High levels of strontium detected at Fukushima

[FBaggins]

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says it has detected high levels of a radioactive substance that tends to accumulate in human bones. Tokyo Electric Power Company says it took soil samples on May 9th at 3 locations about 500 meters from the No.1 and No.2 reactors and analyzed them. The utility detected up to 480 becquerels of radioactive strontium 90 per kilogram of soil. That's about 100 times higher than the maximum reading recorded in Fukushima Prefecture following atmospheric nuclear tests carried out by foreign countries during the Cold War era.

TEPCO reported detecting 2,800 becquerels of strontium 89 per kilogram of soil at the same location. This is the second time since April that radioactive strontium has been found inside the plant compound. The substance was also detected in soil and plants more than 30 kilometers from the Fukushima nuclear power station in March.

When people inhale radioactive strontium, it accumulates in bones. Scientists say that strontium could cause cancer. Tokyo Electric Power says it believes that radioactive strontium was released from the damaged plant and it will continue to monitor radiation levels. An expert on radioactive substances says he thinks radioactive strontium may continue to be detected around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. But he says the strontium levels that might be detected in soil will be far lower than those of the radioactive cesium released in the accident by a factor of several thousand.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/01_h01.html

[nebenaube]

1. That means there was a nuclear boom... doesn't it? n/t

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. boom, gloom and doom.

[FBaggins]

3. No. It's a fission product found in reactors and spent fuel. n/t

[flamingdem]

5. You want people to respond: "BONESEEKERS" aaaaahh!

That was in fact a funny comment you made a while ago.

[CJvR]

4. That is...

...the kind of crap you really don't want to get out, unlike Iodine there is no getting rid of Strontium and Cesium.

[caraher]

6. Half true

Strontium does have a long biological half-life of http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nuclear/biohalf.html#c2">about 49 years. But Cesium's biological half-life is a few months. It doesn't accumulate in bone the way strontium does.

[CJvR]

7. No it is less nasty...

...in that way but it lingers even longer than Strontium and is the main reason why Russia and Ukraine both have National parks which glow in the dark.

[caraher]

8. They both have roughly 30 year physical half-lives

I think the main difference there is simply that Chernobyl released more Cs-137 than Sr-90 - http://www.greenfacts.org/en/chernobyl/toolboxes/half-life-radioisotopes.htm|8.5 times more according to one source.> I'd expect Fukushima releases would have a similar ratio.

[CJvR]

9. Yes they do.

I had got it in my head that Strontium had a shorter halflife for some reason.