[ RadSafe ] Hal Anger, Pioneer of Nuclear Medicine, Dies

[Sandy Perle]

Index:

Hal Anger, Pioneer of Nuclear Medicine, Dies
Nuclear Link Alleged in Australia Arrests
Iran Says It Will Enrich Own Uranium
Coal Plant Improvements Could Help Environment
First Woman Set to Lead Germany
Japan Pays To Demolish Five Russian Subs: Report
US faulted on handling nuclear threat
US Energy Department Aids Uganda Police
=================================

Hal Anger, Pioneer of Nuclear Medicine, Dies

BERKELEY, Calif. (Nov. 13) - Hal O. Anger, a pioneer of nuclear 
medicine who is credited with inventing the gamma camera, has died. 
He was 85.

Anger died at his Berkeley home on Oct. 31.

Called a "quiet genius" whose "instruments are still in common use 
today, diagnosing cancer, metabolic disorders and heart disease" by 
the Society of Nuclear Medicine, Anger developed his most noted 
invention in 1957, employing gamma radiation to depict metabolic 
processes within a living body.

Born May 24, 1920, in Denver, Anger cultivated an interest in 
electronics as a boy growing up in Long Beach, where he was involved 
with one of Southern California's first radio stations. The young 
scientist graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 
1943 with a degree in electrical engineering, and worked during World 
War II developing technology to jam enemy radar.

After the war, Anger returned to Berkeley to work at the Ernest O. 
Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, where researchers were exploring the 
medical and therapeutic uses of radiation. He retired from the lab in 
1982.

Besides holding 15 patents, Anger won many awards, including an 
honorary doctorate from Ohio State University, the Centennial Year 
Medal of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and 
the Societe Francaise de Biophysique Medal.

Anger's ashes were placed Thursday at Sunset View Cemetery in El 
Cerrito. A memorial service was scheduled for next Saturday in 
Berkeley.
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Nuclear Link Alleged in Australia Arrests

SYDNEY, Australia (Nov. 13) - Three recently arrested terror suspects 
had been stopped and questioned by police last December near 
Australia's only nuclear reactor, according to a police document 
released Monday.

The document also outlined what it said were plans by the men to 
stockpile chemicals for making explosives and that they "obtained 
extremist advice and guidance" from a firebrand cleric arrested along 
with them.

The three men arrested near the nuclear reactor were among 18 terror 
suspects arrested in Sydney and Melbourne last week and accused of 
plotting to carry out a "catastrophic" attack in Australia. The 
police document identifies the nuclear reactor as a possible terror 
target.

A police fact sheet, provided during a court hearing last week and 
released publicly on Monday, alleges that three of the eight Sydney 
suspects were stopped in their car near the nuclear facility in 
southern Sydney in December 2004.

The men also had an off-road motorbike and claimed they were there to 
ride, the document said, noting that all three gave different 
versions of the day's events to police.

Police inquiries revealed the lock of a gate to a reservoir of the 
reactor had recently been cut, the document said.

The three - Mazen Touma, Mohammed Elomar and Abdul Rakib Hasan - 
along with five other Sydney men, have been charged with conspiring 
to manufacture explosives in preparation for a terrorist act.

Their lawyer has said prosecutors have produced no evidence of an 
imminent terror attack in the country.

The police fact sheet, which outlines the prosecution's case against 
the eight Sydney suspects, said members of the group sought materials 
to produce explosives, ordering dozens of gallons of chemicals.

During a search of Elomar's home on June 27, police said they found a 
computer memory stick which contained instructions in Arabic for 
making TATP, or triacetone triperoxide, a highly unstable explosive 
made from commercially available chemicals.

Australian police have said TATP is similar to the bombs used by 
suicide bombers the July 7 attacks on London's public transport 
system, but British authorities have refused to confirm those 
reports.

The statement also said some of the men attended a terrorist training 
camp at a rural property in a remote area of New South Wales state, 
and "obtained extremist advice and guidance" from the firebrand 
cleric, Abu Bakr, who made headlines last year by calling Osama bin 
Laden a "great man."

Abu Bakr, whose real name is Abdul Nacer Benbrika, was among the men 
arrested during last week's raids.

