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Issues pertaining to radiation and radioactivity are not static. Regulations change, an item of concern at one facility raises issues of concern at others, public perceptions influence decision-making, and new discoveries are made all the time. Once each day, Plexus-NSD reviews its various sources of information so that we can keep ourselves and our clients constantly and continuously informed.

On a periodic basis, we summarize what we have found and post it at this web site in the "Regulatory Action", the "Press Pieces", and the "Upcoming Events" categories. In the "Plexus-NSD Announcements" section you can read about what our staff has been up to lately, including a description of some of our publications and products, copies of which we would be glad to send to you at no cost. In the "Plexus-NSD e-Newsletters" section is a listing of headlines from recent editions, as well as an invitation to subscribe to this free monthly publication. We encourage you to check back frequently so that you too can keep up on the ever-changing world of radiation and radioactivity.

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September 28, 2016 – 81 FR 66699-66700 – NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION – Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Notice of Meeting – In accordance with the purposes of Sections 29 and 182b of the Atomic Energy Act (42 U.S.C. 2039, 2232b), the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) will hold a meeting on October 6-8, 2016, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.

September 28, 2016 – 81 FR 66700-66701 – NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION – License Renewal Application for Fermi 2 Nuclear Power Plant – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a final plant-specific supplement, Supplement 56, to NUREG-1437, “Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants” (GEIS), regarding the renewal of the DTE Electric Company (DTE) operating license NPF-43 for an additional 20 years of operation for Fermi 2 Nuclear Power Plant (Fermi 2). DATES: The final Supplement 56 to the GEIS is available as of September 28, 2016.

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September 28, 2016 – Press Pieces

On September 28th, 2016, posted in: Latest News, Press Pieces

September 28, 2016 – Science Magazine – Protests spur rethink on deep borehole test for nuclear waste – Along the way to testing an old-but-new concept in nuclear waste storage—burying spent fuel in a hole drilled kilometers below the surface—the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its contractors relearned a lesson that seems frequently forgotten: Get the locals on board first. Failure to gain the trust and approval of residents in rural North and South Dakota doomed the start of a $35 million project that would have drilled a borehole 5 kilometers beneath the prairie into crystalline basement rock. Early this year, the agency tapped Battelle Memorial Institute, a large research nonprofit based in Columbus, to lead the effort. The hole would not have been used for radioactive material, but was rather intended to garner insight to the geology and technical challenges of such drilling.

September 28, 2016 – Horizon Magazine – Nuclear clock could help blind people, autonomous cars navigate – Measuring energy fluctuations in the nucleus of a rare radioactive element could improve the accuracy of GPS from metres to centimetres, while marbled volcanic magma is being used to create eruption countdowns, thanks to groups of European researchers who are pushing the boundaries of timekeeping. From grains of sand in an hourglass to the position of the sun, people throughout history have used different physical attributes in order to accurately tell the time. Today’s gold standard of timekeeping are so-called microwave atomic clocks, which use microwave radiation to measure the oscillation of electrons within a caesium atom. The best of these are off by just one nanosecond in a month. Atomic clocks are used in the synchronisation of our increasingly complex power networks, stock markets and mobile phone communications, but they don’t just set the world’s time. In the same way that the first portable timepiece allowed sailors to navigate at sea, the relationship between distance and time means atomic clocks underlie today’s satellite-based global positioning system (GPS).

September 28, 2016 – News Medical – Tau PET imaging in Alzheimer’s disease increases opportunities for developing effective drugs – Tau PET is a new and promising imaging method for Alzheimer’s disease. A case study from Lund University in Sweden now confirms that tau PET images correspond to a higher degree to actual changes in the brain. According to the researchers behind the study, this increases opportunities for developing effective drugs. There are several different methods of producing images showing the changes in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The tau PET method reveals the presence of a protein in the brain, tau, with the help of a gamma camera and a specially selected radioactive molecule (F-AV-1451).

September 28, 2016 – GlobalResearch.ca – Radioactive Cesium Builds Up In Fukushima Dams, Contamination of Water and Agriculture – Dams surrounding the stricken Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) have become de facto storage facilities for high concentrations of radioactive cesium as the element continues to accumulate. With no effective countermeasures in sight, the government insists that water from the dams is safe, but to local residents, the government’s stance comes across as the shelving of a crucial problem. “It’s best to leave it as it is,” an official from the Ministry of the Environment says, with the knowledge that in 10 dams in Fukushima Prefecture, there is soil containing concentrations of cesium over the limit set for designated waste — or over 8,000 becquerels per kilogram.

