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AP's Brock Vergakis filed a story this afternoon on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's response to Democratic congressmen, including Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., on questions surrounding the NRC ability (or lack thereof) to block imports of foreign nuclear waste. Also, here is a link to the letters sent by NRC chairman Dale Klein. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it doesn't have the authority to keep foreign radioactive waste from being imported into the United States just because the material is from another country.

Ever since our organization had Gwyneth Cravens as our Edward Teller Dinner Lecturer I cannot separate the notion that saving the world and nuclear energy are inextricably linked. Ms. Cravens wrote a book called "The Power to Save the World: The Truth about Nuclear Energy." I have been passionate about the proper role that nuclear should play in our energy mix for many decades, but now I have a rallying cry that conjures up all the rational bases for wanting to go full bore on nuclear energy as fast as we can.

Tens of thousands of nuclear workers are seriously ill or dying from their exposure to radioactive and hazardous materials -- and they are not being compensated for their illnesses despite promises from the federal government. Investigative reporter Laura Frank of Denver's Rocky Mountain News spent more than ten years following the plight of these workers, and has revealed: a U.S. Department of Labor program with a "no pay list" outlining illnesses to be denied compensation despite the government's own studies linking exposure to illness; that "one in 17 sick workers or survivors with valid claims - more than 1,200 people nationwide - died before they received their benefits"; and despite the frustration of the workers themselves, top labor department officials directing the program have collected tens of thousands of dollars each in bonus money.

"The autobiography of a former director of British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) is likely to reignite fears about the safety of nuclear power, as Britain prepares for a new generation of reactors, by exposing the panic that rocked the industry two decades ago when a link was suggested between radiation and childhood leukaemia. At its height, workers at Sellafield were advised not to have children, while bosses at the Cumbrian nuclear complex even proposed establishing a sperm bank or calling for "radiation volunteers" from among older workers in order to reduce levels of exposure for workers of child-bearing age."

"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."

"The Vermont Department of Health says levels of radioactive tritium in groundwater samples taken at Vermont Yankee nuclear plant have skyrocketed again - to 2.7 million picocuries per liter. The nuclear plant, located in Vermont's southeastern corner, is now monitoring drinking water wells on site and the Connecticut River on a daily basis, although the radioactive isotope hasn't been found in either. Tritium has been linked to cancer when ingested in large amounts. The federal safety standard for consumption is 20,000 picocuries per liter. State health officials say underground piping could be leaking the substances, which was first discovered at Vermont Yankee on Jan. 7."

"U.S. Sen. Kit Bond on Wednesday called for a new federal investigation of health concerns at a sensitive Kansas City defense plant. In a letter to a federal investigator, Bond noted that he was responding to reports on KSHB-TV that more than 100 former co-workers at the federal complex on Bannister Road fear their illnesses may be linked to toxins at the facility. Bond asked the inspector general for the General Services Administration, which acts as the federal government's landlord, to advise him on "the full extent of the problem and what steps GSA is taking to protect employees deemed at risk.""

"The barrister wife of former British prime minister Tony Blair will represent a group of Australian Aborigines suing the British government over nuclear testing on their land, a report said Saturday. Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement spokesman Neil Gillespie said Cherie Blair had been engaged by a group from Emu Field, in Australia's red desert centre, who are seeking compensation over 1953 atomic tests by Britain. Five cases had been lodged in the British courts over illnesses allegedly linked to the fallout from two nuclear weapons exploded in the Great Victoria Desert in October 1953."

The man, who in 1986 lifted the lid on Israel's nuclear secrets, has been placed under house arrest ahead of an expected indictment following his meeting with a Norwegian woman. Mordechai Vanunu was detained by authorities in Jerusalem for breaching a ban imposed on contact with all foreigners. His defence has argued that the meeting was no more than a romantic liaison and did not relate to any nuclear issues, says a report by the Irish Times. "This Jewish state has 200 atomic . . . hydrogen bombs, atomic weapons, neutron bomb. They are not able to say they have the bomb, they are not able to destroy anyone . . . instead they arrest Vanunu Mordechai," said the defendant in court, where he spoke only in English as part of a continued campaign against Israeli authorities, including a boycott of the Hebrew language. Vanunu has been fighting for permission to leave Israel for over two decades.

