[ RadSafe ] Two Meter Thick Steel Plates to Shield from Plutonium

[franz.schoenhofer at chello.at]

Roger and RADSAFErs,

I have time and again warned on RADSAFE for "Der Spiegel", because this is a nasty pseudointellectual journal for pseudointellectuals and wants to give their readers that belief that they are intellectuals. Speculations, which turn out a few days later as what they are, are "sold" as facts. Furthermore it is one of the foremost anti-nuclear pseudointellectual journals. They ignore any real scientists, even the world over highly esteemed "Fachverband für Strahlenschutz" (German Radiation Protection Society) with the absolute top scientists from Germany, Switzerland and even some from Austria, as far as we have some....  They only cite the Gesellschaft für Strahlenschutz which consists only of a handful of furious anti-nuclear pseudo-scientists, one of the most disgusting one Schmitz-Feuerhake who has been officially found  by her university to having falsified data and left out those which did not agree with her anti-nuclear opinion. She was not dismissed from university because she was to retire anyway the next year. She is a prominent member of this infamous "European Commission of something with Radiation Protection" - what a surprise that Chris Busby is secretary there! 

I have visited the web-site you mentioned before. One of the masterpieces of this kind of journalism is to cite facts - and then draw conclusions which have nothing to do with the facts. 

Having a reasonable mind looking at the site, one would detect, that almost all of the examples given there are from military use of nuclear bombs, tests, etc. What has this to do with Fukushima? But that's the usual trick of antinuclear groups to link nuclear power to the devastating effects from nuclear weapons. No anti-nuclear propaganda without a mushroom cloud, no one against a nuclear power plant without showing the huge cooling towers, even if there are none and the reactor building is tiny compared to the cooling towers. Manipulation everywhere, but  we live in democracies, where spin doctors tell the politicians what lies to say to be elected!

Something scientific on Kazachstan: Yes the site is incredibly contaminated. I cannot believe that anyone in Kazachstan would think of agricultural produce. There have been IAEA based groups evaluating the contamination and there are even more results from research of former Sovjet agencies and now Kasach ones. During a meeting at the IAEA on the Fast Breeder Reactor many years ago I also met a few Kasach scientists and I dare say, that they were top in their field.

That 2 m of steel would be necessary to shield from alpha-radiation of plutonium - ok, it will certainly shield, but where to plant the agricultural produce then? We live in a world of idiots, having not the slightest amount of common sense.

Best regards, 

Franz
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---- Roger Helbig <rhelbig at sfo.com> schrieb:
> Is this statement on the Der Spiegel Atomic Desert site accurate?  If it is,
> why two meter thick steel plates and how much of an area do they cover.
> 
>  
> 
> http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,756369-8,00.html
> 
>  
> 
> The Kazakh government had hoped to make the site available for agricultural
> use once again. But some areas are still so contaminated with plutonium that
> they have to be covered with huge, two-meter thick steel plates to contain
> the radiation.
> 
> Thanks
> 
>  
> 
> Roger Helbig
> 
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--
Franz Schoenhofer, PhD, MinRat
Habicherg. 31/7
A-1160 Vienna
Austria
mobile: ++43 699 1706 1227