"Mysterious radioactive spikes are being found across Europe – and nobody quite knows why.
Iodine-131, a man-made radioactive material, is being found in small amounts across the continent. It was found in northern Norway early in January, according to officials, but has been gradually moving across the rest of Europe ever since.
Iodine-131 is perhaps most closely associated with atomic bombs.
But despite finding the material in January, authorities didn’t announce that it had been found until recent days. That might be because it isn't at all clear where it has come from..."
Iodine-131 has a half-life of just eight days, so detecting it in the atmosphere is proof of a recent release, according to the French Institute de Radioprotection et de Süreté Nucléaire (IRSN).
Radiation surveillance detects iodine leak in Europe
The technicians of Europe’s informal network of radioactivity surveillance experts, the Ring of Five, were the only ones to notice the spike in radiation levels. In the second week of January, the alert sounded in the north of Norway, with traces of iodine 131 detected in the air.
Other observations followed in Finland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain and France, according to the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN).
[NOTE: THEY LEFT OUT LATVIA, BELGIUM AND GREECE, EACH OF WHICH HAD SPIKES AROUND CHRISTMAS DAY, 2016.]
“We are leading the inquiry,” said Jean-Christophe Gariel, from the IRSN. “This means we are essentially reversing the trajectory of the iodine pollution in order to find out where it came from. But taking into account the weather in recent weeks, it will not be easy to model.”
“We have only detected iodine. If there had been an accident, like the ones in Fukushima or Chernobyl, we would have had leaks of other substances, like caesium,” Gariel said.
Among the theories considered most likely is that a manufacturer of medical radio-isotopes, probably in Eastern Europe, suffered a leak. This incident closely resembles an episode from 2011, when the Budapest isotopes institute released – legally and harmlessly – an amount of radioactive iodine into the environment.
How much Iodine-131 was "reported"?
See the other map below, and remember that ANY inhaled/ingested Iosine-131 can cause cancer.
Also remember that there is a thing called BIO-ACCUMULATION as the radiation spreads through the food chain (soil, and rain that waters the soil, to plants that are grown in that soil to animals that eat the plants and drink contaminated water, to humans who eat plants and animals that eat plants) and by means of drinking water.
Then we also contend with fallout, what we're inhaling.
In France, particulate 131-I reached 0.31 µBq/m3 and thus the total (gaseous + particulate fractions) can be estimated at about 1.5 µBq/m3.
The 210-Pb concentration detected by IRSN peaked at 1600 µBq/m3 in January, four times higher than the usual mean value.
HERE'S A TRICK BIG NUKE USES TO ASSUAGE CONCERN... THEY SAY THE RADIATION IS NOT AT "HARMFUL LEVELS"...HARMFUL... ONE INGESTED PARTICLE CAN BE HARMFUL TO INFANTS, CHILDREN, ALL OF US.
BUT WE'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE CONCERNED WITH THAT...JUST ACCEPT THAT THE "LOW LEVELS" WON'T EVER, EVER AFFECT US.
NO, BECAUSE THAT'S SIMPLY A DAMNABLE LIE.
IF LOW LEVELS ARE SO "HARMLESS", WHY, WHEN WE HAVE A PET/CT SCAN WITH RADIOISOTOPES, ARE WE WARNED TO "STAY A SAFE DISTANCE AWAY FROM OTHERS, ESPECIALLY PREGNANT WOMEN AND CHILDREN, FOR 3 OR MORE DAYS" AND ARE ISOLATED FROM OTHERS FOR AT LEAST 2 HOURS?
WHY DO THOSE OF US WHO HAD SUCH SCANS SET OFF SENSITIVE RADIATION WARNING ALARMS FOR A DAY OR MORE?
MORE ON THIS BELOW, NEAR THE END OF THIS ENTRY.
Recommendations of the European Committee on Radiation Risk [ECRR]:
"The Health Effects of Ionising Radiation Exposure at Low Doses for Radiation Protection Purposes". Regulators' Edition.
"The TOTAL MAXIMUM permissible dose to members of the public arising from ALL human practices should not be more than 0.1mSv, with a value of 5mSv for nuclear workers.
[NOTE: THAT'S MILLISIEVERTS, NOT SIEVERTS.
SO THAT MAXIMUM ALLOWED IS ONE-TENTH OF JUST ONE MILLISIEVERT.]
This would severely curtail the operation of nuclear power stations and reprocessing plants, and this reflects the committee's belief that nuclear power is a costly way of producing energy when human health deficits are included in the overall assessment.
