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"A federal class action claims that leaks from two nuclear processing plants poisoned dozens of people in the Kiskiminetas Valley and killed 10 of them. More than 35 named plaintiffs claim that Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group, B&W Technical Services and Atlantic Richfield Co. "sought to prevent details about their operations from reaching workers, [the class] or surrounding community" though the defendants were "aware of the fact that they were releasing toxic and radioactive materials into the air, water and soil." The plants at issue are in the Borough of Apollo and Parks Township. The class claims the plants' operators "opted not to take sufficient remedial measures to eliminate or abate emissions and releases." This led to a "casual attitude towards environmental and health safety, even though they were aware of the health risks posed to by such releases," according to the 53-page complaint."

We drive by its headquarters near Ohio State University, attend events in the hall named for it in the Columbus Convention Center and go to the park that bears its name, but few of us know what Battelle really does. The research institute's stock in trade has always been smarts. The company that opened in Columbus in 1929 as Battelle Memorial Institute brought the world Xerox copiers, compact discs and the coating for M&M's. But it's what we don't hear about -- the hundreds of contracts for national security, energy and health research -- that drives its revenue to new heights. Battelle grew its annual revenue from $921 million in 1998 to $4.6 billion last year by winning contracts to manage seven national laboratories, boosting its national-security work and focusing a lot of research power on energy and health science.

WHEN Jeff Liddiatt began suffering a range of health problems in his early 50s, his doctors were completely stumped. All of a sudden the seemingly fit and healthy former motor fitter began developing illnesses more common in much older men. It wasn't until Mr Liddiatt told his doctors that he had worked at Maralinga when the British Government was carrying out secret atomic tests in the 1950s that the penny dropped.

The Bureau of Land Management, an agency within the Department of the Interior, in early December eliminated a regulation that gave two congressional committees the power to require the secretary of interior to set aside public lands from uranium mining and other extractive activities. The action, coupled with renewed federal interest in uranium mining, is causing concern for some Western tribes. In effect, the Bush administration's decision could open up public lands in and around the Grand Canyon to uranium mining. The aftereffects of such developments could have devastating effects on the health of tribes in and around the Grand Canyon, according to environmentalists and health and legal experts.

Former Republican Sen. Pete Domenici, who served as New Mexico's senator for decades before retiring due to health problems, has landed a new gig. He is now a senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) according to a press release from the Washington D.C.-based think tank. The BPC was created in 2007 by former Sens. Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole and George Mitchell. The BPC, according to its About Us page, "was formed to develop and promote solutions that would attract the public support and political momentum to achieve real progress." The BPC currently is focused on five issues: national security, health care, energy, agriculture and transportation.

The Department of Health failed to take any action against Vermont Yankee for three years when the department's own measurements showed the nuclear reactor in violation of state standards, a legislative committee charged Wednesday. "Documents produced by the department for our hearings indicate that this has resulted in the department's failure to take any enforcement action regarding violations of radiation limits by Vermont Yankee in 2004, 2006 and 2007," according to a letter drafted by the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules, which will be sent to Health Commissioner Dr. Wendy Davis.

A committee of the Vermont Legislature is formally objecting to changes in rules by the Health Department that allow the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant to release more radiation into the environment. Members of the legislature's administration rules committee say they're not objecting to the science behind the change. Rather, they are objecting to the Health Department's refusal to put the changes before the committee under the administrative procedures act.

Nancy Burton sought Monday to expand the number of health issues to be considered as the state weighs a water-discharge permit for the Millstone nuclear power plants in Waterford. Burton, a resident of Redding Ridge who has seasonal property on Masons Island, indicated in a petition for intervenor status that she wants a Department of Environmental Protection hearing officer to consider the potential health effects of toxic materials and radiation, among other issues.

