Saturday, May 21, 2011

Two bodies retrieved from landslide-hit orphanage, Malaysia - 21st May 2011

KAJANG, MALAYSIA: A landslide hit an orphanage and the bodies of two children from the Rumah Anak Yatim Hidayah, Madrasah Al-Takwa, FELDA Semungkis, 14th mile, Hulu Langat, near here have been pulled out.

Four, believed to be caretakers, are still trapped in the building.

Firemen and villagers managed to pull out several others who were critically injured and have been rushed to the Kajang Hospital, said Fire Department Chief Asst Comm Morni Mamat.

According to initial reports, the orphanage, with about 30 residents, was partially buried by a landslide at about 2.30pm on Saturday. Source

Nuclear plant workers suffer internal radiation exposure after visiting Fukushima - 21st May 2011

The government has discovered thousands of cases of workers at nuclear power plants outside Fukushima Prefecture suffering from internal exposure to radiation after they visited the prefecture, the head of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said.

Most of the workers who had internal exposure to radiation visited Fukushima after the nuclear crisis broke out following the March 11 quake and tsunami, and apparently inhaled radioactive substances scattered by hydrogen explosions at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant.

The revelation has prompted local municipalities in Fukushima to consider checking residents' internal exposure to radiation.

Nobuaki Terasaka, head of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, told the House of Representatives Budget Committee on May 16 that there were a total of 4,956 cases of workers suffering from internal exposure to radiation at nuclear power plants in the country excluding the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, and 4,766 of them involved workers originally from Fukushima who had visited the prefecture after the nuclear crisis. Terasaka revealed the data in his response to a question from Mito Kakizawa, a lawmaker from Your Party.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said it received the data from power companies across the country that measured the workers' internal exposure to radiation with "whole-body counters" and recorded levels of 1,500 counts per minute (cpm) or higher. In 1,193 cases, workers had internal exposure to radiation of more than 10,000 cpm. Those workers had apparently returned to their homes near the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant or had moved to other nuclear power plants from the Fukushima No. 1 and 2 nuclear power plants. Read More