FACILITY WORKFORCE, COURAGEOUS COLD WAR VETERANS. The implementation of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000, as amended, (EEOICPA) has been fraught with mismanagement, violations of due process, misrepresentation, and misplacement of workers medical and dosimetry records. The responsible federal agencies -- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Department of Labor (DOL) -- have, for seven years, followed policies that have resulted in delaying compensation for thousands of workers who served in The Cold War at the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex.

REGARDING A PETITION FOR CONGRESS TO END THE NEGLIGENT DELAY OF THE PROMISED COMPENSATION AWARDS AND MEDICAL BENEFITS TO THE NUCLEAR FACILITY WORKERS WHO WERE MADE ILL FROM THEIR SERVICE TO THEIR COUNTRY. THE U.S. PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS DEEMED THE ESTIMATED 600,000 NUCLEAR FACILITY WORKFORCE, COURAGEOUS COLD WAR VETERANS. The implementation of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000, as amended, (EEOICPA) has been fraught with mismanagement, violations of due process, misrepresentation, and misplacement of workers medical and dosimetry records. The responsible federal agencies -- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Department of Labor (DOL) -- have, for seven years, followed policies that have resulted in delaying compensation for thousands of workers who served in The Cold War at the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex.

Canada's top doctor of nuclear medicine has slammed the Expert Review Panel on Medical Isotope Production for wasting months to deliver a near useless report on how to replace the broken nuclear reactor at Chalk River. The panel was created in the spring by Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt to find alternative supplies of medical isotopes used in cancer and heart scans, after the NRU reactor went down for extended repairs. "The report is comprehensive but doesn't bring anything new to the table. Everything we knew already," said Jean-Luc Urbain, president of the Canadian Society of Nuclear Medicine. The key recommendation was to build a new reactor for between $500 million and $1.2 billion. The report all but dismissed the prospect of revisiting the Maple I and II reactors, which were supposed to replace the NRU reactor but ran $700 million over budget before being abandoned.

Canada's top doctor of nuclear medicine has slammed the Expert Review Panel on Medical Isotope Production for wasting months to deliver a near useless report on how to replace the broken nuclear reactor at Chalk River. The panel was created in the spring by Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt to find alternative supplies of medical isotopes used in cancer and heart scans, after the NRU reactor went down for extended repairs. "The report is comprehensive but doesn't bring anything new to the table. Everything we knew already," said Jean-Luc Urbain, president of the Canadian Society of Nuclear Medicine. The key recommendation was to build a new reactor for between $500 million and $1.2 billion. The report all but dismissed the prospect of revisiting the Maple I and II reactors, which were supposed to replace the NRU reactor but ran $700 million over budget before being abandoned.

"Three years. That's the wait time for medical claim decisions from a Department of Labor program that compensates former federal nuclear workers who developed illnesses related to their work, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Monday. The report reflects concerns claimants have had for years about the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. The GAO's performance audit covered the program from November 2008 to March 2010. Signed into law in 2000, the program was designed to compensate former nuclear workers with lump sum payments and medical benefits for illnesses linked to their exposures to radiation and toxic substances."

Conscripts Were Exposed To High Levels Of Radiation Former soldiers suffering from radiation poisoning are suing the Chilean treasury and Nuclear Energy Commission for US$85 million. The men were exposed to high levels of radiation whilst guarding the same nuclear facility in Santiago in the late 1980's. The Soldiers were all guarding the same nuclear facility in Santiago between 1988-1989. Over 60 ex-guards of the La Reina Nuclear Reactor and Research Center cited various health problems in filing their lawsuit against the state. The men in question secured the facility as part of their national military service duties between 1988-1989 and show symptoms of dangerous over-exposure to radiation. The case presented by the Santiago law firm Alfredo Morgado reads: "This petition demands compensation from the state on behalf of the victims who have died or continue to suffer as a result of radiation poisoning." The lawsuit also points to the "non-existent help" the government has offered to the men. Amongst the medical conditions cited are various forms of cancer, bone and nerve degeneration, digestive problems, migraines and diarrhea. Some of the men also claim compensation for medical conditions and congenital defects allegedly passed on to their children. Among the petitioners are the families of soldiers who died as a result of the contamination. Guillermo Cofre died in 1989 after being asked to clean up a nuclear waste spill with a towel. "His military uniform had melted, almost as if he had fallen in acid," his father said. Both Guillermo and his companion on the task Luis Gomez Naranjo died of leukemia within 18 months of the accident. The families of the deceased are suing for over US$3.5 million each, while the remaining petitioners are each claiming between US$1 to 1.5 million for current and future health complications. The case is being heard at the Santiago Court of Appeals. The lawsuit comes at a time of increased lobbying efforts o

Conscripts Were Exposed To High Levels Of Radiation Former soldiers suffering from radiation poisoning are suing the Chilean treasury and Nuclear Energy Commission for US$85 million. The men were exposed to high levels of radiation whilst guarding the same nuclear facility in Santiago in the late 1980's. The Soldiers were all guarding the same nuclear facility in Santiago between 1988-1989. Over 60 ex-guards of the La Reina Nuclear Reactor and Research Center cited various health problems in filing their lawsuit against the state. The men in question secured the facility as part of their national military service duties between 1988-1989 and show symptoms of dangerous over-exposure to radiation. The case presented by the Santiago law firm Alfredo Morgado reads: "This petition demands compensation from the state on behalf of the victims who have died or continue to suffer as a result of radiation poisoning." The lawsuit also points to the "non-existent help" the government has offered to the men. Amongst the medical conditions cited are various forms of cancer, bone and nerve degeneration, digestive problems, migraines and diarrhea. Some of the men also claim compensation for medical conditions and congenital defects allegedly passed on to their children. Among the petitioners are the families of soldiers who died as a result of the contamination. Guillermo Cofre died in 1989 after being asked to clean up a nuclear waste spill with a towel. "His military uniform had melted, almost as if he had fallen in acid," his father said. Both Guillermo and his companion on the task Luis Gomez Naranjo died of leukemia within 18 months of the accident. The families of the deceased are suing for over US$3.5 million each, while the remaining petitioners are each claiming between US$1 to 1.5 million for current and future health complications. The case is being heard at the Santiago Court of Appeals. The lawsuit comes at a time of increased lobbying efforts o

" ... we know that doing 62 million scans every year for a population of 300 million is not just unnecessary and wasteful, but it's dangerous. It's producing tens of thousands of cancers."-- Dr. Atul Gawande, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, on NPR's Morning Edition, Sept. 3, 2009 Medical CT and PET scanners expose at least four million North Americans to high doses of radiation each year, a new study shows. Around 400,000 of them get very high doses, higher than the maximum annual doses allowed for nuclear reactor or nuclear weapon site workers, or anyone working with radioactive materials, according to an article in The New England Journal of Medicine (August 27, 2009), "Exposure to Low-Dose Ionizing Radiation from Medical Imaging Procedures."

" ... we know that doing 62 million scans every year for a population of 300 million is not just unnecessary and wasteful, but it's dangerous. It's producing tens of thousands of cancers."-- Dr. Atul Gawande, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, on NPR's Morning Edition, Sept. 3, 2009 Medical CT and PET scanners expose at least four million North Americans to high doses of radiation each year, a new study shows. Around 400,000 of them get very high doses, higher than the maximum annual doses allowed for nuclear reactor or nuclear weapon site workers, or anyone working with radioactive materials, according to an article in The New England Journal of Medicine (August 27, 2009), "Exposure to Low-Dose Ionizing Radiation from Medical Imaging Procedures."