[ RadSafe ] job posting KY gov rad health branch manager
Pendergrass, Curt (CHFS DPH)
Curt.Pendergrass at ky.gov
Mon Aug 2 05:45:59 CDT 2010
Dear Rad Safe,
Would you be so kind as to post the following position of Program Administrator for the Kentucky Radiation Health Branch, Dept. of Public Health. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Curt Pendergrass
We are recruiting for a high profile-critical vacancy in the Kentucky Department for Public Health-Division of Public Health Protection and Safety in our Radiation Health Branch. The position vacancy is a Radiation Control Program Administrator, and is the most responsible position in the Division's Radiation Health Branch. This office routinely works with many radiation based stakeholders such as the United States Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and state agencies such as the Energy and Environment Cabinet, Homeland Security and State Emergency Operations Center. Additionally this person will work with universities, related industries and other stakeholders/professionals that make up the large sphere of radiation health in KY. This position would be the lead on all applicable and relevant radiological programs of oversight within the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
We are seeking a well rounded energetic and knowledgeable person that has a good understanding of radiological issues and programs as well as exhibit successful management skills to lead a team of professionals on multiple statewide efforts.
This vacancy will be best suited to a candidate that enjoys understanding many topics; multi-tasking many initiatives and having a firm say in the future direction of the Commonwealth's radiation health programs.
Pay Grade : 17
Salary Range: Pay Grade 17 (MIN-MID) $46,907.28 - $62,144.64 yearly at 37.5 hour work week
Special Entrance Rate : Yes
Enter Special Entrance Rate : $4886 per month
CLASSIFICATION TITLE: Radiation Control Program Administrator
WORK LOCATION: This is a full time branch manager position located in Frankfort, Kentucky.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS ARE COMPREHENSIVE STATEMENTS OF THE MINIMUM BACKGROUND AS TO EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, AND OTHER QUALIFICATIONS WHICH WILL BE REQUIRED IN ALL CASES AS EVIDENCE OF AN APPOINTEE'S ABILITY TO PERFORM THE WORK PROPERLY.
EDUCATION: Graduate of a college or university with a bachelor's degree in chemistry, biology, engineering, mathematics, environmental health, health physics, physics, physical science or health science.
EXPERIENCE: Must have six years of experience in a governmental radiation control program or technical experience dealing with radioactive materials including at least one year in an administrative or supervisory capacity within a radiation control program.
EDUCATION: Graduate work in one of the above disciplines will substitute for the required experience on a year-for-year basis. Certificate of completion of the Army or Air Force health physics program, Department of Energy certificate in radiation protection , certification of commission from the Army or Air force health physics program, certification from Navy Nuclear Power School, American Board Radiology, Certified Health Physicist, Nuclear Medicine Certification Board, American Registry of Radiologic Technologists, Registered Radiation Protection Technologist or the American Board of Industrial Hygiene will substitute for the required bachelor's degree.
EXPERIENCE: Experience in radiation, radiochemistry and/or a health physics program will substitute for the required degree on a year-for-year basis.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: (AGE, LICENSURE, REGULATION, ETC.)
Must have certification or licensure from one of the following: Certificate of completion of the Army or Air Force health physics program, Department of Energy certificate in radiation protection, certification of commission from the Army or Air force health physics program, certification from Navy Nuclear Power School, American Board Radiology, Certified Health Physicist, Nuclear Medicine Certification Board, American Registry of Radiologic Technologists, Registered Radiation Protection Technologist or the American Board of Industrial Hygiene.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER M/F/D
The Radiation Health Program Administrator position will be posted July 30th 2010 through August 8th 2010. To complete an application and apply for the position, please go to the link below and search for the position of "Radiation Health Program Administrator".
Shortcut to: http://personnel.ky.gov/employment/ <http://personnel.ky.gov/employment/> .