In other words, radiation is ALWAYS considered harmful with NO safety threshold, and the SUM of several VERY SMALL exposures are considered to have the SAME effect as one larger exposure (which is termed "response linearity").
The Environmental Protection Agency says, “… ANY exposure to radiation poses some risk, i.e. there is no level below which we can say an exposure poses no risk.”
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) says, “ANY amount of radiation may pose SOME risk for causing cancer … ANY INCREASE IN DOSE, NO MATTER HOW SMALL, RESULTS IN AN INCREMENTAL INCREASE IN RISK."
FROM HARVARD:
"One of the most abundant substances in the cloud of radioactive steam released by a failing nuclear power plant is iodine-131—a radioactive form of the element, iodine.
- Iodine-131 poses a special health risk because of its cancer-causing effect on the thyroid gland.
[When ingested/inhaled, Iodine 131 is concentrated in the thyroid gland.]
- The human body is surprisingly good at absorbing iodine and storing it in the thyroid gland. That’s a problem when iodine-131 is released into the atmosphere. The thyroid stores it as readily as natural, non-radioactive iodine.
-As iodine-131 builds up in the thyroid gland, it emits bursts of radiation that can damage DNA and other genetic material. Such damage can remove the normal limits to cell growth and division. Unchecked growth of thyroid tissue is thyroid cancer.
- Fallout—radioactive particles that fall out of the atmosphere and settle onto plants, soil, and water—further adds to the burden when a person eats iodine-131 enriched fruits and vegetables or drinks water containing the isotope. Milk is another vehicle—cows that eat grass sprinkled with iodine-131 make milk that contains it.
- Following the explosion and meltdown of the nuclear reactor at Chernobyl in 1986, follow-up health studies showed a significant increase in thyroid cancer in the area around Chernobyl, especially among children who were under 10 years old at the time of the explosion and those in utero. "
FOR A MORE IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS OF THE TOXICITY OF IODINE-131, SEE <THIS REPORT OF A PEER-REVIEWED STUDY> OR GET THE ENTIRE PDF (which downloads instantly) "Genotoxicity induced by iodine-131 in human cultured lymphocytes".
REPORT OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON THE BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF IONIZING RADIATIONS, NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, WASHINGTON DC, NOVEMBER 1972.
[ANOTHER PDF THAT DOWNLOADS INSTANTLY]
THEY MENTION THAT USING CURRENT LEVELS, AS OPPOSED TO USING A "TIME CURVE" IS A MISTAKE, AND SUGGEST USING A TIME CURVE INSTEAD, AS RADIATION BIO-ACCUMULATES OVER TIME, SOMETHING WE ALL KNOW NOW.
THEY STATE THAT LETHAL RESPONSE TO ACUTE RADIATION VARIES AMONG ORGANISMS BECAUSE OF PHYSIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES..."
THE REPORT ACKNOWLEDGES THAT NEAR EVERY NUCLEAR FACILITY, AIR, SOIL AND WATER CONTAMINATION ARE A GIVEN.
THE SCIENTISTS IN 1972 WARNED THAT THERE ARE SEVERAL QUESTIONS THAT MUST BE ANSWERED WHEN ANY RADIATION IS RELEASED INTO THE ENVIRONMENT:
(a) HOW MUCH, WHERE, AND WHAT TYPE.
(b) HOW EACH TYPE MOVES THROUGH THE ENVIRONMENT.
(C) WHERE NATURAL CONCENTRATIONS OF RADIOACTIVE ELEMENTS ARE.
(d) HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE ANY OF THESE TO COME INTO CONTACT WITH HUMANS.
(e) HOW DOES EACH AFFECT THE ENVIRONMENT
(f) HOW CAN SUCH INFORMATION HELP BUILD AN EARLY WARNING SYSTEM.
CHAPTER V POINTS TO THE FACT THAT WE THEN KNEW THAT NUMEROUS "SMALL" GENETIC DEFECTS OCCURRED FROM VERY LOW DOSES OF RADIATION, WHICH WERE OFTEN OVERLOOKED IN SOME REPORTS.
"THE LOW-DOSE SOMATIC EFFECTS [OF RADIATION] THAT ARE MOST FEARED ARE CANCER AND LEUKEMIA.
IN CONTRAST TO SOMATIC EFFECTS, WHERE THE CONCERN IS CONCENTRATED MAINLY ON MALIGNANT DISEASE, THE GENETIC EFFECTS ARE ON ALL KINDS OF CONDITIONS -- FOR THE SPECTRUM OF RADIATION-CAUSED GENETIC DISEASE IS ALMOST AS WIDE AS THE SPECTRUM FROM ALL OTHER CAUSES....
