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| 93.1 | | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Mon Apr 28 1986 22:24 | 58 |
| Associated Press Mon 28-APR-1986 11:34 Sweden-Radiation
Increased Radiation from Soviet Union, Swedish Official Says
By JOHAN RAPP
Associated Press Writer
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Slight increases in radiation levels detected
near a nuclear power plant in eastern Sweden apparently were caused by
a radiation leak in the Soviet Union, a Swedish official said today.
Bo Holmquist, a senior official in the regional government in Uppsala,
north of Stockholm, which supervises Sweden's Forsmark nuclear power
plant, said increased radiation was discovered around the plant this
morning.
"But the source of the leak is somewhere to the east of us and to the
east of Finland, if you know what I mean," he told The Associated
Press in a telephone interview after the Swedish news agency TT
reported increased radiation was detected outside the Forsmark plant.
Holmquist, whose remarks clearly referred to the Soviet Union, said
radiation from a leak there had probably been carried by the wind to
large parts of the Swedish coast. It is about 120 miles from the Soviet
Union to the Swedish mainland at its closest point across the Baltic
sea.
"The radiation level was very weak, but it showed on Forsmark's
sensitive equipment," Holmquist said. He added that the levels
presented no danger. In accordance with an alert procedure that goes
into effect if a leak is suspected at Forsmark, some of the station's
employees were sent home, Holmquist said.
He said authorities began to suspect anot{er source of radiation when
similar radioactive recordings were made at a monitoring station in
Nykoping, south of Stockholm. Holmquist said Swedish officials have
been in contact with authorities in Finland, and that increased
radiation levels also have been found there. He said the source of the
radiation was not Finland.
The news agency TT, Tidningarnas Telegrambyra, said the increased
radiation levels at Forsmark, 90 miles north of Stockholm, were
discovered when employees arrived this morning. When they enter and
leave the Forsmark plant, the workers' radiation levels are routinely
checked, officials said. What was detected was radiation of "a few
millirem an hour, a dosage which is harmless to people but illegally
high for discharges{ Olle Blomqvist, an information officer at the
State Power Board was quoted as telling TT.
Almost the entire Baltic coast of the Soviet Union is closed to
foreigners. It was not known if there are nuclear facilities there.
There was no report in the Soviet media today of any radiation leak.
Soviet nuclear accidents never have been reported in the Soviet Union,
nor confirmed by Soviet officials.
However, exiled Soviet scientists have said there was a major nuclear
accident in the Chelyabinsk region of the Ural Mountains in 1958 that
killed hundreds of people and contaminated a large area. The region has
since been off limits to everyone.
|
| 93.2 | | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Tue Apr 29 1986 19:22 | 84 |
| Associated Press Tue 29-APR-1986 09:24 Sweden-Nuclear
By JOHAN RAPP
Associated Press Writer
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - A Swedish official said today that the Soviet
Union was seeking advice from Sweden on how to fight a fire in a
nuclear plant. Frigyes Reisch, a reactor inspector at Sweden's state
Nuclear Power Inspection Board, also said he was certain there had been
a core meltdown in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, 60 miles north of
the Ukrainian capital of Kiev.
Reisch, speaking in a radio interview, said Soviet officials had sought
Swedish advice on how to "combat a fire in a nuclear plant." Asked if
that request meant there had been a meltdown, he said, "Yes, one could
be certain of that already yesterday."
A core meltdown, one of the worst possible nuclear reactor accidents,
occurs when core heat rises faster than it can be carried away,
possibly boiling off radioactive fuel into the atmosphere.
The Soviets reported the Chernobyl accident on Monday, hours after
Sweden made its first public disclosure of increased radiation and said
that it appeared to come from the Soviet Union. Officials in Finland
said a rise in radiation levels was detected Sunday.
Ulf Baverstam, the senior scientist at the National Institute of
Radiation Protection in Stockholm who was interviewed today on ABC-TV's
"Good Morning America," said the Soviets had asked for help with a fire
in a graphite reactor. "Evidently it's quite a huge accident that has
gone on," he said.
Earlier today, the institute's spokesman Torkel Bennerstedt said the
above-normal radiation levels detected across Northern Europe appeared
to be falling. "It has decreased continuously since last night," he
said. "However, we are prepared for more possibly coming, since the
accident there seems to have been big."
Bennerstedt said readings in the outskirts of Stockholm this morning
showed radiation levels were down to "twice of what nature normally
discharges." Monday night, Swedish authorities reported readings of up
to five times the normal radiation levels.
Lars Erik de Geer, a researcher at Sweden's government Defense Research
Agency, said the radiation levels corresponded to those recorded after
nuclear weapons' tests in the atmosphere during the 1970's. "I know of
no earlier nuclear power plant accident which has led to such high
radiation levels in this area," he said.
Bennerstedt said it would take about a month for the increased levels
of radiation to dissipate provided no new discharges were blown in by
winds. He added that no readings made in Sweden so far represented any
danger to human beings. "It could get 10 times worse before we take
measures, such as asking people to stay in their homes," Bennerstedt
said.
Finland's National Institute of Radiation Protection reported levels of
radiation had fallen somewhat and noted that the wind had changed
direction from a southeast to an eastwardly wind. Officials in Finland,
which borders the Soviet Union, said Monday evening that levels in
their country had been much higher than those in Sweden, although still
not harmful.
Swedish Energy Minister Birgitta Dahl asked for an extensive report
about the accident from the Soviet authorities and Danish Minister of
the Environment Christian Christensen demanded a written explanation.
Ms. Dahl said in a television interview Monday that Sweden was not
satisfied with the Soviet behavior. "They should immediately have
warned us," she said.
She said official Swedish enquiries to the Soviet authorities, who at
first told the neutral country's Moscow embassy that they knew of no
leak, may have led to the Soviet's later confirmation of the accident.
"We must demand higher safety standards in the Soviet Union," Ms. Dahl
said. Soviet reactors are not encased to stop radiation leaks as are
Swedish reactors, she said.
Sweden might repeat its old demand that the Soviet civilian nuclear
program be put under international control by the International Atomic
Energy Agency, she said.
The energy minister said the Swedish Embassy in Moscow had been
instructed to ask the Soviet Union for an extensive report about the
accident.
|
| 93.3 | | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Wed Apr 30 1986 19:23 | 87 |
| Associated Press Wed 30-APR-1986 15:07 Sweden-Radiation
Soviet Ambassadors Try To Assure Scandinavians
By LARRY THORSON
Associated Press Writer
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Soviet diplomats assured worried Scandinavian
governments Wednesday that conditions had stabilized at a nuclear
reactor in the Ukraine following a major accident, but offered little
new information about what happened. The accident, believed by outside
experts to have begun Friday, sent a cloud of radioactive material over
Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.
Swedish authorities on Wednesday advised east coast residents not to
drink rainwater and banned imports of fresh meat, fish and vegetables
from the Soviet Union and East bloc countries because of possible
radiation contamination.
