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Lives, energy supply at risk from 'denials of shipment': IAEA
Vienna (AFP) Sept 19, 2007 Shipping companies and airlines that refuse to carry any sort of radioactive material are putting lives at stake, a top official from the UN's atomic watchdog said Wednesday. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is concerned about the growing trend and has set up a special steering committee to draw up an action plan to combat it, committee chairman Jack Edlow told reporters. "People's lives are being affected by these 'denials of shipments'," he said on the sidelines of the UN watchdog's general conference in Vienna. "When airlines won't carry medical isotopes, people can't get their medical treatments. When steamship lines won't carry cobalt, cancer therapy machines don't function. When ports won't less you pass through, industrial commodities can't get to facilities for processing. "This is a worldwide situation. It's getting worse every day, and so we were charged with getting an action plan into effect immediately," he continued. Flag carriers such as British Airways or Dutch airline KLM refused to carry any radioactive cargo, making the transport of much-needed radio pharmaceuticals, which are shipped especially to developing countries, much more expensive and time-consuming. Canadian firm MDS Nordion produces around 80 percent of the world's cobalt, which is used in cancer treatment. But it was having great problems finding ocean carriers to take the substance. Turkey was looking for a new source of cobalt because Italy effectively refused to let Nordion's merchandise transit through its ports. Edlow estimated that worldwide there were around 30 million shipments of radioactive cargo per year. One reason for the increasing number of denials were security concerns and enhanced security, Edlow said. After the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, in particular, there were increased concerns that radioactive materials could be used for dirty bombs But the quantities of radioactive material usually shipped for medical purposes was far from sufficient to make dirty bombs, Edlow said. IAEA official Michael Wangler said the radioactive materials were being discriminated against out of a lack of understanding of the risks. "They're no more hazardous than other hazardous materials, such as explosives or corrosives, but carriers don't refuse to transport those," he said. In fact, safety regulations were much more stringent so that no accidents had ever actually occurred, Edlow said. Refusal to ship, say, nuclear fuel for power plants, could also be an additional restricting factor to the future development of nuclear energy, the IAEA warned. Related Links Nuclear Power News - Nuclear Science, Nuclear Technology Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com
Indian stalemate continues on US nuclear deal
New Delhi (AFP) Sept 19, 2007India's ruling Congress party held a new round of tense talks Wednesday with its communist allies, who are trying to block a nuclear energy deal with the United States, its leaders said. |
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