Sunday, 30 September 2012

Fingerprint of radiation exposure discovered in thyroid cancer

25/05/2011 03:07:00 Health Canal.com
(deleted)  http://nayaminosoudan.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/2011/08/post-5484.htm
(another link to see this below article)

http://www.helmholtz-muenchen.de/en/news/news-archive/press-releases-2011/press-release/article/17862/index.html
Neuherberg,- Scientists from the Helmholtz Zentrum München have discovered a genetic change in thyroid cancer that points to a previous exposure of the thyroid to ionising radiation. The gene marker, a so-called „radiation fingerprint“ was identified in papilliary thyroid cancer cases from Chernobyl victims, but was absent from the thyroid cancers in patients with no history of radiation exposure. The results are published in the current issue of PNAS…….
This breakthrough is the first time since the reactor accident in 1986 that scientists have been able to discriminate between the cancers caused by the radioactive contamination and those that arise naturally. Prof. Zitzelsberger ascribes the success of this study to the careful collection, documentation and storage of thyroid cancers from the Chernobyl region in the Chernobyl Tissue Bank. He noted that this unique collection of materials made it possible for the team to compare for the first time tumours from children of the same age and regional background. The availability of the genetic marker, according to Prof. Zitzelsberger, will improve both the clinical diagnosis of thyroid cancer and our understanding of how radioactive iodine causes the disease to develop. In future studies funded by EURATOM in the project …..


Original Publication:
Hess, J. et al Gain of chromosome band 7q11 in papillary thyroid carcinomas of young patients is associated with exposure to low-dose irradiation. Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS); Link to publication

No Nuclear Waste Dump At Hinkley C, March and Rally Bridgwater Town Centre, Saturday 6th October

Assemble King Square 11.30 am

March through town centre 12.30 pm
Rally at Cornhill with speakers, videos and music 1.30 pm
Organised by the Stop Hinkley campaign

If the Romans had nuclear power, we'd still be guarding their waste!
For more information and details of coaches from major towns: call Jo Smolden 01278 459099 or Crispin Aubrey 01278 732921
This event is part of a weekend of action against EDF’s plans for a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point, culminating in a demonstration and mass trespass at the proposed site on Monday 8th October. For
more information:

Sunday, 23 September 2012

Fukushima disaster paves way for new geothermal plants in Fukushima prefecture

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/aug/09/fukushima-disaster-new-geothermal-plants      Justin McCurry, The guardian 9/8/12

By spring 2014, Tsuchiyu, 9 miles (15km) from Fukushima, will be generating 250 kilowatts of electricity – about a quarter of the city's total needs – at a geothermal plant hidden away in the surrounding mountains…..The plant will be the first to be built inside a national park, a controversial move that only became possible after the environment ministry recently relaxed regulations on developing protected areas…..Scientists believe the sector's share could rise enormously thanks to the feed-in tariff, new subsidies to fund feasibility studies and test-drilling, and official recognition that nuclear's heyday has passed….According to one estimate, Japan's geothermal capacity could reach 24m kilowatts – the third biggest in the world after the US and Indonesia …In the long term, Ikeda believes Tsuchiyu will become a model for other small towns struggling to find clean and stable sources of energy, while experts debate if nuclear has any role to play in Japan's future energy mix…Eventually, the geothermal plant will be capable of generating 1,000 kilowatts, according to Ikeda. That is a tiny fraction of the capacity of just one of Fukushima Daiichi's now crippled reactors. But with opposition to nuclear restarts unlikely to waver, towns such as Tsuchiyu have no choice but to turn to alternatives, he said."If it hadn't been for the nuclear disaster, we would never have given this project a second thought."