Conference participants denounce French gov't over nuke tests

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET>]

Index:



Conference participants denounce French gov't over nuke tests

14 Arrested at Tenn. Nuke Plant

Concerns aired over ships' nuclear fuel load

Pennsylvania Gov. Announces Potassium Iodide distribution

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Conference participants denounce French gov't over nuke tests



HIROSHIMA, Aug. 5 (Kyodo) - By: Yasushi Azuma People from Algeria and 

French Polynesia on Monday in Hiroshima denounced Paris for over its 

refusal to recognize health problems they say are related to nuclear 

tests it conducted.



They adopted a statement demanding France recognize its 

responsibility for such medical conditions and conduct continuous 

surveys on local residents near the test sites.



They also demanded it recognize the existence of damage to the health 

of locals and others who worked at the sites. The event is a part of 

a three-day international conference organized by the Japan Congress 

Against A and H Bombs (Gensuikin).



Participants from overseas said France has consistently rejected 

compensation claims by locals on the grounds it conducted nuclear 

tests in a ''clean'' manner.



France conducted a total of 210 tests including 50 in the atmosphere 

between 1960 and 1996 in the Sahara Desert in Algeria and in French 

Polynesia.



Bruno Barrillot, a French journalist and antinuclear activist, said 

many French soldiers and civilians including locals worked near the 

sites without proper protective gear and were exposed to radiation.



He claims Paris must have known about the danger at the start of the 

tests in 1960 since many documents about the hazards from the atomic 

bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were already translated into 

French.



Mohamed Bendjebbar, a former Algerian military officer, was involved 

in the management of former French nuclear test sites in the Sahara 

after French forces withdrew in 1967 and later suffered health 

problems.



''The whole area near ground zero of the test site was black and I 

saw many deformed metal fragments here and there,'' Bendjebbar said.



Roland Oldham, chairman of the association of victims of French 

nuclear tests in French Polynesia, stressed, ''It's taboo to 

criticize or even talk about the nuclear tests in Polynesia.''



Those who do so face the threat of losing their jobs and are under 

other pressure from local authorities, he added.



''We want to ally with victims of radiation sickness in other 

countries and we want more support from Japan,'' Oldam said.



Raymond Taha, 54, worked as a security guard at test sites in the 

Moruroa Atolls of French Polynesia from 1970 to 1972. He entered the 

sites without protective equipment and developed acute leukemia in 

1994. He says his colleagues died one after another and his daughter 

died due to malformed lungs.



Etienne Tehumu, 35, a policeman from Tureia Island in French 

Polynesia, said adults there received wine and children got candy and 

chocolates from French soldiers after each nuclear test was held.



''For the sake of the islanders of Tureia, I want to know the truth 

about what the French government policy was,'' he said, adding locals 

should have more detailed health checks.

---------------



14 Arrested at Tenn. Nuke Plant



OAK RIDGE, Tenn. Aug 5 (AP) - Fourteen protesters were arrested at an 

annual demonstration outside the Y-12 nuclear plant to commemorate 

the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II.



One person was charged with federal trespassing and the other 13 with 

state misdemeanor charges of blocking a road and refusing police 

commands to move.



An estimated 550 demonstrators participated in the protest Sunday, 

organized by the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance.



Y-12 is a semiannual protest target for groups commemorating the 

Hiroshima bombing because the plant produces uranium used to fuel 

nuclear bombs such as the one dropped on Hiroshima.



Demonstrators protest at the plant each April and August. They have 

said in the past one of their goals is to be arrested.

-------------------



Concerns aired over ships' nuclear fuel load



Aug 5 (Australian Broadcasting Company) There is concern about two 

ships carrying nuclear fuel about 200  kilometres off the Albany 

coast, WA, after a mishap with a separate  vessel last week.



Greens' MLC Robin Chapple says the ships are on their way from Japan 

to  England, carrying mixed oxide plutonium/uranium nuclear fuel.



While there is not believed to be a problem with the ships, the 

recent  incident in which a Dutch freighter was forced to seek refuge 

in Albany  because of a fire in the hold has raised concerns.



Mr Chapple's spokesman, Scott Ludlam, says it shows accidents do 

happen.



"It's never a routine idea taking two shiploads of nuclear fuel right 

 around the world from Japan to the UK," he said.



"We're extremely concerned that it will only take one accident with 

this  fuel to basically completely destroy whatever port this thing 

puts  into." 