If you have questions, you may contact me at: guy.delius at ky.gov <mailto:guy.delius at ky.gov> or 502-564-7398
________________________________
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu on behalf of radsafe-request at health.phys.iit.edu
Sent: Sun 8/1/2010 1:00 PM
To: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
Subject: RadSafe Digest, Vol 371, Issue 1
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Thanks!_______________________________________________
Today's Topics:
1. RADIOACTIVE BOAR ON RISE IN GERMANY (Roger Helbig)
2. "Countdown to Zero" disarmament movie (Shane Connor)
3. Re: RADIOACTIVE BOAR ON RISE IN GERMANY (Dan W McCarn)
4. Re: RADIOACTIVE BOAR ON RISE IN GERMANY (Franz Sch?nhofer)
5. Re: RADIOACTIVE BOAR ON RISE IN GERMANY (Jess L. Addis III)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 2010 13:46:48 -0700
From: Roger Helbig <rwhelbig at gmail.com>
Subject: [ RadSafe ] RADIOACTIVE BOAR ON RISE IN GERMANY
To: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
Message-ID:
<AANLkTikLL24m43c79q+Q82JGNKxo4U=2fv6WtmEA+EqW at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
This seems rather incredible but was carried by Der Spiegel - does anyone
have independent source to verify this claim of radioactive wild boars
resulting from Chernobyl?
Charles Hawley reports:
"As Germany's wild boar population has skyrocketed in recent years, so too
has the number of animals contaminated by radioactivity left over from the
Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. Government payments compensating hunters for
lost income due to radioactive boar have quadrupled since 2007.
"It's no secret that Germany has a wild boar problem. Stories of marauding
pigs hit the headlines with startling regularity: Ten days ago, a wild boar
attacked a wheelchair-bound man in a park in Berlin; in early July, a pack
of almost two dozen of the animals repeatedly marched into the eastern
German town of Eisenach, frightening residents and keeping police busy; and
on Friday morning, a German highway was closed for hours after 10 wild boar
broke through a fence and waltzed onto the road.
"Even worse, though, almost a quarter century after the Chernobyl nuclear
meltdown in Ukraine, a good chunk of Germany's wild boar population remains
slightly radioactive -- and the phenomenon has been costing the German
government an increasing amount of money in recent years.
"According to the Environment Ministry in Berlin, almost ?425,000 ($555,000)
was paid out to hunters in 2009 in compensation for wild boar meat that was
too contaminated by radiation to be sold for consumption. That total is more
than four times higher than compensation payments made in 2007."
**
* *07/30/2010
A Quarter Century after Chernobyl Radioactive Boar on the Rise in Germany
By Charles Hawley
Spiegel
*'Boar Boom'*
...The reason for the climbing goverrnment payments, of course, has more to
do with Germany's skyrocketing wild boar population than with an increase in
radioactive contamination. "In the last couple of years, wild boar have
rapidly multiplied," a spokesman from the Environment Ministry confirmed to
SPIEGEL ONLINE. "Not only is there more corn being farmed, but warmer
winters have also contributed to a boar boom."
Numbers from the German Hunting Federation confirm the population increase.
In the 2008/2009 season, a record number of boar were shot, almost 650,000
against just 287,000 a year previously.
Many of the boar that are killed land on the plates of diners across
Germany, but it is forbidden to sell meat containing high levels of
radioactive caesium-137 -- any animals showing contamination levels higher
than 600 becquerel per kilogram must be disposed of. But in some areas of
Germany, particularly in the south, wild boar routinely show much higher
levels of contamination. According to the Environment Ministry, the average
contamination for boar shot in Bayerischer Wald, a forested region on the
Bavarian border with the Czech Republic, was 7,000 becquerel per kilogram.
Other regions in southern Germany aren't much better.
Germany's Atomic Energy Law, which regulates the use of nuclear energy in
the country, mandates that the government in Berlin pay compensation to
hunters who harvest contaminated animals.
*Contaminated Wild Pig*
Wild boar are particularly susceptible to radioactive contamination due to
their predilection for chomping on mushrooms and truffles, which are
particularly efficient at absorbing radioactivity. Indeed, whereas
radioactivity in some vegetation is expected to continue declining, the
contamination of some types of mushrooms and truffles will likely remain the
same, and may even rise slightly -- even a quarter century after the
Chernobyl accident.
