Re: [HCDX] Vatican radio bows to pressure

["bdxcuk" <bdxcuk@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This is an old BBC news report from 9 April 2001

Dave Kenny
UK



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alokesh Gupta" <alokeshgupta@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "CUMBRE DX" <cumbredx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2009 5:41 AM
Subject: [HCDX] Vatican radio bows to pressure


Vatican radio bows to pressure

The Vatican, in an effort to stop Italy from cutting off electricity to its
radio station following a row over electromagnetic radiation, says it will
cut some of its transmissions after Easter. The surprise decision was
announced a day before Italy's Environment Minister Willer Bordon was due to
hold a news conference to announce measures against the station. The
minister has accused Vatican Radio of exceeding Italian laws on radiation
and of being a health hazard. Last month, Mr Bordon threatened to cut off
all electricity to the radio's transmission centre on Rome's outskirts.

The antennas violate Italian law
Residents have claimed that the radio's forest of large antennae have
resulted in a higher incidence of leukaemia in the area. Vatican Radio,
which broadcasts the Pope's speeches and events to the world in some 40
languages, announced its decision on Monday hours after the latest tests
ordered by the environment ministry confirmed that the transmissions
violated Italian standards.

Shut down after Easter
The statement said the broadcaster would shut down its medium wave
transmissions on the 1530 kHz band for seven hours a day beginning on 16
April, the day after Easter. That waveband is currently used for 14 hours a
day and so the shutdown would affect some 50% of broadcasts on that
frequency, which is primarily used for broadcasts in Europe. A Vatican Radio
spokesman said broadcasts on short wave, which is beamed to other
continents, and FM, which is used for Italy, would continue as normal. The
statement said it was "presumed" that the AM antennae, whose broadcasts are
sent in horizontal waves, were the reason why the broadcaster exceeded
Italian limits.

Minimising risk
The statement confirmed Vatican Radio's willingness to seek a long-term
solution on transmission levels that would "minimise the risk to the
population".
Like Vatican City itself, the transmission centre is on extraterritorial
land and considered part of the sovereign Vatican state. Last month, Mr
Bordon said the National Agency for the Protection of the Environment had
registered three times the legal limit for electromagnetic radiation during
one evening broadcast.
Since Vatican Radio was set up 44 years ago, Italy has introduced the
European Union's toughest limits on such radiation, dubbed "electrosmog" by
the Italian media.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1269572.stm


-------
Alokesh Gupta
New Delhi, India.
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