Finland said it was sending a plane to evacuate about 100 Finnish
students, tourists and construction workers from Kiev, about 80 miles
south o the crippled Chernobyl nuclear reactor in the Soviet Ukraine.
"Since the reactor is burning, and it is burning openly, belching up
the (radioactive) substance, we do not know what can happen," said
Ilkka Maekipentti of the Finnish Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Stig Bergstroem, a scientist at Sweden's state-owned Studsvik nuclear
research company told The Associated Press he believed the reactor fire
still was not contained as of Wednesday. U.S. intelligence sources in
Washington also said an inferno still raged at the site and that a
meltdown may have occurred at a second reactor at the facility.
Winds shifted Wednesday to turn the invisible plume of radioactive dust
away from Scandinavia, back toward the Soviet Union and East Europe.
Radiation levels were reported declining Wednesday in Sweden and
Denmark but still were high in northern Sweden.
There were no signs of public panic, but hundreds of Danes flocked to
drugstores to buy iodine tablets, which can hinder the body's
absorption of iodine.
Soviet ambassadors to Sweden, Norway and Denmark called on their host
governments Wednesday. Officials in all three countries said the Soviet
envoys gave non-detailed accounts of the accident, similar to that
carried Tuesday by the Soviet news agency Tass.
Swedish Foreign Ministry spokesman Ulf Haakansson said Soviet
Ambassador Boris Pankin told ministry officials that "if conditions
develop for the worse, they of course would immediately inform the
Swedish authorities." "We see it in a positive way - the acknowledgment
that was made and the promise of fuller information," he said.
But Haakansson said Soviet authorities still had not replied to the
Swedish Embassy's request for detailed technical data about the reactor
accident. "We have an information gap which we would like to have
filled," he said.
In Oslo, Norwegian Prime Minister Kaare Willoche gave Soviet Ambassador
Dimitri S. Polyansky a list of questions, including whether
radioactivity still was leakin and whether it could reach Norway. Nils
Morten Udgaard, one of Willoche's top aides, said the Soviet envoy was
told Norway wanted fast and continuous information on such accidents.
Bergstroem of the Studsvik nuclear research company said fallout found
in Sweden contained a wide spectrum of radioactive isotopes, including
iodine 131 and cesium 137. Both are dangerous to humans. If the level
of cesium 137 were to remain high for a year it would double the amount
of natural radiation that bombards Swedes, he said. "But the cloud has
passed now. Levels are dropping steadily," Bergstroem said.
Other isotopes found in the fallout included cesium 134, zirconium,
niobium, ruthenium 103, ruthenium 106, cerium 141 and cerium 144, he
said. These finds showed there had been "a very big" breakdown in which
most of the fuel was damaged at Chernobyl, he said.
Sweden's governing Social Democratic Party scheduled 350 open-air
rallies Thursday around the country to mark May Day, and officials were
expected to repeat their denunciations of Moscow for failing to give
early notification about the approach of the radioactive cloud.
A large group of European royalty, apparently unconcerned about
radiation danger, was in Stockholm to celebrate King Carl XVI Gustaf's
40th birthday. Among those present were King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola
of Belgium, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain, former Queen
Juliana and Prince Bernhard of Holland, Queen Margrethe and Prince
Henrik of Denmark and Prince Albert of Monaco.
|
| 93.4 | | PENNSY::ADA13 | | Thu May 01 1986 09:22 | 48 |
| <<< TLE::PUBD$:[VAXNOTES]SCANDIA.NOTE;1 >>>
-< All about Scandinavia >-
================================================================================
Note 93.4 Increased radioactive radiation in Scandinavia 4 of 4
PENNSY::ADA13 70 lines 1-MAY-1986 08:17
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Associated Press Thu 01-MAY-1986 06:52 Sweden-Radiation
Swedish Hospital Offered Soviets Help In Treating Radiation
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Soviet officials have told Sweden they do not
need foreign help at this point in treating victims of radiation
sickness from the Chernobyl reactor accident, a Swedish Foreign
Ministry spokesman said Thursday. The Soviet position emerged after a
spokeswoman at Sweden's Karolinska hospital corrected her report that
Soviet officials Wednesday had asked if Karolinska would be prepared to
treat radiation-sickness patients.
Actually, a doctor at Karolinska wrote to Sweden's National Radiation
Protection Institute asking if it was appropriate to offer help to
Soviet patients, said spokeswoman Tania Blanck, correcting her earlier
report. A copy of the letter was sent to the Soviet Embassy, and a
Soviet aide had called to say only that the Soviet ambassador would be
informed of the letter's contents, the spokeswoman said. "I'm sorry, I
just found out that what I told you this morning was not correct," Ms.
Blanck told The Associated Press.
Her earlier statement had caused the Swedish Foreign Ministry to seek
clarification from the Soviet Embassy, and Foreign Ministry spokesman
Ulf Haakansson said a senior Soviet official had indicated no outside
assistance was required.
Haakansson said the official told Swedish officials "the Soviet Union
has sufficient material, scientific and technical resources to handle
the consequences of the breakdown." "Therefore, at this point, there is
no need for assistance from other states," Haakansson quoted the
official as saying. He did not give the Soviet's name.
Haakansson said the Soviet claimed that radioactive discharges from
Chernobyl had decreased, and that the contaminated area 80 miles north
of the Ukrainian capital of Kiev was being cleaned up.
The catch of a Danish fishing vessel was confiscated because of
radiation found in the ship's air filter, Danish radio reported. There
were no signs of public panic, and thousands of Swedes were outdoors at
sunset Wednesday to sing spring songs around bonfires in the Walpurgis
festival, a cheerful modern version of the medieval witches' Sabbath.
|
| 93.5 | Finns evacuated from Kiev | NUHAVN::ADA13 | | Fri May 02 1986 09:22 | 57 |
| Associated Press Thu 01-MAY-1986 21:36 Finland-Evacuation
Traces of Radiation in Finns Evacuated from Kiev
HELSINKI, Finland (AP) - A special evacuation flight brought 72 Finns
home Thursday to hugs, kisses and radiation checks after readings at
the airport in the Soviet city of Kiev showed traces of radioactive
iodine in all of them.
But Finnish officials said the amount of radiation detected was not
alarming and that the effects of the nuclear accident at Chernobyl,
about 80 miles north of Kiev, apparently were small. Life in Kiev, the
evacuees said, appeared normal.
An accident Friday at the Chernobyl power plant, in which the core of
at least one of its four nuclear reactors apparently melted, spewed
huge clouds of radioactive gas into the air. The Finnish Foreign
Ministry subsequently decided to evacuate all of its nationals from the
Kiev area as a precaution and sent a DC-8 jet of the national airline
Finnair to fetch them. There were about 160 Finnish workers, students
and tourists in the area, but some decided to remain.
"We found traces of radioactive iodine in all the evacuated people, but
they were small, as we expected," Aapo Rytomaa, a researcher at the
Office of Nuclear Radiation Safety, said when the plane arrived at
Helsinki airport after a six-hour flight. "All of the evacuated Finns
will be checked thoroughly on Friday," Rytomaa added.