"In the regions where it is particularly problematic, all boar that are shot
are checked for radiation," reports Andreas Leppmann, from the German
Hunting Federation. There are 70 measuring stations in Bavaria alone.
In addition, for the last year and a half, Bavarian hunters have been
testing ways to reduce the amount of caesium-137 absorbed by wild boar. A
chemical mixture known as Giese salt, when ingested, has been shown to
accelerate the excretion of the radioactive substance. Giese salt, also
known as AFCF, is a caesium binder and has been used successfully to reduce
radiation in farm animals after Chernobyl. According to Joachim Reddemann,
an expert on radioactivity in wild boar with the Bavarian Hunting
Federation, a pilot program in Bavaria that started a year and a half ago
has managed to significantly reduce the number of contaminated animals.
Government compensation payments to hunters remain a small part of the ?238
million recompense the German government has shelled out for damages
relating to Chernobyl since reactor IV exploded on April 26, 1986.
Furthermore, there is some relief in sight. Even as wild boar continue to
show a fondness for making the headlines, the recent hard winter has had its
effect on population numbers. So far this year, Berlin has only had to pay
out ?130,000 for radioactive boar.
But radioactivity in wild boar isn't likely to disappear soon. "The problem
has been at a high level for a long time," says Reddemann. "It will likely
remain that way for at least the next 50 years."
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:17:52 -0500
From: Shane Connor <webmaster at ki4u.com>
Subject: [ RadSafe ] "Countdown to Zero" disarmament movie
To: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
Message-ID: <648CD63D-1949-4D11-BD93-CCC24206A0B4 at mail.t-arc.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
It was predictable that the new "Countdown to Zero" disarmament movie
would omit any life-saving strategies from their agenda of banning
nukes, like advocating public Civil Defense, to try and better
survive nukes in the meantime.
The disarmament movement has for over 60 years espoused that if nukes
are unleashed; all will die or it will be so bad you'll wish you had.
They've wanted all to think that the only way to ever survive nukes
is to ban them. They've largely succeeded, as most now think it
futile, bordering on lunacy, to ever try and learn how to prep for
surviving a nuclear explosion.
Ironically, these disarmament activists have made millions of us even
more vulnerable to perishing from nukes in the future.
For instance, most now ridicule "duck & cover", but for the majority,
not right at 'ground zero' and already gone, the blast wave will be
delayed in arriving after the flash, like lightening & thunder,
anywhere from a fraction of a second up to 20 seconds, or more.
Today, without "duck & cover" training, everyone at work, home, and
your children at school, will impulsively rush to the nearest windows
to see what that 'bright flash' was, just-in-time to be shredded by
the glass imploding inward from that delayed blast wave. They'd never
been taught that even in the open, just laying flat, reduces by
eight-fold the chances of being hit by debris from that brief,
3-second, tornado strength blast.
Then, later, before the radioactive fallout can hurt them, most won't
know to move perpendicular away from the downwind drift of the
fallout to get out from under it before it even arrives. And, for
those who can't evacuate in time, few know how quick & easy it is to
throw together an expedient fallout shelter, most anywhere they are,
to safely wait out the radioactive fallout as it loses 99% of its
lethal intensity in the first 48 hours.
The greatest tragedy of that high loss of life, when nukes come to
America, will be that most who died will have needlessly perished,
along with their families, out of ignorance of how easily they might
have avoided becoming additional casualties, all because they were
sold it was futile to ever try and learn how to beforehand.
You can thank the disarmament movement, and all those who've parroted
their un-survivability theme these many decades, for these unintended
consequences and inconvenient truth.
My article, "The Good News About Nuclear Destruction!" at
www.ki4u.com/goodnews.htm dispels those deadly myths of nuclear
un-survivability that have kept all our families vulnerable and
ignorant of how to survive nukes, and will for as long as any are
still around.
