US Gov’t: Radioactive material from reactors is 2 billion times more toxic than industrial poisons — Harm caused by nuclear disaster “greater than for any work of man” other than atomic bomb — Top Expert: Radiation “like explosions going off in cell… blows hole in DNA” (VIDEO)
Published: February 28th, 2015 at 9:05 pm ET
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- 19:45 – There are some unique things about ionizing radiation when it comes to the interaction with biological systems… Energy is deposited ubiquitously in cells and in tissues… in little packets of energy… These [are] like many explosions going off in the cell… If you can think of these little explosions going off all over a cell, if it happens to take place in DNA, there’s really quite a high chance this will blow a hole in the DNA. Ionizing radiation is a very powerful cytotoxic agent… You get these lesions which are formed within DNA which are really quite complex lesions… We’re talking 0.0000000000000001 seconds for the ionization to take place… Cell cycle arrest, cell death by apoptosis or mitotic catastrophe… take place very rapidly after exposure.
- 37:30 – What’s happening following ionizing radiation? You get these little explosions going off very rapidly… But mitochondria get hit as well… With time, you actually get these mitochondria leaking more free radicals than [the] ionizing radiation, by orders of magnitude… This concept is one which is growing very strongly in radiation biology now. The effects are not all over in 24 hours… you initiate a cascade of biological responses which can go on for a long period of time, even years.
- 46:00 – You get long-term immune dysfunction… If you inject flu virus into mice [it] will eventually kill the [irradiated] animals… in normal animals this isn’t the case. So the immune system is compromised for long periods of time after radiation exposure.
- 51:00 – The concept is that we’re generating damage which is cascading forward to mitochondria and other cellular structures, in addition to DNA… Radiation is not just a powerful cytotoxin, it initiates signaling cascades that are taking place against a radiation damage background… Radiation damage is often remembered within the cells. We’ve shown, at least in brain and lung and other tissues, you get these kind of pro-inflammatory responses… This is underlying a lot of effects in radiation exposure.
- 52:00 (appears to be on verge of crying) – At UCLA we have over 100 people who are in our center… They’re interested in radiation now — they never were before. I think that we’re kind of moving animal models slowly forward to things which are really kind of very precise and very accurate and I think do reflect a lot of things that we will see in humans… who’ve been exposed to radiation.
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (pdf), 1968: The total amount of debris released during routine atomic processes and conceived as possible from accidents is minuscule when compared with the amount of pollutants produced throughout the world by combustion. The extraordinarily poisonous nature of the radioactive materialsinvolved, however, dictates that even small quantities be treated with respect. For instance, it has been estimated that some of the radioactive materials found in a reactor are 3 million to 2 billion times as toxic as chlorine, the most common poison used by industry... if it were possible for all the many controls and safety features in a large power reactor to fail so as to produce a disastrous release of radioactivity, this release could conceivably kill thousands… Although, in actual practice, such an accident is made to have a vanishingly small probability of occurring, the theoretical potential for such an accident is probably greater than for any work of man other than the explosion of a fission or fusion weapon.
Watch McBride’s presentation here
Published: February 28th, 2015 at 9:05 pm ET
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saintandrewstwinflame 
http://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2015/03/02/40000-sign-petition-for-palomares-nuclear-clean-up/
40,000 sign petition for Palomares nuclear clean-up
Ecologists and locals unite against government failure to remove highly radioactive matter from Almeria
By Iona Napier (Reporter) – PUBLISHED – 2 Mar, 2015
A PETITION launched to clean up the nuclear fall-out at Palomares ‘once and for all’ has grown to 40,000 signatures, 49 years after the catastrophic accident.
The petition, directed towards the US and Spanish governments, denounces their ‘irresponsible’ actions, claiming they could have cleaned up the zone 16 times since the accident.
In 1966, two US Air Force planes carrying four nuclear bombs collided above Almeria, killing seven crew members instantly.
The impact caused two bombs to split and disseminate radioactive matter over a square mile of Palomares, but mercifully the most powerful two – 75 times as potent as those of Hiroshima – did not detonate.
Although the disaster zone was partly cleaned and Palomares residents assured by the government that the land was decontaminated, scarcely 25% of the radioactive damage has been removed.
Locals worry that the plutonium may have degraded to even more deadly americium and fear that the damage may be irrevocable.
The village’s 1600 residents – 50% are British expats – are alarmed at America’s failure to clean up the mess they made, only contributing £353,000 since the event. …
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http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/pacific-beat/victims-impact-under-scrutiny-during-anniversary-of-marshalls-nuclear-test/1420239
Victims impact under scrutiny during anniversary of Marshalls nuclear test
2 March 2015
The Marshall Islands is marking the 61st anniversary of the Bravo hydrogen bomb test that exposed thousands of people to radioactive fallout.
