An ASME Task Force released recommendations for a new nuclear safety construct that will reach beyond the traditional regulatory framework of adequate protection of public health and safety to minimize socio-political and economic consequences caused by radioactive releases from accidents.
Recent news reports and scientific reviews warn that nuclear radiation exposure is more serious than we believed. Just recently, the UK Guardian published an article titled, “Fukushima reactor shows radiation levels much higher than thought.” Another recent story published in Scientific American, finds California kelp contaminated with elevated levels of radioactive iodine. A review from the Max-Planck Society estimates that the risks of another serious nuclear accident are significantly higher than previously thought. As reports continue to reveal elevated nuclear radiation levels in Japan and elsewhere, public concerns about the safety of Fukushima and other reactor sites are reignited.
This special issue of Health Physics, official journal of the Health Physics Society (HPS) offers 16 articles on various response activities by a number of US Agencies and their personnel following the tsunami and the events at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. These articles began as presentations at a Special Session at the Health Physics Society’s 2011 Annual Meeting. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
A Texas Tech University radiation expert who was the first American scientist allowed inside Chernobyl’s exclusion zone can discuss the differences in the two disasters, and the good news/bad news of both scenarios.
Birdsong is one of the joys of nature, but higher percentages of birds chirping near Chernobyl are a perverse indication of radiation contamination, according to a new study.
Published the day the plant was to be shuttered, a new book examines the debate between the federal government, Entergy and the state of Vermont in the case of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear power plant. It is also a readable account of the plant's history in the state.
A year after the crisis at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, scientists and engineers remain largely in the dark when it comes to fundamental knowledge about how nuclear fuels behave under extreme conditions, according to a University of Michigan nuclear waste expert and his colleagues.
A year after the devastating tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster that struck Japan’s northeastern coast, Florida State University researchers in a variety of disciplines are prepared to discuss the lasting effects of the March 11, 2011, events and offer insights into what the future may hold.
Low-level radiation in Fukushima Prefecture appears to have had immediate effects on bird populations, and to a greater degree than was expected from a related analysis of Chernobyl.
Nuclear safety expert Peter Caracappa, the campus radiation officer at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, will visit Capitol Hill Friday to brief congressional staffers on radiation and radioactivity.
Iago Gocheleishvili is a Cornell University lecturer of Persian Studies, and has worked with the U.S.-sponsored Central Asia and Caspian Basin Project as an expert on the Iranian world. He comments on the recent sanctions by Western powers against Iran.
Regulators have failed to address serious data gaps and untested assumptions guiding exposure limits to Cesium (Cs)-137 released in the Chernobyl accident in 1986 and the Fukushima incident, says toxicologist Edward Calabrese, and time to move toward adopting more evidence-based risk assessment.
On the first day of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident, workers struggled mightily to prevent disaster--and ultimately failed.
What do increased atmospheric radioactivity concentrations in Washington state tell us about what happened in the Fukushima nuclear disaster? For ME Associate Professor Steve Biegalski, the story is in the numbers.
As the anniversaries of the Hirsoshima and Nagasaki bombings approach, a UB biostatistics expert says that studies of effects from those events provide clues to the potential, long-term health impacts of the Fukushima disaster.
Despite rigorous testing and assurances from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that seafood and other food products imported from Japan are safe for consumption, three in four Americans in a recent study said they were not ready to purchase food from Japan, according to research presented at a symposium at the 2011 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo®.
Scientists from Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) are joining colleagues from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, several other U.S. academic institutions and laboratories in Japan and Spain on the first international, multidisciplinary assessment of the levels and dispersion of radioactive substances in the Pacific Ocean off the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. The research effort is funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
Hazards with horrific outcomes — like the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan — are not only difficult to contemplate but are also challenging to plan for financially. Especially when the odds of them happening are incredibly low, says Stuart I. Greenbaum, management expert at Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis.
In the days immediately following Japan’s devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, survivors were grateful to have lived through it. But disasters that cause such wide-scale death, destruction and disruption to daily life also leave lingering invisible wounds.
Gamma rays are the most energetic type of light wave and can penetrate through lead and other thick containers. A powerful new source of gamma rays will allow officials to search for hidden reactor fuel/nuclear bomb material.
Nuclear criticality safety and reactor safety are at the heart of a new initiative led by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Four Texas Tech University biologists, including one who was the first American scientist to study the area, say that all species of plants and animals that should be there are there.
Siting centralized nuclear storage facilities often draws intense opposition, but in New Mexico, a 25-year review process eventually led to public acceptance, offering support for nuclear energy advocates at a sensitive time.
Easy-to-follow recipes for radioactive compounds like those found in nuclear fuel storage pools, liquid waste containment areas and other contaminated aqueous environments have been developed by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories.
A combination of forest byproducts and crustacean shells may be the key to removing radioactive materials from drinking water, researchers from North Carolina State University have found.
George Washington University Experts to Speak on Topics Related to the Earthquake in Japan
There are many ways to minimize or mitigate damage caused by radioactive materials, such as the ones being released by Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Although the situation in Japan is dangerous and uncertain, there’s no need to panic. People need to follow expert advice.
