The Telegraph: Chernobyl: The toxic tourist attraction
Sitting in his run-down office in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, Yuri Andreyev recalls the events of 25 years ago as if they were yesterday. As a survivor of the world's worst nuclear accident, he is also surprised that he is still around to tell the tale. "I absorbed a dose of radiation that should have killed me," says the former Chernobyl engineer, his eyes welling up with tears. "I thought afterwards that it would only be a matter of time before my family had to fend for themselves." Now 60 and the head of an organisation representing 450,000 people affected by the tragedy, Mr Andreyev's pessimism is understandable. Many of his co-workers have since died from radiation-related illnesses, and he himself very nearly perished in the explosion itself. He clocked off his shift at the plant a mere one hour and 23 minutes before a huge blast ripped through its fourth reactor, and was less than two miles away as lethal radioactive matter began to pour out of the stricken building's roof. Hours later, though, he and three colleagues were back at the plant trying to stop its second reactor blowing up too, water pouring into the control rooms and the alarm system flashing red as they struggled to shut it down.
Indian Express: Jaitapur project: State ropes in clerics to bring fishermen around
Mumbai: Leaving no stone unturned to push the nuclear power project at Jaitapur in Ratnagiri district, the state government has decided to rope in Muslim clerics to convince the predominantly Muslim fishing community in the region that is opposing the project. The fishing community in Nate and Sakhri Nate villages is apprehensive about curbs being imposed on movement of their trawlers and damage to marine life once the project goes critical. According to officials, over 30 per cent of fishing along the Ratnagiri coast is done by fishermen from Nate, using about 350 trawlers. The entire population is Muslim, while the Sakhri Nate village has a mixed population of about 800. With NGOs and political parties opposed to the project like the RPI and Shiv Sena active here, fishermen from both villages had aggressively opposed the project during Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan’s visit on February 26.
Times of India: Cops bar Jaitapur activists from holding meeting citing prohibitory orders
MUMBAI: The Ratnagiri police on Sunday barred activists from protesting the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant (JNPP) project on grounds that "such an event could disturb public tranquility". On Sunday morning, representatives from various outfits, who are a part of the project, were to meet in Pawas, which is situated 60 km from the N-plant site. The meeting was organized to discuss police action against some of the activists opposing the project and decide the future course of the movement. The police action began around midnight on Saturday when three activists, namely Justice (retd) PB Sawant, Justice (retd) BG Kolse Patil and Vaishali Patil, were stopped by the police from entering the Ratnagiri district. The three activists had reached the district border, when the police asked them to refrain from entering. The Rajapur executive magistrate had issued an order last week which imposed restrictions on the movement of the three activists inside the district on grounds that it could disturb peace and tranquility in the region.
NT News: Australia - Uranium Mine overflow risk
THE VOLUME of water at Ranger uranium mine's tailings dam could exceed the approved level if heavy rain continues, an environment group has said. On January 28 Energy Resources Australia shut down processing of uranium for 12 weeks. Managing director Rob Atkinson said the shutdown was a precaution to ensure any more torrential rain didn't push the tailings dam higher than allowed. He said he did not fear that the dam would overflow and contaminate Kakadu National Park and that safeguards made it impossible. Environment Centre NT spokeswoman Cat Beaton said records showed rainfall at the mine site had exceeded the current tailings dam capacity many times in the last 40 years. She said the Northern Territory Resources Department and the Federal Environment Department supervising scientist Alan Hughes approved ERA's request to raise the maximum water level from 52.3m to 53m.