He said the Soviets told the Finnish officials not to bring geiger
counters along on the flight, but the jetliner had carried one anyway
"for the protection of the crew." That geiger counter showed the
radiation level at Kiev airport was not alarming, Rytomaa said. But he
refused to give specifics.
The DC-8 jetliner also was checked for radiation both in Kiev and upon
arrival in Helsinki. "There were minute amounts of radiation in both
checks," said Kai Bjorkman, the pilot. "We flew over the Chernobyl
area, but we did not see any glow or anything of the stricken nuclear
power plant."
Esko Kannonkoski, who had been working on a construction project in
Kiev, told reporters the Ukranian city was "full of rumors, and all of
them were scary. The problem was that we did not get any information
from the Soviets." Kannonkoski said he would go back to Kiev to
complete work on the clothing factory there only "after we are assured
by officials it is perfectly safe to be there."
The returning Finns said life in Kiev had remained pretty normal.
"There were more people around than usual, and they may have been those
who had been evacuated from the vicinity of the accident area," one of
the evacuees said, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Capt. Bjorkman said flight traffic at Kiev airport was running
normally. He said the plane, which waited five hours in Helsinki for
Soviet permission for the flight, was on the ground at Kiev less than
two hours.
|
| 93.6 | Radiation update | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Sun May 04 1986 19:16 | 66 |
| Associated Press Sat 03-MAY-1986 15:45 Sweden-Radiation
Wind Shift Expected But Not Much New Radiation
By STEPHEN H. MILLER
Associated Press Writer
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Weather officials said Saturday that changing
winds in the next few days would bring new radioactivity into
Scandinavia from the devastated Soviet reactor, but at much lower
levels than last weekend.
Radiation levels in Sweden and Finland were reported to be falling
steadily, and Finns were assured that their dairy milk was safe even
though it contained traces of radioactive iodine. The head of the
Swedish Radiation Protection Institute, Gunnar Bengtsson, said the
government hoped to ease precautions declared only the day before for
dairy cattle.
Swedish national television said the government had lifted a
four-day-old ban on importing fresh vegetables, fish and meat from East
European countries that received radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl
nuclear power plant, 80 miles north of Kiev in the Ukraine. The
television said radiation levels on the food imports would be checked.
In Denmark, an anti-nuclear group said at its annual meeting in
Copenhagen on Saturday that it was trying to find ways to send letters
with information on the long-term effects of radiation to people in the
Ukraine. The group, Information on Nuclear Power, said the letters also
would provide advice on protective measures against radioactive
fallout. Spokesman Sigfread Christiansen called the letter campaign
"strictly humanitarian."
Lennart Andersson of Sweden's state weather service said winds would
begin coming from the south in a few days, bringing small amounts of
radiation already blown into other parts of Europe from the Soviet
Union. Bengtsson said the winds would bring only limited new radiation,
compared with the fallout blown into northern Europe last weekend
immediately after the reactor accident. The earlier winds came directly
into Scandinavia from the Soviet Union.
The Swedish Radiation Protection Institute on Friday advised dairy
farmers to keep their cows in barns temporarily and feed them hay to
prevent them from eating pasture grass dusted with radioactivity.
Bengtsson, noting that farmers complained of the cost of keeping cows
indoors, said Saturday the agency was trying to determine if radiation
was low enough in any areas for animals to be allowed to graze
outdoors. He said he hoped five southern provinces would be cleared for
outdoor grazing Sunday, followed Monday by provinces just to the north.
Bengtsson said a monitoring station outside Stockholm that normally
registers 11 microroentgens per hour of gamma radiation was now
Saturday to 17 after hitting a peak of 20.
The Finnish Office of Nuclear Radiation repeated its warnings against
drinking rainwater, and advised against travel to the southern Soviet
Union or parts of Eastern Europe close to the Soviet Union. The Finnish
agency said traces of radioactive iodine from the Chernobyl reactor
were found in milk, but at one-fortieth the level that would be
considered unsafe.
Danish legislators are considering a resolution calling on Sweden to
close a nuclear power plant 12 miles from the Danish capital,
Copenhagen.
|
| 93.7 | There were other times, too | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Thu May 08 1986 10:13 | 30 |
| Associated Press Wed 07-MAY-1986 08:41 Sweden-Nuclear
Three Unexplained Emissions Noted Since 1983
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - The Swedish defense agency has recorded three
unexplained radioactive emissions from the Soviet Union since 1983, an
agency physicist said today.
Lars Eric de Geer said that although the readings, in December 1983,
February 1984 and February 1985, were extremely low they were of
radioactive matter normally created inside nuclear reactors. "It is not
what you normally see outside," he said. "We can only speculate about
the reasons."
De Geer said the emissions were 1,000 million times smaller than those
recorded after the April 26 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power
plant in the Soviet Ukraine, and it would be "to exaggerate" to
describe them as resulting from accidents. De Geer is a scientist with
the Swedish Defense Research Institution, which operates devices
intended to detect nuclear tests outside Sweden.
De Geer said the three incidents of emissions could have come from the
Chernobyl plant 80 miles north of the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, but it
was difficult to pinpoint the source. "We have also been looking at a
reactor in Lithuania," he said, adding that the emissions might have
come from one of several in the eastern Soviet Union.
De Geer said Swedish officials determined the emissions were from the
Soviet Union by examining weather conditions at the time of the
readings.
|
| 93.8 | Concern for 3rd reactor | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Fri May 09 1986 12:58 | 36 |
| Associated Press Fri 09-MAY-1986 06:39 Sweden-Nuclear
Concern for Third Reactor, Swedish Official Says
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Nuclear experts are concerned that a second
reactor at the stricken Soviet Chernobyl nuclear plant was damaged in
the explosion nearly two weeks ago, Swedish officials said today.
Sven Gustafsson of the Swedish Nuclear Inspection Board said that
concern centered on Chernobyl's No. 3 reactor, the partner reactor to
the one whose destruction continues to send radioactivity into the air.
Gustafsson said that "judging from the information gathered, it seems
that the third reactor is under control." But he said that it was felt
the possibility of damage could not be excluded because the stricken
No. 4 reactor was nearby and "what was happening there was of a very
violent nature."
Soviet officials have denied earlier speculation by Western experts
that a second reactor was damaged in the April 26 explosion and fire at
the Chernobyl power plant 80 miles north of the Ukrainian capital of
Kiev. However, Gustafsson said that Swedish experts had studied Soviet
statements and exchanged information with American, British and West
German nuclear experts in the course of concluding there could be a
problem with the second Chernobyl reactor.
Lars Hogberg, deputy head of Sweden's Nuclear Power Inspection Board,
was quoted as saying in an interview with Sweden's largest morning
newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, that radiation protection experts and
nuclear power inspectors meeting in Paris today would discuss the risk
of another reactor breakdown at Chernobyl. The Paris meeting will
involve officials and experts from countries within the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Hogberg was quoted as saying there was speculation that the No. 3
reactor might not have sufficiently cooled after the Chernobyl facility
was shut down following the accident at No. 4.
|
| 93.9 | ...from inside own plant | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Thu May 29 1986 10:33 | 25 |
| Associated Press Wed 28-MAY-1986 19:44 Sweden-Radiation
Increased Radiation Inside Swedish Nuclear Plant
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Slightly increased radiation levels have been
detected inside the Oskarshamn nuclear power plant in southern Sweden,
an official said Wednesday.
