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The Truth about Three Mile Island

Beyond Nuclear aims to educate and activate the public about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abandon both to safeguard our future. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an energy future that is sustainable, benign and democratic. www.beyondnuclear.org

“The disaster at Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, began on March 28, 1979. Now, 35 years later, the reality, not only of what happened, but also the long-term aftermath and effects, remain cloaked in mystery and misinformation. Ironically, despite today’s popular “too much information” shorthand, TMI is a story of too little information. Beyond Nuclear has endeavored to dig into the lies and myths and uncover the truth about TMI. Starting with the disaster narrative we take a look at: the “no one died at TMI” myth; how much radiation really got out; the lack of adequate emergency planning and protective measures; the people’s experience downwind of the disaster; and the impacts on plants and animals. We hear from engineer, Arnie Gundersen, and longtime campaigner, Dr. Judith Johnsrud. Finally, we compare the mistakes of TMI with those at the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters. If the lessons of TMI, Chernobyl and now Fukushima are unlearned, we are destined to repeat, rather than prevent them the next time. And until all nuclear power plants are closed, that “next time” is a tragic inevitability.” (JDS Italics)

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Mourning the Death of Dr. David Patterson

PSR Wisconsin
2712 Marshall Court, Suite 2
Madison, WI 53705-2282
info@psrwisconsin.org

For further information contact
Pam Kleiss 608/232-9945
For Immediate Release: Friday, January 24, 2014

Jeff Patterson, DO, Madison physician and professor was an indefatigable champion serving Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) Wisconsin and will be sorely missed by all who knew and worked with him. Jeff passed away on Thursday night, January 23, of a heart attack.

Dr. Patterson first work with PSR was to establish the Madison PSR chapter. With two other founding members and students at the UW medical school, they challenged the concept of a “winnable nuclear war.” Hundreds of people joined to formalize the Madison PSR chapter in 1983. Jeff remained very active in the chapter throughout three decades, and particularly enjoyed providing direction to interested medical students and nurturing their understanding of humanitarian ethics and activism.

Dr. Patterson served in every capacity at PSR, from decades on the PSR’s board of trustees to terms as the president in 2010 and 2013. He served as International Councilor with the US affiliate of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, winner of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize. He traveled extensively in the former USSR, visiting Chernobyl and sites of nuclear testing and nuclear weapons’ production. He lectured about the effects of nuclear weapons and radiation there, in Europe, and in the US. He was also interested in non-violent alternatives to war as means of preventing war and sustainable methods of ameliorating climate change. He provided pivotal guidance to staff and educated the public on the threats from nuclear power, especially after the disaster in Fukushima.

“Jeff was so committed to our collective struggle to protect our world for our children and grandchildren,” added Dr. Bob Gould, current president of PSR. Jeff exuded compassion. He cared for human life and committed himself to the relief of suffering; it motivated all his work. Jeff was a gentle soul with a powerful spirit and always a calming influence in difficult times.

While Jeff regularly served as an expert speaker, he approached this task from stories of human health and as a witness to those suffering. He had a gift for sharing the stories of people impacted by radiation exposure, from poor, elderly farmers in the abandoned land around Chernobyl and concerned mothers downwind of Fukushima to veterans exposed to radiation in the line of duty. All stories from his own experience as a doctor and activist and from first-hand conversations with the people affected.

In addition to his extensive service with PSR, Dr. Patterson was the medical director of the Hackett Hemwall Foundation (HHF), a charitable foundation doing charitable medical work in Honduras, Mexico, and the Philippines. Through the foundation and with the help of many dedicated volunteers, he taught physicians from over 20 countries the procedures of prolotherapy to treat chronic pain. He practiced medicine and was the former director of the Northeast Family Medical Center in and a Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Wisconsin.

Jeff listened carefully and attentively; he had a huge capacity for kindness and was a nurturing physician and colleague. His internal compass pointed others to just acts and a world without suffering. He served his patients and the international peace community well and we are grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from him. We will miss but always remember his deep, reasonable voice and wise counsel.

Jeff is survived by daughter Becca and grandchild, Kira, and Mary Doherty, his loving partner of many years.

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Dr. Sherman interviewed about Fukushima on Chinese TV

To see the video click here. http://tv.cntv.cn/video/C10450/3188f0049dd542ddbfc2f29086d69f13

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Article Published in Open Journal of Pediatrics

Janette Sherman, Joseph Mangano and Christopher Busby have published an article in the Open Journal of Pediatrics about the link between radiation exposure and thyroid disease.

Radiation exposure has been linked to increased risk of congenital hypothyroidism (CH) for decades. CH is a relatively uncommon condition, occurring in about 1 of 2000 US births. Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) levels for each child born in California permitted an analysis of combined confirmed and borderline CH cases. Borderline/confirmed CH cases are more than seven times greater than just confirmed cases. Airborne levels of gross beta nuclear radiation in the US were elevated in the period starting several days after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, especially in west coast states like California. The borderline/confirmed CH rate for newborns during the last 9.5 months in 2011 (exposed to Fukushima in utero) vs. births during other periods in 2011 and 2012 (not exposed) was significantly elevated, suggesting that adverse health effects to the newborn thyroid were not restricted to just a small number of confirmed CH cases. The sensitivity of the fetus to radiation exposure, plus the presence of thyroid-seeking radioiodine, suggest further analysis of Fukushima’s potential to cause adverse health effects in newborns is needed.