Another of the men arrested, Abdulla Merhi, wanted to carry out 
attacks to avenge the war in Iraq, police said in a Melbourne court. 
Australian Prime Minister John Howard was a strong supporter of the 
U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and has sent hundreds of troops to the 
country.
-------------------

Iran Says It Will Enrich Own Uranium

TEHRAN, Iraq (Nov. 12) - The head of Iran's nuclear agency ruled out 
a compromise proposal to enrich uranium for his country's nuclear 
program in Russia, insisting Saturday that the process must be done 
domestically.

Asked if Tehran would agree to enriching uranium abroad, Gholamreza 
Aghazadeh told reporters, "Iran's nuclear fuel will be produced 
inside Iran." He spoke after talks with Russian envoy Igor Ivanov.

His comments came a day after reports emerged that the United States 
and European negotiators were willing to accept the arrangement to 
allow Iran to move ahead with its nuclear program while ensuring it 
does not produce atomic bombs.

Aghazadeh, who also is vice president, said Iran was open to other 
proposals, pointing to an earlier Iranian idea that other countries 
participate in the enrichment process on Iranian soil as a guarantee 
the program is used only for peaceful purposes.

"What is important for us is that we be entrusted to carry out 
enrichment in Iran. As for participation by other countries in Iran's 
uranium enrichment program, we will consider it if there is any 
proposals," he said.

Washington says Iran is aiming to produce nuclear warheads. Tehran 
says its program is solely to produce electricity and insists it has 
the right to develop the entire nuclear fuel cycle on its own.

Iranian state run television quoted Ivanov as saying his visit 
reflected Russia's desire to help ease tensions between Iran and 
Europe over the nuclear program.

He did not confirm the existence of the proposed compromise or 
whether he presented it to Iranian officials.

Earlier, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, also refused to 
confirm reports that Ivanov presented the plan.

In Vienna, Austria, on Friday, a diplomat accredited to the 
International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that a position paper 
entitled "Elements of a Long-Term Solution" had been passed on to the 
Russians about a week ago.

Uranium in its natural state does not have a sufficiently high 
concentration of fissile isotopes for it to be used in nuclear 
reactors or weapons, and the concentration must be raised through the 
enrichment process.

Carrying out the enrichment in Russia theoretically would deny Iran 
the capacity to make fuel for nuclear weapons.

On Nov. 24, the IAEA is scheduled to discuss whether to refer Iran to 
the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions connected to its 
nuclear program. An agreement before then could avert a vote and 
avoid straining relations between Russia and the United States, both 
of which have veto power in the Security Council.

The matter has troubled Moscow-Washington relations for years. Iran's 
nuclear program centers on the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power 
plant, an $800 million project that is a significant source of income 
for Russia as well as an emblem of its technological sophistication.

Russia in the past has floated various ideas for overcoming Western 
concerns, including enrichment in Russia, and it has assured the West 
that Iran will send back to Russia all the reactor's spent nuclear 
fuel rods, which could be processed into plutonium for use in 
weapons.
-------------------

Coal Plant Improvements Could Help Environment

(Nov. 8) - Improving coal-fired power plants to state-of-the-art 
levels could help the world meet climate protection targets, German 
coal-based generator Steag said on Tuesday.

"Using available and economically possible technology, all existing 
coal blocks could reach reductions of carbon dioxide (CO2) by 30 
percent," said board chairman Alfred Tacke of Steag, part of the RAG 
group, in a speech for the Hard Coal Day 2005 in Essen.

"These energy savings or emissions reductions would be sufficient to 
reach the Kyoto target for all industrial nations."

The average efficiency rate of coal plants which supply just over 20 
percent of the world's power and heating requirements is 31 percent 
while latest projects can reach 45 percent, Tacke said.

"Obviously, this is a theoretical calculation, but it shows that a 
significant CO2 savings potential can be realized already today," he 
said.

Signatories to Kyoto committed themselves to vast cuts in CO2 
equivalents in a bid to combat global warming which scientists link 
to CO2 emissions, where coal-burning for power production is the 
leading pollution source.

Germany, which within the EU bloc must achieve the bulk of required 
emissions cuts under Kyoto, must also replace 40 percent of its 
100,000 MW power stations by 2030 mainly because of their age and in 
order to replace nuclear energy.

