WHO, UNDP, UNEP and UNICEF have partnered to create a new compendium of 500 actions aimed at reducing death and diseases driven by environmental risk factors, the first such resource to unite this expertise from across the UN system. Environmental pollution and other environmental risks cause 24 per cent of …
army ammunition plants release wastewater that can contain highly radioactive contaminants, hydrocarbons and dissolved inorganic solids. At the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant in New Brighton, Minnesota, usa , this problem arises when water is used to mop and wax strip the floors of the plant. It is by no …
The Casade frog ( Rana cascade ) and the Western toad ( Bufo boreas ) are dying, so is the Pacific tree frog. But there is probably no single cause for the dwindling population of these sentinel creatures, says zoologist Andrew Blaustein of the Oregon State University, USA. Increased ultraviolet …
Three Thai workers were in a critical condition after being exposed to high-level radiation in the country's worst nuclear accident at a recycling plant in the suburbs of Bangkok. Hundreds of people living near or working at the plant were undergoing blood-tests. Authorities are investigating why a waste-disposal company failed …
the us energy department is abandoning plans to sell its surplus stock of nickel, mainly leftovers from nuclear weapons manufacture, for fears that it may be too radioactive to sell on the open market. In August 1997, the departmenthad announced that it would sell6,000 tonnes of nickel in late 2000, …
ignorance is bliss. This seems to be the state of mind of the Indian government for several environment-related issues, including that of hazardous waste like phosphogypsum (pg). A byproduct of the fertiliser industry, pg is used liberally by the construction industry and its use is promoted by the government What …
for over 20 years, the Paducah uranium processing plant in Kentucky, usa, hid information about radiation levels in the factory from its staff. This was despite the fact that its employees used to collapse on the factory floor or suffered from serious ailments, including leukaemia. These findings have come to …
the mayor of Tokai prefecture Tatsuya Murakami has alleged that the nuclear accident that occurred on September 30 was caused and later mishandled by the central government. The government's confidence concerning nuclear safety has been shattered as it has failed to build up adequate emergency measures, he added. In one …
The National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Chiba, Japan, has begun testing the amount of radiation received by 43 people, suspected or confirmed to have been affected after the September 30 nuclear accident in Tokaimura. Eight out of 150 people who underwent tests are believed to have suffered severe dna …
Is the incidence of cancer on the rise? The increase is both real and apparent. Every year eight million new cases of cancer are being reported worldwide, according to the latest estimates of the World Health Organisation ( who) , 60 per cent of whom can be found in the …
On September 30, a door of the containment section of Unit 2 of the Narora Atomic Power plant near Delhi collapsed. The incident reportedly took place when the airlock doors of the reactor, which is leak-proof and electronically operated, was tested for tightness. Since the locking pins of this particular …
The Science and Technology Agency of Japan has decided to establish a committee of experts to examine the extent to which residents living near the uranium-processing facility in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture were affected in the nation's worst nuclear accident that occurred on September 30 ( Down To Earth , Vol …
in one of the worst nuclear accidents in Japan's history, on September 30, high levels of radiation leaked from a uranium processing plant at Tokaimura, some 140 kilometres from Tokyo, exposing around 50 people to radiation, three of whom are said to be in a serious condition. Prior to this …
it is believed to be the first time that India's nuclear establishment has been taken to court. While admitting a public interest petition, seeking immediate steps to protect the people of Jaduguda in Bihar's Singhbhum district from the health hazards of uranium mining, the Supreme Court issued notices to the …
Work has started on the Pierre Auger Southern Observatory in Argentina. This observatory, when completed in 2003, will be the world's largest cosmic ray observatory, with 1,600 detectors spread over 3,000 sq km. The detectors consist of water tanks fitted with photo-multipliers that detect the light given out by water …
Reseachers at Toshiba's laboratory are developing a safer alternative to X-rays. This new approach called terahertz pulse imaging (tpi) relies on terahertz pulses, also known as millimetre waves, which lie between the infrared and microwave frequencies on the electromagnetic spectrum. Unlike X-rays, tpi is non-ionising - it is not energetic …
about 20 tonnes of radioactive coolant water leaked from an eight-cm-long crack in a pipe at a nuclear power plant in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, Japan, on July 12, officials of the Japan Atomic Power Co said. No radiation leaked outside the No 2 reactor building where the accident occurred, they …
"it's a cruel joke', was the reaction of the noted Gandhian and anti-nuclear activist, Sangamitra Gadekar, when she heard that the Rajasthan Atomic Power Plant ( raps ) at Rawatbhata was awarded this year's Golden Peacock Environment Management Award. Gadekar had conducted a study in 1991 on the impact of …
Plutonium is one of the most lethal substances known to us. Unfortunately, huge quantities of this radioactive element are produced in certain types of nuclear reactors and has to be stored in safe places. Because of its low solubility in water, it was presumed that it would pose no danger …
GANDHAR KARMAKAR is nine years old. He has only one eye, and suffers from paralysis. Elder to him by three years is Motiram. He suffers from osteoporosis (general bone damage). Dunia Uraon, also just short of his teens, is another unfortunate adolescent. His mother suffered three miscarriages before giving birth …
the us department for energy ( doe ), which has been raising money for its costly environmental cleanup of old bomb factories by leasing them to commercial tenants, may be exposing ordinary factory workers to excessive radiation, says a us -based environmental group, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research. At …