The man, who in 1986 lifted the lid on Israel's nuclear secrets, has been placed under house arrest ahead of an expected indictment following his meeting with a Norwegian woman. Mordechai Vanunu was detained by authorities in Jerusalem for breaching a ban imposed on contact with all foreigners. His defence has argued that the meeting was no more than a romantic liaison and did not relate to any nuclear issues, says a report by the Irish Times. "This Jewish state has 200 atomic . . . hydrogen bombs, atomic weapons, neutron bomb. They are not able to say they have the bomb, they are not able to destroy anyone . . . instead they arrest Vanunu Mordechai," said the defendant in court, where he spoke only in English as part of a continued campaign against Israeli authorities, including a boycott of the Hebrew language. Vanunu has been fighting for permission to leave Israel for over two decades.

"Radioactive tritium, a carcinogen discovered in potentially dangerous levels in groundwater at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, has now tainted at least 27 of the nation's 104 nuclear reactors - raising concerns about how it is escaping from the aging nuclear plants. The leaks - many from deteriorating underground pipes - come as the nuclear industry is seeking and obtaining federal license renewals, casting itself as a clean-green alternative to power plants that burn fossil fuels. Tritium, found in nature in tiny amounts and a product of nuclear fission, has been linked to cancer if ingested, inhaled or absorbed through the skin in large amounts. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday that new tests at a monitoring well on Vermont Yankee's site in Vernon registered 70,500 picocuries per liter, more than three times the federal safety standard of 20,000 picocuries per liter."

"War » But sickened warriors searching for help will have to wait for science and government bureaucracy to link their conditions to their service. Emily Rainwater, a Defense Contract Management Agency employee, served two tours of duty in Iraq.... * « * 1 * 2 * 3 * 4 * » Related * Sickened by Service * Jan 15: * Officials just now recognizing Agent Orange exposures * Government waits for proof - sometimes for decades - before caring for sick veterans * Vets say toxic tests sickened them; government says prove it Editor's note: Second in a three-part series Combat had changed him. Yet Andrew Rounds was still the adoring son his mother had sent off to war. He was still the hard worker who had helped her deliver newspapers after school. He was still the amiable soul who knew the names of everyone in the tiny village of Waterloo, Ore., from the mayor to the man who lived under the narrow bridge that crosses the river on the east side of town. "

"Cancer is spreading like wildfire in Iraq. Thousands of infants are being born with deformities. Doctors say they are struggling to cope with the rise of cancer and birth defects, especially in cities subjected to heavy American and British bombardment. Dr Ahmad Hardan, who served as a special scientific adviser to the World Health Organization, the United Nations and the Iraqi Ministry of Health, says that there is scientific evidence linking depleted uranium to cancer and birth defects. He told Al Jazeera English [3], "Children with congenital anomalies are subjected to karyotyping and chromosomal studies with complete genetic back-grounding and clinical assessment. Family and obstetrical histories are taken too. These international studies have produced ample evidence to show that depleted uranium has disastrous consequences." Iraqi doctors say cancer cases increased after both the 1991 war and the 2003 invasion. Abdulhaq Al-Ani, author of "Uranium in Iraq" told Al Jazeera English [4] that the incubation period for depleted uranium is five to six years, which is consistent with the spike in cancer rates in 1996-1997 and 2008-2009."

"Exposure to radiotherapy or radiation-based diagnostics like computed tomography (CT scans) in early childhood increases breast cancer risk in adulthood, a new study in the Jan 2010 issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. The study involved women exposed to thymic irradiation during infancy from 1926 to 1957. Breast cancer was identified in 96 treated in an average dose of 0.71 Gy and 57 untreated women during 159,459 person-year follow-up. Adams MJ and colleagues from University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry found women who were treated by radiation were 200 percent more likely to develop breast cancer than those who did not receive radiation. Higher doses of radiation were linked to high risk of breast cancer."

