Europe radioactivity levels still continuing

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Austria

Since 17 October, Austrian air-collecting station found radioactive iodine-131 in some samples , while in normal artificial radionuclides was not detected. The measured data of cesium-137 are in the normal range. Other artificial radionuclides were not detected.

The concentrations of iodine-131 are 2-120 Mikrobecquerel per cubic meter. For comparison, these values ​​are by about a factor of 100 lower than the amounts that have occurred during the passage of slightly contaminated air from Fukushima in March of this year. A health hazard by the measured quantities is completely excluded. The results of dispersion calculations indicate that the source of the radioactive cloud is probably somewhere southeast of Europe. (LebensMinisterium)

IAEA points that the measured quantities are very small – a risk to health is not, therefore. According to the Austrian Ministry of Health, people are exposed during a transatlantic flight of a radioactive dose, which is 40,000 times as high as those now measured traces.

Hungary

Hungary detected a very minimal increase in radioactive iodine 131 at two monitoring stations last week but the levels registered do not pose a public health risk, the head of the Hungarian Radiobiology Research Institute said on Friday. “A very minimal increase in activity was registered (in Hungary) on Nov. 5 … but this is far below the levels found after Fukushima,” Dr Geza Safrany, director of the institute reported. He said the increase was registered at monitoring stations in the capital Budapest and the eastern town of Miskolc. “For the time being the source of the leakage cannot be determined. It certainly does not pose a health risk,” he said. Safrany added that it was unlikely Hungary would be the source of the leakage as it was detected in several places in Europe. He said the institute would perform the next measurement over the weekend. (RSOE EDIS)

In Poland, a spokesman for the atomic energy agency told AFP that the cause may lie in Pakistan, where officials were forced to repair a leak at the nearly 40-year-old Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUPP) on October 19. After the incident, an official from KANUPP had told AFP that no radioactivity had been recorded and none of their staff had been affected.

Eight cylinders containing 73.5 kilos of uranium ore were stolen from a radioactive materials storage depot in northern Romania, authorities said yesterday. The commission for the control of nuclear activities (CNCAN) was informed on October 26 that eight 3.5-m long cylinders containing 73.5 kilos of uranium ore disappeared from the depot at Stei, CNCAN said in a press release. (RSOE EDIS)

Iodine 131 has a half life of about eight days. It could be released during an accident at a nuclear plant. The product could also originate from a plant are produced in the radioactive pharmaceuticals. For example, radioactive waste from Italy in 2008 had turned up in Hamburg. This control authorities had elevated levels of iodine 131 is measured. The waste came from a radiological medical practice, which was apparently inadvertently disposed of as household waste.

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Traces of Mystery Radiation Detected Across Europe

Trace amounts of the radioactive material iodine-131 have been detected across Europe over the past two weeks, according to nuclear officials there. The source of this radiation-spewing material is unknown.

Iodine-131 is a by-product of the type of nuclear fission reactions that occur in reactors and nuclear weapons; it emits radiation that can cause cancer when absorbed in high enough doses. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the levels of iodine-131 that have been detected in several locations across Europe are abnormally high, but not high enough to pose a public health risk, Reuters reported today (Nov. 11).

Austria's Environment Ministry said the small levels of radioactive iodine it detected would expose the population to a radiation dose equal to just one-40,000th of the dose received in a transatlantic flight.

Nonetheless, the IAEA is on the hunt for the source of this free-flying nuclear fission product, which the agency does not believe to be a remnant of the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, earlier this year. Iodine-131 decays quickly, with a half-life of just eight days.

The uptick in radioactive iodine was first detected in late October by the Czech Republic's Office of Nuclear Safety, and has since been measured elsewhere, the IAEA said.

Paddy Regan, a professor of nuclear physics at Britain's University of Surrey, told Reuters that the iodine may have leaked from a radiopharmaceuticals manufacturing plant. Alternatively, it may be leaking from a hospital, he said, as these often keep supplies of iodine in store.

Massimo Sepielli, head of the nuclear fission unit at Italy's national alternative energy body ENEA, suggested several other possibilities: "It could be coming from the transporting of [nuclear] material, it could come from a hospital ... it could even come from a nuclear submarine, even if it's a more complicated possibility ... but you can't rule that out."

