WATCH UNDT!!! April 13, 2012 - Environmental Expert - Uranium Mines Still Pose Serious Health Threat on Navajo Land - In 2010, a Navajo cattle rancher named Larry Gordy discovered an abandoned uranium mine in the middle of his grazing land in Cameron, AZ, according to the New York Times. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) visited the site and found dangerously high levels of uranium, but the agency has yet to begin the clean-up. The EPA found that the radioactivity there measured one million counts per minute, meaning that two days there would expose a person to more external radiation than the Nuclear Regulatory Commission considers safe for an entire year. A dose would lead directly to malignant tumors and other health problems. Despite the site’s seclusion, evidence of the human presence there is clear: crushed beer cans and shell casings litter the ground. Cattle droppings also dot the area near the mine, meaning that people eating those livestock are being subjected to radiation through their food as well. Since first seeing the Cameron site in 2010, EPA has still not placed warning signs around the area.
April 13, 2012 - Nuclear Engineering International - 2011 a near-record year for US reactor performance - The number of unplanned shutdowns achieved near record levels in 2011, with just 62 across the whole of the US reactor fleet, according to data complied by the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) and the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO). "The record-low number of unplanned shutdowns helped America’s nuclear power plants achieve reliability levels on par with the high operational efficiency sustained throughout the past decade," the US Nuclear Energy Institute said in a statement. Unplanned shutdowns can result from severe weather or grid disturbances that trigger safety responses. In 2011—despite tornadoes in the Southeast, the Virginia-centered East Coast earthquake, Hurricane Irene and flooding in the Midwest—US nuclear energy facilities posted a capability or availabilty factor of 91.4% percent. The US industry’s record-high capability factor, 92%, was set in 2005. "Plants with a high unit capability are successful in reducing unplanned outages and completing scheduled work effectively during planning outages," states INPO’s report on the industry performance indicators.
April 13, 2012 - Port Washington News - Radio Frequency Emissions - The jury is in: Radio Frequency (RF) emissions – those coming from microwave ovens, cellular phones and communication tower base stations produce substantial electromagnetic radiation (EMF). There is no standard for safe levels of exposure. Each country sets its own level of safety and the U.S. level is among the highest. While all people and wildlife populations are at risk, children are the most vulnerable. The closer you are to RF devices the more the absorption. Studies in Germany, Brazil, Israel, and England point to strong evidence the EM radiation from cell towers is damaging to health. Empirical evidence leaves little doubt as to the danger of this invisible threat. Cell tower numbers have grown exponentially in recent years. Something obviously not projected by Telecommunications Act of 1996. Numbers are in the hundreds of thousands. Most don’t have to be registered with the FCC. The public has scant knowledge as to location and exposure. While thermal (heat) levels can be calculated in numbers, biological levels can be measured in blood levels of serotonin and melatonin (hormones). Measured in immune system changes. Measured in a wide range of cancers in individuals living within 400 meters of towers. When on rooftops, residents on top floors complain of health problems. Locally, a nearby school removed a cell apparatus when three female employees working on the top three floors were diagnosed with a type of cancer.
UNDT IS NEEDED