Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!harvard!caip!lll-crg!gymble!umcp-cs!prometheus!pmk
From: pmk@prometheus.UUCP (Paul M Koloc)
Newsgroups: net.followup
Subject: Re: Russian Nuclear Accident
Message-ID: <230@prometheus.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 15-May-86 04:38:53 EDT
Article-I.D.: promethe.230
Posted: Thu May 15 04:38:53 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 16-May-86 06:04:18 EDT
References: <228@scbhq.UUCP> <144@comp.lancs.ac.uk> <642@argon.idec.stc.co.uk> <184@olamb.UUCP>
Reply-To: pmk@prometheus.UUCP (Paul M Koloc)
Organization: Prometheus II, Ltd., College Park, MD 20740-0222
Lines: 45

In article <184@olamb.UUCP> soren@olamb.UUCP (Soeren Rabbe) writes:
>the radiation in the air above Denmark has been about 20% to 40% above 
>normal. And it is falling... . most radiation comes from Iodine-131 which 
>is easyly adopted in the body. What harm it has caused is unknown. But 
>the half-life period is about 30 days, so the risk for further exposure 
>will reduce fast.

It is the short half life that makes iodine dangerous.  Iodine
comes from the decay of xenon which can diffuse into the steel
cooling pipes in reactors and decay to iodine and always be ready
to wipe out plant workers in a couple of minutes if the pipe
accidentally ruptures and the coolant is released in their presence 
for whatever reason.  The isotope can get into the blood stream 
through breathing, drinking water or milk and eating sea foods that 
have a high uptake or even eating salads of leafy vegetables.  

The trouble comes from its concentration by grazing fish, krill,
and land animals and in the human body the principle site of
concentration is the thyroid.  Embryos are especially sensitive..
...  by a more than a thousand times.  Thyroid cancers can be 
above average for many decades beyond the date of exposure. Cesium 
is also quite hot (radioactive) and dangerous to human health.  

If there would be runaway reaction and melt through (China syndrome), 
then plutonium breeding would be a problem and the total radiation 
would be millions of times the levels in this case of the Urkrainian 
disaster.   In spite of the utterances to the contrary, near
worst scenario nuclear disasters could wipe out a genetically
viable human race.  There was 400,000 to 800,000 lbs of Uranium
in the reactor that dusted us.   We can thank God our earthly
technology didn't spawn much of a problem this time around.
Imagine the plutonium that thing could cook up in an uncontrolled
runaway breeding frenzy.   Oh!  by the way there is a lot of 
diffusing radioactive gas bubbling out of the ground from the
world's under ground military fission weapons tests, and this
won't peak in the atmosphere for several more centuries.  A
little something to increase the night glow for the grand kids.

	Support your local innovative fusion shop.

+---------------------------------------------------------+--------+
| Paul M. Koloc, President: (301) 445-1075                | FUSION |
| Prometheus II, Ltd.; College Park, MD 20740-0222        |  this  |
| {umcp-cs | seismo}!prometheus!pmk; pmk@prometheus.UUCP  | decade |
+---------------------------------------------------------+--------+