Radiation levels 30 percent higher than normal had been registered
inside a reactor three weeks ago during annual maintenance at the
plant, said Security Chief Bengt Lowendahl. He said the readings at
Oskarshamn had nothing to do with fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear
accident in the Soviet Union more than four weeks ago that touched off
a false alarm at the Forsmark nuclear power station north of Stockholm
at the time.
He said the new levels were within safety limits but that more than 20
workers involved in the maintenance work had been put on other jobs at
the plant as a precaution. "We do not want the limits of annual dosages
of radioactivity they are allowed to be reached too soon," Lowendahl
explained.
Lowendahl said that levels of radioactivity had increased because
radioactive particles had concentrated in parts of the reactor
building, but said, "We do not yet know exactly why this has happened."
|
| 93.10 | | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Wed Jun 04 1986 09:48 | 34 |
| Associated Press Tue 03-JUN-1986 14:32 Radioactivity
Authorities Warn Against Eating Meat from Contaminated Areas
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Swedish authorities on Tuesday warned against
eating meat from wild animals, sheep or cattle from areas still listed
as contaminated by radioactivity from the Chernobyl nuclear plant
accident. "From now on we will check at the slaughterhouses every sheep
and cow that has grazed in these areas," said Leif Chrona, spokesman
for the National Food Administration.
Chrona said the decision was made after findings that meat from some
cows and sheep contained levels of the radioactive cesium measured at
500 to 700 becquerel. A becquerel is a measurement of how many atoms
are disintegrating from a substance per second. Asked if these values
represented a health hazard, Chrona replied that meat which exceeded a
limit of 300 becquerel should be thrown away.
Swedish authorities have maintained that the levels of radioactivity
that drifted to Sweden from the April 26 disaster in the Soviet Union
were not dangerous to health, but some precautions remain in effect.
Chrona said increased levels of radiation had also been found in
wildlife, including moose and deer. "We discourage people from eating
wildlife in these areas. But there is no risk with fish," he added.
The areas involved are north of Galve, 100 miles north of Stockholm,
where government precautions against radioactivity remain in effect
more than five weeks after the Chernobyl accident. Farmers in the areas
are still being told to keep their livestock indoors to avoid possible
radiation effects in milk. Other precautions include cutting hay early
to promote fresh growth and plowing meadows on which fallout had
settled.
|
| 93.11 | Contaminated reindeer | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Thu Aug 28 1986 10:44 | 29 |
| Associated Press Wed 27-AUG-1986 19:31 Sweden-Reindeer
Lapps Start Slaughter Of Chernobyl-Affected Reindeer
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - The seasonal slaughter of reindeer began in
northern Sweden on Wednesday, but much of the meat will have to be
dumped because of contamination as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear
accident, government officials said.
Several hundred bulls were slaughtered in 50 Lapp communities
Wednesday. By the end of the season in mid-September, about 30,000
animals are to be killed. The meat usually goes directly to stores to
be sold as a delicacy, but this year it will be frozen in four
government-run packing houses to be checked for radiation.
Checks in three northern provinces have shown levels of cesium 10 times
higher than considered safe for humans, officials of the government
Food Administration Control Board said. Cesium was among the
radioactive elements released in the Chernobyl accident.
The reindeer have become contaminated by feeding on lichen and other
plants that retained fallout from the April 26 accident at the plant in
the Soviet Union. Most of the meat is expected to be unfit for humans,
health officials said. It might be used as feed for mink or dumped,
they said.
Reindeer owners will be compensated. Many reindeer owners are Lapps,
descendants of northern nomads for whom such herding is a major source
of income.
|
| 93.12 | Energy officials critique Chernobyl | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Fri Aug 29 1986 09:40 | 72 |
| Associated Press Thu 28-AUG-1986 19:17 Sweden-Nuclear
Soviet Nuclear Safety Unacceptable, Swedish Experts Warn
By DICK SODERLAND
Associated Press Writer
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Energy officials said Thursday that a Soviet
nuclear power plant in Lithuania was being pushed to unsafe limits, and
warned of the possibility of another accident similar to the Chernobyl
disaster.
"We know we will have another accident like that at Chernobyl within 10
years if nothing is done to increase safety standards considerably,"
Energy Minister Birgitta Dahl said at a news conference. "Many of the
Soviet nuclear plants would not be operating if our Swedish safety
standards were applied there," she said.
Hans Bartsch, a Swedish government nuclear safety expert, said in an
interview from Vienna on Radio Sweden that a recent report by his
department cited a Soviet nuclear power plant at Ignalina in Lithuania
as an example of Soviet reactors considered unsafe and possibly as
dangerous as the Chernobyl plant. An explosion and fire April 26 in a
reactor at the Chernobyl plant located 80 miles north of Kiev killed 31
people, caused the evacuation of 135,000 and sent radioactive material
around the world. Ignalina is about 200 miles southeast of Stockholm
and equally close to the Soviet city of Leningrad.
"Our studies of the Soviet nuclear industry give cause for serious
concern," said Bartsch, head of the nuclear safety department at
Sweden's State Energy Board. "Through modifications similar to those
experimented with at Chernobyl when the accident occurred there, the
plant at Ignalina has had its capacity increased by 50 percent, from
1,000 megawatts to its maximum limit of 1,500 megawatts," Bartsch said.
He said the plant's operators were pushing it to its limits to meet
Soviet production quotas, adding that "safety margins have been set at
what we consider unacceptable levels."
Bartsch said the raised production level increases the risk for
radiation leaks and a nuclear accident. The Soviets have nuclear plants
in the republics of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, across the Baltic
Sea from Sweden's east coast.
The Swedish comments of concern came as nuclear experts were meeting in
Vienna at an International Atomic Energy Agency conference to review
the Chernobyl disaster. According to a Soviet report submitted at the
IAEA conference, the disaster at Chernobyl occurred after the No. 4
reactor was brought down to low power during a planned test of how long
one of the generators would keep going if its steam supply were cut
off. The report said a key mistake was made when workers allowed the
reactor to keep running even though the emergency cooling system had
been shut down. Emergency warning systems also were shut down, it said.
Another Swedish expert interviewed by Radio Sweden at the Vienna
conference said, "The Soviets now appear to be making big efforts to
increase safety standards in their nuclear industry, but they will
still not be up to Swedish standards."
Lars Hogberg, assistant director-general of the Swedish Nuclear
Inspection Board, said "The Soviets seem to be lagging in two basic
respects - reorganization of safety measures and analysis of risks,
which is dangerous with this (Chernobyl) type of reactor which can
become unstable and careen out of control." "I believe the Soviets will
do their utmost to avoid another accident, by stiffer rules, improved
training and successive rebuilding of their old reactors, but they will
still not meet our safety standards" he said.