September 28, 2016 – Idaho State Journal – INL Radiological Control director honored for commitment to profession – Cheré Morgan, INL Radiological Control director, has received the Charles D. (Bama) McKnight Memorial Award from the National Registry of Radiation Protection Technologists for her outstanding efforts in the radiation protection field, leading to increased knowledge and professionalism among radiation protection technologists. She is the fifth recipient of the prestigious award since it was established in 2005. The NRRPT’s objective is to encourage and promote the education and training of radiation protection technologists and, by doing so, promote and advance the science of health physics.

September 28, 2016 – 7th Space Interactive – Multi-analytical investigation into painting materials and techniques: the wall paintings of Abuna Yemata Guh church – Abuna Yemata Guh is one of the nine Saints who are traditionally claimed to have come to Northern Ethiopia in the beginning of the sixth century and established monasteries in the Tigray region. The church, named after him, is hewn out of the side of one of the highest sandstone spires in the Gheralta area. Though the local tradition claims earlier dates, the paintings in the church are suggested to belong to the second half of the fifteenth century on the basis of their theme, style and iconography. We report here the investigation into the materials and techniques of the paintings using diverse complementary analytical techniques: Polarized light microscopy (PLM), portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (pXRF), scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM–EDS), synchrotron-based X-ray diffraction (SR-XRD), pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS), micro-Raman spectroscopy (MRS) and micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (micro-FTIR).

September 28, 2016 – DefenseWorld.net – North Korea Possesses 88 Pounds Weapons-Grade Plutonium – North Korea has drastically progressed in miniaturization of its nuclear weapons and allegedly possesses at least 88 pounds of weapons-grade plutonium. The North had reinforced its strategic capabilities and is continuing development of nuclear and biochemical weapons and ballistic missiles, South Korean Defense Ministry was quoted as saying by Sputnik News Wednesday. “We suppose, that North Korea possesses 40 kilograms [88 pounds] of weapons-grade plutonium and the uranium enrichment program is underway,” the ministry said.

September 28, 2016 – Cancer Network – Higher RT Dose in Pediatric Brain Tumors Limited Vocabulary Development – A small study has found that among children with primary brain tumors who were treated with cranial radiation, cerebral volume and radiation dose may affect the rate of vocabulary development. The results of the study were published in Cancer. “Although the treatment of primary brain tumors in children, and medulloblastoma in particular, is associated with neurocognitive deficits, the underlying pathophysiology is unknown,” wrote Harold Agbahiwe, MD, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, and colleagues. “We found a significant relation between cerebral volume and performance on the PPVT-3 (an IQ estimate), with larger volumes associated with higher scores.” Cranial radiation is required in most children with primary brain tumors in order to achieve long-term disease control. Use of cranial radiation is associated with cognitive impairments later in life. As survival from primary brain tumors has improved, researchers have shifted their focus to improving long-term consequences of these diseases.

September 28, 2016 – PhysOrg – X-ray laser speeds up the process of determining protein structures – An international team of scientists has learned how to determine the spatial structure of a protein obtained with an X-ray laser using the sulfur atoms it contains. This development is the next stage in the project of a group led by Vadim Cherezov to create an effective method of studying receptor proteins. A detailed description of the study has been published in the journal Science Advances.

September 28,2 016 – Tech 2 – Government scouting possible sites for Nuclear plants in Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand – The central government is looking at possible sites in the northern states of Uttarakhand, Punjab and Haryana for setting up new atomic power plants, a minister said on Tuesday. “We are exploring the possibility of having such establishments in other places, for example near Dehradun in Utarakhand and near Patiala in Punjab. We are also looking for a place in Bhiwani in Haryana,” Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh said while addressing a conference here on nuclear power organised by industry chamber Assocham. “The present government can stake claim of having set up an atomic energy plant in Gorakhpur in Haryana, so we have brought atomic energy northwards which it had been waiting for 60-70 years and we made it to cross through Delhi because atomic energy never had the opportunity to see the capital of this country,” he added. The Prime Minister’s Office looks after the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).

September 28, 2016 – BDLive – Nuclear new build programme thrown into disarray, again – SOUTH Africa’s intended nuclear new build programme has been thrown into renewed turmoil‚ after a senior minister contradicted Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson on the commencement date for the call for proposals‚ intended to officially start the much-anticipated process. Three weeks ago‚ Joemat-Pettersson told Parliament that the request for proposal on nuclear new build — the first official indication of what the government expects the scale and cost of the project to be — will be published this Friday‚ September 30. But on Tuesday‚ while addressing the parliamentary press gallery on behalf of the economics cluster to which the Energy Department reports‚ Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor flickered a red light‚ saying she believed the request for proposal on the deal — which industry experts believe could be worth between R700bn and R1.6-trillion, depending on scale and specifics — would not be announced by Friday because the relevant government policies were not in order.

