Investigators from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and officials of the plant, which is operated by FirstEnergy Corp., have been looking through surveillance tapes to try to identify who was responsible for leaving the radioactive goldfish in the tunnel on May 2. They believe one of the 700 employees and contractors who work at the plant smuggled the fish into the facility, Jennifer Young, spokeswoman for FirstEnergy Corp., told AP. The fishy tale has served as an embarrassment for the plant, which has already come under scrutiny for a case in which four contractors were exposed to life-threatening hard radiation in 2011. The plant has also been scutinized for a serious lack of security.“Last year, Perry got into trouble with the NRC about weaknesses preventing unauthorized access to the plant,” David Lochbaum, a spokesman at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told The Plain Dealer. “Goldfish are not authorized to be inside the tunnel, yet they were there. And Perry cannot determine how they got there or who put them there.”Officials believe the goldfish were taken through the front door and likely hidden in a plastic bag in a worker’s pocket. All workers are required to pass through security, which detects metal and bombs but not fish and water. Investigators believe the fish were left unnoticed in the tunnel for several days before scaffolding crews discovered them and filed a report.But despite looking through surveillance tapes for more than a week, little progress has been made in identifying the perpetrator(s). “While we continue to look at the video for evidence, identifying folks in the video has been challenging,” Young told AP.Both of the 1 ½-inch-long fish died shortly after their discovery, but officials at the plant claim that neglect and starvation may have been the cause – not radiation. Chemists found that the fish were admitting small amounts of radiation, but not enough to put anyone at risk, including the fish.“They did not have exposure to enough radioactivity to hurt them,” Young told The Plain Dealer. “It was probably due to lack of care before they got to the plant. The radiation could not have killed them.”Lochbaum said the story might sound funny to some, but that smuggling live animals into the plant shows a serious lack of security. The story has caused some to recall an episode of the “Simpsons” in which Blinky, an orange fish, has a third eye due to his exposure to radiation.“What might be an amusing account of misplaced goldfish today could become tomorrow’s nightmare story if someone with an axe to grind, another Timothy McVeigh type, places a bomb instead of two goldfish in Perry,” Lochbaum told The Plain Dealer, referring to the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building.The fish admitted small levels of radiation, but the incident is most problematic for the plant for once again highlighting the lack of security – an issue that FirstEnergy Corp. has been scrutinized for before. … Read More
Authorities hunting for nuclear gauge lost in West Virginia
The truck was transporting the device for the Pennsylvania firm Valley Quarries Inc. – a company licensed to possess and use the gauge. The company had been using the instrument in West Virginia at the time it was lost, and is desperately seeking to find itDepartment of Environmental Protection officials said Tuesday that after one of its employees was taking a reading with the job, he placed the gauge in his pickup truck to drive to another site.“Once he arrived, the gauge user realized the truck’s rear gate had opened and the device was missing,” DEP spokeswoman Lisa Kasianowitz told The Times Online. “Further, the gauge was not in its shipping container. The gauge user and a coworker promptly drove back along the route just traveled but were unable to find the device.”Officials are now warning people to be on the lookout for a device that could pose dangerous health and contamination risks to the public.“It is critical for anyone who has information about the lost nuclear gauge to contact the Pennsylvania DEP, Nuclear Regulatory Commission or a local law enforcement agency immediately. As long as the device is not tampered with or damaged, it presents no hazard to public safety,” the DEP Bureau of Radiation Protect David Allard said in a press release.The nuclear density gauge contains radioactive material, which directs particles and counts those that are reflected or passed through material to measure density. In the construction industry, these gauges are used to create suitable soil environments to build roads and structures.When left intact, the gauges are safe to handle. But anyone who tampers with them risks serious radioactive contamination and exposure.Police are urging anyone who finds the gauge – which is bright yellow and the size of a shoebox – to call 911 or contact the Pennsylvania DEP. The gauge is a Troxler Model 3430 with serial number 32506. It contains about 8 millicuries of cesium-137 and 40 millicuries of americium-241. Cesium-137 is the principle source of radiation in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, which was designated for evacuation and placed under military control after the 1986 nuclear accident.Valley Quarries is offering an unspecified reward for information leading to the return of their device. One of the company’s safety officer’s told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that he saw someone stop along the road, pick up and drive off with a device that appeared to be a gauge.Losing a nuclear gauge is no small matter, and generally triggers statewide police searches to find the missing device. In January 2010, Pennsylvania state police reported that a nuclear gauge disappeared from a facility in Coraopolis, and that tampering with it could release dangerous radioactive material. The company that owned the device offered a $1,000 reward to anyone providing information leading to its return. The gauge was recovered about a week later, after a road crew discovered the device on the side of a street.In December 2010, a nuclear density gauge was stolen from a car in Bloomfield, Conn. The company that lost it offered a $500 reward for the return of the equipment. The device was eventually recovered, but police did not report how the company regained it.Nuclear density gauges cost around $4,000 each and contain radioactive material that could pose risks to anyone that tampers with them. … Read More
