Rob Edwards

Uranium pond at Sellafield sparks court threat by EU

from Sunday Herald, 28 March 2004

THE European Commission is threatening to take the British government to court for failing to account for hundreds of tonnes of dangerous radioactive waste at the Sellafield nuclear complex.

The media, radiation and risk

talk to Chilton seminar, 26 March 2004

Many years ago there was a competition in the New Statesman magazine which asked readers to summarise great works of literature in newspaper headlines. Hamlet became 'Five die in palace brawl'. Genesis was 'God says 'Man to blame''. And, most tasteless of all, Joan of Arc was rendered as 'Phew! What a scorcher'.

Car makers secretly lobby EC to reduce air-pollution targets

from Sunday Herald, 21 March 2004

All major car manufacturers are secretly lobbying the European Commission (EC) to relax its target for cutting climate-wrecking pollution from exhausts, a leaked document has revealed.

A confidential memo from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association to the Environment Commissioner, Margot Wallström, claims that the proposed cuts will “seriously damage” the industry. The association represents Ford, General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, BMW, Fiat, Renault, Peugeot Citroen, Volvo, Volkswagen and four others.

Three Mile Island

review from New Scientist, 20 March 2004

A FEW seconds after the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania began, more than a hundred warning lights were flashing in the control room. "I would have liked to have thrown away the alarm panel," one of the duty operators, Craig Faust, said later. "It wasn't giving us any useful information."

Farmers snub GM-free policy

from Sunday Herald, 14 March 2004

Farmers are likely to ignore requests by the Scottish Executive to ban genetically modified crops, jeopardising attempts by ministers to keep Scotland GM-free.

Scotland defies Blair and puts block on GM

from Sunday Herald, 07 March 2004

The Scottish Executive will defy the Blair government by rejecting genetically modified crops, which this week will get the go-ahead in England.

Thyroid radiation doses are 'much too high'

from New Scientist, 06 March 2004

MILLIONS of people with thyroid disease are being given excessive doses of radiation that could increase their risk of contracting cancer. That's the conclusion of the Swedish Radiation Protection Authority (SSI), which says many hospitals around the world are ignoring international recommendations to minimise patients' exposure to radiation.