To read the full article, OJPed_2013112811114610

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Fukushima Fallout Damaged the Thyroids of California Babies

A Global Threat
Fukushima Fallout Damaged the Thyroids of California Babies
by Chris Busby

A new study of the effects of tiny quantities of radioactive fallout from Fukushima on the health of babies born in California shows a significant excess of hypothyroidism caused by the radioactive contamination travelling 5,000 miles across the Pacific. The article will be published next week in the peer-reviewed journal Open Journal of Pediatrics.

Congenital hypothyroidism is a rare but serious condition normally affecting about one child in 2,000, and one that demands clinical intervention – the growth of children suffering from the condition is affected if they are left untreated. All babies born in California are monitored at birth for Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) levels in blood, since high levels indicate hypothyroidism.

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The Cost of Nuclear Power: Contrasting Views in the New York Times

Joseph Mangano, Executive Director of the Radiation and Public Health Project, and Edward L. Quinn, Past President of the American Nuclear Society, have written contrasting opinion pieces in response to an article by Eduardo Porter entitled “Coming Full Circle in Energy, to Nuclear”,  published in the New York Times, August 21, 2013.

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As the World Turns: The Fantasy World of Nuclear Power

Dr. Sherman writes for counterpunch.com, Weekend Edition Aug 30-Sep 01, 2013

No, not that one, the soap opera that ran from 1956 to 2010, but our world that turns. As we look at a weather map on TV or in our paper, we see clouds, rain, snow, and storms coming from west to east. What is in the air above the earth precipitates as our earth revolves underneath what is in that air. To demonstrate this, look at a globe of the world and realize that what the weather is in Chicago today will be the weather on the east coast tomorrow.

With this concept in mind we understand that releases from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant that began on March 11, 2011 crosses the Pacific Ocean and reaches land throughout the northern hemisphere, and contaminates all life that dwells upon the land and in the waters. As was documented after the Chernobyl catastrophe, fallout is not uniform, but varies by wind direction, elevation and temperature.

The current revelations from Fukushima portend dire consequences for all life. Some scientists have expressed concern about a possible “China Syndrome” — named after the 1979 film starring Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon and Michael Douglas, that was released the same year as the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant in Pennsylvania experienced a partial meltdown.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO,) the owner of the Fukushima plant, has been pouring millions of gallons of water onto the reactor cores and spent fuel rod pools to keep them from overheating. This has resulted in TEPCO trying to store some 400 tons of contaminated water each day, some of it so highly contaminated that workers cannot get close enough to find the leaks. Given that water runs downhill, the contamination is leaking past barriers and into the Pacific Ocean. As of August 21, 2013, markedly increased levels of radioactive tritium, cesium and strontium are reported.

Isotopes are taken up by sea life, including plants, single-cell organisms, algae, seaweed, crabs, oysters, fish, mammals and other sea creatures. A resolution from the American Medical Association called for the FDA to measure radioactivity levels in edible commercial Pacific Ocean fish sold in the U. S. To date the FDA has not responded to the request, so we do not know if testing has been done, and if done, if any data are available for the public. This is not unlike events immediately after the Fukushima meltdown when the EPA released data on elevated levels of radioactive iodine (I-131) along the west coast, and then in May, reverted to “quarterly measurements.”

Currently, US “guidelines” allow for food levels of 1200 Becquerel’s per kilogram, one of the highest in the world. Japan’s limit is 100, so food too contaminated to sell in Japan could be sold here in the U.S.

According to recent news, the U. S. government is collecting data on our phone and e-mail transactions. If this is a worthwhile use of citizen’s taxes, then collecting data on radiation levels in food, a significant health risk, should be worthwhile also. Sick children and adults are a burden on our economy and society as a whole. Preventing exposure to food contaminated with radioactive isotopes is primary preventive health.

What is happening as a result of the Fukushima meltdown and subsequent inability to control the releases may not be all that different from soap opera events. Similarly, As the World Turns, aired on CBS, we are living in a fantasy world if we think that nuclear power is “safe.”

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Al Jazeera America Presents: Into Eternity, A New Documentary

Every day, the world over, large amounts of high-level radioactive waste created by nuclear power plants is placed in interim storage facilities, which are vulnerable to natural disasters, man-made disasters, and to societal changes. In Finland, the world’s first permanent repository is being hewn out of solid rock that must last 100,000 years, as this is how long the waste remains hazardous.

This new documentary premieres Sunday, August 25, 2013, 9:00 EST / 6:00 PST. See america.aljazeera.com for details.

Al Jazeera America Presents brings viewers feature documentaries and original series from acclaimed filmmakers around the globe. Introducing compelling, seldom-heard voices and provocative viewpoints, this strand showcases important stories that entertain, enlighten and inspire.

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Nuclear Meltdown—The Need For Timely & Honest Information

Of particular interest in the United States is the operation of the Indian Point Nuclear Reactor located on the Hudson River 25 miles north of New York City (NYC), the most heavily populated metropolitan area in the United States. A comprehensive study conducted – at the request of the State of New York – in 2003 by James Lee Witt Associates outlined the many risks posed to NYC residents by the Indian Point plant.

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Dr. Sherman Interviwed on CCTV America

Anchor Anand Naidoo asks radiation expert Dr. Janette Sherman why the leakage is still going on at Fukushima — and if it will imperil other countries.
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