[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
254 received excess radiation in treatment at Aomori hospital
Index:
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
=============================================
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/
************************************************************************
You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,
send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu Put the text "unsubscribe
radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.
You can view the Radsafe archives at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/