] In a week long survey Greenpeace radiation experts found ] abandoned uranium yellowcake and radioactive sources ] scattered across the community. Much of the material was ] looted from the facility by villagers who used it for ] house building and water and food storage. Local people ] are still storing radioactive barrels and lids in their ] houses, as they do not realize the potential danger. . . . ] "If this had happened in the UK, the U.S. or any other country, ] the villages around Tuwaitha would be swarming with radiation ] experts and decontamination teams," said Mike Townsley of ] Greenpeace. "It would have been branded a nuclear disaster site ] and the people given immediate medical checkups." I agree! I've been following this Tuwaitha story for almost two months now, and have been horrified by the reports of radiation poisoning there, that have not been resulting in any kind of international outcry. This place is Iraq's Chernobyl. It needs cleanup, and it needs it now. |