Shane Connor
www.ki4u.com
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 2010 18:03:23 -0600
From: Dan W McCarn <hotgreenchile at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] RADIOACTIVE BOAR ON RISE IN GERMANY
To: "'Roger Helbig'" <rwhelbig at gmail.com>
Cc: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
Message-ID: <A2DEF8A8F52048778967BF51B9CDC32D at DocHolidayII>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Hmmm....
I've hunted wild boar in Austria for years, saw several false positive measurements for meat, but never heard about this issue. That being said, wild boars love mushrooms, and mushrooms hyperaccumulate Cs & Sr from the soil, so I imagine that it is not unreasonable to conclude that they may be slightly radioactive. Quite a bit of soils were lightly contaminated from washout from Chernobyl.
However, Cs & Sr tend to have high cation-exchange selectivities, clays in soils tend to have high cation-exchange capacity, and this tends to stabilize the bio-availability of Cs & Sr since they tend to become irreversibly adsorbed.
But never believe everything you read in Der Spiegel!
Dan ii
--
Dan W McCarn, Geologist
108 Sherwood Blvd
Los Alamos, NM 87544-3425
+1-505-672-2014 (Home ? New Mexico)
+1-505-670-8123 (Mobile - New Mexico)
HotGreenChile at gmail.com (Private email) HotGreenChile at gmail dot com
-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Roger Helbig
Sent: Saturday, July 31, 2010 14:47
To: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
Subject: [ RadSafe ] RADIOACTIVE BOAR ON RISE IN GERMANY
This seems rather incredible but was carried by Der Spiegel - does anyone have independent source to verify this claim of radioactive wild boars resulting from Chernobyl?
Charles Hawley reports:
"As Germany's wild boar population has skyrocketed in recent years, so too has the number of animals contaminated by radioactivity left over from the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. Government payments compensating hunters for lost income due to radioactive boar have quadrupled since 2007.
"It's no secret that Germany has a wild boar problem. Stories of marauding pigs hit the headlines with startling regularity: Ten days ago, a wild boar attacked a wheelchair-bound man in a park in Berlin; in early July, a pack of almost two dozen of the animals repeatedly marched into the eastern German town of Eisenach, frightening residents and keeping police busy; and on Friday morning, a German highway was closed for hours after 10 wild boar broke through a fence and waltzed onto the road.
"Even worse, though, almost a quarter century after the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown in Ukraine, a good chunk of Germany's wild boar population remains slightly radioactive -- and the phenomenon has been costing the German government an increasing amount of money in recent years.
"According to the Environment Ministry in Berlin, almost ?425,000 ($555,000) was paid out to hunters in 2009 in compensation for wild boar meat that was too contaminated by radiation to be sold for consumption. That total is more than four times higher than compensation payments made in 2007."
**
* *07/30/2010
A Quarter Century after Chernobyl Radioactive Boar on the Rise in Germany
By Charles Hawley
Spiegel
*'Boar Boom'*
...The reason for the climbing goverrnment payments, of course, has more to do with Germany's skyrocketing wild boar population than with an increase in radioactive contamination. "In the last couple of years, wild boar have rapidly multiplied," a spokesman from the Environment Ministry confirmed to SPIEGEL ONLINE. "Not only is there more corn being farmed, but warmer winters have also contributed to a boar boom."
Numbers from the German Hunting Federation confirm the population increase.
In the 2008/2009 season, a record number of boar were shot, almost 650,000 against just 287,000 a year previously.
Many of the boar that are killed land on the plates of diners across Germany, but it is forbidden to sell meat containing high levels of radioactive caesium-137 -- any animals showing contamination levels higher than 600 becquerel per kilogram must be disposed of. But in some areas of Germany, particularly in the south, wild boar routinely show much higher levels of contamination. According to the Environment Ministry, the average contamination for boar shot in Bayerischer Wald, a forested region on the Bavarian border with the Czech Republic, was 7,000 becquerel per kilogram.
Other regions in southern Germany aren't much better.
Germany's Atomic Energy Law, which regulates the use of nuclear energy in the country, mandates that the government in Berlin pay compensation to hunters who harvest contaminated animals.
