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La Hague - 9000 times etc/Krypton 85
Radsafers,
The text below is from a Greenpeace discussion four days ago.
Please forgive me if all the details below already were on
"Radsafers" - some definitely were but much of my email
systems were stirred around due to a computer upgrading (lost
send lists, English softwares replaced by corresp. Swedish
- all this off-topic pain for something I didn't ask for).
Anyway, what I find surprising is that the samples were taken
on Nov. 4 (after 11 days of training which I assume must include
some calibration procedures and experiences regarding statistical
reliability) and they are already out with an interpretation
after 5 days.
If I look to the research I am involved in, we are usually very
careful with the evaluations/interpretations but a Greenpeace
press release is of course different from laboratory data that
are processed to form an accepted article in a professional
journal. In particular I am thinking about the previous comment
about positions of spectral lines (not my field), mixing in the
atmosphere, future estimated doses -how on earth can they know
the answers after 5 days?
Sincerely Yours,
bjorn_cedervall@hotmail.com
Any opinions, thoughts etc above are mine, and may not
necessarily coincide with those of others.
------------------------------------------------------------
LA HAGUE RADIOACTIVE AIR 90,000 TIMES HIGHER THAN BACKGROUND -
GREENPEACE RELEASES FIRST SAMPLE RESULTS
La Hague, France, Nov 9, 1998 - Greenpeace today announced that
it had discovered high levels of aerial contamination in the
surroundings of Cogema's plutonium reprocessing facility.
Greenpeace sampled the air at an altitude of between 60 and 120
metres and up to 1km from the plant's main discharge stacks.
These samples were analyzed by the University of Gent, Belgium,
and were found to contain over 90,000 Bq/m3 of the radioactive
noble gas Krypton-85 (Kr-85). This value contrasts sharply with
the world average radioactivity in air of between 1-2 Bq/m3. In
a computer model developed by NOAA (Air Resources Lab.)
Greenpeace showed that Cogema's aerial discharges contaminate
the air throughout most of Western Europe, eventually this air
moves around the planet.
A Greenpeace sampling team has been on site for two weeks to
conduct a research program into the aerial releases and
consequent contamination of the environment by Cogema's plant.
Using professional kite flyers and industrial-sized kites with
samples pipes, Greenpeace was able to sample air at various
altitudes and wind directions around the facility. After 11 days
of training and tuning the equipment, the first sample was taken
on Wednesday, November 4th.
"Our first result is shocking, when it is considered that the
background level is 90,000 less, but its only a small first step
in trying to understand more about atmospheric contamination
from Cogema's plutonium factory," said Diederik Samsom of
Greenpeace. "Reprocessing is such a polluting industry that
Cogema has turned the air radioactive," said Samsom.
Cogema is known to be the single largest source of aerial
radioactivity in the world and is rapidly increasing its gaseous
discharges. Last year Cogema discharged up to 300.000 TBq1
(TeraBecquerel) of radioactivity into the atmosphere. This is an
increase of nearly 500 0n less than 8 years.
No data on levels of Kr-85 in the air has been made public by
Cogema, despite their claims that they monitor extensively
around the plant. However, only three days ago, two weeks after
Greenpeace began sampling for Kr-85, the French government
Institute for Nuclear Safety Protection, (IPSN) distributed a
preliminary paper containing figures on Krypton-85 contamination
in the environment. The IPSN figures on Kr-85 contamination on
ground level, confirm the worrying picture of large
contamination levels in the air around La Hague. Greenpeace is
calling for full public disclosure of aerial monitoring data for
contamination around the Cogema plant and wider area.
"Very little data has ever been published about atmospheric
radioactive pollution from reprocessing plants. And yet millions
of cubic metres of contaminated air is pumped out every day.
Cogema is conducting a nuclear experiment on the environment and
human health," said Samsom .
Spent fuel from French nuclear power plants, as well as overseas
clients in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and
Japan is reprocessed at the la Hague plant.
A dispersion model released by Greenpeace reveals how the
discharged radioactivity spreads over large parts of Europe,
covering France, UK, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany with
radioactivity levels sometimes up to 100 times or more above
background.
"Those countries that dumped their waste on France are now
receiving some of it back through atmospheric pollution. They
are as responsible for this environmental problem as Cogema,"
said Samsom. "It's clear that this dangerous nuclear cycle can
only be stopped by ending reprocessing."
The French government has announced that it intends to hold a
public consultation for a new license for Cogema's radioactive
discharges, and site license, but after more than one year
there is still no date for such a process.
Notes:
1 - The NOAA air dispersal model is available upon request, as
well as the GPI nuclear campaign website, address:
http://www.greenpeace.org/~comms/no.nukes/reprohn.html 2 -
TBq/m3 translates as - Tera Becquerel cubic metre. 1.1 TBq =
1,000,000,000,000 Bq.
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