Thomas Overton, professor of animal science and director of the PRO-DAIRY industry education program at Cornell University, comments on reports that low levels of radiation linked to the crisis in Japan have been found in U.S. milk supplies.
Physicists are detecting radioactivity arriving in Seattle from Japanese nuclear reactors damaged in a tsunami following a mammoth earthquake, but the levels are far below what would pose a threat to human health.
University at Buffalo radiation expert, Alan H. Lockwood, MD, professor of neurology and nuclear medicine is available to discuss human health effects of radiation. Six weeks after the Chernobyl accident, he examined survivors at a Moscow hospital. For more UB faculty expertise, go to the UB Faculty Experts blog: http://ubfacultyexperts.buffalo.edu/
In light of the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan, the American College of Radiology (ACR) has several radiation experts available for media interviews.
Hirokazu Miyazaki is a professor of Anthropology at Cornell University and studies the social science of hope in Japan. He offers insight on the recent natural disaster in his native country.
The University of Denver has several experts available to discuss various disaster issues in Japan.
Predicting what happens to radioactive materials released by Japan's crippled nuclear plants is even more difficult than forecasting the weather, and depends on several key factors, University of Maryland atmospheric scientists say. They’re preparing daily long-range projections of air ‘parcel’ movements from Fukushima, and posting them online.
The University of Chicago has numerous experts who can comment on the scientific, social, political and cultural dimensions of the ongoing crisis in Japan. Our news officers can assist reporters looking for help with stories on nuclear science, radiation exposure, geology, as well as Japanese culture, law, politics, religion and history.
What happens to radioactive material released from Japan is more difficult to predict than the weather, depending on several factors, explain University of Maryland atmospheric scientists. “Projected air mass patterns vary dramatically daily, and it’s these changing conditions that control radiation dispersal,” says researcher Tim Canty.
The growing concern surrounding the release of radiation from an earthquake and tsunami-stricken nuclear complex in Japan has raised fears of radiation exposure to populations in North America from the potential plume of radioactivity crossing the Pacific Ocean. To help Americans understand their radiation-related health risks, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), the American Thyroid Association (ATA), The Endocrine Society and the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) issued a joint statement.
These University of Washington experts are available for reporters to contact in the wake of the massive Japan earthquake of March 11 and resulting tsunami and nuclear crisis.
UAB Pathology professor explains while levels of radiation at Fukushima have gotten high this week, it's effects aren't as bad as those from the Chernobyl accident.
As the crisis in Japan continues to unfold, Andrew Rucks, Ph.D., associate professor of public health at UAB and investigator in the South Central Center for Public Health Preparedness at UAB and Tulane, says response management and coordination will be major issues for the Japanese government.
Western Illinois University's unique emergency management program prepares future emergency management professionals with practical field-study opportunities. Students in the program will participate in the Dept. of Homeland Security/FEMA National Level Exercise this May that will simulate the aftermath of a sizable earthquake in the New Madrid seismic zone.
In wake of the nuclear crisis in Japan, the American College of Radiology (ACR) has several radiation experts available for media interviews.
Reactor problems at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant could lead to exposure to large amounts of radioactivity, which can be lethal to humans and has long-term health consequences.
From radiation safety to economic impact, The University of South Carolina Media Relations Office has prepared a list of faculty experts who can discuss various aspects of the Japan crisis.
If you’re seeking an expert to discuss the increased public demand for potassium iodide in the wake of response to nuclear reactor problems in Japan, Glenn Braunstein, M.D., is available for interviews. Dr. Braunstein is Chair of the Department of Medicine and director of the Thyroid Cancer Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and is an experienced on-air and print interview.
Airborne radiation from a meltdown at Japanese nuclear plants poses no immediate risk to the continental United States, say University of Maryland public health and atmospheric scientists. Drawing on research from Chernobyl, they add that for most Japanese, the long term risk may lie in ingestion of milk, as well as direct exposure to contaminated soil.
A fresh look at the safety systems for current and future nuclear power plants may be the silver lining in the current crisis involving nuclear reactors damaged in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan. Physicist Robert J. McTaggart, the coordinator of nuclear education at South Dakota State University, is available to discuss the safety and future design considerations of nuclear power plants.
Jeanette A Linder, M.D., Chief, Department of Radiation Oncology at the Alvin and Lois Lapidus Cancer Institute at LifeBridge Health is an expert on radiation exposure, management of exposure and early and late effects of radiation. Linder is also knowledgeable in decontamination and basic disaster preparation and management.
For questions about the design of the nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi complex in Japan and the gravity of radiation released from the reactors, please contact Leon West, nuclear engineer and professor of engineering at the University of Arkansas. West has more than 40 years of experience in nuclear physics, radiation protection and nuclear engineering. He worked in the nuclear industry for nine years before returning to academia.
The ongoing threat of radiation release from earthquake-stricken nuclear plants in Japan, continues to generate questions regarding the health risks to humans. Thyroid expert and editor in chief of the Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), Leonard Wartofsky, MD, is available to provide insight on the effects of radiation on thyroid function.
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