Victims impact under scrutiny during anniversary of Marshalls nuclear test (Credit: ABC)
For decades the US government has maintained that only four atolls were affected by American nuclear weapons tests in the Marshalls.
But, it’s becoming clear far more people were affected than first thought.
Presenter: Richard Ewart
Speaker: Giff Johnson, editor of the Marshall Islands
– short radio clip
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http://mainichi.jp/english/english/perspectives/news/20150302p2a00m0na012000c.html
Mainichi, Mar 3, 2015
Japan Political Pulse: Speaking out against nuclear power
Hiroaki Koide, assistant professor at the Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute, is set to retire at the end of this month as he has reached the retirement age. A hero of anti-nuclear power advocates, 65-year-old Koide is regarded as a hateful agitator by the pro-nuclear energy camp. Koide labels himself as a loser, who failed to stem nuclear energy.
On Feb. 27, he delivered a speech commemorating his retirement at the research institute in Kumatori, Osaka Prefecture, where he has worked for 41 years. “I will retire in stages,” he declared to the audience. “But I won’t be backing down that easily,” he later commented at a gathering, receiving a round of applause from attendants.
It’s been almost four years since the onset of the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant disaster. Koide’s continuing popularity must be a reflection of the reality that no one believes in the myth that “the situation is under control” at the crippled Fukushima plant.
Koide wrapped up his 90-minute speech by saying, “I had been foolish enough to dream of the peaceful use of nuclear energy. (Ever since I realized that mistake) I’ve been hoping to somehow stem it, but the organization promoting nuclear energy is too colossal, and I’ve kept losing. I sometimes wonder what on earth I’ve been living for.” …
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He continued, “But I was able to continue to do what I wanted to. I wasn’t ordered by anyone to do something, nor did I order anyone else, as I’m a teacher ranked at the bottom.
“I was fortunate enough to be connected with many of my comrades, and all of you as well. There are so many people who have kept a warm eye on me. I’m really grateful for that. That’s about it,” he remarked, to generous applause among the audience.
Born in the Tokyo downtown area of Ueno, Koide graduated from the prestigious Kaisei Senior High School and majored in nuclear engineering at Tohoku University’s School of Engineering. After having a discussion with opponents to the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant in Miyagi Prefecture, Koide began to advocate a breakaway from nuclear power.
He has since devoted himself to research for discontinuing nuclear power as a rank-and-file instructor. Setting his eyes on a distant goal, he has never thought about fame and wealth. His obstinate way of living per se is one of the sources of his attraction.
“What are your plans after retirement?” asked one of the 140-strong audience at his Feb. 27 lecture. “I will be a hermit,” answered Koide. “Weren’t you supposed to fight until nuclear power is eliminated?” another attendant asked, evoking laughter and applause. The emcee — Koide’s fellow researcher Tetsuji Imanaka — meddled in, saying, “Koide the hermit will keep running.” Imanaka, 64, is also an assistant professor at the …
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Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute.
One might assume the number of requests for Koide’s lectures has been on the decline now that the movement for breaking away from nuclear power has been losing momentum. Well, that’s not the case. Throughout the end of this coming August, he is booked on all Saturdays and Sundays every other week. While requests for his speeches come in an endless stream, Koide himself is hoping to gradually cut back on his speech activities.
After delivering so many lectures and publishing numerous books, did he make a fortune? I asked him such a delicate question. After pausing for four seconds, Koide said he did, smiling.
“But I’ve never offered to give lectures or publish books on my own initiative. I’ve never desired for anything to own. I’ve never thought of making money. Most of my clients are poor, so I don’t think I’ve earned as much money as you might think,” he said.
According to Koide, if the development of science and technology and the expansion of energy consumption continue further in the same manner as they did over the past 200 years, mankind will be annihilated — even as early as 100 years from now. We will need to create a society that is viable with reduced energy consumption.
However, the public-private nuclear complex calls for preserving nuclear power on the premise of maintaining and expanding energy consumption. Because this nuclear body puts priority on an affluent appearance, the leakage of…
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water contaminated with high levels of radiation from the Fukushima plant is played down. Are we going to just sit and watch the growth in consumption exterminate the human race? That’s a question one doesn’t even need to ask. (By Takao Yamada, Senior Expert Writer)
March 02, 2015
(Mainichi Japan)
– fine piece, thank you Takeo Yamada and Mainichi
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Thank you, rogerthat. & Thank you, Koide sensei.
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