*Contaminated Wild Pig*
Wild boar are particularly susceptible to radioactive contamination due to their predilection for chomping on mushrooms and truffles, which are particularly efficient at absorbing radioactivity. Indeed, whereas radioactivity in some vegetation is expected to continue declining, the contamination of some types of mushrooms and truffles will likely remain the same, and may even rise slightly -- even a quarter century after the Chernobyl accident.
"In the regions where it is particularly problematic, all boar that are shot are checked for radiation," reports Andreas Leppmann, from the German Hunting Federation. There are 70 measuring stations in Bavaria alone.
In addition, for the last year and a half, Bavarian hunters have been testing ways to reduce the amount of caesium-137 absorbed by wild boar. A chemical mixture known as Giese salt, when ingested, has been shown to accelerate the excretion of the radioactive substance. Giese salt, also known as AFCF, is a caesium binder and has been used successfully to reduce radiation in farm animals after Chernobyl. According to Joachim Reddemann, an expert on radioactivity in wild boar with the Bavarian Hunting Federation, a pilot program in Bavaria that started a year and a half ago has managed to significantly reduce the number of contaminated animals.
Government compensation payments to hunters remain a small part of the ?238 million recompense the German government has shelled out for damages relating to Chernobyl since reactor IV exploded on April 26, 1986.
Furthermore, there is some relief in sight. Even as wild boar continue to show a fondness for making the headlines, the recent hard winter has had its effect on population numbers. So far this year, Berlin has only had to pay out ?130,000 for radioactive boar.
But radioactivity in wild boar isn't likely to disappear soon. "The problem has been at a high level for a long time," says Reddemann. "It will likely remain that way for at least the next 50 years."
_______________________________________________
You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list
Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and understood the RadSafe rules. These can be found at: http://health.phys.iit.edu/radsaferules.html
For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings visit: http://health.phys.iit.edu <http://health.phys.iit.edu/>
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2010 01:03:29 +0200
From: Franz Sch?nhofer <franz.schoenhofer at chello.at>
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] RADIOACTIVE BOAR ON RISE IN GERMANY
To: "'Roger Helbig'" <rwhelbig at gmail.com>,
<radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
Message-ID: <6ABEC6E51DB94B079C60AE83E1133098 at pc1>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1258"
Roger and RADSAFErs,
Yes, there has ever since Chernobyl been a "problem" with wild boar in
certain parts of central Europe, not only Germany. And, yes, I know
something about it, because I have together with my collegue Frieda Tataruch
followed contamination of game in Austria by measurements very closely and
had an eye on the situation in other parts of Europe.
Since it is close to 1 am I will not go into further detail, but shortly:
"Der Spiegel" is in my opinion one of the worst journals I know - pretending
to be the intellectual "non plus ultra", distributing gossip from "high
level" persons and as concerning radiation matters supporting any green
nonsense. So for instance, Roger, your recently mentioned Schmitz-Feuerhake:
She is something like a president of an obscure "German Radiation Protection
Society", which consists of hard-core anti-nuclear persons - and "Der
Spiegel" never mentions the world wide well esteemed "Fachverband f?r
Strahlenschutz" which represents both German and Swiss world wide known and
renowed experts on radiation protection. (The Austrian Radiation Protection
Society cooperates tightly.) They distribute any nonsense that this obscure
society claims and even actively ask them for comments.
Don't take anything serious from Spiegel. If I have time I will go later
into detail on wild boars.
Finally: The dose is not dependent on the concentration in food, but depends
even more on the consumption rate. How many gramms of wild boar meat is
consumed by the average population? One should think twice about the horror
stories of a distainable sensational pseudo-intellectual journal.
Best regards and good night!
Franz
Franz Schoenhofer, PhD
MinRat i.R.
Habicherg. 31/7
A-1160 Wien/Vienna
AUSTRIA
-----Urspr?ngliche Nachricht-----
Von: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] Im Auftrag von Roger Helbig
Gesendet: Samstag, 31. Juli 2010 22:47
An: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
Betreff: [ RadSafe ] RADIOACTIVE BOAR ON RISE IN GERMANY
This seems rather incredible but was carried by Der Spiegel - does anyone
have independent source to verify this claim of radioactive wild boars
resulting from Chernobyl?
