Updates & Studies
School contaminated by atomic bomb waste
Jana Elementary in the suburbs of St. Louis, is a majority minority school. It is also contaminated by radionuclides left over from a nearby WWII atomic weapons facility operated by Mallinckrodt Chemical Works. The school sits in the floodplain of Coldwater Creek, which itself was contaminated. Samples collected just outside and inside the school found…
Read MoreChildren exposed. Our in-depth look
A peer-reviewed article by Cindy Folkers and Linda Pentz Gunter of Beyond Nuclear, has been published in the British Medical Journal, Pediatrics Open. The article looks at how past and present regulations on radioactivity released from the nuclear power sector have never taken into account those potentially most sensitive—women, pregnant women and especially children. Children…
Read MoreOnline radiation courses: Registration now open
Mary Olson of Gender and Radiation Impact Project and Cindy Folkers of Beyond Nuclear are teaming up to teach Radiation Information for Everyone (RIFE) — Online Short Courses on Radiation, Biology and Society. The two have decades of experience via work, study, and engagement with impacted communities and nuclear policy processes. They will invite colleagues to…
Read MoreThursday evening: NEIS Night With the Experts featuring Cindy Folkers
Nuclear Energy Information Service’s (NEIS) Night With The Experts is hosting Cindy Folkers — Radiation & Health Specialist with Beyond Nuclear — next Thursday, August 25 at 7pm Central (UTC -5) via Zoom. Cindy will highlight the damage radiation does to cells, including direct and indirect damage to DNA, and the diseases that can result…
Read MoreRadiation report released! June 17 comment deadline
The National Academy of Sciences committee today released its report recommending next steps for low-dose radiation research. Starting tomorrow, the public has 15 days to submit comments that will be shared with the study’s sponsor, the U.S. Department of Energy. The National Academies hosted virtual public meetings including an October public meeting featuring powerful and…
Read MoreTornado in a library: a video primer of radiation damage
In this video, Cindy Folkers, Radiation and Health Hazard Specialist for Beyond Nuclear, reviews the nuclear fuel chain and its impact on human health, particularly the health of women, children and pregnancy. She summarizes how radiation damages cells, what studies reveal about living in contaminated environments, and how radiation exposure recommendations fail to protect us.…
Read MoreEVENT May 11: Radiation — Unseen and everywhere
From fracking to Fukushima Join us! Wednesday, May 11, 2022; 7:00 PM ET for Sierra Club NYC Group’s Sustainability Series. There are many types and levels of radiation, some occurs naturally, some are made by man. But there is no safe amount. We will look at radiation and health. You will learn how people are…
Read MoreRadiation Symposium April 23: Health lessons from Rocky Flats
Join Physicians for Social Responsibility, Colorado for a symposium on April 23, exploring health and environmental contamination. While the symposium is centered on issues still plaguing the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant, much of the information is applicable to other contaminated sites. Rocky Flats produced plutonium triggers for atomic weapons from 1952 until 1989. It…
Read MoreChornobyl radiation makes Russian soldiers sick?
Russian troops are suffering from “acute radiation sickness”, according to the Daily Beast, after digging trenches in the Chornobyl area. As they were disturbing the highly-contaminated soil in the Red Forest of the Exclusion Zone — an area where not even highly-specialized Chornobyl personnel venture — the soldiers began falling ill and were transported to…
Read MoreEleven years out: For Fukushima victims, landmark decision
Japan’s Supreme Court has ordered Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the Fukushima nuclear power station, to pay 12 million dollars to 3,700 people, compensating them for damages suffered as a result of the nuclear catastrophe that began on March 11, 2011. It was the first among 30 similar lawsuits to reach such…
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