HRW urges Bahrain to probe torture claims as 6 more tweeters jailed
HRW cites multiple reports of torture that emerged during the Formula 1 grand prix held in Bahrain in April. They include accounts of activists and women subjected to electric shocks and forced into signing confessions.In addition, the organization harks back to the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry report, issued in November 2011 that stated five activists had died in custody of torture since uprisings began against the Sunni ruling class.“If the latest allegations are brushed aside it will be yet more evidence suggesting that Bahrain’s justice system is a haven for torturers,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Bahrain’s allies should apply serious pressure on Bahrain to investigate and hold accountable anyone responsible for brutally torturing activists.”Bahrain has blocked the entry of the UN’s special rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, from coming to probe police abuses of power. His visit, which was scheduled to begin on May 8, was indefinitely postponed by the Bahraini authorities.“This is the second time that my visit has been postponed, at very short notice. It is, effectively, a cancellation as no alternative dates were proposed, nor is there a future road map to discuss,” said Mendez, expressing his “disappointment” over the announcement.Protests against the Bahrain’s oppressive Sunni royal family have become commonplace. The country’s 70 per cent Shia claim they are discriminated against and call for a transfer to a democratic system of government.This comes as six tweeters were jailed on Wednesday for insulting King Hamad and ‘misusing the right to free expression.’ According to prosecutors, they posted comments on their Twitter feeds that undermined “the values and traditions of Bahrain’s society towards the king.”The Bahraini capital, Manama, was hit by mass protests during the grand prix. Activists branded the event “a race for blood” and claimed it was a ploy by the Bahraini authorities to “whitewash” the country’s poor human rights reputation.One of the highest-profile cases of human rights abuses to come out of Bahrain is that of activist Nabeel Rajab, who openly attacked the country’s government following an interview on RT for Julian Assange’s show The World Tomorrow. Nabeel was sentenced to three years in jail for ‘participation in an illegal assembly’ and ‘calling for a march without prior notification.’Since the beginning of the uprisings against the Bahraini monarchy in 2011, Human Rights Watch has calculated that at least 80 people have been killed and thousands arrested. … Read More
Eroding Freedom in America
Freedom is a four-letter word. It’s fast disappearing. It’s an endangered species. Wealth, power and privilege alone matter. America’s war on terror priorities advance them. … Read More
Protect your sources: Australia’s WikiLeaks Party calls for journalism shield law
“Only a uniform shield law covering the whole Commonwealth is acceptable,” WLP spokespersons Cassie Findlay and Sam Castro said. “Government agencies, at federal, state and local level, are increasingly gaining powers to obtain information about individual citizens.”The proposed law is the WLP’s first major policy announcement since it was formed as part of WikiLeaks founder Assange’s bid to become an Australian senator in the September 2013 elections in Victoria State.The WLP plans to compete for Senate seats in Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia in the September 14 election, with Assange running for one of the six Senate seats being contested in Victoria. Findlay and Castro explained that journalists need to have an “unhindered access” to their sources so they could expose corruption, waste and incompetence. “Uniform shield laws legislated by federal parliament are the answer. That is what we stand for and that is what we will fight for if elected. Effective national shield laws go hand-in-hand with uniform whistle-blower laws, particularly covering media disclosures,” the spokespersons added.The move is WLP’s challenge to proposed federal whistleblower laws, which they say fail to protect those who expose corruption or government crimes: “The proposed laws are not only unsatisfactory, they are a clumsy attempt by the major parties to protect themselves from embarrassing scrutiny.”In March 2011, the Australian Senate introduced federal shield laws that recognize circumstances in which journalists do not have to reveal their sources. However, they do not apply to public service whistleblowers, the Australian reported. Court suppression order against whistleblowers have continued after the laws were adopted, mainly in Victoria State, where 270 orders were issued last year.The WikiLeaks Party submitted its registration to the Australian Electoral Commission in April and has secured over 1,000 fee-paying members, more than double the 500 members required for registration.Assange, who has been holed up in London’s Ecuadorian Embassy since June 2012, is preparing for a tough remote campaign. If elected Australian Senator, Assange still might not be physically present at the Australian Senate if he remains trapped in the embassy. Assange’s running mate could sit in for the WikiLeaks founder if he wins the race but is unable to leave the embassy, where he claimed asylum in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning on sexual assault allegations.British authorities have vowed to detain him if he sets foot outside of the embassy, in light of the European Arrest Warrant issued against him.The founder of the whistleblowing website believes that once extradited to Sweden, he could then be re-extradited to the United States, where according to his lawyers he is likely to face trial and possibly even the death penalty for WikiLeaks’ release of thousands of classified US diplomatic cables. … Read More
Will Bilderberg Summon Obama’s New Trade Representative To The Table?
