[ RadSafe ] Polonium traces found at another UK restaurant

[Sandy Perle]

Index: 

Polonium traces found at another UK restaurant 
Radiation therapists strike likely to go ahead 
Environmental activist denied medical treatment 
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Polonium traces found at another UK restaurant 

LONDON (Reuters) Jan 5 - Traces of the radioactive poison which killed Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko have been discovered at another London restaurant, British health authorities said on Friday. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said it had discovered evidence of contamination with polonium 210 at Pescatori restaurant in central London and had offered to test staff there. It said the restaurant was open for business and added there was no public health concern. Litvinenko died on November 23. He accused the Kremlin of assassinating him in a case which has strained relations between London and Moscow. Polonium traces have been discovered at sites visited by two Russian business associates of Litvinenko in London and Hamburg in late October, and on planes on which one of them flew between Moscow and London that month. The men, Andrei Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun, met Litvinenko at London's Millennium Hotel on Nov 1, the day he fell ill. A guest and staff at the Millennium are among 12 people the HPA says have tested positive for low levels of polonium, although it says none of them are in any danger. Contamination was also found at a London sushi bar where Litvinenko met an Italian contact on November 1. The manager of Pescatori, Luigi Lavarini, told BBC television: "We have no memory of Mr Litvinenko coming to the restaurant. We really don't know who it could be." Asked about Lugovoy and Kovtun he replied: "This name doesn't mean anything to me. Nobody of this name appears on our reservation list." He said the restaurant had lots of Russian customers. 
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Radiation therapists strike likely to go ahead  

NZcity Jan 5 - There appears to be little chance of last minute negotiations between DHBs and the union for radiation therapists planning strikes from next week. Walkouts are scheduled for Canterbury, Wellington, Auckland and Palmerston North in support of a pay rise. The action will affect treatment for cancer patients. CEO of the MidCentral DHB Murray Georgel says the union's claim for three percent for each of the next two years is difficult. He says the only ones who will be affected by the upcoming action are the patients. Union spokeswoman Dr Deborah Powell says the boards' continuing stubbornness is costing the health sector badly. She says already there are patients planning to go to Australia, where ironically they'll be treated by New Zealanders who have already left to get better pay and conditions. Deborah Powell says it is about time questions were asked of Health Minister Pete Hodgson and what kinds of orders he is giving the DHBs. Dr Powell says if the dispute is not sorted out, more radiation therapists will leave for Australia. 
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Environmental activist who exposed radiation pollution in Gansu denied medical treatment 

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) Jan 4 –  Environmentalist Sun Xiaodi, who exposed radiation poisoning in Gansu province, could die from a potentially life-threatening tumour because the authorities have denied him medical treatment in Beijing, Human Rights in China (HRC) reported yesterday. The activist has been subjected to constant harassment, his home has been raided several times and his family's electricity and water supplies have been regularly cut. Sun Xiaodi received the Nuclear-Free Future Award in November for publicly exposing the dangers of radiation pollution at a uranium mine in Gansu. The activist said people living near the site had a high incidence of cancerous tumours, leukaemia, birth defects, miscarriages and other afflictions because of the pollution. But he was unable to fly to the United States to receive the award because he was not allowed to leave the country, the HRC said. The human rights group explained that the activist has campaigned against illegal mining practices in Gansu for more than a decade. This kind of mining has led to serious pollution problems in the area. For local Tibetan medical workers, nearly half of the deaths in the region are in fact due to some forms of cancer, according to the human rights group. Mr Sun himself has also been diagnosed with an abdominal tumour. He was thrown into jail in April 2005 for eight months after speaking to foreign journalists about the pollution and was again detained and released in 2006. According to HRC, the activist has been the victim of constant harassment and attacks by unidentified persons since winning the award. And police have entered his home several times and cut off power and water supplies. His family asked local authorities last November to allow the activist to go to Beijing for cancer treatment, but the application was turned down. Mr Sun was a former employee of the Gansu No. 792 Uranium Mine in the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. He repeatedly petitioned provincial and central authorities to look into local mismanagement and illegal mining, but was instead fired in 1994.  

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Sandy Perle 
Senior Vice President, Technical Operations 
Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc. 
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