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From: stephen@comp.lancs.ac.uk (Stephen J. Muir)
Newsgroups: net.followup
Subject: Re: Russian Nuclear Accident
Message-ID: <144@comp.lancs.ac.uk>
Date: Tue, 6-May-86 23:51:22 EDT
Article-I.D.: comp.144
Posted: Tue May  6 23:51:22 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 14-May-86 01:32:26 EDT
References: <228@scbhq.UUCP>
Reply-To: stephen@comp.lancs.ac.uk (Stephen J. Muir)
Organization: Department of Computing at Lancaster University, UK.
Lines: 29
Summary: We got off lightly.

In article <228@scbhq.UUCP> sdp@scbhq.UUCP writes:
>Europe, what is happening over there?  I would greatly appreciate reading your
>first hand reports, and comments.

By the time the nuclear cloud reached us, it was very low level.  The only
precaution we've been asked to observe is not to drink rainwater directly.  Tap
water etc. is OK.  Drinking rainwater direct for a week is said to be
equivalent exposure to 1 year's normal normal background radiation.  Milk is
being checked regularly, and it's been found safe so far.  The background
reading in the atmosphere is 20% above normal, and falling.

It took a very long time for the Russians to admit more than 2 people were
killed, and they still haven't come clean.  They asked the West to put out the
fire, and it's now under control.  It seems some workers at the site survived
by stripping naked in the loo and using their clothes to cover the openings in
the loo.  Of course, Reagan's spy sattelites were too busy watchin Libya!

There was a fire at a nuclear plant not 10 miles from here (in Heysham).
Fortunately, it was only a power transformer.  The reactor was shut down
immediately and there was no damage to it -- nor did any radiation leak.  It
is expected to remain shut down for a week.

I believe the Scandinavian countries had it worse.
-- 
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