[meteorite-list] radioactive meteorites and India nuke hazards-RTI application on meteor shower lost in space 30MAR08
List, Here is a further article from the Indian press concerning the radioactive meteorites and Indian nuclear hazard posed by an impact of a meteorite. Thank you. Dirk Ross...Tokyo Publication:Times Of India Ahmedabad; Date:Mar 30, 2008; Section:Times City; Page Number:5 USE RTI A TIMES OF INDIA ENDEAVOUR RTI application on meteor shower lost in space TIMES NEWS NETWORK Ahmedabad: They travelled through space before they fell in and around Vandhiya village of Bhachau taluka near Surajbari bridge linking Kutch and Saurashtra on July 31 two years back. The meteorite shower then is reverberating now with an RTI application orbiting in five Central government departments and officials still failing to provide information, facing the possibility of being fined upto Rs 25,000. About a month after TOI reported fall of the fragments of meteorites city-based Manoj Pai, general secretary of the Confederation of Indian Amateur Astronomersf Association filed an application under Right to Information (RTI) Act to the Prime Ministerfs Office, Delhi. Attached along with was a copy of TOIfs August 2, 2006 front page story titled eAstronomersf joy: Meteorite pieces foundf. This story had scientists from Geological Survey of India (GSI) in Gandhinagar warning readers against free handling of the meteorite fragments as these objects could be radioactive. Deputy director general, western region, GSI had written to the then chief secretary of the state Sudhir Mankad asking him to issue instructions to people to avoid touching them. Goyal had told TOI then that ethere is every possibility the meteorites may be radioactive. These may even cause cancer. Our teams have left for Kutch to pick up the samples for analysis.f Manoj Pai wanted to know the PMfs opinion on hazards from radioactive meteorites, especially the one that fell in Gujarat on 31st July 2006, the precautions the PM office has taken in this regard, if any, the institutes in India that can detect such radioactive objects and carry out research work done on the subject. The PMO transferred Paifs application to the Department of Science and Technology (DST). DST then sent it to Department of Atomic Energy (DEA). Not getting any reply from DEA after two months, Pai filed his first appeal with the department. DEA then woke up to the application and sent it to Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL). NCPIL promptly did a enot heref and sent it back to DEA, which then decided to send it to Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC). Finally, on not getting any information, Pai lodged his appeal before the Central Information Commission (CIC) in March last year. In his appeal, Pai said, gAction should be taken if information provided to press on August 1, 2006, is found to be false.h He also added, gIt is a wellknown fact that cancer is dangerous and fatal. If one can really get cancer from meteorites, then this application must be considered under the clause of eLife and Libertyf.h CIC then directed the officers concerned to provide information to Pai within ten days. Even at the CIC hearing to decide on the show cause it had issued to ascertain the penalty, Pai did not receive complete information. RTI meteorites TRAVEL ROUTE September 12, 2006 | RTI application to Prime Ministers Office, Delhi October 12, 2006 | PMO transfers application to Department of Science and Technology (DST) October 25, 2006 | DST transfers it to Department of Atomic Energy December 20, 2006 | First appeal before Department of Atomic Energy January 17, 2007 | Department of Atomic Energy sends appeal to Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. January 23, 2007 | Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. sends it back to Department of Atomic Energy January 31, 2007 | Department of Atomic Energy sends appeal to Bhabha Atomic Research Center March 20, 2007 | Second appeal before Central Information Commission http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JQS8yMDA4LzAzLzMwI0FyMDA1MDA=Mode=HTMLLocale=english-skin-custom __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] radioactive meteorites-- India Nuke Corp and Dr. Goyal under fire
Dear list, As a result of a member of our list and others we will soon get the official decision from the Indian courts about the statements made by Dr. Goyal that meteorites are radioactive and that a nuclear power plant could be destroyed by a meteorite impact. From the Indian news: CIC asks NPCIL to explain delay Tripti Nath Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 21 The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed central public information officers (CPIOs) of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) and the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) to explain why they should not be penalised for delay in giving information sought under the Right to Information Act. It was on September 12, 2006 that Ahmedabad-based Manoj Pai wrote to the CPIO in the Prime Ministerfs Office (PMO) seeking the PMfs opinion on hazards from radioactive meteorites with specific reference to the meteorite that fell in Gujarat on July 31 the same year. Pai also wanted to know the precautions taken by the PMO and the name of the institutes in the country that can detect such radioactive objects and carry out research done on the subject. Curiously, Pai got a reply from the PMO a day before his application was submitted. The letter sent by Kamal Dayani, director and CPIO, PMO, informed him that his application had been sent to the