September 28, 2016 – Sputnik International – Rosatom Helping Bolivia Formulate Requirements for Nuclear Research Center – The Russian nuclear agency is helping the Bolivian side formulate requirements for the construction of the Nuclear Research and Technology Center El Alto.VIENNA (Sputnik) — Russia’s Rosatom nuclear energy corporation is helping Bolivia to formulate precise requirements for the construction of the Nuclear Research and Technology Center (NRTC) in Bolivia’s El Alto, Rosatom Deputy CEO Vyacheslav Pershukov told Sputnik on Wednesday. “We [Rosatom] are helping them [the Bolivian side] to formulate their requirements [on the construction of the scientific nuclear center] in the right way, they cannot do it all by themselves because of the lack of experience, which is normal for many newcomers. Our goal is to help them,” Pershukov said. In August, Rosatom signed the first commercial contracts with the Bolivian Nuclear Energy Agency (ABEN) on the center’s construction.

September 28, 2016 – Reuters – German nuclear commission warns of delay to waste storage deal – Germany should speed up implementation of recommendations requiring operators of nuclear plants to pay billions of euros into a fund to cover the costs of waste storage, a commission urged the chancellery in a letter seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The commission tasked with finding a solution for how to fund the storage of radioactive waste said in April it wanted utilities to pay 23.3 billion euros ($26.08 billion) into a state-fund to cover the costs.

September 28, 2016 – The Independent – Secret US nuclear base hidden in Greenland icecap to be revealed thanks to global warming – A secret abandoned nuclear base is likely to be revealed by the melting of a large icecap in Greenland due to global warming, experts have warned. Toxic waste is expected to leak into the sea if the ice continues to melt around Camp Century, a research facility decommissioned by the US military at the height of the Cold War in 1967. The base became home to the world’s first mobile nuclear generator when it opened its doors to 200 soldiers in 1959, and included a 3km network of tunnels buried within the icecap.

September 28,l 2016 – Economic Times – Would Donald Trump ever use nuclear weapons first? The answer is not clear – Donald Trump often says he never wants to signal to the nation’s adversaries what he would do as commander in chief — an embrace of the concept of “strategic ambiguity” that is as old as warfare. But on the critical question of whether the United States should ever be the first to use nuclear weapons, he appeared somewhere between contradictory and confused during his debate with Hillary Clinton on Monday.

September 28, 2016 – Lexology – DOE Heavily Criticized in New Nuclear Whistleblower Program Audit – The Department of Energy (“DOE”) touts the importance of safety in the nuclear industry – and with good reason. The impact of a catastrophic failure at a nuclear plant can last for years and affect people who live far from a reactor. Even smaller-scale safety deficiencies can seriously harm hundreds of workers. Despite its stated emphasis on compliance, however, the DOE does little to protect civilian contractors who speak up about nuclear safety issues, according to a scathing report issued by the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) on July 14 of this year.

September 28, 2016 – Reuters – Finnish client takes new legal action against Areva over nuclear project – Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) has started fresh legal action against French nuclear group Areva to avoid further delays at its Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor in Finland, company spokesman said. The project, almost a decade behind its original schedule, is nearly complete, but TVO wants assurances that a restructuring of plant supplier Areva won’t cause further delays and that the plant would be ready to begin production in 2018 as planned. “We have asked for this several times but have not received the necessary assurances,” he said by phone, adding that TVO is now seeking assurances through a case filed in Nanterre Commercial Court, in France.

September 28,2 016 – Power Engineering International – CGN Power acquires $1.5bn of nuclear assets – CGN Power has agreed to acquire two nuclear power plants and an engineering unit from its parent company, China General Nuclear Power, for $1.5bn. China’s nuclear power operator will acquire 61 per cent equity interest in Fangchenggang nuclear power station in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The Fangchenggang project will have a combined generation capacity of 6 GW on completion. CGN Power will also acquire 100 per cent interest in the 2.5 GW Lufeng Nuclear and 100 per cent interest in CGN Engineering, a project construction management firm.

September 28, 2016 – Public Citizen – U.S. Court of Appeals to Hear Flawed Arguments Against Nation’s Landmark Clean Power Plan – Early media previews have billed litigation over the Clean Power Plan as key to President Obama’s “climate legacy.” But the legacy belongs to all of us. The question is whether we will muster the political will to curb climate change before we lose the chance to prevent catastrophic harm to our health, economy and way of life. Time is running out. Opponents of the Clean Power Plan greatly rely on arguments that the rule will hurt consumers by raising electricity prices. They are wrong. In a series of studies, Public Citizen found that electricity bills will decline under the rule. Although the price of electricity likely will rise modestly, the rule will spur energy efficiency improvements so that people use less electricity and as a result pay lower bills. In our 50-state study of the final rule, we found that electricity bills will be lower in nearly every state by 2025 under the Clean Power Plan, and in all states by 2030.