THE GENETICALLY SIGNIFICANT DOSE IS PROBABLY CONSIDERABLY LESS THAN THE 0.8 MREM [LESS THAN 0.01 mSv] IN THE [CURRENT] TABLE BECAUSE OF THE AGE DISTRIBUTION OF THOSE WHO ARE OCCUPATIONALLY EXPOSED."
LET'S PAUSE RIGHT HERE AND ADDRESS ANOTHER TRICK THE NUCLEAR ENERGY INDUSTRY PLAYS ON ALL OF US...USING DIFFERENT TERMS FOR RADIATION TO MAKE IT SEEM HARMLESS, OR LESS HARMLESS.
A VERY QUICK, SIMPLE CONVERTER CAN BE ACCESSED BY ALL AT http://www.easysurf.cc/cnver24.htm
1 mrem = 0.01 mSv
AND DO LOOK AT HOW MANY,MANY TERMS CAN BE USED FOR RADIATION.
THAT IS NOT BY ANY MEANS ALL THE TERMS/SYMBOLS USED WHEN RADIATION IS REPORTED!
IT'S CRAZY HOW MANY THERE ARE!
NOW LET'S GO BACK AND LOOK AT THAT SECOND MAP.
DO YOU SEE NOW WHY THIS SHOULD CONCERN THE PEOPLE IN THOSE NATIONS?
BUT IT DOESN'T END THERE...THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR ALMOST A YEAR, PERHAPS LONGER, NOT JUST A FEW DAYS.
THE AUTHOR OF THE ABOVE BLOG REALLY DID SOME GOOD RESEARCH.
AND THE U.S. DEPLOYED A SPECIAL AIRCRAFT TO EUROPE TO TRY TO DETECT WHERE THE RADIATION IS COMING FROM.
"On Feb. 17, 2017, U.S. Air Force WC-135C Constant Phoenix Nuclear explosion “sniffer,” serial number 62-3582, using radio call sign “Cobra 55” deployed to RAF Mildenhall, UK."
WOW! IS THAT TOO MUCH INFORMATION OR IS THAT TOO MUCH INFORMATION?
IF THIS "HARMLESS AMOUNT" IS SO HARMLESS, WHY GO TO THE INCREDIBLE EXPENSE OF SENDING A SPECIAL PLANE AND SPECIALLY TRAINED CREW ALL THE WAY TO EUROPE?
OR DID AMERICA PERHAPS GO OVER TO RETRIEVE SOMETHING WE LOST/LEFT BEHIND OVER THERE?
AFTER ALL, THE U.S. HAS BEEN BUSTED DEPLOYING "SUITCASE NUKES" BEFORE.
THERE WAS A FILM CLIP OF THOSE ( SADM Delivery by Parachutist/Swimmer (Special Atomic Demolition Munition) Film Clip) AND PROBABLY STILL IS, BUT NOW,
WHEN ONE WANTS TO VIEW THAT FILM, ONE GETS THE MESSAGE:
"http://www.nv.doe.gov is requesting your username and password"
"You are not authorized to view this page You do not have permission to view this directory or page using the credentials that you supplied because your Web browser is sending a WWW-Authenticate header field that the Web server is not configured to accept. "
FINDING THOSE MESSAGES ALWAYS TICKS THE AUTHOR OF THE TEA ROOM OFF, SO WE GO TO THE INTERNET "WAYBACK MACHINE" AT
https://web.archive.org/web/20010124235100/http://www.osti.gov/historicalfilms/opentext/data/0800031.html
AND WE FIND:
"The Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM) was a United States Navy and Marines project that was demonstrated as feasible in the mid-to-late 1960s, but was never used.
[NEVER? REALLY?]
The project, which involved a small nuclear weapon, was designed to allow one individual to parachute from any type of aircraft carrying the weapon package and place it in a harbor or other strategic location that could be accessed from the sea. Another parachutist without a weapon package would follow the first to provide support as needed.
The two-man team would place the weapon package in the target location, set the timer, and swim out into the ocean where they would be retrieved by a submarine or other high-speed water craft. The parachute jumps and the retrieval procedures were practiced extensively.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the United States developed several different types of lightweight nuclear devices. The main one was the Mk-54, a cylinder 40 by 60 centimetes that weighed 68 kilograms (the warhead was a variation of one developed for the Davy Crockett recoilless rifle projectile). It was fired by a mechanical timer and had a variable yield from 10 tons up to one kiloton. 300 SADMs were assembled and remained in the US arsenal until 1989."
