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Japanese NGO to research radiation exposure in Belarus
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Japanese NGO to research radiation exposure in Belarus
Greenpeace unhappy with efforts to expand Chinese nuclear industry
Duratek, Inc.Subcontract for Waste Management Services At Rocky Flats
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Japanese NGO to research radiation exposure in Belarus
TOKYO, June 20 (Kyodo) - A nongovernmental organization (NGO) led by
a Japanese doctor will conduct research in Belarus with local experts
on the effect on humans of low-level radiation exposure, focusing on
an area near the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster in Chernobyl in
neighboring Ukraine, officials of the NGO said Wednesday.
The NGO, named Chernobyl Medical Fund and based in Matsumoto, Nagano
Prefecture in central Japan, will conduct the research mainly in an
area centering on the city of Mozyr, which was seriously affected by
the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident.
The Japanese doctor, Akira Sugenoya, 57, has just returned to Japan
after treating residents of the city for thyroid cancer during a
nearly five-and-a-half year stay.
Institutions in Belarus have compiled data on the development of
thyroid cancer, which is linked to radiation exposure, but research
on low-level radiation remaining in the soil has hardly been
conducted, according to the NGO.
Focusing on those born after the 1986 accident, the NGO and local
hospitals will study the development of infectious diseases in cancer
patients, the decline of immune systems and diseases contracted by
newborn infants, and compare the findings with data from before the
accident.
Sugenoya said he plans to visit the city regularly to give advice to
local governments on research methods.
''Some scientists say low-level radiation will not affect (humans),
but continuing research is necessary to ensure (safety),'' he said.
-----------------
Greenpeace unhappy with efforts to expand Chinese nuclear industry
20 June, 2001 Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Environmental
groups have launched a campaign to block international efforts to
help China expand its nuclear power industry.
European and American companies are looking to China as a vast and
largely untapped market for nuclear energy.
The European Commission is currently pushing a plan that would lend
China funds over a 30 year period to help it develop at least six new
nuclear power stations and possibly more.
Preliminary talks are now under way in Beijing with proponents
suggesting a deal could be in place by the end of the year.
While the proposal is still some way from being accepted by the
Chinese or the Europeans, energy analysts say French, German and
American companies are pushing for more nuclear reactors to be built
in China to service an ever-increasing demand for power.
Environmental groups like Greenpeace warn they have launched a
campaign to oppose international efforts to fund the program.
--------------------
Duratek, Inc. Awarded Subcontract for Waste Management Services At
Rocky Flats
COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 19, 2001--Duratek, Inc.
(NASDAQ:DRTK), today announced that it and its joint venture partner,
Los Alamos Technical Associates (LATA), were recently awarded one of
three significant waste management subcontracts by Kaiser Hill
Company LLC, prime contractor for cleanup and closure of the Rocky
Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS).
RFETS was a former major U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) weapons
manufacturing complex located near Denver, Colorado. Duratek is the
majority partner of the joint venture. This subcontract provides for
Duratek and LATA to be competitively awarded task orders for waste
management projects at RFETS over the next 4 years. Potential value
of work under the three subcontracts is over $67 million.
Robert Prince, President and CEO said, "Rocky Flats is a major
closure site for the U.S. Department of Energy with large quantities
of radioactive and hazardous waste that must be dispositioned over
the next five years. Duratek has been providing support to Rocky
Flats since 1995, and we are extremely proud to be selected by Kaiser
Hill to continue to increase our responsibilities in supporting the
site closure."
Work to be performed by Duratek and LATA under this subcontract will
include treatment and disposition of radioactive solids and liquid
waste and characterization, tracking, packaging, transportation, and
disposal of legacy and newly generated radioactive wastes. Duratek
currently has approximately 40 employees at RFETS providing waste
management services.
Duratek implements technologies and provides services which protect
people from radiation and the environment from radioactive waste.
LATA is a multidisciplinary engineering firm focused on providing
nuclear and environmental technical expertise to the DOE.
-----------------
Sierra Club hits Canada's stand on Bush energy plan
OTTAWA, June 19 (Reuters) - Activist group Sierra Club of Canada gave
the country's Liberal government poor grades on environmental issues
on Tuesday, attacking particularly its greenhouse-gas-producing plans
to export more energy to a "greedy" United States.
Elizabeth May, Sierra Club's executive director, said Canada's
willingness to cooperate with U.S. President George W. Bush's plans
to raise the output of coal, oil and nuclear power to meet U.S.
energy needs is a disaster for Canada's fragile wilderness areas.
"The energy plan...is not only a disaster on the climate change
front, it is also a disaster on the biodiversity front as we see
energy pressures to push open fragile wilderness areas to
exploitation," she told a news conference.
The Sierra Club's annual report -- the first was issued in 1993 --
ranks Canada's environmental progress, or lack of it, in meeting
commitments made at the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro
in June 1992. The summit outlined an ambitious blueprint to safeguard
the planet, covering nearly every aspect of human, animal and plant
life.
The Sierra Club said there had been modest improvement on some
fronts, but overall performance was weak.
May said Canada, which is racing to produce more energy, should
examine whether increased energy exports contravene its commitment to
the 1997 Kyoto treaty on global warming, a pact rejected by Bush
earlier this year.
The treaty obliges industrial nations to reduce emissions of carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases thought to cause global warming.
"We have to stop and examine how our commitments to Kyoto can
possibly be upheld if we are prepared to sell all the energy they
want, because clearly their greed has no limits," she said.
May said Canada had taken bold steps internationally in the year,
particularly in signing and ratifying a treaty to eliminate so-called
Persistent Organic Pollutants -- chemicals that degrade only slowly.
The report gave the government its worst marks, an F for failure, for
its commitment to review and reform policies on pesticide use and on
its commitment to sustainable use of marine resources.
Government efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and commitment to
protect biodiversity, both earned a D mark.
The Sierra Club said the federal government's weak performance in
protected areas was closely tied to the dwindling budget of Parks
Canada. It urged the government to invest in natural spaces or they
would be lost forever.
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Sandy Perle Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100
Director, Technical Extension 2306
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service Fax:(714) 668-3149
ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/scperle
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com
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