Energy Minister Dahl said the Nordic countries are making strong
efforts within the IAEA to stress the need for improved nuclear safety
standards not only in the Soviet Union and other East bloc countries
with graphite-moderated reactors like those at Chernobyl, but also in
some Western countries with similar reactors.
|
| 93.13 | More reindeer contaminated | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Thu Sep 18 1986 22:57 | 51 |
| Associated Press Thu 18-SEP-1986 14:33 Sweden-Chernobyl
Swedish Reindeer Contaminated, Threat to Lapps
By LARS FOYEN
Associated Press Writer
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - The government on Thursday ordered inspection
of all reindeer meat for sale because deer grazing areas have been
contaminated with radioactivity from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
State inspector Margareta Widell of the government Food Board said up
to 70 percent of the 70,000 reindeer targeted for slaughter in Sweden
this year were expected to be unacceptably contaminated.
Contamination checks already were required on deer from southern
grazing areas but had not been required nationwide. The decision to
expand the checks followed a negative report earlier this week from a
test-slaughter in the Norbotten province in the northernmost reindeer
grazing area, the last area to be tested for radiation from the April
26 explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in the Soviet
Ukraine.
The government move just as the winter slaughter was scheduled to begin
triggered alarm among Lapps, an ethnic minority with a centuries-old
tradition of reindeer herding. "Before Chernobyl, lynx and wolverine
were our worst enemies. Now it is radioactivity," Lapp elder Olle
Blind, 70, was quoted as telling a local newspaper. "Something
invisible and frightening new which we cannot see or touch is
threatening the whole reindeer industry," he said.
Reindeer are particularly vulnerable to contamination with cesium, one
of the longer-lasting elements of the Chernobyl fallout. They graze
over large areas on lichen and other plants, and the cesium in the
plants is concentrated in reindeer meat through the metabolic process.
Health officials said some reindeer meat had been found with cesium
readings more than 10 times the safety limit for humans. "The problem
is expected to remain for another five to 10 years because cesium
breaks down extremely slowly in reindeer lichen," Ms. Widell told The
Associated Press.
The government has promised full compensation for every deer whose meat
is declared unsellable. Some of the contaminated meat will be used as
mink food.
Only 2,500 of Sweden's 20,000 Lapps, descendants of northern nomads,
still herd reindeer for their livelihood. But community leaders
nevertheless say they stand to lose much because of the disaster. In
addition, Chernobyl fallout has contaminated much of the wild game,
fish and berries that are mainstays of the Lapp diet. Sweden's reindeer
stock is estimated at 275,000 animals.
|
| 93.14 | If you want blue, use dye | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Tue Sep 23 1986 10:06 | 6 |
| Associated Press Mon 22-SEP-1986 21:46
Ed Conradson, Director for North America of the Swedish Tourist Board,
described the overall picture as back to normal after the Chernobyl
disaster: "Americans realize they won't get blue hair from traveling
to Sweden."
|
| 93.15 | | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Sat Sep 27 1986 09:20 | 16 |
| Associated Press Fri 26-SEP-1986 15:29 BRF--Sweden-Chernobyl
Lake Closed Because of Radiation
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - A small lake in central Sweden has been closed
to fishing after tests showed severe radioactive contamination from the
Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster, local officials said Thursday.
Radiation levels in four rainbow trout taken from Lake Opptjarn were 16
to 60 times greater than what is considered safe in Sweden, fishery
official Bengt Andersson was quoted as telling the Stockholm daily
Dagens Nyheter. "There is no other way out of this but to close the
lake to fishing" and kill the contaminated fish, he said. "Then we can
begin putting new fish in the lake next summer."
Lake Opptjarn is about 190 miles north of Stockholm.
|
| 93.16 | Equipment sales brisk | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Fri Oct 10 1986 16:40 | 26 |
| Associated Press Fri 10-OCT-1986 01:17 Sweden-Soviets
Swedish Company Reports Increased Sales Of Radiation Equipment To
Soviets
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Sales to the Soviet Union of equipment used to
treat radiation victims and measure levels of radioactivity have
increased sharply since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, a spokesman for
a Swedish medical equipment company was quoted as saying Thursday.
The daily business newspaper Dagens Industri quoted LKB-Produkter
official Jorg Roberts as saying the company's Soviet and East European
sales picked up considerably in 1986 after two mediocre years. But he
would not reveal any figures.
"An important reason for the increased sales to the Soviet Union is
the Chernobyl accident," Roberts was quoted as saying. "The Soviets
have not been able to rely entirely on domestic technology but have
also imported large amounts of foreign instruments to measure
radioactivity and for treatment of patients exposed to radiation,"
Roberts was quoted as saying.
At least 31 people have died in the Soviet Union since an explosion and
fire April 26 crippled a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
in the northern Ukraine. The disaster released an invisible cloud of
radioactivity that encircled the globe.
|
| 93.17 | A 'New Zealand' madness? | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Thu Jan 08 1987 10:30 | 28 |
| United Press International 8-JAN-1987
(STOCKHOLM) Swedish immigration applicants to nuclear-free New Zealand
surged 30-fold last year after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, a
Stockholm daily reported Wednesday. The majority of the 3,000
applicants stated the April 26 Soviet accident as their main reason
for wanting to leave Sweden, New Zealand emigration officer John
Hastilow told Svenska Dagbladet.
Normally, about 100 Swedes apply annually for immigration at the
New Zealand embassy in the Hague, Holland, where Swedish applicants
are handled, said Hastilow according to the newspaper. Hastilow,
an official at the embassy in the Hague, said only Swedish applicants
showed such an increase.
Radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant first
drifted northwest and made fish, wild game, and reindeer largely
unfit for human consumption in four northern Swedish provinces.
Sweden, separated by the Baltic Sea from several nuclear plants
on the Soviet coast, has 12 nuclear plants of its own. New Zealand,
geographically as far away from Scandinavia as possible, has no
nuclear power plants and Prime Minister David Lange has banned U.S.
nuclear armed warships from its ports.
Australia, New Zealand's Southern Pacific neighbor, has not noticed
any increase in Swedish immigration applicants, Svenska Dagbladet
said.
|
| 93.18 | Another leak, or is it a deliberate release? | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Tue Apr 14 1987 11:27 | 46 |
| ANI23*** Copyright 1986 The Associated Press SISCOM IP
Radioactivity Linked To USSR
BONN, West Germany (AP)
The Bonn government said Tuesday it has asked Moscow about unusually
high levels of atmospheric radiation in West Germany and in Sweden.
Experts say the elevated readings might have been caused by a Soviet
nuclear accident.
West German experts said the increased radioactivity probably came
from a nuclear power leak. But a Swedish official said the radiation
was more likely the result of burning waste or the cleaning of a
reactor in the Soviet Union.
In Moscow, Soviet Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennady Gerasimov told
reporters any increased radiation did not originate in his country, and
that Soviet radiation detectors showed nothing unusual.
"They're functioning well and no discharges of radioactive emissions
have been registered on the territory of the Soviet Union," he said.
