15 Sept - EnviroPost

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August 28, 2009

Great Pacific Garbage Patch is Worse Than We Thought

It’s a rumor that we hoped would never be confirmed: at least 1,700 miles of plastic trash is floating in what is commonly known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Up until this point, scientists only had a vague idea of the scope of the trash they would find in the North Pacific Gyre, a vortex where four ocean currents meet. Isolated patches have been reported by sailors and fishermen, but now researchers, sailors, journalists, and government officials on a nearly four-week journey through the gyre say that plastic shards and netting abound in a space bigger than the state of Texas.

ENVIRONMENT: German Leaks Raise More Nuclear Fears
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43108
Confirmation that radioactive brine has been leaking for two decades from a German underground deposit for nuclear waste is yet another blow to the idea that nuclear power can safely increase electricity generation and simultaneously reduce emissions.


The pit Asse II (Schacht Asse II) is a former salt mine used as a deep geological repository for radioactive waste in the mountain range of Asse in district Wolfenbüttel in Lower Saxony/Germany.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schacht_Asse_II

After media reports in 2008[1][2] about brine contaminated with radioactive caesium-137, plutonium and strontium politicians accused the operator of not having informed the inspecting authorities. At Sept. 8th, 2008 the responsible ministers of Lower Saxony and the German government concluded to change the operator. The new one, the Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz (federal office for radiation protection), will close the mine according to atomic law instead of mining law[3]....The capping mass in Asse II moves 15 cm a year which undermines the strength of the construction.

The salt dome Gorleben is a proposed deep geological repository in a salt dome in Gorleben in the Lüchow-Dannenberg district in the far north-east of Lower Saxony for low, medium and highly radioactive waste.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_dome_Gorleben

New papers show Gorleben nuclear site records were doctored
http://www.thelocal.de/national/20090910-21833.html
10 Sep 09 09:00 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20090910-21833.html

The Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) said Thursday that Germany's controversial nuclear waste storage facility in Gorleben cannot be considered as a permanent depot after new allegations about its safety emerged this week.

Childhood Leukemia in the Vicinity of Nuclear Power Plants in Germany
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2696975
The causes of leukemia are largely unclear. The question whether leukemia rates are increased near nuclear power plants is controversial. The German Childhood Cancer Registry has published an epidemiological case-control study on childhood cancer and nuclear power plants.

Take Action

Pray and Act for Peace on September 21

Pray for peace and sign the disarmament pledge on September 21.

September 11, 2009

Join with other World Council of Churches members and people around the world in honouring the United Nations International Day of Peace on September 21.

Background

In 1981, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution declaring an International Day of Peace. In 2001, the UN passed another resolution declaring September 21 each year as the International Day of Peace. In 2004, the World Council of Churches Decade to Overcome Violence initiated a Day of Prayer coinciding with the September 21 International Day of Peace.

Religions for Peace and the World Council of Churches invite us to join in prayers and action for peace and disarmament on September 21.

Take Action

• Find prayers for peace and learn more about church involvement from the World Council of Churches Decade to Overcome Violence.
• Make a pledge to pray for peace for one minute on September 21 that will be put in a book and given to the United Nations.
• Sign the "We Must Disarm" Declaration and add your reason why.
• Learn more about the United Nations Day of Peace and activities being planned around the world.

http://www.united-church.ca/getinvolved/takeaction/090911