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Iran’s nuclear standpoint firsthand

Russia, Moscow : Iranian ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali Asghar Soltanieh gives a press conference in Moscow on January 20, 2011. (AFP Photo / Alexey Sazonov)

Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, will join RT live from Vienna to explain his country’s position on its nuclear program.

Following an array of statements and allegations about Iran’s developing nuclear weaponry made today by various sources, Soltanieh will clarify Iran’s own position.

The newest twist in Iran’s nuclear thriller comes after a controversial report released by the IAEA, which claims in its appendix that Iran may have been working on a nuclear weapon before 2003 and may be doing so now.

The lack of direct evidence in the report is likely to be the cornerstone of Soltanieh’s speech.

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Nuclear Iran vs Terrorist USA?

Iran has made computer models of a nuclear warhead, says IAEA report on Tehran’s suspected nuclear activities, due to be published next week. Meanwhile, Iran is set to unveil documents accusing the US of links with terror groups.

The UN nuclear agency is planning to reveal previously undisclosed intelligence on Iran’s suspected nuclear arms program next week.

The report may reveal the International Atomic Energy Agency possesses intelligence information alleging Tehran of making computer models of nuclear warheads, diplomats have told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The agency also plans to show satellite imagery of what it believes is a large steel container used for nuclear-arms related high explosives tests.

In the wake of rising tensions between the US and Iran, Tehran in its turn said it will release documents accusing Washington of involvement in acts of terror against Iran and other countries.

A senior Iranian lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi said Friday the documents will discredit the US administration and will prove the United States and Israel are the chief sponsors of state terrorism.

Earlier on Wednesday, the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said: “We possess 100 pieces of irrefutable evidence that reveal the US role in directing terrorists for conducting acts of terror in Iran and the region.”

"Assassination of Iran's nuclear scientists and massacre of the Iraqi and Afghan people are just a part of the US crimes which are not hidden to anyone," a senior member of Iranian parliament, Esmayeel Kosari, claimed as quoted by FARS news agency.

Earlier there were some reports that the US was involved in extrajudicial activities in the region.

“I’m almost definitely sure the United States is at war with Iran through proxies,” Robert Baer, author and former CIA case officer said in Current TV’s 2009 documentary Vanguard: America's Secret War With Iran. According to Baer, US intelligence is in touch with PJAK, Iraq-based Kurdish militant nationalist group which frequently carries out attacks against Iran.

In the latest diplomatic maneuver, Iran has sent an official letter to UN chief Ban Ki-moon, ruling out accusation of plotted assassination of Saudi envoy as “baseless” and accusing the US of conspiracy against Iran, according to IRNA news agency.

Patrick Henningsen, editor of the Infowars.com website, told RT a report is due to be released on Monday that has detailed documentary evidence of US involvement in the funding and arming of terrorist groups that organize terrorist attacks in Iran.

“What we are seeing here is war propaganda. One side is from the US and the other side is Iran’s counter-propaganda to show that the US is actively involved in operating terrorist groups in the region. The timing of the situation is incredible. Let’s look at the US policy on nuclear right now – Obama approved a $200 billion bill to upgrade the US nuclear arsenal! There is a bit of a double standard going on there,” he stated.


War on the doorstep?

Meanwhile, in Israel, President Shimon Peres said that he believed that Israel and the world may soon take military action against Iran.

"Intelligence services of all countries understand that time is running out and they are warning their leaders," Peres told Israeli Channel 2 on Friday.

"It would seem that Iran is getting closer to having nuclear weapons," he claimed.

Following that, a senior US military official said he was unsure Israel would inform Washington of plans to strike Iran, adding that the US military is “increasingly vigilant” of activities in both Iran and Israel.

On Friday a senior US military official told Reuters that Iran remains "biggest threat to the United States and to our interests and to our friends" in the Middle East. Still, the anonymous official added he did not believe that Iran wanted to provoke a conflict.