THERE'S A LONG LIST OF FILMS WE USED TO HAVE ACCESS TO AT THE OLD WEBSITE AND THE SADM DEVICE IS IN THAT LIST:
https://web.archive.org/web/20120901184636/http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/films/testfilms.aspx
AND, FINALLY, ONE IS ABLE TO SEE THE FILM AT
https://web.archive.org/web/20130217002257/http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/films/film.aspx?ID=18
BUT ONLY WITH WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER.
MAYBE IT WAS JUST ANOTHER "COVERT OP", SOMETHING TO PIN THE WRAP ON CHINA, RUSSIA, OR MAYBE ISIS GOT SOMETHING NEW FROM AMERICA?
Many point to the radiation spike as “proof” the Russians have restarted nuclear weapons testing at Novaya Zemlya near the Arctic.
Others point to the lack of recorded seismic activity to cast doubt on the claims.
FROM THE AVIATIONIST:
"As we have already reported the WC-135 is a derivative of the Boeing C-135 transport and support plane. Two of these aircraft are in service today out of the ten examples operated since 1963. The aircraft are flown by flight crews from the 45th Reconnaissance Squadron from Offutt Air Force Base while mission crews are staffed by Detachment 1 from the Air Force Technical Applications Center.
The WC-135, known as the “sniffer” or “weather bird” by its crews, can carry up to 33 personnel. However, crew compliments are kept to a minimum during mission flights in order to lessen levels of radioactive exposure."
APPARENTLY, THE CREW TWEETED THEIR ADVENTURE:
Tracking over the #UK 🇬🇧
🇺🇸 US Air Force
WC-135C Constant Phoenix
Nuclear explosion ‘sniffer’
62-3582 COBRA55
https://t.co/fvbSNtInVP pic.twitter.com/BB1WbDzAZK
https://t.co/BB1WbDzAZK
— CivMilAir ✈ 🚁 (@CivMilAir) February 17, 2017
AND THAT'S ABOUT ALL THERE IS IN AMERICAN MEDIA ON THE ENTIRE "MYSTERY RADIATION" AND RADIATION DETECTOR AIRCRAFT GOING TO EUROPE.
JUST ENOUGH TO LET US KNOW "WE'RE ON THIS", OR TO PROVIDE A NICE COVER STORY?
Australian news reported all this:
"With the source of the release still unknown, the US has sent one of its two Boeing WC-135 nuclear ‘sniffer planes’ to the UK.
Flying into an air base in eastern England last week it has now reportedly been sent to northern Norway.
The US military has confirmed the Constant Phoenix’s presence in Europe but played down its significance."
WELL, SOMEONE WILL "DRAW THE SHORT STRAW" AND TAKE THE RAP FOR THIS "MYSTERY RADIATION" EVENT. WE'LL JUST WAIT AND SEE WHO IT IS THIS TIME.
MEANWHILE, IT REALLY IS CRIMINAL FROM AN ETHICAL VIEWPOINT, THAT THE POPULATIONS OF ALL THOSE NATIONS AFFECTED AREN'T BEING WARNED ABOUT THE PRESENCE OF OMETHING SO POTENTIALLY DEADLY.
"NUCLEAR PROTECTION AGENCIES" ONCE AGAIN PROTECT THE REPUTATION OF GOOD OLD NUCLEAR ENERGY, PERIOD, THE END.
AND TO HELL WITH THE HEALTH OF MILLIONS OF INFANTS, CHILDREN AND PREGNANT MOTHERS.
AS PROMISED, HERE IS AN ARTICLE THAT EXPLAINS HOW A WEE SMALL AMOUNT OF RADIATION IS CONSIDERED VERY HAZARDOUS TO HUMAN HELATH, RE: NUCLEAR MEDICAL TESTS.
FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES, HOW SMALL OF AN AMOUNT OF I-131 IS HAZARDOUS?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/health/policy/25radiation.html
"Patients treated with radioactive iodine can be dangerous to people around them, said the New York Times.
There are about 40,000 new cases of thyroid cancer a year, and most patients are treated with radiation, which makes them potentially dangerous to people around them for up to a week.
After thyroid treatment, patients are advised not to hug children or pregnant women, or to sleep next to another person, for several days — depending on the size of the dose.
They are even advised against eating chicken wings or whole apples, because the bones or the core will be contaminated with radioactive saliva.
Hospital isolation is still the practice in Europe
In 1997, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission dropped a requirement that such patients be quarantined in the hospital. Instead, patients can be released right after their treatment, when they are at their most radioactive.
