Varanasi: Groundwater in Varanasi and adjoining areas is contaminated with uranium, according to a study by a group of scientists. The study conducted by G.C. Chowdhary, former Professor at the Geology Department of Banaras Hindu University, and S.K. Agarwal, also a professor of Geology, has shown that the drinking water in the University premises and some other places in the city contains more radioactive uranium than the recommended limit. Samples for the study were collected from 11 tubewells tapping deep aquifers (more than 100 metre deep).

A small amount of radioactive water leaked at a storage facility at a nuclear power plant Saturday after an earthquake in Japan but there should be no concern to the public, the operator said. Tokyo Electric Power Co. said that 14.8 litres (3.8 gallons) of water came out of a pool in which radioactive equipment is stored at the Fukushima Number Two Reactor in northern Fukushima prefecture. "But the radiation level of the water is far below the level that could potentially affect the environment," a company spokesman said, adding that the reactor itself continued operation.

A US appeals court on Wednesday threw out a Washington state law barring the federal government from adding radioactive waste to the Hanford nuclear disposal site until existing contamination is cleaned up. The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that federal law pre-empts the state from halting waste disposal at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, a 586-square-mile (1,520-square-km) site along the Columbia River in south-eastern Washington. It provided plutonium for World War Two atomic bombs and for the US Cold War arsenal.

The waste immobilisation plant at IGCAR, Kalpakkam, will soon become operational Radioactive material that is vitrified will not leach and contaminate the ground water or soil The vitrified waste put into canisters is kept in an overpack and then kept in underground vaults

Defra has appointed a new radioactive waste management committee to cover the administration of waste across the UK and Northern Ireland. It will play a key role in the storage and disposal of radioactive waste, and be involved with the devolved administration in Northern Ireland on the implementation of geological disposal of higher activity waste. The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) has appointed Dr Rebecca Lunn and Professor Andrew Sloan to play a key role in scrutinising both Government's and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's plans.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has been urged to fulfil an election promise to repeal legislation paving the way for a nuclear waste dump in the Northern Territory. The region was chosen by the Howard government for Australia's first waste facility because of its geological stability and remote terrain, far from population centres. Four sites were being considered, including Muckaty Station, about 120km north of Tennant Creek, and commonwealth defence land at Harts Range, Mount Everard and Fishers Ridge.

Two accidents heat up the debate over whether to revive nuclear power to fight climate change

New Delhi: India has now put in place three laboratories that will exclusively test food samples coming into the country from Japan for radioactive contamination.

The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has informed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) that it has granted accreditation to three labs