Coal generation plants were more expensive to build than gas-fired 
stations but gas was far more expensive and less freely available, 
Tacke said.

Global coal production in 2004 rose 7 percent over 2003 to 4.6 
billion tonnes and trade expanded by 13 percent to 755 million, he 
said.

Germany imported 62 percent of its total requirements, or 44 million 
tonnes.

Steag plans to build a 750 megawatt (MW) coal plant at Duisburg-
Walsum by 2010 and said in the summer it was also considering 
building another 750 MW block at Herne to come on stream in 2012
-----------------

First Woman Set to Lead Germany
   
BERLIN (Nov. 11) - Germany's main parties sealed an agreement on 
Friday to create a government of traditional rivals under the 
leadership of conservative Angela Merkel, breaking eight weeks of 
deadlock after an inconclusive general election.

"I'm convinced that the coalition creates a genuine opportunity for 
Germany," said Merkel, who will become the country's first woman 
chancellor and first from the former communist East if, as expected, 
the new parliament formally elects her on Nov. 22.

She will head a potentially unwieldy bipartisan government that 
includes her Christian Democrats (CDU), their Bavarian sister party 
the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the Social Democrats of outgoing 
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

But the new government -- only the second "grand coalition" in post-
war history -- will be able to operate without crippling opposition 
from the Bundesrat upper house of parliament, which has blocked 
reform efforts by previous governments.

In almost a month of relatively harmonious talks, the conservatives 
and the SPD have bridged differences that bitterly divided them 
during the campaign.

At the heart of the deal is an agreement to bring Germany's 
ballooning budget deficit back within European Union borrowing limits 
by 2007 -- a colossal challenge requiring upwards of 35 billion euros 
($40.96 billion) in savings or extra revenues.

A good chunk of that sum will come from higher taxes. The parties 
agreed on Friday to a controversial 3 percentage point hike in value 
added tax (VAT) in 2007, an idea championed by the conservatives 
during the election campaign.

In return for agreeing to the VAT hike, the SPD secured conservative 
agreement for a so-called "rich tax", which will take the rate for 
Germans earning 250,000 euros or more up to 45 percent from 42 
percent previously.

Economists and leaders of German industry worry the tax rises could 
hit already weak consumption and prevent the parties from achieving 
their number one stated priority -- cutting unemployment.

"Never before has a new government hit the public with so many 
burdens," said Gerd Langguth, a political scientist at Bonn 
University and biographer of Merkel.

Schroeder, who has led Germany for the past seven years, called for 
early elections in May as unemployment soared to post-war highs and 
the electorate grew disillusioned with his reform plans.

He was expected to be trounced by Merkel, whose plans to shake up the 
German labour market and cut bureaucracy have earned her the nickname 
"Maggie Merkel" after reform-minded former British Prime Minister 
Margaret Thatcher.

But a roaring performance from Schroeder on the campaign trail helped 
his SPD narrow a double-digit poll gap in the last weeks and score 
almost as well as Merkel's conservatives in the Sept. 18 election. 
Unable to form a government with her preferred partners, Merkel was 
forced into talks with the SPD.

The agreement between the longtime rival parties yielded compromises 
on both sides and that showed in a sober business-like news 
conference with Merkel and other party leaders.

"Coalitions are marriages of convenience. One shouldn't make too much 
of it," said outgoing SPD chief Franz Muentefering, who is to become 
labour minister and vice chancellor under Merkel.

"But I am optimistic," he said. "The personal relationships which are 
not unimportant in coalitions like this are solid and I think we can 
make politics together."

The CDU was unable to convince the SPD to reverse Schroeder's policy 
of phasing out nuclear power stations.

But they did win concessions from the SPD in labour market policy. 
Part of the VAT hike will go towards cutting non-wage labour costs -- 
a measure the conservatives say is crucial for encouraging German 
firms to hire.

Both parties must hope the measures do not hit the German economy, 
which is already showing one of the weakest growth rates in the 25-
nation European Union.

"It looks like consumers are going to be hit hardest by these moves," 
said Rainer Guntermann, of the bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. 
"The election promises we heard about sparing private households have 
not really been fulfilled."

A survey on Friday for ZDF television showed 63 percent of Germans 
were against the VAT hike.