The Soviets were criticized after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster
because they initially failed to report the power plant accident, which
killed 31 Soviets and sent radiation around the world.
Claudia Conrad of the West German Environment Ministry said the
increased radioactivity measured in March "posed no danger" to people
in West Germany or Sweden.
"It measured only 50 micro-Becquerels on average," she said. By
comparison, the European Economic Community limits radioactivity in
milk and baby foods to 370 Becquerels.
Ms. Conrad said the probable cause was a Soviet nuclear plant
accident, although she said she could not rule out radiation from an
underground nuclear weapons test.
Tommy Godaas, chief inspector of the Swedish National Radiation
Protection Agency, said a nuclear plant leak was unlikely.
"Considering the small amounts (of radiation), an accidental minor
reactor leak was possible but it might as well have been a deliberately
increased emission while cleaning a reactor," he said in Stockholm. "We
could rule out that the emission came from a nuclear test because it
missed some elements," he said.
Godaas said the radiation could also have drifted from a hospital
dump where radioactive isotopes were being burned.
Sweden recorded the abnormal levels between March 11 and March 13
and traced the source of the radiation to an area near the Gulf of
Finland southeast of Leningrad. West Germany's Environment Ministry
said that between March 9 and March 15 it measured higher levels of the
radioactive element iodine 131 and four to five times the usual amount
of xenon gas.
Received: 14-APR-1987 10:11
|
| 93.19 | Fit for human consumption yet? | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Fri Oct 30 1987 14:13 | 29 |
| Re: .11 and .13:
According to an article in New Scientist, 15 October 1987, by Anne
Kalosh, Sweden's board of Agriculture reports substantially lower
concentrations of radioactive caesium in reindeer meat. But the levels
have been slow in coming down because of the feeding habits of these
animals. To survive in winter, reindeer eat lichens, which grow so
slowly that levels of caesium in lichens have dropped by only 15
percent since the accident at Chernobyl.
Experts at Sweden's agriculture board predict that it may take between
5 and 10 years for reindeer to become as free from contamination as
other livestock.
Swedish regulations limit radiation in milk, domestic meats, and other
staples to 300 becquerels per kilogram of foodstuff. Higher levels of
up to 1500 becquerels are permitted in reindeer and game.
In north-central Sweden, the area most heavily salted with radioactive
fallout from Chernobyl, up to one-third of the reindeer slaughtered
during August and September were rejected. Further south, where there
was less fallout, only 15 percent of the animals failed to meet safety
standards. In the far north, above the Arctic circle, almost all the
reindeer were acceptable for human consumption.
Each Swede consumes, on average, only 0.2 kilograms of reindeer meat
annually, Ann Kalosh reports. But the meat holds a traditional place in
Scandinavian cuisine. In some communities, including those in Lapland,
Swedes eat reindeer meat daily.
|
| 93.20 | radioactive reindeer meat | HYDRA::MCALLEN | | Mon Jul 10 1989 19:51 | 29 |
|
Following up on replies 93.10, 93.11 and 93.13 :
How is the situation in Lapland (far northern Scandinavia
and also far northwest USSR) regarding contaminated
reindeer herds and reindeer meat?
As mentioned, reindeer herding until recently constituted
a major part of the LapLanders' industry and diet.
The Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe near Kiev USSR
severely contaminated Lap reindeer forage (vegatation)
and as a result most/all reindeer meet is now unusable
due to its radioactive content.
One recent article stated that a diet of transported
clean forage, combined with bentonite clay, is helpful
in purging radioactive contaminants from the animals'
bodies/digestive tracts. However, it wasn't clear if
this applied to reindeer (do they roam or are they
fenced in?) or perhaps other livestock animals.
Also, how effective is long term frozen storage of
contaminated reindeer meet, on a large scale, for
a period sufficient for radionuclide (cesium, iodine etc,)
decay? Is is legally acceptable? Is this now being done?
One reply mentioned that compensation would be paid to
those suffering economic loss due to livestock/food
contamination. Is this being done, and who pays the bill?
|
| 93.21 | Reindeer meat and strawberries | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Fri Jul 14 1989 15:44 | 71 |
|
Not a direct reply to .20, but some excerpts from a parallel discussion
in Group soc.culture.nordic
Group soc.culture.nordic
article 280
From: [email protected] (Hannu 'Napo' Napari)
Subject: Re: Chernobyl
Organization: Helsinki University of Technology, Finland
To be exact: we _HAD_ a rise in the background radiation level when
the Chernobyl plant blew up, but it has lowered back to normal. I think
that the rise in the radiation levels was not severe, but the hot
particles were the largest problem.
The radiation levels were back to normal a few months after the accident.
uucp: ...!mcvax!tut!santra!taltta!s34515n Internet: [email protected]
In 'real' life: Hannu Napari Phone: 358-0-315165
Merikorttikuja 1
00960 Helsinki, FINLAND
Group soc.culture.nordic
article 281
From: [email protected]
Subject: radiation
Hi, everyone.
My cousin Lars (Norwegian but currently studying in America)
told me a few months ago that some produce, I think
strawberries among them, from the middle region of Norway, are now inedible
due to radiation poisoning. Our Norwegian correspondants can correct me
if I'm misinformed.
Group soc.culture.nordic
article 288
From: [email protected] (Timo Kiravuo)
Subject: Re: Chernobyl
Organization: Helsinki University of Technology, Computing Center
In article <[email protected]> [email protected] (Hannu 'Napo' Napari)
writes:
>To be exact: we _HAD_ a rise in the background radiation level when
>the Chernobyl plant blew up, but it has lowered back to normal. I think
>that the rise in the radiation levels was not severe, but the hot
>particles were the largest problem.
At that time I was at the army. We got on order to be prepared to
take radiation measures if necessary. So I got out the army type
radiation meter and tested it several times during the weekend.
It showed nothing beyond the usual background radiation. You
see, these army things are set to measure radiation harmful to
people. Not just tiny measurable differences.
And I have eaten reindeer meat last fall and this spring without
any defects showing (for the Finns: last fall from the Poro &
Riista company). Except for the mental ones, at least according
to my friends. :-)
"Damn the isotopes, full speed ahead" :-)
Timo Kiravuo
Helsinki University of Technology, Computing Center
[email protected] [email protected] sorvi::kiravuo
work: 90-451 4328 home: 90-676 076
|
| 93.22 | Maybe it won't be all bad | IAMOK::BANCROFT | I'm the NRA | Fri Jul 14 1989 16:26 | 7 |
| Funny, I remember reading a study about 5 years ago where they
subjected baby monkeys to mild (less than known harmful level)
radiation. The only measurable result was a somewhat higher
average intelligence.
MENSA should check the next generation. There may be extra
membership potential.
