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254 received excess radiation in treatment at Aomori hospital



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254 received excess radiation in treatment at Aomori hospital

Whistle-blower faults US nuclear facility security

FPL Announces Operating Licenses Renewed For St. Lucie Nuclear Plant

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254 received excess radiation in treatment at Aomori hospital



TOKYO, Oct. 4 (Kyodo) A total of 254 patients were administered 

excessive doses of radiation while being treated at a state-run 

hospital in Aomori Prefecture between 1988 and 1999, government and 

hospital officials said Friday.  



The National Hirosaki Hospital has admitted there were errors in 

calculating radiation doses when it was using old equipment, but said 

that only one technician made the mistakes.



The hospital reported the incidents to the Aomori prefectural police 

as medical accidents. It is believed to be the largest single case of 

excessive irradiation at a hospital in Japan.



The situation came to light when the hospital checked past records 

after one of the patients -- a man suffering from cancer -- developed 

rectal inflammation, a suspected side effect of excessive 

irradiation, in August, the officials said.



Six other patients are believed to have suffered side effects, 

including breast deformations and rib fractures, they said.



The hospital said it plans to contact all of the patients whose 

records show they were excessively irradiated to check whether or not 

they suffered side effects.



In the incidents, which occurred between July 1988 and October 1999, 

the technician administered 1.11 to 1.28 times the amount of 

radiation prescribed by doctors, the officials said.



Being irradiated with excessive doses of radiation could cause 

immediate side effects such as soar throat and rashes, as well as 

cancer over a span of several years.



In other cases, 23 patients at Toranomon Hospital in Tokyo were 

administered excessive radiation doses between 1999 and 2000, as were 

12 patients at Kanazawa University Hospital in Ishikawa Prefecture 

between 2000 and 2002.

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



Whistle-blower faults US nuclear facility security



LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A U.S. federal employee who until September 

2001 ran simulated "war games" to test security at U.S. nuclear 

weapons facilities has claimed that measures to guard against 

terrorist attack were largely inadequate, according to a report in 

Vanity Fair magazine released Monday.  



The article, written by veteran nuclear industry reporter Mark 

Hertsgaard, quotes Rich Levernier as saying teams of mock terrorists 

he oversaw ran pretend assaults on the Los Alamos National Laboratory 

in New Mexico and other facilities, and over half of the time, 

captured plutonium and escaped.



"Some of the facilities would fail year after year," Levernier said 

in Vanity Fair's November issue which hits newsstands on Wednesday.



The story said Levernier was making his claims public for the first 

time. He is suing the U.S. Department of Energy, accusing the 

government agency of illegally gagging him and removing him from his 

duties without just cause.



A statement from the National Nuclear Security Administration, an 

energy department group that oversees the nation's nuclear weapons 

facilities, called the allegation that its security had failed tests 

up to half the time "simply untrue."



The NNSA statement notes the incidents Levernier cites occurred from 

1996 to 1999 and noted that the Bush administration and energy 

department have boosted security funding by over 50 percent "to 

ensure that our nuclear weapons materials are not vulnerable to 

terrorist attack."



"We continually test our defenses to uncover and remedy any potential 

weaknesses," the statement said. "We never accept the status quo."



The Vanity Fair article also cites examples from another whistle-

blower, Chris Steele, who worked at the Los Alamos laboratory for 

seven years.



Steele, according to the article, discovered that nuclear waste was 

stored for five years at an unauthorized, "secret site" at Los 

Alamos. In that case, the site was shut down, and the energy 

department subsequently ruled the Los Alamos lab had broken the law.



The Los Alamos laboratory, which was where the first atomic bomb was 

developed, has faced a series of security lapses in recent years 

including a lost hard drive in 2000 that contained classified 

information. The drive was later found behind a copy machine.



In May a set of keys and an access badge were lost.



The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, 

said in a report in June that the NNSA had "not been fully effective" 

in managing safeguards and security programs.

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



FPL Announces Operating Licenses Renewed For St. Lucie Nuclear Power 

Plant



JUNO BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--10/03/2003--Florida Power & Light 

Company today announced the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued 

operating licenses for the two units at the St. Lucie Nuclear Power 

Plant that will add 20 years to the original license period. The 

license renewals were granted after an extensive three-year 

application and review process that included a comprehensive safety 

and environmental analysis. The public was involved throughout the 

process through community dialogue and public meetings.



"This is a significant accomplishment that will allow us to continue 

to provide a reliable source of safe, clean, low-cost power to our 

customers for many years to come," said Art Stall, senior vice 

president of FPL's nuclear division.



FPL owns and operates two nuclear reactors at its St. Lucie plant 

site located on Hutchinson Island midway between Stuart and Ft. 

Pierce. Unit 1 began operation in 1976 and Unit 2 in 1983. The 

original 40-year operating licenses were scheduled to expire in 2016 

and 2023. After demonstrating that the programs and procedures are in 

place to ensure continued safe operation of the plant for an 

additional 20 years, FPL was granted renewed licenses that allow 

operation until 2036 and 2043. FPL sought the license renewal years 

in advance as part of its long range planning process.



"We are very appreciative of the local community's support for 

license renewal," Mr. Stall said. "Many of our neighbors took the 

time to come to the public meetings and express their views on the 

plant's importance to the community. We sincerely thank them for 

their support. I also want to recognize the plant employees who 

worked hard to establish the excellent safety, reliability, and 

environmental record that led to license renewal. We are committed to 

continuing that focus on safety and environmental stewardship 

throughout the operation of the plant."



The two units at St. Lucie Plant combined provide enough power for 

approximately 500,000 homes and are a significant source of 

electricity for FPL's customers in the Treasure Coast and South 

Florida area. Previously, in June 2002, the NRC granted renewed 

operating licenses for the two nuclear reactors at FPL's Turkey Point 

Nuclear Power Plant located south of Miami near Homestead. The 

renewed licenses for the Turkey Point plant allow operation of those 

units until 2032 and 2033. Nuclear power provides approximately 24 

percent of FPL's energy mix.



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

Sandy Perle

Vice President, Technical Operations

Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.

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/

Global Dosimetry Solution Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/



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