Obama’s Next US Trade Representative Michael Froman likely participant at upcoming Bilderberg conference. … Read More
Anti-Syria hysteria? US pushes chemical weapons claim
“There is no question in my mind that this fight is about the terrible choices that the Assad regime has made,” Kerry told reporters on Friday, “to use gas, which we believe there is strong evidence for the use of.” Previously, the United States said it lacked evidence that the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad was responsible for a gas attack against members of the rebel opposition. Kerry’s claims were also unsubstantiated. The US Secretary of State’s allegations contradict a recent statement by leading UN investigator.”Our investigators have been in neighboring countries interviewing victims, doctors and field hospitals,” Carla Del Ponte told Swiss TV last week. “According to their report of last week, which I have seen, there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated.” The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, of which Del Ponte is a leading panelist, was created in August 2011 to investigate alleged human rights violations in the Syrian crisis. It is due to issue its full report next month. As both sides in the Syrian conflict accuse the other of resorting to chemical weapons, Russia has worked with Western partners to lay opening groundwork for peace talks. President Vladimir Putin met with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday in the Russian resort town of Sochi, the site of next year’s Olympic Games, where the two leaders discussed options for peacefully resolving the Syrian conflict. Putin emphasized that Moscow and London have a “common interest in a speedy end to the violence, the launch of a peace process and the preservation of Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.” Cameron agreed that Russia and the UK have mutual goals, which are to “end the conflict, to stop Syria fragmenting, to let the Syrian people choose who governs them and to prevent the growth of violent extremism.” Beyond agreeing that a peaceful settlement must be reached between the Syrian government and the rebel opposition, however, Russia and the West remain divided by their actions. The UK and the United States are pushing for Assad to step down, and demand that the Syrian arms embargo be lifted in order to supply weapons to the country’s rebels; the Al-Nusra Front, a terrorist group aligned with Al-Qaeda, is among their ranks.Anti-Syria hysteria?Amid the contradictory reports emerging from Syria, Russia warned earlier in the week that global public opinion is being prepared for a possible military intervention in the Syrian crisis.“Moscow is concerned by signs of preparing public opinion in the world to the possibility of intervention using force into the lingering internal conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aleksandr Lukashevich said in a statement.“We are calling for a halt to the politicizing of this exceptionally serious issue and the inflating of the anti-Syrian atmosphere,” he emphasized. Russia warned that the intensification of armed conflict would sharply increase the risks that new hotbeds of tension would appear not only in Syria, but also in Lebanon and in the relatively calm region around the Israel-Lebanon border. Lukashevich also pointed to two airstrikes conducted by the Israeli Air Force on May 3 and 5 against targets near Damascus. Although Israel did not claim responsibility for the attacks, military analysts believe Israel initiated the attack to intercept an alleged weapons shipment heading for Hezbollah from Iran. Meanwhile, Moscow has been pushing for an international conference aimed at bringing Syrian government and opposition envoys together for negotiations.Kerry and Lavrov had announced on Tuesday that Washington and Moscow would seek to organize a conference on Syria, expressing hope it could be held this month.However, concerns have emerged the conference may take place later than initially expected. “By the end of May is impossible,” a Russian official present at Friday talks between President Putin and UK PM Cameron, told reporters on condition of anonymity, adding the parties to the proposed conference are too divided on their expectations. … Read More