A study will be undertaken to determine whether uranium can be safely mined in Virginia. The Virginia Commission on Coal and Energy voted unanimously Thursday to proceed with the study. Delegate Danny Marshall, R-Danville, said he attended the meeting and asked the commission to broaden the study to include the health, economic and social impact such mining would have in Southside. "It's about more than just digging a hole and getting uranium out," Marshall said after the meeting. "What happens to real estate values? What impact will it have on Chatham Hall and Hargrave enrollment? What impact will it have on health now, 30 years from now, 300 years from now - here and downstream?"

A survey of a nuclear plant, carried out continuously over a period of 25 years, shows it has not affected the health of nearby residents, the Shenzhen health bureau said on Wednesday. The Daya Bay station is located about 70 km away from the center of Shenzhen, Guangdong province. The survey showed there was no greater incidence of diseases in Shenzhen such as malignant tumors, leukemia and goiter, compared to other cities in the province.

Researchers have found a new, potentially more dangerous source of radon exposure for workers at the now-demolished Fernald uranium foundry. The findings have many ramifications for former Fernald workers and their families, said Susan Pinney, an environmental health researcher at the University of Cincinnati and co-author of the study. "Now we know workers in the plant's production area prior to 1959 may be at increased risk for developing lung cancer and other exposure-related health problems," Pinney said.

Stephanie Smith was hoping for answers Monday night at the public meeting hosted by the state Department of Health to talk about higher-than-expected cancer rates in areas around the former Lake Ontario Ordnance Works. Smith, of Youngstown, grew up and lived in Ransomville for 35 years, and is among those in the towns of Lewiston and Porter concerned about whether hazardous waste buried at the site might help explain why five out of nine members of her family -- including herself -- have cancer. Why she has seen neighbors all around her with cancer. Why she knows about a baby born without a liver. Smith and some of the 75 others who came to the meeting were looking for something "more than statistics, much more direct, much more serious." Many went away disappointed.

Ruling favors government whistleblower who pointed out public health dangers at mine Earle Dixon was a Bureau of Land Management project supervisor overseeing the cleanup of a radioactive former copper mine in Northern Nevada when he began speaking out about what he perceived as potential public health and safety hazards that were far worse than state and federal agencies were willing to admit. The BLM did not take kindly to Dixon's opinions and fired him in October 2004.

State Health Department officials are not able to draw a connection between cancer rates and the presence of an ordnance works storage site in Lewiston. The health department released its final report Sept. 17 on cancer incidents among individuals living near the former Lake Ontario Ordnance Works and Niagara Falls Storage Site in the towns of Lewiston and Porter.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) told a Senate oversight committee Sept. 16 that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ignored recommendations from an advisory committee established to assist the agency in creating policies to protect children's health. For example, in developing three recent air quality standards on particulate matter, ozone, and lead, EPA either rejected the committee's recommendations or treated them as one of many public comments, according to GAO.

Change in radiation monitoring wasn't approved by rules committee MONTPELIER - A legislative committee is investigating whether the Department of Health violated the law when it failed to get lawmakers' approval for changing the way it calculates radiation emissions from the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. The decision comes 10 days after the Department of Health announced in its annual report that Vermont Yankee was releasing 30 percent more radiation than the year before under the new method for calculating radiation emissions.

While state and county health officials said a chemically contaminated site in southeast Richmond poses no dangers to their current users, concerns remain about past users and those to come. They also acknowledge that their findings don't include the possible interactions between the more than 100 toxic metals and chemicals found at the site.

A mineral Queensland Health is testing for radioactivity on North Stradbroke Island has also been found at the planned site of new Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Brisbane studios. On July 18, Queensland Health agreed to test radioactivity levels on the Moreton Bay island after residents voiced concerns about monazite, a naturally occurring phosphate mineral that contains radioactive thorium.

Prodded by environmental groups, California health officials said they will re-evaluate the health effects of a rocket fuel chemical, taking into account research that wasn't completed four years ago when they decided how much is safe in drinking water. The re-examination could lead to stricter rules for the chemical perchlorate, which has contaminated several Inland drinking water supplies.

NSW health authorities knew a Sydney home had unsafe levels of radiation but did not inform the residents - one of whom has since developed cancer, a NSW inquiry has been told.