September 28, 2016 – Forbes – Passive-Aggressive Fight Against Plutonium Economy Continues Unabated – Late Friday afternoon, the Department of Energy released an updated performance report on the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). DOE’s internal Office of Project Management Oversight and Assessment in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers produced the report using assumptions and data provided by DOE leadership. The report concludes that if the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) — the semi-independent branch of the DOE that is running the project — continues managing and supporting the MFFF with the same enthusiasm and oversight that it has been investing for the past half dozen years, the facility won’t be completed until 2048. It will cost $12.5 billion more than has already been spent.

September 28, 2016 – Vermont Public Radio – Vermont Yankee To Sell Equipment, Supplies Worth $20 Million At Public Auction – The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant closed in December 2014, and now the plant is auctioning off decades worth of accumulated inventory. The owners of the VY plant had to keep a lot of spare parts around to keep the facility running. While the plant was open, the company had a warehouse filled with equipment that workers might need in case something broke down. For 25 years, Dave Bauer was the supply manager at Vermont Yankee, and it was his job to purchase and inventory all of the spare valves, gauges and pumps Entergy needed in case something had to be replaced.

September 1, 2016 – Boston Globe – State ought to have an interest in closing Pilgrim nuclear plant – WAS IT serendipity that The Boston Globe’s editorial “Too risky to wait for Pilgrim plant’s shutdown” appeared at about the same time that Cape Cod’s Downwinders hand-delivered a letter to Governor Baker requesting immediate closing of Plymouth’s Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station? This group has been calling for the plant’s closing for years. One might say that such a move is a function of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, not the state. Yet aren’t the health and welfare of the residents a responsibility of the Commonwealth? From the partial meltdown of Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 1979 to the Chernobyl accident in 1986 to Fukushima in 2011, we see that nuclear power is not what it was cracked up to be.

September 28, 2016 – Platts – Talen will shut Pennsylvania nuclear unit for repairs soon – Talen plans to shut its 1,330-MW Susquehanna-2 nuclear generating unit in Berwick, Pennsylvania, “within the next few weeks” to repair a turbine blade that has shown indications of cracking, the company said Monday. The steam turbines at the Susquehanna station have experienced cracking since 2011, and many turbine blades have been replaced at a cost of at least $150 million so far. Susquehanna-2 will be shut for an unspecified amount of time so the turbine blade in question can be replaced, spokesman Todd Martin said Monday. Talen said the outage would be “brief,” but gave no specifics.

September 28, 2016 – Bloomberg – Mosaic’s Radioactive Sinkhole Problem Could Mean Mine Delays – As the world’s largest producer of phosphate fertilizer, Mosaic Co. is used to digging up parts of Florida to recover the mineral. But lately, one particular hole is causing the company some headaches. A sinkhole 45 feet (14 meters) wide has opened up in a pile of mining waste at the company’s New Wales site in Polk County, about 30 miles east of downtown Tampa, swallowing about 215 million gallons of radioactive wastewater — enough to fill about 326 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Mosaic says it believes the sinkhole has reached the Floridan aquifer, which provides the local community’s water supply. While Mosaic first noticed the problem in late August, it didn’t make a public announcement until Sept. 15. Three local residents are now suing the company, alleging improper storage of chemical waste. The spill could mean increased hurdles for Mosaic’s expansion plans in Florida, according to Jonas Oxgaard, a New York-based analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

September 28, 2016 – Tri-City Herald – Ticket sales end Sept. 27 for historic B Reactor concerts – Reg Unterseher has sung in venues around the world. But, “I’ve never sung in any place remotely like this,” he said. “This” is Hanford’s historic B Reactor. And on Sept. 30 and Oct. 2, Unterseher — an acclaimed composer and performer — will take part in a pair of ground-breaking concerts at the site. The shows by Mid-Columbia Mastersingers are the first-ever choral concerts to be in a decommissioned nuclear reactor anywhere in the world. “It is such an amazing thing,” Unterseher said. “I think it’s our responsibly to tell our stories. That’s what this concert does.”

September 28, 2016 – San Luis Obispo Tribune – PG&E wants to limit discussion on what happens after Diablo Canyon closes – PG&E doesn’t want to talk about its post-closure plans for Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant or requests to close the facility early, but it does want to discuss how to replace the lost power with greenhouse gas-free and energy-efficient resources. Those are some of the key takeaways from the utility’s response to comments and protests filed with the California Public Utilities Commission regarding its application to close the plant by 2025. The utility company filed its official response Monday to the 29 comments and protests filed by various community groups and organizations since PG&E announced its plan in June to not relicense its two nuclear reactors when they expire in 2024 and 2025.