The latest reports only add more fuel to the ongoing media speculation as to whether or not Israel and the US would launch an assault on Iran’s uranium-enrichment facilities.

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Report: US topsoil contains levels of radioactive cesium up to 10,000 percent higher than previously believed

Few in the mainstream media are talking about it these days, but radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster is still spewing into and contaminating the environment. And a professional engineer from Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s (WPI) Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering says that levels of radioactive cesium in US topsoil have recently been detected at levels up to 10,000 percent higher than previous studies have found.

Marco Kaltofen, PE, has been investigating nuclear material release as part of his dissertation, entitled Radiation Exposure to the Population in Japan After the Earthquake. And samples of US topsoil he recently collected and analyzed revealed levels of radioactive cesium up to eight nanoCuries per kilogram (nCi/Kg), which is about 10,000 percent higher than levels previously assumed in a study by the University of California, Berkeley (UCB).

The UCB study included soil samples taken from various locations throughout California. The sample containing the highest level of radioactive cesium came from Sacramento, and registered at a mere 0.0739 nCi/Kg. But Kaltofen’s readings, which are believed to have come from somewhere near the Cascade mountain range in the Pacific Northwest, were more than 108 times this amount.

What this means is that individuals living in areas like the Pacific Northwest and California continue to be heavily exposed to high levels of Fukushima radiation that are blowing over from Japan. And if Kaltofen’s readings are accurate and indicative of exposure levels throughout the region, the food supply coming from that region is most likely also highly contaminated with deadly radiation.

Cesium-134 and cesium-137, both of which were identified in the soil samples, have a relatively long half-life. Cesium-134 takes two years to decay by half, while cesium-137 takes a disturbing 30 years to decay by half. Both substances, of course, damage healthy cells and DNA, and can lead to cancer.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided to stop testing for Fukushima radiation back in May, however, after declaring that “no harmful levels of radiation (were) reaching the US from Japan.” But based on Kaltofen’s new data, the EPA is either woefully ignorant of reality, or is deliberately covering up the truth about radiation and deceiving the American public.

Naturalnews.com
by Jonathan Benson

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Prepare for Armageddon

Presenter: Richard F. Ames

The history of the world has taught us that mankind does not know the way to lasting world peace. Will we continue to suffer the pain and death of devastating wars? Will we face Armageddon in the next few years? Will there be a World War III? Bible prophecy predicts a world war commonly referred to as Armageddon. Will you and your family be prepared?

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Pakistan on emergency alert after nuclear power plant leak; no damage or radiation

Pakistan on emergency alert after nuclear power plant leak; no damage or radiation

An official at a nuclear power plant in Pakistan says it declared a seven-hour emergency after heavy water leaked out of a reactor during maintenance work.

Tariq Rasheed says Tuesday night’s leak did not cause any damage or radiation. He said on Thursday that the plant located in the southern city of Karachi was safe and that the emergency was declared as standard procedure.

He says the plant is scheduled to restart operations in one month.

The Karachi Nuclear Power Plant went on line in 1971 and is currently capable of producing 100 megawatts of electricity. The plant is located on the outskirts of the city. READ MORE

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Fire shuts down Swedish nuclear reactor - 22nd Oct 2011

Fire shuts down Swedish nuclear reactor - 22nd Oct 2011

The nuclear reactor at Oskarshamn was closed down late on Saturday night after a fire broke out at the plant.

Although the fire, which broke out in the turbine hall of Unit 2, was quickly put out by the plant’s own emergency services, the reactor and the turbine were closed down as a precautionary measure.

It is still unclear when the reactor 2 can be restarted again, with investigations ongoing.

“Fires are always serious in this type of facility, but this happened in the conventional turbine hall, which is the same type as all other kinds of power plants, and not in the reactor itself. We need to analyse what caused the fire before we make any commitment to start the installation, but I assume that it should not be too long, because this was a relatively minor incident,” Anders Österberg, Director of Communications at OKG (Oskarshamnsverkets Kraftgrupp, which runs the facility), told TT.

Unit 2 was restarted this week following its annual maintenance check, though the company said it is too early to speculate over whether the two incidents are connected in any way. SOURCE

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