Charles Hawley reports:
"As Germany's wild boar population has skyrocketed in recent years, so too
has the number of animals contaminated by radioactivity left over from the
Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. Government payments compensating hunters for
lost income due to radioactive boar have quadrupled since 2007.
"It's no secret that Germany has a wild boar problem. Stories of marauding
pigs hit the headlines with startling regularity: Ten days ago, a wild boar
attacked a wheelchair-bound man in a park in Berlin; in early July, a pack
of almost two dozen of the animals repeatedly marched into the eastern
German town of Eisenach, frightening residents and keeping police busy; and
on Friday morning, a German highway was closed for hours after 10 wild boar
broke through a fence and waltzed onto the road.
"Even worse, though, almost a quarter century after the Chernobyl nuclear
meltdown in Ukraine, a good chunk of Germany's wild boar population remains
slightly radioactive -- and the phenomenon has been costing the German
government an increasing amount of money in recent years.
"According to the Environment Ministry in Berlin, almost ?425,000 ($555,000)
was paid out to hunters in 2009 in compensation for wild boar meat that was
too contaminated by radiation to be sold for consumption. That total is more
than four times higher than compensation payments made in 2007."
**
* *07/30/2010
A Quarter Century after Chernobyl Radioactive Boar on the Rise in Germany
By Charles Hawley
Spiegel
*'Boar Boom'*
...The reason for the climbing goverrnment payments, of course, has more to
do with Germany's skyrocketing wild boar population than with an increase in
radioactive contamination. "In the last couple of years, wild boar have
rapidly multiplied," a spokesman from the Environment Ministry confirmed to
SPIEGEL ONLINE. "Not only is there more corn being farmed, but warmer
winters have also contributed to a boar boom."
Numbers from the German Hunting Federation confirm the population increase.
In the 2008/2009 season, a record number of boar were shot, almost 650,000
against just 287,000 a year previously.
Many of the boar that are killed land on the plates of diners across
Germany, but it is forbidden to sell meat containing high levels of
radioactive caesium-137 -- any animals showing contamination levels higher
than 600 becquerel per kilogram must be disposed of. But in some areas of
Germany, particularly in the south, wild boar routinely show much higher
levels of contamination. According to the Environment Ministry, the average
contamination for boar shot in Bayerischer Wald, a forested region on the
Bavarian border with the Czech Republic, was 7,000 becquerel per kilogram.
Other regions in southern Germany aren't much better.
Germany's Atomic Energy Law, which regulates the use of nuclear energy in
the country, mandates that the government in Berlin pay compensation to
hunters who harvest contaminated animals.
*Contaminated Wild Pig*
Wild boar are particularly susceptible to radioactive contamination due to
their predilection for chomping on mushrooms and truffles, which are
particularly efficient at absorbing radioactivity. Indeed, whereas
radioactivity in some vegetation is expected to continue declining, the
contamination of some types of mushrooms and truffles will likely remain the
same, and may even rise slightly -- even a quarter century after the
Chernobyl accident.
"In the regions where it is particularly problematic, all boar that are shot
are checked for radiation," reports Andreas Leppmann, from the German
Hunting Federation. There are 70 measuring stations in Bavaria alone.
In addition, for the last year and a half, Bavarian hunters have been
testing ways to reduce the amount of caesium-137 absorbed by wild boar. A
chemical mixture known as Giese salt, when ingested, has been shown to
accelerate the excretion of the radioactive substance. Giese salt, also
known as AFCF, is a caesium binder and has been used successfully to reduce
radiation in farm animals after Chernobyl. According to Joachim Reddemann,
an expert on radioactivity in wild boar with the Bavarian Hunting
Federation, a pilot program in Bavaria that started a year and a half ago
has managed to significantly reduce the number of contaminated animals.
