Many readers will have seen the interesting Panorama programme on the poor safety record at Sellafield broadcast on BBC 1 on September 5. The BBC press release stated this was a “special investigation into the shocking state of Britain’s most hazardous nuclear plant…” and it certainly was.  Perhaps the most important of several whistleblower revelations … [Continue Reading]

First of all, apologies to the many readers who have written complaining about the lack of new blogs/information on this website. The explanation is that I’ve been busy for the past 5 months writing a new report on the health effects of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster -TORCH-2016. This is an update of the 2006 … [Continue Reading]

Over the past two years, many media articles have been critical of the UK Government’s ill-conceived plans to build a new nuclear plant at Hinkley C in Somerset in the UK. Not a single article has been in favour, as far as can be seen. This unanimous chorus is unprecedented in its wide breadth, its … [Continue Reading]

New emerging evidence from Fukushima shows that nuclear disasters and their aftermaths can kill thousands of people due to necessary evacuations. Between 2011 and  2014, about 2,000 Japanese people, including many old people, died from ill-heath and suicides connected with the evacuations. Some nuclear advocates, including government officials, have said these deaths are the fault … [Continue Reading]

On June 26 2015, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) stated it was seeking public comments by September 8, on petitions stating that the Linear No Threshold theory of radiation’s effects was not a valid basis for setting radiation standards and that the hormesis model should be used instead. Several US readers have written asking … [Continue Reading]

In 2013, I discussed several epidemiological studies providing good evidence of radiogenic risks at very low exposure levels. A powerful new study (1) has been published in Lancet Haematology which adds to this evidence. However the study’s findings are more important than the previous studies, for several reasons. First, it provides “strong evidence”, as stated … [Continue Reading]

Recently, interesting and lively correspondence on the merits and demerits of nuclear power has taken place between Dr Becky Martin, a geneticist formerly at Oxford University and Baroness Worthington, the Labour Party’s energy spokesperson in the House of Lords. Dr Martin’s initial letter can be found at http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2790138/dear_bryony_dont_dump_your_nuclear_waste_on_us.html Bryony Worthington’s response can be found at … [Continue Reading]

Recent news stories are suggesting that TEPCO is considering evaporating the 280,000 tonnes of highly radioactive water held in the 1,500 tanks at Fukushima. See http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/08/us-japan-fukushima-water-idUSKBN0MZ0WC20150408  and http://rt.com/news/248041-fukushima-waters-evaporate-tepco/ Disposing large volumes of highly tritiated water is a serious problem for TEPCO but its evaporation proposal is quite dangerous. It is based on several misconceptions. First, … [Continue Reading]

Attached is a useful table showing life-cycle CO2 arisings for different forms of electricity production. Comparative lifecycle estimates for sources of electricity

As readers will know, the UK Government has been making strenuous efforts to support nuclear power developments. However, as shown in the table below as of April 2015, many governments, banks, utilities and energy companies across the world continue to withdraw from nuclear projects. Over 25 withdrawals/closures are listed, and these are just the more … [Continue Reading]