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Russian space probe hysteria!



Hysteria seems to be worldwide ...  More "deadly" plutonium 
concerns... 
-------------------------------

Chilean officials Monday saw no chance
of recovering any remains of a Russian space probe that plunged
into the Pacific with seven ounces
 of deadly plutonium even if parts of the craft had survived the
fiery reentry into Earth's atmosphere.
      But ecologists, warning of the danger of radioactivity to
rich fishing grounds where the Mars-96 probe fell, said Chile
should demand that Russian authorities tell everything they know
about what was aboard the spacecraft.
      ``There is enough plutonium there for a massive
contamination of an entire aquatic ecosystem,'' Chilean
environmental leader Manuel Baquedano said.
      The exact spot where the Russian probe fell was unknown.
But the South Pacific between Easter Island and the Chilean
mainland contains tuna, mackerel and bonito, Baquedano told a
news conference. Trawlers from around the world fish there.
      The Mars-bound spacecraft lifted off from Kazakhstan
Saturday but failed to break out of the Earth's orbit after a
booster rocket misfired. The crippled probe first looked like it
would fall back to Earth over Australia, causing alarm there,
but it fell into the Pacific somewhere west of Chile.
      Most of the six-ton craft would have burned up on reentry
but U.S. scientists said it was likely the rocket's four
batteries containing the radioactive plutonium were resting on
the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
      Chilean naval officers said they were not convinced any
pieces of the space craft could survive reentry. They said Chile
had received no official notification of the incident from any
country or international organization and saw little point in
launching a search operation.
      ``We understand it was completely pulverized during reentry into
the atmosphere. There's nothing to look for out there,'' said an
officer, speaking on condition of anonymity.
      Another said the depth of the ocean floor in the area --
nearly two miles deep, according to civilian maps -- made any
salvage operation futile. ``This area has one of the deepest
ocean floors in the world. Any kind of recovery, if it were
possible, would be very, very tough,'' he said.
      Russian officials said the tiny batteries, each about the
size of a roll of film, were designed to withstand great heat
and great stress on impact. But Baquedano and other
environmentalists said the water pressure at that depth could be
too much for any manmade object to withstand.
      ``We face the danger that our entire industrial and
small-scale fishing stocks could be contaminated,'' biologist
Bernado Reyes said at a news conference with Baquedano. ``The
species there are those we Chileans nourish ourselves with.''
      The probe's crash was the latest episode involving nuclear
material off Chile's coasts in the past two years.
      France conducted a series of atomic tests in Polynesia west of
Chile's Easter Island and the British freighter Pacific Pintail passed
around Chile's southern tip last year carrying radioactive nuclear
wastes from France to Japan.
      Both those incidents caused government concern. Chile
briefly recalled its ambassador from Paris in protest at the
first French atomic test in September last year.

Sandy Perle
Director, Technical Operations
ICN Dosimetry Division
Office: (800) 548-5100 Ext. 2306 
Fax: (714) 668-3149

E-Mail: sandyfl@ix.netcom.com