Nexus - 0107 - New Times Magazine-pages

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Radioactive Food EE Radioactive Food | IRRADIATED LAUNDERING Why would Nukem, with a reputation to FOOD HERE uphold, risk sending illegally Fs amounts of radioactive wastes half-way PLUTONIUM across Europe, to have them compacted and treated and then sent back? Investigations Cobalt-60, Caesium-137 and Caesium-134 Two hundred milligrams of plutonium have revealed that some doctored documents are used to irradiate food for ‘preservation’. may not seem much, but for on return shipments described the waste as This process is known as Food Irradiation or Transnuklear- a nuclear waste transport ‘German’ instead of ‘Belgian’, while back at ‘Ionising Energy Process’. Laboratory ani- subsidy of NUKEM, West Germany’s Mol German waste is marked ‘Belgian’. mals fed irradiated food have shown abnor- largest nuclear fuel maker - it was worth Such an exchange suggests plutonium’ is mally high incidences of; enough zof to declare It to the EEC’s nu- being smuggled in low-level wastes (making chromosome damage, ——— Clear watch-dog, Eu- it highly radioactive), extracted at Mol and chronic reproduction ratom. returned as low-level waste to Germany. problems, leukaemia, reduced lifespan, se- In October 1987, a This replaces the German waste used to truck carrying drums of smuggle the plutonium, which is then trans- vere kidney disease nuclear waste over- ferred into Belgian wastes stored at Mol. and severe testicular turned on its way to the None of this would be necessary if tumours. Belgian nuclear plant at German plants were producing the Irradiating food Mol, now being used for predicted amounts of plutonium in nuclear destroys many vita- various nuclear ‘stud- reactors. It’s been known for some time mins, enzymes, pro- ies’. Such an accident (within the nuclear industry) that plants teins, carbohydrates and amino acids, was bad enough initself, produce higher levels of Plutonium than but when radioactivity expected. If Nukem Is extracting more creating Unique Radi- was checked at the acci- Plutonium than expected from used fuel olytic By-Products - dent site the levels were rods, then some way would have to be poorly-understood far in excess of those found to conceal the excess plutonium * molecules which dif- fer with each batch and can’t be adequately tested - which are sus- stated on documents. wumed ino tures | HOT FOOD major nuclear scandal. pected to cause these effects, Italso produces It's alleged that the director of waste- Foods from the following countries may be carcinogens like benzene and formaldehyde. handling at Mol was bribed by Transnuklear irradiated with Caesium 137 (half-life 30.2 Irradiation requires production, trans- to accept nuclear waste up to five times more years, hazardous life of 600 years) from the port and storage of nuclear materials and is a radioactive than documents claimed, com- Chernoby] reactor accident. Avoid them! ‘profitable’ use for nuclear waste. pactit, bum it or chemically, treat it and then ALL FOODS FROM return it to Nukem for storage. This could Albania andort Audie POSSIBLY IRRADIATED only have been achieved if safety officers Belgium Bulgaria Czechoslovakia located at various plants throughout Ger- Denmark Fed. Rep. of Germany ~ a = East Germany Finland France The following foods have possibly | (ee tants have thelr fuel supplied by | Greece,” Hungary ireland been subjected to food irradiation; Nukem. A safety official at a plant at Hesse Italy Liechtenstein ah “ need suicide during investigations into — — ae sme weet a ye F tee the truck accident, and the manager of hearts San Marino ‘San om Brazil Ds ontinental Soup; Sy; Transnuklear was found dead in December Sweden Switzerland Turkey Germien Caviar) Gio) juices GolVet Chew |! oes aaer alcesicae he ial epeneAS10 | Wik, U.S.S.R. Yugoslavia PS Ee SRN a ey million in bribes. Transnuklear claims what | List taken from Australian Customs Dept ai aon aa pet am, a has been uncovered is a ‘few mislabelled (with exception of UK) notice of countries re- NE. ee 2 shipments’ of harmless low-level waste quiring entry permits since Chernobyl. Bopper a Brim appok Sri iiaeey San hardly worth counting. But it was worth $10 Importers sometimes repackage and re- For; Thai cooked peeled’ pravmsy US or million to someone. label food from some of these countries so Foropean herbs orspices # Mol is a research institute; 5% of its that it appears to originate in Australia. In Wasteocnei ion Apuins: Podliapradial is funds come from handling wastes. Mol has Sydney, for instance, blackcurrant and apri- i kinponcaier Health Centre (075) 30 2860 been running a large deficit from a low fund cot jams have been marketed by Franklin's for more information base for several years, and has been touting under their No Frills label imported from for business in fuel reprocessing, decontami- Bulgaria. Some foods and herbs labeled as nation and extraction - processes handled on originating in Australia are in fact imported a much larger scale by Nukem. and have merely been packed here *& 14 NEXUS New Times Seven - Summer 1989 The following foods have possibly been subjected to food irradiation; Nuclear Age I IRRADIATED LAUNDERING FOOD HERE PLUTONIUM HOT FOOD POSSIBLY IRRADIATED