Radiation

November 5, 2009 -- Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced the final deployment of non-intrusive scanning equipment to detect radiation emanating from materials used in nuclear devices at all Northern border land ports of entry—a major security milestone completed two months ahead of schedule that reflects Secretary Napolitano’s ongoing commitment to strong, layered security at the U.S.-Canada border.

“Securing our Northern border while facilitating legitimate travel and trade requires a strategic combination of technology, personnel and infrastructure,” said Secretary Napolitano. “This technology enhances our capability to guard against terrorism and criminal threats while expediting border crossings for lawful trade and travel.”    » read more »

Oct. 27, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- NASA is funding 12 proposals from nine states to investigate questions about the effects of space radiation on human explorers. The selected proposals from researchers in Alabama, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and Washington have a total value of approximately $13.7 million.

The ground-based studies will address the impact of space radiation on astronaut health. Research areas will include risk predictions for cancer and models for potential damage to the central nervous system and the heart.    » read more »

05/11/2009 -- WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that it has paid more than $400 million in compensation and medical benefits to Colorado residents under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). The act was created to assist those individuals who became ill as a result of working in the atomic weapons industry.

Survivors of such individuals may also be eligible for benefits. Since the implementation of the act, the Labor Department has paid 50,574 claimants more than $4.7 billion in compensation and medical benefits nationwide.    » read more »

McCain Touts Plan at Nuke Plant That Partially Melted Down, Gave Rise to Term "China Syndrome" & Caught Fire Just This Past May

August, 2008 -- Washington, D.C.--As John McCain is paying a visit today to the Enrico Fermi nuclear generating station in Monroe, Michigan he can be expected to tout his costly plan to build 45 new nuclear plants by 2030 and 55 more after that. This plan would effectively double the number of nuclear reactors and the amount of dangerous high-level nuclear waste that would need to be transported across the country.    » read more »

August, 2008 -- The Department of Energy's (DOE) plan to turn 34 metric tons of surplus nuclear weapons plutonium into "mixed oxide" (MOX) fuel for irradiation in nuclear power reactors has stumbled into yet another serious roadblock. Duke Energy has prematurely terminated a multiyear test of four experimental MOX fuel assemblies in its Catawba 1 reactor in South Carolina because of a potentially serious defect in the fuel design.    » read more »

Aug. 5, 2008 -- WASHINGTON -- NASA's Human Research Program will fund nine proposals from six states to investigate questions about the affects of space radiation on human explorers. The selected proposals from researchers in California, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, New York and Utah have a total value of approximately $13 million.

The ground-based studies will address the impact of space radiation on astronaut health. Research areas will include risk predictions for cancer and models for potential damage to the central nervous system.    » read more »

Dec. 5, 2007 -- WASHINGTON - A new NASA project will use more than 40 high altitude balloons to return new scientific insights about Earth's Van Allen Belts. The type of radiation in the belts can be hazardous to astronauts, orbiting satellites and aircraft flying in high altitude polar routes.

NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, has awarded $9.3 million to Dartmouth College of Hanover, N.H., for the study. Research using the balloons can be carried out at a fraction of the cost of using an orbiting satellite.    » read more »

November 14, 2007 -- LIVERMORE, CALIF. —In an effort to find an answer to the problem of identifying smuggled special nuclear material (SNM), researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in California say a neutron scatter camera they are developing may be able to detect radiation from much greater distances and through more shielding than current detection instruments.    » read more »

November 8, 2007 -- How are physicists helping an effort to eradicate malaria, the mosquito-borne disease that kills more than one million people every year? Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) used their expertise in radiation science to help a young company create weakened, harmless versions of the malaria-causing parasite. These parasites, in turn, are being used to create a new type of vaccine that shows promise of being more effective than current malaria vaccines.    » read more »

Findings from the AACR Centennial Conference on Translational Cancer Medicine: From Technology to Treatment Singapore, Nov. 4-8, 2007

29 October 2007 -- Russian prosecutors say a safety breach has caused a radiation leak at a nuclear reprocessing plant in the Ural mountains.

Local officials say a valve believed to be defective allowed radiation to leak from a tank that was holding radioactive liquid waste. The incident occurred on Thursday as the tank was being transported between units of the Mayak plant, near Yekaterinburg.

Prosecutors called the incident a flagrant breach of safety rules in waste transportation.    » read more »

October 1, 2007 -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) announced today the award of three contracts related to Stand-Off Radiation Detection System (SORDS) demonstrations. Contracts were awarded to General Electric Global Research of Niskayuna, N.Y.; Science Applications International Corporation of San Diego, Calif.; and the Naval Research Laboratory of Washington, D.C. All total, the contracts have a potential value of approximately $33 million.    » read more »

Sept. 24, 2007 -- WASHINGTON - The crews of future missions to the moon and Mars could face serious health risks from exposure to space radiation. NASA and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, known as NSBRI, Houston, will fund 17 new research projects that will enable NASA to better understand and reduce those risks. Scientists at universities, research institutions and private companies in eight states will conduct the studies.    » read more »

September 13, 2007 -- Minnesota health officials are alerting the public to be on the lookout for a measuring device containing radioactive materials, which was reported stolen from a pick-up truck in Forest Lake.

The device is believed to have been stolen sometime last night. The theft was reported to MDH at approximately 2:00 p.m. this afternoon. The device was owned by Asset Management, a local firm involved in construction work.    » read more »

September 5, 2007 -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) announced today the West Coast Maritime pilot program that will provide maritime radiation detection capabilities for State and local authorities in Washington’s Puget Sound and California’s San Diego areas. The three-year pilot program involves the development of a radiation detection architecture that reduces the risk of radiological and nuclear threats that could be illegally transported on recreational or small commercial vessels.    » read more »