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September 27, 2016 – 81 FR 66301-66314 – NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION – Biweekly Notice; Applications and Amendments to Facility Operating Licenses and Combined Licenses Involving No Significant Hazards Considerations – Pursuant to Section 189a.(2) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is publishing this regular biweekly notice. The Act requires the Commission to publish notice of any amendments issued, or proposed to be issued, and grants the Commission the authority to issue and make immediately effective any amendment to an operating license or combined license, as applicable, upon a determination by the Commission that such amendment involves no significant hazards consideration, notwithstanding the pendency before the Commission of a request for a
hearing from any person.

September 27, 2016 – 81 FR 66301 – NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION – Establishment of Atomic Safety and Licensing Board; Tennessee Valley Authority – Pursuant to delegation by the Commission, see 37 FR 28710 (Dec. 29, 1972), and the Commission’s regulations, see, e.g., 10 CFR 2.104, 2.105, 2.300, 2.309, 2.313, 2.318, 2.321, notice is hereby given that an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (Board) is being established to preside over the following proceeding: Tennessee Valley Authority (Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Units 1, 2, and 3). This proceeding involves a challenge to an application by Tennessee Valley Authority for an amendment to the operating licenses for the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Units 1, 2, and 3, located in Athens, Alabama. In response to a Federal Register Notice, “Applications and Amendments to Facility Operating Licenses and Combined Licenses Involving Proposed No Significant Hazards Considerations and Containing Sensitive Unclassified Non-Safeguards Information and Order Imposing Procedures for Access to Sensitive Unclassified Non-Safeguards Information,” published on July 5, 2016, see 81 FR 43661-43669, the Bellefonte Efficiency & Sustainability Team/Mothers Against Tennessee River Radiation (BEST/MATRR) filed a Petition to Intervene and Request for Hearing on September 9, 2016.

September 27, 2016 – 81 FR 66199 – DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY – Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage Contingent Cost Allocation – On August 3, 2016, the Department of Energy (DOE) issued in the Federal Register a notice and request for comments on a proposed information collection developed in connection with its proposed rulemaking under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA). The notice stated that comments on the proposed information collection were to be submitted by October 3, 2016. At a public workshop held on September 16, 2016, to discuss the information collection proposal, and in written comments thereafter, members of the public requested an extension of time within which to submit comments. This document announces that the period for submitting comments on the proposed information collection is extended to November 7, 2016.

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September 27, 2016 – Press Pieces

On September 27th, 2016, posted in: Latest News, Press Pieces

September 27, 2016 – Roanoke Times – Fight flares again over uranium mining at 5th District debate – The fuse trailing from an attack ad by Democratic candidate Jane Dittmar against state Sen. Tom Garrett’s energy and environment record sparked Monday at the Appomattox debate. The audience question regarding each 5th Congressional District candidate’s stance on uranium mining lit the confrontation toward the end of the debate that until then had been marked by general agreement private businesses are overregulated. “This is like some crazy convoluted cartwheels that we’re getting here, but the bottom line is that 127 people voted to form the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium,” Garrett said. “You need to learn to read bills. This one says nothing about uranium mining.”

September 27, 2016 – ZDNet – iPhones ’emit double the radiation’ of Galaxy handsets: Korean agency – Apple’s iPhones and iPads had the highest electromagnetic radiation specific absorption rate (SAR) out of electronic devices sold in South Korea, a national assemblyman claimed, citing data from a state-backed research agency. At a hearing on Tuesday, assemblyman Choi Myung-gil of the country’s telecom committee said data from the National Radio Research Agency shows the average radiation SAR for iPhones was 1.166 watts per kilogram (W/kg). Samsung’s, in comparison, showed an average of 0.517W/kg, for products launched this year.

September 27, 2016 – Sputnik International – Russia, Finland Sign Protocol on Nuclear Security Cooperation – 0Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom and the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) have signed a protocol on cooperation in the field of nuclear security on Tuesday in Vienna. The protocol on realization of practical measures on fulfillment of obligations of the 1995 agreement between the two countries was signed by Rosatom CEO Sergei Kirienko and STUK Director General Petteri Tiippana on the sidelines of the IAEA 60th General Conference in Vienna. In January 1995, Russia and Finland have signed an agreement on early notification about nuclear accidents and the exchange of information concerning nuclear facilities.