Phil
|
| 93.23 | Things were worse before the nuclear test ban | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Mon Jul 17 1989 11:01 | 22 |
| Group soc.culture.nordic
article 290
From: [email protected] (Solanti Petri)
Subject: Re: Chernobyl
The amount of isotopes mentioned above and the total radiation level
didn't rise in Finnish Lapland, because most of the pollution landed
in southern and central Finland. In Sweden the reindeer care area comes
about 1000 km souther than in Finland, so perhaps the problem has been worse
in Sweden. The Cesium-137 -level in Finnish Lapland comes from 60's when
Soviet Union made nuclear experiments in Novaja Zemlja.
Todays worst pollution problem in Lapland is acid rains, most of which comes
.... from Kola peninsula.
P. Solanti
Petri Solanti Tampere University of Technology
UUCP: [email protected] Signal Processing Laboratory
Internet: [email protected] PO box 527, SF-33101 Tampere, Finland
Tel: +358-(9)31-162 577 Telefax: +358-(9)31-162 913
|
| 93.24 | Some meat and fish safe, some not | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Wed Jul 19 1989 14:10 | 20 |
| Group soc.culture.nordic
article 316
From: [email protected] (Svante Lindahl)
Subject: Re: Chernobyl
Organization: Front Capital Systems, Stockholm, Sweden
In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Kevin Romano) writes:
> Does anyone have any information about current
> radiation levels in Scandinavia due to the Chernobyl
> accident?
Fish caught in lakes in the areas that were affected the most, and meat
from reindeers and elks/mooses are measured for their radiation levels.
A lot of fish and meat is below the limit for what may be sold as food
(1500 becquerels per kilogram; the limit used to be 300 becquerels/kg
before Chernobyl...), but some is way over. Last week I heard a report
on the news about a perch that had more than 106000 becquerels/kg.
Svante
|
| 93.25 | The situation in Norway | 16BITS::SAVAGE | Neil @ Spit Brook | Fri Jul 21 1989 10:07 | 149 |
| Group soc.culture.nordic
article 322
From: [email protected]
Subject: Radiation after the Chernobyl accident
Organization: University of California, Santa Barbara
About the radiation level in Norway (Sweden and Finland.) First of all
I am not an expert in this area, I have only followed the discussions
in the media, and I have not been following the latest discussions
closely. With reference to articles from
pso.tana.tut.fi (Solanti Petri)
[email protected] (Timo Kiravuo)
[email protected] (Wilson Heydt)
published earlier in this newsgroup and that I am Norwegian (Now
student at UCSB <ECE> ), and was living in Norway at the time the
Chernobyl accident happened, I may contribute to the discussion about
Chernobyl with some information. My knowledge covers mostly the
situation in Norway and partly Sweeden. The situation in Finland, I am
less informed about.
Both in the 50's and again after the Chernobyl accident the background
radiation jumped up a little. The first days after the accident the
readings were rather high. After some weeks the background radiation
went slowly back, but remaines still higher than it was before the
accident. The small increase in the background radiation is not of
major concern these days. That the radioactive particles enters
the food chain is what one is concerned about.
Whether the initial radiation was higher in the 50's than it was
immidiatly after the Chernobyl accident may be discussed I believe. If
I am not wrong, scientists in Norway, found that the Cesium particles
came from the Chernobyl accident, and not from the experimentaion with
nuclear explotions in the 50's. To my knowledge South East Sweden,
South West Finland, and South East, East, and middle Norway was the
places which was most exposed to the pollution in Scandinavia. Some
of the places mentioned received really huge amount of radiation. A few
places in South East Sweden received very high dosage. We don't even
know the total amount some places received, because measurements was
not done before a long time after.
The first radioactive measurements were done in the larger cities. If
I don't remember wrong these measurements only measured the background
radiation and the concentration of radioactive particles in air
samples. Not before weeks later one started to take measurements
directly of the ground where the radiactivity had accumulated. On a
topological map it was shown that some areas in the South-East of
Sweden and a few areas in the middle of Norway received hundreds of
times the amount the scientists believed in the beginning.
I remember a person who had been biking in the rain following the
Chernobyl accident. He made the Geiger-counter (measurement apparatus
for radioactivity) to really wake up. I don't remeber how much
radioctivity he represented, but it was absolutely condidered unhealthy
for him to continue wearing his clothes.
About equipment for measuring radioctivity, I believe that a millitary
polution-meter would give good readings of the radiations after
Chernobyl. However, a intensity meter would be rather dead I guess, as
it is designed to measure intensities from a few Rad to several hundred
Rad. There exists probably many different types of instruments for
this. I have even seen an instrument who could be bought for a few
hundred dollars from a postorder company. (Anyone with experience on
these boxes?)
People in my area was in the beginning told to stay as little as
possible outside and not to drink rain water. Even today (Before
Chernobyl) it took several weeks before reliable information about the
accident and how to act was available. Some information did not reach
out at all because of sparse knowledge in the area, and lack of will
to take it seriously.
Of the two radioactive isotopes Cesium and Iodine which was brought in
over Scandinavia after the Chernobyl accident, Iodine was the one which
brought highest radiation level. Fortunately, Iodine decays to the
half intensity in eight days, so it is no longer a direct problem.
Cesium, on the other hand has a half-life of 30 years!! So, the
radioactivity will be around for a while...
The norm for measuring radioactivity in food products in Norway is
Bequerel. The maximum legal limit is set to 60 B for normal consumer
food, and was surprisingly riced to 600 B for freshwater fish, reindeer
etc. The arguments for the latter was that normally a family eats so
little of the 'hot' food that 600 B would be an appropriate limit
without increasing the risk considerably. It is rare to hear
anything about the risk for those who deviate from the 'normal', such
as the Laps and other groups who eat a lot of food with high level of
radiation. This is maybe not after all so strange as no one knows for
sure what a safe dosage of radiation is.
Another norm for measurement of the exposure of radioactivity used in
Norway is "Sivert" This is a measurement of the radiation's effect of
the human body, rather than the content of radiactivity which Bequerel
measures.
Wild animals such as reindeer and fresh water fish are more exposed
to radioactivity than others. Also things that grows directly on the
ground such that lettuce, strawberries etc. are more likely to have a
higher level of radioactivity than other products. As an example I can
mention that there has been found freshwater trout which contained
several 10000 Bequerel. (I don't remember exact the number, but it
was high!!).
The Norwegian Salmon export to USA came in a bad light because of the
high readings of radioactivity, and the US stopped the import for a
while until the Norwegians could convince the Americans that the fish
was safe. If I am not too wrong, one method used to reduce the
radiation level in both animals and fish is to feed them with special
food the last weeks before they are taken. This reduces the level of
radiation significantly, hopefully to the an acceptable level...?
Scientists seems to disagree a lot about what is harmless and what is
not when talking about low dosage exposure of radiation. Some
scientists seems very convinced about that the increased risk of
health problems caused by the Chernobyl accident, is so low that it
nearly cannot be measured. Other scientists however, are far more
reserved, and say that they don't know the long term effects of the
level of radiation some people may be exposed to.