secretary, Department of Science and Technology. The CPIO in the Department of Science and Technology forwarded it to the CPIO in the Department of Atomic Energy on October 25, 2006. When Pai did not receive any response, he moved his first appeal before the Appellate Authority, DAE to the Appellate Authority, NPCIL on January 17. When he did not get any response from any of the agencies to which his application was forwarded, Pai moved his second appeal before CIC. In this appeal, he said the CPIO, PMO be advised to consider his appeal under the eLife and libertyf clause if a dangerous and fatal disease as cancer is caused by meteorites. The appeal was scheduled for hearing by videoconferencing on March 10. The CPIO in the Prime Ministerfs Office was told that his presence was not required during the hearing, as he had compiled with the requirements of the Act. Chief information commissioner Wajahat Habibullah directed both the CPIOs to appear personally before the commission on March 27 through videoconferencing and show cause as to why a penalty from the date the information was due (October 12, 2006) to the date when it was actually supplied, not be imposed on either one or both of them under the provisions of the RTI Act. The CIC decision notice dated March 10, however, gave the CPIOs the option of submitting their written submissions on or before March 20. In doing so, the commission treated the application as a complaint petition Under Section 18 (1) (c) of the RTI Act to ensure that the CPIOs provide the information to the applicant within 10 working days from the date of receipt of its decision as spelt out in the definition of right to information. Thank you to DRS. Manoj Pai and others from the list that contributed to this inquiry. Dirk Ross...Tokyo __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Radioactive meteorites
Hi All, On meteorite radioactivity, Piper piped up: In the articles which I looked at, none of the radioactive isotopes measured indicated an intensity of more than 100 dpm/kg (disintegrations per minute per kilogram of sample), and very low values of less than 10 dpm/kg were more typical of short-lived isotopes such as 28Mg and 57Ni. By comparison, the radioactivity of ordinary seawater is approximately 750 dpm/kg, attributable mainly to naturally occuring potassium-40. Exactly. Even the freshest meteorite fall has radioactivity comparable to or perhaps slightly lower than natural background level, meaning a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of unity or less than unity. To boost the SNR to the point that a Geiger counter would be of any use, you'd have to put the sample and sensor inside a lead box to shield the sensor from background noise. In any event, we're talking orders of magnitude below human injury threshold. To give an idea how far these levels are from acutely dangerous levels: pure radium, which IS dangerously radioactive even for a brief exposure, has an activity of 2.22 million billion dpm/kg. Madame Curie would have undoubtedly lived longer if she had studied freshly fallen meteorites rather than radium. Decades ago in my high school Physics class, a student asked the professor, How much radiation is a curie? He answered, without a pause, Enough to kill an old lady! --Rob __ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Radioactive meteorites Meteor Crater Guide(?)
Is it radioactive? is one of those answerless questions, right up there with What time is it on Earth? Know any other good ones? This line was actually used on a Twilight Zone episode! After having been abducted by aliens, the protagonist demands to know from his captors, What time is it on Earth?! Of course, the alien just stands there, blinking, with his one big eye, thinking to himself idiotic Earthling. But of course, the Earthling was speaking from a frame of reference of where he used to be located back on Earth. And so, his question would have been better asked as What time is it on Earth, back from where I came? In both of these cases, it matters who is asking the question and what is their frame of reference. When the visitor at the Meteor Crater asked, Is it radioactive? he wants to know, If I put this meteorite in my pocket, will all my children be born with 7 fingers? In his case, the proper answer would be No! To rationalize the answer any farther would only serve to make the idiotic Earthling of a Tour Guide technically correct. I have been asked this question, Is it radioactive? many times. Most often I get asked this question at the JPL Open House. For the past several years they have asked me to volunteer my time and help Ron Baalke with the Mars Meteorite booth. Our booth is located next to the bus stop, and all day long busloads of visitors at a time would descend upon our display cases of meteorites. If the crowd is large enough, there will always be somebody that asks, Are these meteorites radioactive? If it is a child that asks, I will answer No, and spare the child the longer, scarier answer about everything being radioactive. But then, being a large crowd, someone else is bound to know the more technically correct answer and feel compelled to share it. Either way, I'm wrong. But if it's a small crowd of adults, I might answer with the longer explanation. Even then, there will always be that one guy (usually in a Laker t-shirt) who will turn to his buddy and say, Don't ask that guy anything; he thinks everything is radioactive! The correct answer will always matter more on who is asking the question. ;-) Bob V. __ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/ __ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