However, given the dire state of German public finances, some 
commentators have welcomed signs of a concerted attack on the 
deficit.

In foreign policy, the parties have vowed to improve relations with 
the United States which were strained by Schroeder's staunch 
opposition to the Washington-led war in Iraq. The CDU and CSU, which 
oppose Turkey joining the EU, have agreed not to try to prevent 
membership negotiations that started in October from continuing. But 
they have vowed to ensure EU criteria imposed on Ankara are strictly 
adhered to.
------------------

Japan Pays To Demolish Five Russian Subs: Report

Tokyo (AFP) Nov 13, 2005 The Japanese government will shoulder the 
expense of dismantling five abandoned Russian nuclear submarines that 
are likely to leak radiation, a news report said Sunday.

Tokyo and Moscow will finalise the agreement on November 21, when 
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will meet with Russian President 
Vladimir Putin, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper said, citing 
unnamed sources.

Japan already spent about 700 million yen (5.9 million dollars) to 
demolish an obsolete Russian submarine last December.

Japan will likely pay a similar amount for each of the five, whose 
demolition work is aimed for the end of next year, the paper said.

Some 30 nuclear submarines that have been retired from the country's 
Pacific Fleet are still moored at ports in the Russian Far East.

Since the collapse of the former Soviet Union, concern has been 
spreading that the country's sinking of old submarines will 
contaminate the ocean.

Another concern is that nuclear materials on board will be stolen.
------------------

US faulted on handling nuclear threat

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government is still failing to 
adequately protect nuclear weapons from terrorists and its handling 
of terrorism suspects is undermining attempts to improve America's 
image in the Muslim world, members of a commission that investigated 
the September 11 attacks said on Monday. 

Although  President George W. Bush has called weapons proliferation 
the country's most serious threat and al Qaeda has sought nuclear 
arms for a decade, "the most striking thing to us is that the size of 
the problem still totally dwarfs the policy response," said 
commission chairman Thomas Kean.

"In short, we still do not have a maximum effort against the most 
urgent threat -- everybody agrees -- the most urgent threat to the 
American people," he told a news conference.

The commission was established by the U.S. Congress to investigate 
the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the     
Pentagon by     Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network that killed nearly 
3,000 people.

Sixteen months ago, it issued a huge report that included scores of 
recommendations. Monday's report assessed the progress on 
proliferation, foreign policy and public diplomacy issues.

It formally disbanded after submitting its final report in July last 
year, but the members continue their work as the 9/11 Public 
Discourse Project, which tracks implementation of the 2004 report's 
recommendations.

Vice chairman Lee Hamilton said distrust of America remains high in 
the Muslim world and that "detainee abuse in Abu Ghraib (prison in    
 Iraq), Guantanamo and elsewhere undermines America's reputation as a 
moral leader."

He said the commission reaffirmed its recommendation for a "common 
coalition approach toward the detention and humane treatment of 
captured terrorists, drawing upon Article 3 of the Geneva 
Convention," but the U.S. government has not adopted this proposal.
-----------------

US Energy Department Aids Uganda Police
  
Uganda's efforts in combating the trafficking in radioactive material 
and other forms of international crime including terrorism, received 
a boost on Wednesday, when the Police got a donation of equipment to 
detect radioactive substances.

The 20 instruments from the US department of energy and the Interpol 
General Secretariat were handed over to the police at a seminar at 
the Sports View Hotel in Kireka.

The seminar is the second phase of the cooperative radiological 
instrument transfer project.

"The project aims at supporting and building capacity in member 
countries to fight international crime and terrorism," said Marash 
Vucinaj, a criminal intelligence officer from Interpol.

Twenty senior police officers from across the country, expected to be 
at the helm of the fight against trafficking in radioactive 
materials, are attending the course. The police has been relying on 
Mulago Radiography department to investigate suspected radioactive 
substances and sometimes flies specimens abroad.

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Sandy Perle
Senior Vice President, Technical Operations
Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.
2652 McGaw Avenue
Irvine, CA 92614 

Tel: (949) 296-2306 / (888) 437-1714  Extension 2306
Fax:(949) 296-1144

E-Mail: sperle at dosimetry.com
E-Mail: sandyfl at earthlink.net 

Global Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/ 
Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/