And while most people go right home, one patient in New York boarded a bus for Atlantic City, N.J., and set off a radiation alarm in the Lincoln Tunnel.
Scientists have estimated that, depending on the amount of radioactive drug given to a thyroid patient, a secondhand dose could exceed an average American’s annual level from all natural sources, and three or four times the safe level recommended for a pregnant woman.
One person alarmed about the situation is Representative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, whose office has been studying the issue. He accuses the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of turning a blind eye to the problem.
“My investigation has led me to conclude that the levels of unintentional radiation received by members of the public who have been exposed to patients that have received ‘drive through’ radiation treatments may well exceed international safe levels established for pregnant women and children,” Mr. Markey said in a statement.
James G. Luehman, an NRC staff official who helps monitor the safe handling of radioactive materials used in medicine, said his agency might have made a mistake in dropping the quarantine requirement. The idea was that letting people return home to recuperate would cut costs, benefit the patients and allow doctors with no quarantine facilities to perform the treatment.
The agency knew that relatives and strangers would get a radiation dose from such patients, Mr. Luehman said, but it assumed that the doses to people like hotel clerks and chambermaids would be random and that no one was likely to be exposed repeatedly.
New York City has gone a step further. Last June, it advised radiologists and endocrinologists, “Do not advise patients to go to a hotel.”
A few states have similar policies."
DISCONCERTING, ISN'T IT?
IT IS FOR THOSE OF US WHO HAVE THOSE SCANS DONE FREQUENTLY.
FOR THOSE OF US CONCERNED WITH HUMAN LIFE AND THE LIVES OF CHILDREN, INFANTS, FETUSES IN UTERO, THIS "MYSTERY EVENT" IN EUROPE IS ALSO EXTREMELY TROUBLESOME.
SHOULDN'T THAT INCLUDE ALL OF OUR "NUCLEAR PROTECTION AGENCIES?
SHOULDN'T THE AGENCIES IN ALL OUR COUNTRIES "ERR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION" AND WARN THEIR CITIZENS ABOUT THIS IF THEY CARE ABOUT HUMAN LIFE?
WELL, IT DOESN'T INCLUDE THOSE AGENCIES, THOSE GOVERNMENTS.
THAT'S BLATANTLY OBVIOUS.
___________________________________
A MOST INTERESTING READ:
~NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARCHIVE
On 1 March 1995, President Clinton declared 212.5 tonnes of highly enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium to be excess to national security needs. Since that time additional information about the amount, locations, and forms of this material has been released. The excess plutonium (38.2 tonnes) is stored at 10 locations in Washington, Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico (two locations), Texas, Ohio, New York, Tennessee and South Carolina. The HEU (174.3 tonnes) is stored at six locations in Washington, Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and South Carolina. It is expected that the HEU will be blended with natural uranium to produce some 7000 tonnes of civilian power plant fuel over 8-10 years. About 10 tonnes of HEU has already been placed under international safeguards at the Oak Ridge Y-12 site.
Since the invention of nuclear weapons, the U.S. has built about 70,000 warheads, and dismantled about 58,000 of them with most of the nuclear materials being recycled into new weapons.
The U.S. currently has about 12,500 weapons in existence, but only 8700 (approx.) are in active service. The remaining 3800 or so are retired weapons either awaiting dismantlement, making up part of the inactive reserve, or both. Some counts give somewhat lower numbers for operational weapons (e.g. 7200), but the weapons making up this differential are simply "in storage", have not been transferred to reserve status, and are in full operational condition. At its numeric peak in 1967, the U.S. arsenal had some 32,500 warheads.
On 6 February 1996 U.S. Dept. of Energy declassified significant additional information about plutonium stocks and their location. It was disclosed that since 1944 the U.S. produced or acquired 111.4 tonnes of plutonium, principally for weapons programs. 93.5% was produced in government reactors, 5% was imported from 14 countries and 1.5% arose from commercial reactors.
89.3% of the 111.4 tonnes produced or acquired remains in the DOE/Department of Defense inventory (99.5 tonnes). The balance consists of plutonium used in the Nagasaki bomb and in weapons tests (3.4 tonnes, 3.1%), waste (3.1%), inventory differences (2.5%), fission and transmutation (1.1%), transfer to foreign countries (0.6%), decay (0.4%) and distribution to the civilian nuclear industry (0.1%). Of the 99.5 tonnes in current inventory, 85 tonnes is weapons-grade plutonium
//WW
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