Re: Six nuclear Newsweek pages: THE NEXT CHERNOBYL

["Bjorn Cedervall" <bcradsafers@hotmail.com>]

> >I frequently write letters to the editor
I already sent one:

"Here are my comments to the Oct. 18 article about the nuclear situation in 
Soviet Union. First, cesium 137 and strontium 90 cannot explode - the 1957 
catastrophy was a thermal explosion of a nuclear waste tank. Second, these 
radionuclides are two of many dozens of radionuclides that have been 
released into the environment of the Mayak area since the late 1940s.

The Mayak PA is not just a reprocessing plant but also includes nuclear 
reactors, enrichment facilities, waste handling and other nuclear 
technologies. The 1967 event was a typhon (not an explosion) blowing through 
the area - releasing many more radioactive elements from the Lake Karachai 
than just cesium 137. This event followed upon two years of little rainfall 
which had dried out the Lake Karachai and which had been used for dumping of 
large amounts of radioactive waste.

The phrase about cesium 137 being "a highly dangerous radioisotope" is a 
rather irrelevant statement - the same comment could be made for the 
occurrence of natural potassium 40 in our bodies. The radioactivity 
situation in former Soviet Union is problematic and for some areas a serious 
problem but that does not defend carelessness with its description."

Bjorn Cedervall   bcradsafers@hotmail.com

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