----------------



Pennsylvania Gov. Schweiker Administration Announces Potassium Iodide 

To Be Distributed From Aug. 15-21



Citizens, Workers and Schools Within 10 Miles  

Of Nuclear-Power Plants to Receive KI Pills 



HARRISBURG, Pa., Aug. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- On behalf of Pennsylvania 

Gov. Mark Schweiker, officials from the departments of Health and 

Environmental Protection, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management 

Agency, and the Pennsylvania Homeland Security Office today announced 

that, from Aug. 15-21, citizens living within a 10-mile radius of 

Pennsylvania's five nuclear-power plants may pick up potassium iodide 

tablets that can add an extra layer of protection in the unlikely 

event of an accidental release of radiation.  Potassium iodide is 

commonly referred to by its scientific symbol of KI.



"I want to stress that obtaining KI tablets is not mandatory -- it is 

an option Gov. Schweiker wanted to give our citizens so they could 

make their own choices about emergency preparedness," Health 

Secretary Robert S. Zimmerman Jr. said.



"I can't stress strongly enough that these pills are not a substitute 

for evacuation.  In the unlikely event of a radioactive release, KI 

pills only provide temporary protection for the thyroid gland against 

cancer and hypothyroid conditions, not other types of health problems 

that may result from exposure to radiation."



Homeland Security Director Earl Freilino said, "I want to emphasize 

that Pennsylvania's nuclear-power plants are safe, secure and heavily 

monitored facilities.  Even though we're going to make these pills 

available, we aren't going to be any less vigilant in how we train 

people to respond to a nuclear emergency or defend our nuclear 

plants.



"In April, when Gov. Schweiker accepted the Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission's offer of KI as an extra layer of protection for our 

citizens, he was very clear that our best protection in the event of 

a radiation release is evacuation, and KI is not a substitute."



There are five nuclear-power plants in Pennsylvania: Beaver Valley 

Power Station, Limerick Generating Station, Peach Bottom 

Atomic Power Station, Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, and Three 

Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station.  There are more 

than 650,000 people who live within a 10-mile radius of these 

facilities.  The area within a 10-mile radius of a plant is called an 

Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ).



The KI tablets will be distributed starting Thursday morning, Aug. 

15, through Wednesday evening, Aug. 21, at 15 sites across 

Pennsylvania, at least one site for each EPZ around the nuclear-power 

facilities.  The sites will be open weekdays from 10 a.m. until 

7 p.m. and on the weekends from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.



Public-health nurses and other public-health workers will issue two 

tablets for each person.  Individuals picking up KI tablets will be 

asked to sign for the KI.  Individuals will be allowed to pick up 

tablets for their family members and those who are unable to pick 

them up on their own.



In addition to the tablets, instructions on how to store the pills, 

when they should be taken and how to give them to children will be 

given out. Department of Health staff also will be available to 

answer questions.



KI also will be available for those people who work in the 10-mile 

EPZs, but do not live there.  Employers will be receiving letters 

asking them to contact the Department of Health at 1-877-PA-HEALTH to 

make arrangements to pick up tablets for their entire 

workforce.



School districts within the 10-mile EPZs will be given the option of 

deciding whether to accept and how to distribute KI for their 

students.  There are 44 school districts in the 10-mile EPZs around 

Pennsylvania's nuclear- power facilities.  The Department of 

Health has been working with the Department of Education and the 

Association of School Boards to answer questions about 

dispensing this over-the-counter medication.



Likewise, amusement and sports facilities and other places that draw 

large transient populations and are in the 10-mile EPZs will be 

given access to KI, but it will be up to each facility to determine 

if and how to best make it available to their customers in the 

unlikely 

event of a radioactive release at a nuclear-power plant.



If for any reason people are unable to pick up KI during the initial 

seven-day distribution, or if they decide at a later time that they'd 

like to get KI, Health Department offices will maintain a supply and 

will make it available for pick up by the public during normal 

business hours.  There is no time limit for picking up KI at these 

sites.



Secretary Zimmerman recommends that residents talk to their family 

physicians and pediatricians if they have any questions about their 

health and whether or not there are specific reasons why KI may not 

be safe for their family.

-------------------------------------------------

Sandy Perle

Director, Technical

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service

ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue

Costa Mesa, CA 92626



Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100  Extension 2306

Fax:(714) 668-3149



E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net

E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com



Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/



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