Re: RADSAFE digest 2109

[J Hughes <yayaokok@deltanet.com>]

Greenpeace has reached the conclusion that the area near Sellafiled is as contaminated as that near Chernobyl, 
based on the numbers presented below, which were "from  the analyses of soil samples from both areas 
commissioned by Greenpeace to the University of Bremen (1)."

"(1) Pollution with the americium-241 radioactive isotope in a soil sample eight hundred meters from the 
reactor in the Chernobyl disaster, for example, is around 1,300 becquerels per kilogram. In soil sampled seven
miles away from the Sellafield plant, pollution from this isotope is as much as 30,000 becquerels per 
kilogram. The analyses carried out for Greenpeace by the University of Bremen also found cobalt-60 values of 
up to 40 becquerels per kilogram, and pollution from caesium-137 in concentrations of up to 9,400 becquerels 
per kilogramme, seven miles from the UK reprocessing plant. Seven miles from the Chernobyl reactor, on the
other hand, fewer than ten becquerels of cobalt-60, and approximately 7,400 becquerels of caesium-137, were 
measured per kilogram."

Could these numbers be accurate, and what do they indicate?

Thanks,

John Hughes
hughesj@songs.sce.com
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