"Doctors at the Children's Cancer Hospital in Minsk, Belarus and at the Vilne Hospital for Radiological Protection in Eastern Ukraine are telling international media that they are seeing what they have no doubt is a spike in cancer rates, mutations and blood diseases among their patients linked to the world's largest nuclear disaster at Chernobyl 24 years. Charles Digges, 11/01-2010 If the reports of the local doctors and researchers, many of who spoke to Bellona Web Monday and in interviews last week, prove to be true, they could stand over two decades' worth of research by the United Nations and affiliated organisations on its head, and cast a shadow over the research techniques that have thus far been employed. "

"At the children's cancer hospital in Minsk, Belarus, and at the Vilne hospital for radiological protection in the east of Ukraine, specialist doctors are in no doubt they are seeing highly unusual rates of cancers, mutations and blood diseases linked to the Chernobyl nuclear accident 24 years ago. But proving that infant mortality hundreds of miles from the stricken nuclear plant has increased 20-30% in 20 years, or that the many young people suffering from genetic disorders, internal organ deformities and thyroid cancers are the victims of the world's greatest release of radioactivity, is impossible."

"The nuclear energy industry is enjoying a political revival after embracing climate legislation, linking arms with labor unions and mounting a big-dollar lobbying and advertising campaign. The effort has had two goals: to promote nuclear power as a "clean" energy source and as a way to create tens of thousands of new jobs during an economic downturn. Whether the political renewal leads to a commercial renaissance is unclear."

"Exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky won £150,000 ($220,000, 165,000 euros) in libel damages on Wednesday over a claim he was linked to the murder of ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko. A judge in London said there was "no evidence" that Berezovsky -- a fierce critic of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin -- was behind the poisoning by radiation of Litvinenko in 2006. "I can say unequivocally that there is no evidence before me that Mr. Berezovsky had any part in the murder of Mr. Litvinenko," said judge David Eady, handing down his ruling at the High Court. "Nor, for that matter, do I see any basis for reasonable grounds to suspect him of it," he added."

"The South Jersey man who Yemini officials are calling a terrorist with links to al-Qaeda previously worked at three local nuclear power plants. Sharif Mobley, 26, is being held in a jail in Yemen after he allegedly killed a police guard and seriously injured another during a shootout at a hospital on Monday. The Buena, N.J. native has also been accused of taking part in several acts of terrorism, Yemini officials say. He also purportedly has ties to the same branch of al-Qaeda who are suspected of attempting to blow up a U.S. airliner on its way to Detroit on Christmas. As details of Mobley's arrest trickle back to the U.S., more people who knew him are coming forward."

"Greenpeace activists are calling on French company Areva to cease nuclear waste exports to Moscow ahead of another train delivery of spent nuclear fuel on Wednesday. Protestors rallied outside Areva's Moscow office and displayed a banner reading "Russia is not a dump". Contracts between Russia and European countries on the delivery of nuclear waste to Russia were signed in the mid-1990s. The deal runs until at least 2014. The uranium is subsequently enriched in Russia, which boasts superior enrichment technology to its European partners. "We are extremely concerned about the security requirements during the realization of these nuclear contracts. This is mainly linked to the fact that [Russia's state-controlled nuclear power corporation] Rosatom enterprises have cut down on radiation security in order to lower the net cost of nuclear production," a letter from the Greenpeace activists to Arevas's management said."

"The one bright spot in President Obama's nuclear power policy is his decision to permanently end the proposed Yucca Mountain, Nevada high-level radioactive waste dump. Yucca Mountain was fundamentally flawed, riddled with earthquake faults, and proven unable to contain the radioactivity from the nation's high-level commercial nuclear waste--and 95% of the radioactivity ever created in the U.S. lies in that commercial waste. But now some Congressmembers are attempting to revive the Yucca Mountain program, despite its massive failings. And they are seeking co-sponsors for their legislation, H.Res. 1209. Please write to your Representative below: defend the decision to end Yucca Mountain and oppose co-sponsorship of this resolution. As always, feel free to edit the sample letter to reflect your own concerns. And please ask your friends, colleagues, congregations, dormmates, and anyone who may be interested to take action too. Send them to this link: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5502/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2513 Loading data, please wait .... In order to address your message to the appropriate recipient, we need to identify where you are."