Fact-Checking…Paris Hilton…on Drilling

Ahem. Paris Hilton has just released a pretty funny “campaign ad” in response to the now infamous “Celebrity” spot circulated by John McCain’s campaign:

Uppin’ Atom!

McCain said that his love affair with nuclear power began when he encountered nuclear ships and submarines in the Navy. “I knew it was safe then, I know it’s safe now,” he said. However, the backdrop for his nuclear-safety claim was less than ideal. The nuke plant McCain was touring has been the site of a number of nuclear accidents: one reactor had a partial meltdown in 1966 and briefly caught fire this May. Another reactor leaked in 2005, temporarily shutting down the plant.

Britons held in Beijing protest

Two Britons have been held in Beijing after a protest about Tibet as the Olympic torch toured the city.

The group Students for a Free Tibet said four activists from the UK and the US were arrested after unfurling banners close to the Olympic stadium.

The UK protesters are Iain Thom and Lucy Fairbrother. The campaign group said Mr Thom, 24, is from Edinburgh and Ms Fairbrother, 23, is from Cambridge.

A Beijing Olympics spokesman said the action was unacceptable and “illegal”.

Atomic blast trips cancer time bomb

Atomic blast trips cancer time bomb

Strontium 90 found in well near nuke plant

Indian Point is the only working nuclear plant of 104 in the country that is leaking strontium 90, a known carcinogen.

Company officials and federal regulators have been watching perimeter wells closely to ensure that the radioactive isotopes were not migrating into other off-site water sources.

Donald Mayer, Indian Point’s top official for the groundwater contamination work, said the well where the strontium 90 was found is uphill from the site, which increases the likelihood that the strontium didn’t migrate from the plant.

The most recent test results show strontium levels that are 0.473 picocuries per liter, less than one-sixteenth of the federal limit of 8.0 picocuries per liter for drinking water. A picocurie is a measure of radioactivity.

Last year’s sample was about twice this year’s, company officials said. Mayer estimated that background levels at the plant would be 1.0 picocurie per liter.

NRC officials said another sample turned up levels about twice as high last year, but those results were considered to be a false positive.

Entergy officials believe the sample showed the traces of strontium 90 because the most recent tests were conducted with a more sensitive analysis, not because of increased levels of radioactivity.

NRC officials said they were fast-tracking a portion of the sample that they took during the test, to check the results as quickly as possible.

The reaction from around the region was mixed yesterday, with two opponents of the plant concerned that there was a second sign of strontium 90 off-site, regardless of the levels.

“If this is the second time, then the problem may be more pervasive than we think,” said C.J. Miller, spokeswoman for Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef. “A thorough investigation needs to be done. This is just further proof that a facility of this kind does not belong in such a densely populated area.”

Hiroshima, Ninevah, and Los Alamos

This week, to commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, hundreds of us converged on Los Alamos, New Mexico, birthplace of the bomb, and did what some may think strange. Taking a page from the book of Jonah, we sat in sackcloth and ashes, like the people of Ninevah, and repented of the mortal sin of war and nuclear weapons. Along Trinity Drive we sat in silence, our hearts begging the God of peace for the gift of nuclear disarmament.

The Lies of Hiroshima Live On, Props in the War Crimes of the 20th Century

by John Pilger

When I first went to Hiroshima in 1967, the shadow on the steps was still there. It was an almost perfect impression of a human being at ease: legs splayed, back bent, one hand by her side as she sat waiting for a bank to open. At a quarter past eight on the morning of August 6, 1945, she and her silhouette were burned into the granite. I stared at the shadow for an hour or more, then walked down to the river and met a man called Yukio, whose chest was still etched with the pattern of the shirt he was wearing when the atomic bomb was dropped.

He and his family still lived in a shack thrown up in the dust of an atomic desert. He described a huge flash over the city, “a bluish light, something like an electrical short”, after which wind blew like a tornado and black rain fell. “I was thrown on the ground and noticed only the stalks of my flowers were left. Everything was still and quiet, and when I got up, there were people naked, not saying anything. Some of them had no skin or hair. I was certain I was dead.” Nine years later, when I returned to look for him, he was dead from leukaemia.

Hiroshima Marks Bomb Anniversary With Hope For US Change

HIROSHIMA, Japan – The mayor of Hiroshima on Wednesday urged the next US president to work to abolish atomic weapons as the city marked the 63rd anniversary of the world’s first nuclear attack.0806 02 1

Some 45,000 people, including Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, gathered at a memorial to the dead within sight of the A-bomb dome, a former exhibition hall burned to a skeleton by the bomb’s incinerating heat.

Net Work: Fishing off Ninilchik’s Shore

NINILCHIK, Alaska—Waves crashing on the shore, a sound every fisherman loves. Calm waters and sunshine, the scene fishermen hope for.

This is the real life of Alaska commercial set-net fisherman: Odd hours, emergency openings, unpredictable weather and unavoidable disasters.

Preparation for the season begins in June, and the season goes until mid-August. There are more than a few items to check off the list. We mend nets, check boat motors, keep track of buoys, find crewmembers and make sure the rickety beach truck is in good shape.

Throwing on old, torn Helly Hensen gear and a pair of thin gloves, it’s time to get on the boat. Getting knocked in the knees or in the ribs while swiftly crawling into the skiff against the current leaves bumps and bruises.

Munger: They’re cleaning house at the bomb factory

The Y-12 nuclear weapons plant continues to shuck the junk and get rid of materials no longer needed at the Oak Ridge facilities. That includes about 1,371 tons of depleted uranium shipped to the Nevada Test Site since 2003.

In response to questions, Y-12 spokesman Bill Wilburn confirmed that the plant will continue reducing its backlog of depleted uranium for at least a couple of more years. After that, Y-12 will make shipments to the Nevada Test Site on an as-needed basis as the Oak Ridge plant dismantles old warhead parts.