September 27, 2016 – The Post Star – New Type of Radiation Treatment May Up Survival for Older Lung Cancer Patients – Cutting-edge radiation therapy seems to provide a significant survival advantage for older people with early stage lung cancer who aren’t strong enough for surgery, a pair of new studies suggests. The therapy is called stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) and it’s been available for about a decade. The first study reviewed national cancer data and found that survival rates for older lung cancer patients treated with radiation therapy increased dramatically between 2004 and 2012. Those are the years during which SBRT use became widespread in the United States, said lead researcher Dr. Andrew Farach, a radiation oncologist at Houston Methodist Hospital. A second study based on Veterans Affairs cancer treatment data appears to corroborate the national findings, directly linking increased use of SBRT with improved survival rates in elderly patients.

September 27, 2016 – The Cable – 7 ways your WiFi could be causing you harm – Many are on edge because they can’t imagine a world without the internet. But every good thing has it’s bad side and it’s better to educated yourself to be safe. When exposed to electromagnetic radiation, you will have more difficulty falling asleep. So when you can’t sleep maybe you should just turn off your phone. Wireless radiation reduces sperm movement and fragments your DNA. Sleeping with your phone next to your head can affect your ability to concentrate. Experiment: One set of plants was grown in a room free of wireless radiation; the other group grew next to two routers that released the same amount of radiation as a cell phone. Result: The plants closest to the radiation didn’t grow. This radiation has the ability to alter and stunt to growth of body tissue. Young children are more likely to be affected during their developmental stages.

September 27, 20-16 – MedGadget – Lesser Exposure Of Individuals To Radiation Drives Demand For Digital X-Ray Systems Market – MarketResearchReports.biz has announced the addition of a new research report to its online repository. The research report, titled “Global Digital X-Ray Systems Market 2016-2020,” discusses the market drivers and restraints influencing the trajectory of the global digital x-ray systems market. The report has been put together using primary and secondary research methodologies that assure an accurate assessment of the given data. The document includes opinions of market experts and provides a holistic outlook of the market with projections for the forecast period of 2016 and 2020. According to the research report, the global digital X-ray systems market is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 13.19% between the years of 2016 and 2020. These systems include amplifiers, displays, X-ray sensors, and image processing computers.

September 27, 2016 – Science World Report – Favorite American Foods Emit Radiation: Pizzas, Hot Dogs And More – Food photography reached a new height recently when New York-based artist Brea Souders collaborated with VSCO, an art, and tech company, to create a series of thermographs that capture the radiation emitted from popular American foods. On the list are all time favorites, which are not just restricted to the US, such as pizzas, hot dogs, and fries among junk/fast foods.

September 27, 2016 – The Royal Gazette – Medical imaging and increased radiation risk – There has been a lot of coverage in the media lately about radiation exposure from medical imaging and it’s important to sort out fact from fiction. People are rightly concerned whether radiation from mammograms, bone density tests, computed tomography scans and the likes, would increase their risk of developing cancer. For most people, there is very little risk from routine X-ray imaging but many experts are concerned about an explosion in the use of higher radiation dose tests, such as CT and nuclear imaging. As an example, it is estimated that in 2015, about 90 million CT scans and nuclear tests were performed in the United States, compared with just three million in 1980.

September 27,k 2016 – Press Release Rocket – Newer Radiation Technique Has Fewer Side Effects Than Traditional Techniques for Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer – When a patient’s cancer comes back, he or she is often left with limited treatment options and higher odds of debilitating side effects. But a University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) study presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) 2016 Annual Meeting in Boston offers positive news for people with recurrent head and neck cancer. Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), a technique for delivering pinpoint radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors, resulted in only half as many patients with recurrent head and neck cancer suffering severe, long-term side effects as compared to previously reported studies using more traditional treatment techniques. This discovery by UPCI scientists was made in the largest and longest follow-up analysis to date of patients with recurrent head and neck cancer treated with SBRT. The findings make SBRT a more attractive possibility for patients with few options left.

September 27, 2016 – Lynchburg News Advance – Areva lays off 12 employees in Lynchburg, part of 50 in U.S. – Areva North America has laid off 12 people in Lynchburg, part of a nationwide reduction of 50 employees. According to the company, the changes are a result of a shrinking demand for Areva’s support for existing nuclear reactors. All of the employees affected worked in the “Installed Base” department, which works on existing nuclear reactors, either in operations or administrative capacities.