Government compensation payments to hunters remain a small part of the ?238
million recompense the German government has shelled out for damages
relating to Chernobyl since reactor IV exploded on April 26, 1986.
Furthermore, there is some relief in sight. Even as wild boar continue to
show a fondness for making the headlines, the recent hard winter has had its
effect on population numbers. So far this year, Berlin has only had to pay
out ?130,000 for radioactive boar.
But radioactivity in wild boar isn't likely to disappear soon. "The problem
has been at a high level for a long time," says Reddemann. "It will likely
remain that way for at least the next 50 years."
_______________________________________________
You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list
Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and understood the
RadSafe rules. These can be found at:
http://health.phys.iit.edu/radsaferules.html
For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings visit:
http://health.phys.iit.edu <http://health.phys.iit.edu/>
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 2010 23:51:58 -0400
From: "Jess L. Addis III" <ajess at clemson.edu>
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] RADIOACTIVE BOAR ON RISE IN GERMANY
To: " 'Franz Sch?nhofer' " <franz.schoenhofer at chello.at>, "'Roger
Helbig'" <rwhelbig at gmail.com>, <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
Message-ID: <000301cb312c$e7ec3490$b7c49db0$@edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
We have locals here in the southern Appalachians that track and take wild boar alive, confine them and feed them out and consume them. I was stunned to learn this is considered as a "sport" to some. Radioactivity would be way down on my list of things to worry about when it comes to this enterprise. The physical harm these beast can do to the hunter, their canine assistants, serious zoonotic diseases and parasite uptake from wild swine would trump mere radioactivity by far.
Larry Addis
Clemson U.
-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Franz Sch?nhofer
Sent: Saturday, July 31, 2010 7:03 PM
To: 'Roger Helbig'; radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] RADIOACTIVE BOAR ON RISE IN GERMANY
Roger and RADSAFErs,
Yes, there has ever since Chernobyl been a "problem" with wild boar in
certain parts of central Europe, not only Germany. And, yes, I know
something about it, because I have together with my collegue Frieda Tataruch
followed contamination of game in Austria by measurements very closely and
had an eye on the situation in other parts of Europe.
Since it is close to 1 am I will not go into further detail, but shortly:
"Der Spiegel" is in my opinion one of the worst journals I know - pretending
to be the intellectual "non plus ultra", distributing gossip from "high
level" persons and as concerning radiation matters supporting any green
nonsense. So for instance, Roger, your recently mentioned Schmitz-Feuerhake:
She is something like a president of an obscure "German Radiation Protection
Society", which consists of hard-core anti-nuclear persons - and "Der
Spiegel" never mentions the world wide well esteemed "Fachverband f?r
Strahlenschutz" which represents both German and Swiss world wide known and
renowed experts on radiation protection. (The Austrian Radiation Protection
Society cooperates tightly.) They distribute any nonsense that this obscure
society claims and even actively ask them for comments.
Don't take anything serious from Spiegel. If I have time I will go later
into detail on wild boars.
Finally: The dose is not dependent on the concentration in food, but depends
even more on the consumption rate. How many gramms of wild boar meat is
consumed by the average population? One should think twice about the horror
stories of a distainable sensational pseudo-intellectual journal.
Best regards and good night!
Franz
Franz Schoenhofer, PhD
MinRat i.R.
Habicherg. 31/7
A-1160 Wien/Vienna
AUSTRIA
-----Urspr?ngliche Nachricht-----
Von: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] Im Auftrag von Roger Helbig
Gesendet: Samstag, 31. Juli 2010 22:47
An: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
Betreff: [ RadSafe ] RADIOACTIVE BOAR ON RISE IN GERMANY
This seems rather incredible but was carried by Der Spiegel - does anyone
have independent source to verify this claim of radioactive wild boars
resulting from Chernobyl?
Charles Hawley reports:
"As Germany's wild boar population has skyrocketed in recent years, so too
has the number of animals contaminated by radioactivity left over from the
Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. Government payments compensating hunters for
lost income due to radioactive boar have quadrupled since 2007.