Radioactivity has become a part of everyday life in Norway. Some
people really care, and eat only the right things, while others do not
worry at all, and eat exactly the same as before. The worst, I think,
is that we really don't know the extent of this new 'disease'; we don't
know how hazardous it is in the long run. If we knew, it would be far
more easy to act properly against it. The time will show the effects
of the Chernobyl accident. There are places which recived lots of
radiactivity which will not have their local water sources etc,
measured. It will also be hard to prove relationship between future
diseases and exposure to radiation when the level is unknown. (It would
be even hard to prove anything with such information available because
of the long time it takes to see possible results; also, we don't know
how would it be like if the radiation weren't there.)
Does anyone know the maximum level of radiation in food delivered
to the US? (and other coutries?) It could be interesting to compare
and see what other nations find acceptable for their citizens.
If you are thinking of visiting Scandinavia, I don't think the
radiation level is anything to be concerned about. After all, we are
talking about a limited period of time, and I think it can be said
to safe. It is a liftime in this environment which might be harmful?
^^^^^
Jostein Eklund
Internet: [email protected]
Bitnet [email protected]
Tel: (805) 562 8360
|
| 93.26 | After Chernobyl, 1990 | TLE::SAVAGE | | Wed Dec 12 1990 11:52 | 50 |
| From: [email protected] (Mats Winberg)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Re: Sweden after Chernobyl
Date: 10 Dec 90 11:41:54 GMT
Organization: Ericsson
[email protected] (Lee P Putnam) writes:
> I am interested in finding information about the current effects of the
> Chernobyl event on Sweden. Are Swedes still concerned about the radiation
> levels? Do they have reason to be concerned? Have any studies recently been
> done to show the effects of Chernobyl? What area was most affected by Cher-
> nobyl?
> In short, I would like any facts and/or opinions on the above subjects.
> Thanks.....
> - lee p.
I'm sorry I don't have much facts to give, but you could have some
opinions...
The area that was most affected by the downfall was Gaestrikland (the
area around Gaevle) because it rained there. I think that there are
lakes in that area which are blacklisted i.e you're not recommended to
eat fish that is caught there. The Sami people farther north was hurt
economically, because the reindeers meat was contaminated.
I don't think that Swedes worry about the radiation levels, except
perhaps in the Gaevle area.
I don't know of any studies that show increased frequency of cancer or
of any other diseases due to Chernobyl.
Approximately 50% of Sweden's power is generated by nuclear power
plants. It is said that all nuclear power should be gone by the year
2010 in accordance with the referendum of 1980. (My guess is that that
will never happen). One thing I don't understand is how the swedish
authorities could allow a nuclear plant (Barsebaeck) just a few miles
from Copenhagen. And why didn't they build them underground ?
BTW, is it true that in Russian, chernobyl means - wormwood (maloert
in Swedish) ?
****************
Mats Winberg
[email protected]
****************
|
| 93.27 | Small leak at Sovnovy Bor on the Gulf of Finland | TLE::SAVAGE | | Tue Mar 24 1992 11:45 | 47 |
| From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.international,clari.tw.nuclear,
clari.news.hot.east_europe,clari.news.hot.ussr,clari.news.europe
Subject: No radiation increase measured in Finland, Sweden
Date: 24 Mar 92 13:18:59 GMT
HELSINKI, Finland (UPI) -- Scandinavian countries monitored no
increase in radiation from a nuclear plant leak across the Baltic Sea in
Russia Tuesday, and area specialists said the incident was unlikely to
have wide consequences for the environment.
"One could say that the incident has serious consequences for the
nuclear power station and may have consequences for some of those
inside, but not for regions outside," said Ake Persson, spokesman for
Sweden's Radiation Protection Agency.
Persson's comments came after reports reached the Scandinavian
peninsula Tuesday of a leak in one of the reactors at the Leningrad
nuclear power station at Sovnovy Bor on the Gulf of Finland west of St.
Petersburg.
Officials in Russia said a small amount of radioactive steam was
released from a pipe in one of the reactors but the steam was contained
in the reactor building and there was no danger to areas outside the
facility.
"There is no cause for alarm," Persson said. "We have information
that widespread measurements have been taken outside the reactor today."
Measuring stations in Finland, Denmark and Sweden reported no
increase in radiation Tuesday following the incident.
"We are still closely following developments and are in constant
touch with our measurement stations, but there has been no radiation
increase," said a spokesman for Denmark's Civil Defence Commission that
monitors background radiation.
The Finnish Center for Radiation and Nuclear Safety said it had
received no measurements of inceased radiation from around Finland and
that the situation in the Russian town of Sovnovy Bor was "normal."
Persson said Sweden was unhappy, however, with the time it had taken
for Russian authorities to inform surrounding countries of the accident.
Under an agreement reached following the 1986 Chernobyl accident,
Russia -- then the Soviet Union -- undertook to immediately inform
surrounding countries of nuclear accidents, particularly incidents that
could result in cross-border pollution.
"We will certainly be taking this issue up with the relevant
authorities," Persson said.
Sweden was the first country outside the Soviet Union to discover the
Chernobyl nuclear accident. Despite repeated inquiries from Sweden, on
the basis of heavily increased raditation measurements in Sweden and
Finland, it took Russian authorities more than 24 hours to admit that a
serious accident had occurred at Chernobyl.
|
| 93.28 | Swedish nuke plants back on line | TLE::SAVAGE | | Fri Feb 26 1993 14:00 | 30 |
| Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
From: [email protected] (Jan Sparrendahl)
Subject: Re: Swedish nuclear power plants working ?
Sender: [email protected] (Usenet)
Organization: Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1993 21:35:20 GMT
In article <[email protected]>, [email protected]
(Wolfgang :
|> > Wasn't there a small leak just last week? In Barsebaeck?
|> BTW are all the Swedish nuclear power plants back to work by now ?
|> And if so, when did they start again ?
|> (About half of all the blocks of Swedish nuclear power plants were
|> closed last fall, when there was some problem detected with Barsebaeck's
|> security backup; there was some rumor that they might remain shut down
|> for the whole winter, making it necessary to either selectively cutting
|> out some user's at certain times or buy electricity from Germany/Norway)
In the paper the day before yesterday there was a telegram
stating that Barseb�ck 2 was up and running. I think that was the last
one. The start was delayed because of a moderator rod that had been
bent during the long time down. The electricity shortage was not that
bad because of the very deep recession and the warm winter. Still
foreign electricity has been purchased and a lot of extra oil and coal
have been used. The hydroelectric plants in Norrland have been used
more than what is possible to do on a regular basis. It will take some
time for the water reserves to regain the usual level.
Arthur
|
| 93.29 | Mushrooms and radioactivity .. | RTOEU::KPLUSZYNSKI | | Tue Apr 19 1994 08:31 | 7 |
| Are there still traces of radioactivity from the Chernobyl desaster
present in mushrooms found in Sweden ?
Regards,
Klaus
|
| 93.30 | | BCFI::ANDREASSON | | Wed May 11 1994 09:12 | 7 |
| Yes, unfortunately there are more traces of radioactivity both in mushrooms, wild
meet and fish than expected. The highest values are found in middle Sweden, the
coastal area from Gavle in the south to north of Harnosand in the north.
Regards,
Hakan
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