September 27, 2016 – Open Democracy – Whose work was the inspiration for the first nuke-free country? – New Zealand was the first country in the world to pass national nuclear-free legislation. Marilyn Waring reflects on how Dr. Helen Caldicott’s influence culminated in the passage of the cornerstone of New Zealand’s foreign policy. If you were growing up in New Zealand and Australia post World War II, there’s a chance you knew about the United States using the Marshall Islands as a nuclear testing site from 1947 until 1962. In an agreement signed with the United Nations, the U.S. government held the Marshall Islands as a “trust territory” and detonated nuclear devices in this pristine area of the Pacific Ocean—leading, in some instances, to huge levels of radiation fall-out, health effects, and the permanent displacement of many island people. In all, the U.S. government conducted 105 underwater and atmospheric tests. You would have also known that the British conducted seven atmospheric tests between 1956 and 1963 on traditional Aboriginal land, in Maralinga, Australia. It may be that you read Neville Shute’s 1957 novel On the Beach, in which people in Melbourne, Australia wait for deadly radiation to spread from a Northern Hemisphere nuclear war. This book made a memorable impact on Helen when she read it as a teenager. When I was a teenager, some years later, I read Bertrand Russell’s 1959 classic, Common Sense and Nuclear Warfare.

September 27, 2016 – Military.com – Pentagon Chief Pledges $108 Billion to Fix Nuclear Force – Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Monday the Pentagon is committed to correcting decades of short-changing its nuclear force, including forging ahead with building a new generation of weapons that will cost hundreds of billions of dollars in the coming decades. In his first nuclear-focused speech since taking over the Pentagon in February 2015, Carter implicitly rejected arguments for eliminating any element of the nuclear force or scaling back a modernization plan that some consider too costly.

September 27, 2016 – Belaruse News – Radiation information in Belarusian nuclear power plant area to be available online – Information about the radiation situation near the Belarusian nuclear power plant will be available in the Internet. The relevant statement was made by Belarusian First Deputy Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Minister Iya Malkina during the online conference hosted by the BelTA website on 27 September. According to the source, an automated multilayer multifunctional system will be created under the aegis of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Ministry to monitor the radiation situation within a 12.9km radius of the nuclear power plant and within a 30km radius and beyond. Information about the radiation situation will be available online.

September 27, 2016 – Times Live – Nuclear corporation’s spending comes under scrutiny of Auditor-General – The Nuclear Energy Corporation of SA (Necsa) incurred R128 million in irregular expenditure in its 2015 financial year because it failed to comply with the government’s preferential procurement regulations‚ the Auditor-General has found. The annual report of Necsa‚ which processes nuclear material and undertakes research and development in the nuclear field‚ was tabled one year late in Parliament on Tuesday. Necsa management and its board are currently being investigated by a task team appointed by Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson. The investigation related to “serious mismanagement”‚ the auditor-general said in his report‚ included in the annual report.

September 27, 2016 – Fortune – The U.S. Sanctions a Chinese Firm Tied to North Korea’s Nuclear Program – The United States said on Monday it had sanctioned a Chinese industrial machinery and equipment wholesaler, a new step in tightening the financial noose around North Korea’s nuclear program after its fifth nuclear test this month. The U.S. Treasury said it was sanctioning Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co (DHID) and four of its executives, including the firm’s founder, Ma Xiaohong, under U.S. regulations targeting proliferators of weapons of mass destruction. It accused the firm of acting on behalf of North Korea’s Korea Kwangson Banking Corp (KKBC), which has been under U.S. and U.N. sanctions for supporting proliferation of such weapons.

September 27, 2016 – Fox News Latino – Cuba, Russia sign nuclear energy cooperation deal – Cuba and Russia relaunched their relations on Tuesday with a pacific nuclear energy deal signed in Vienna alongside the International Atomic Energy Agency’s General Conference. Cuban vice Minister of Science, Environment and Technology José Fidel Santana signed the deal with Sergey Kirienjo, director of the Russian state nuclear energy company Rosatom. Santana said that, after two years of negotiations, the deal would give both countries a framework to immediately begin developing bilateral projects, especially related to the medical and agricultural uses of nuclear energy.

September 27, 2016 – ChronicleLive.co.uk – North East engineering firm close to £100m Hinkley Point nuclear power contract – North East engineering firm Darchem has been named as the preferred bidder for a £100m contract at the Hinkley Point nuclear power station. The Stockton-based company has been selected by Bouygues TP/Laing O’Rourke (BYLOR) along with Efinor for the multi-million pound EDF Energy nuclear project at Hinkley Point in Somerset, a huge programme which will involve the manufacture and installation of the reactor and fuel pool stainless steel liners. The agreement comes nine months after Darchem and Efinor joined forces to create EDEL, an unincorporated joint venture aiming to seize opportunities to develop, supply and service forthcoming nuclear power plant build projects in the UK.