"It's no secret that Germany has a wild boar problem. Stories of marauding
pigs hit the headlines with startling regularity: Ten days ago, a wild boar
attacked a wheelchair-bound man in a park in Berlin; in early July, a pack
of almost two dozen of the animals repeatedly marched into the eastern
German town of Eisenach, frightening residents and keeping police busy; and
on Friday morning, a German highway was closed for hours after 10 wild boar
broke through a fence and waltzed onto the road.
"Even worse, though, almost a quarter century after the Chernobyl nuclear
meltdown in Ukraine, a good chunk of Germany's wild boar population remains
slightly radioactive -- and the phenomenon has been costing the German
government an increasing amount of money in recent years.
"According to the Environment Ministry in Berlin, almost ?425,000 ($555,000)
was paid out to hunters in 2009 in compensation for wild boar meat that was
too contaminated by radiation to be sold for consumption. That total is more
than four times higher than compensation payments made in 2007."
**
* *07/30/2010
A Quarter Century after Chernobyl Radioactive Boar on the Rise in Germany
By Charles Hawley
Spiegel
*'Boar Boom'*
...The reason for the climbing goverrnment payments, of course, has more to
do with Germany's skyrocketing wild boar population than with an increase in
radioactive contamination. "In the last couple of years, wild boar have
rapidly multiplied," a spokesman from the Environment Ministry confirmed to
SPIEGEL ONLINE. "Not only is there more corn being farmed, but warmer
winters have also contributed to a boar boom."
Numbers from the German Hunting Federation confirm the population increase.
In the 2008/2009 season, a record number of boar were shot, almost 650,000
against just 287,000 a year previously.
Many of the boar that are killed land on the plates of diners across
Germany, but it is forbidden to sell meat containing high levels of
radioactive caesium-137 -- any animals showing contamination levels higher
than 600 becquerel per kilogram must be disposed of. But in some areas of
Germany, particularly in the south, wild boar routinely show much higher
levels of contamination. According to the Environment Ministry, the average
contamination for boar shot in Bayerischer Wald, a forested region on the
Bavarian border with the Czech Republic, was 7,000 becquerel per kilogram.
Other regions in southern Germany aren't much better.
Germany's Atomic Energy Law, which regulates the use of nuclear energy in
the country, mandates that the government in Berlin pay compensation to
hunters who harvest contaminated animals.
*Contaminated Wild Pig*
Wild boar are particularly susceptible to radioactive contamination due to
their predilection for chomping on mushrooms and truffles, which are
particularly efficient at absorbing radioactivity. Indeed, whereas
radioactivity in some vegetation is expected to continue declining, the
contamination of some types of mushrooms and truffles will likely remain the
same, and may even rise slightly -- even a quarter century after the
Chernobyl accident.
"In the regions where it is particularly problematic, all boar that are shot
are checked for radiation," reports Andreas Leppmann, from the German
Hunting Federation. There are 70 measuring stations in Bavaria alone.
In addition, for the last year and a half, Bavarian hunters have been
testing ways to reduce the amount of caesium-137 absorbed by wild boar. A
chemical mixture known as Giese salt, when ingested, has been shown to
accelerate the excretion of the radioactive substance. Giese salt, also
known as AFCF, is a caesium binder and has been used successfully to reduce
radiation in farm animals after Chernobyl. According to Joachim Reddemann,
an expert on radioactivity in wild boar with the Bavarian Hunting
Federation, a pilot program in Bavaria that started a year and a half ago
has managed to significantly reduce the number of contaminated animals.
Government compensation payments to hunters remain a small part of the ?238
million recompense the German government has shelled out for damages
relating to Chernobyl since reactor IV exploded on April 26, 1986.
Furthermore, there is some relief in sight. Even as wild boar continue to
show a fondness for making the headlines, the recent hard winter has had its
effect on population numbers. So far this year, Berlin has only had to pay
out ?130,000 for radioactive boar.
But radioactivity in wild boar isn't likely to disappear soon. "The problem
has been at a high level for a long time," says Reddemann. "It will likely
remain that way for at least the next 50 years."
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