September 27, 2016 – Metro – Buried ‘secret city’ under Greenland’s ice could leak nuclear waste as ice sheet melts – Often working in secret, U.S. Army engineers built a network of tunnels in the ice in Greenland in the early Sixties – a ‘secret city’ powered by its own nuclear weapons. The base ‘Camp Century’ was highly publicised – but its real purpose was secret, to build nuclear missile launch sites close to the Soviet Union. But the long-abandoned base could pose another kind of nuclear threat as Greenland’s ice melts. The nuclear reactor at the base – which also had a hospital and a church in its tunnels – has long since been removed, but radioactive waste remains. ‘Camp Century’ was built by U.S. Army engineers in 1959, but abandoned in 1967, as the researchers realised that the glacier was moving.

September 27, 2016 – Myrtle Beach Sun-News – Plan surfaces for new nuclear disposal ground in SC – A plan has surfaced to establish another nuclear waste disposal ground in South Carolina, a state with a history of taking atomic refuse from across the country. An organization called the Spent Fuel Reprocessing Group wants federal approval to open a disposal area near Barnwell and the Savannah River Site nuclear weapons complex. Spent fuel, a type of highly radioactive waste, would be moved from the state’s four nuclear power plant sites and stored indefinitely at the new facility, records show. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in July received notice of the plan. The proposal is a long way from becoming reality, but if eventually approved by the federal government, it would create a place for nuclear waste disposal that is likely to draw opposition.

September 27, 2016 – Luxemburger Wort – Cattenom evacuation was ‘non incident’, says EDF – The owners of a nuclear power plant that was evacuated on Monday morning have said the evacuation was prompted by a false alarm and posed no risk to people outside the centre. News emerged on Monday that the building of unit 3 at Cattenom’s nuclear power plant on the French side of the border with Luxembourg had been evacuated and staff underwent medical checks. For the remainder of the day, however, no further information emerged from 30-year-old centre, which is managed by EDF. The lack of information released by EDF to the Luxembourg media coupled with growing safety concerns in Luxembourg prompted two Green party politicians to submit a parliamentary question asking if the Luxembourg authorities were informed.

September 27, 2016 – Albany Times-Union – Pipeline spurs nuclear fears – Opponents of a pipeline being proposed along a nuclear energy complex in the Lower Hudson Valley protested the construction outside the governor’s mansion Sunday evening, citing environmental, health and public-safety concerns.
A “Climate Justice Vigil” was held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Sunday at 138 Eagle St. in Albany in an effort to urge Gov. Andrew Cuomo to take action to stop the Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) pipeline. Sponsored by Stop NY Fracked Gas Pipeline, the event drew 21 people to the sidewalk outside the mansion. Many took turns speaking over the course of the hour, including a Buddhist monk, members of several anti-fracking and anti-pipeline groups and an Eagle Street resident who wandered over, curious, then lifted a sign and joined in.

September 27, 2016 – Vermont Journalism Trust – Vermont Yankee gets $143 million fuel storage project in gear – Vermont Yankee administrators waited two years for the state’s permission to build a new storage facility for nuclear waste at the defunct Vernon plant. When they finally received that permit in late June, they didn’t waste any time getting started. Entergy representatives on Thursday said the construction of a spent fuel storage facility is well under way, with a few dozen contracted workers having recently installed a massive generator to provide emergency power to the complex. Construction will continue into 2017. But officials say getting the generator in place was a major milestone as crews begin a $143 million effort to transfer all of the plant’s radioactive spent fuel into sealed casks.

September 27, 2016 – SF Bayview – Community welcomes agreement to reexamine radiation risk at Hunters Point Shipyard – In a breakthrough for environmental health and justice, on Sept. 13, 2016, Angeles Herrera of the Superfund Division of the Region IX U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in alliance with Janet Naito, branch chief of the Department of Toxic Substances Control, directed a letter to Lawrence Lansdale, Environmental Director of Naval Facilities Engineering Command stating: “(T)he Navy will not propose any further transfers of Navy property at the HPNS (Hunters Point Naval Shipyard) without results of investigations necessary to clarify the actual potential public exposure to radioactive material at and near the HPNS.”

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September 26, 2016 – 81 FR 66004-66005 – DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY – Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Paducah – This notice announces meetings of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Paducah. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of these meetings be announced in the Federal Register. DATES: Saturday, October 15, 2016, 11:00 a.m.; and Thursday, October 20, 2016, 6:00 p.m. ADDRESSES: West Kentucky Community and Technical College, Emerging Technology Center, 4810 Alben Barkley Drive, Paducah, Kentucky 42001; and Barkley Centre, 111 Memorial Drive, Paducah, Kentucky 42001. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Woodard, Deputy Designated Federal Officer, Department of Energy Paducah Site Office, Post Office Box 1410, MS-103, Paducah, Kentucky 42001, (270) 441-6825. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of the Board is to make recommendations to DOE-EM and site management in the areas of environmental restoration, waste management and related activities.

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