Anonymous Coward User ID: 1515199 United States 08/23/2011 07:25 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | ‘Scientists don’t know why’: Cesium-137 in soil near Chernobyl has half-life of 180 to 320 years, not 30 years as is typical Reinhabiting the large exclusion zone around the [Chernobyl] accident site may have to wait longer than expected. Radioactive cesium isn’t disappearing from the environment as quickly as predicted, according to new research presented here Monday at the meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Cesium 137’s half-life — the time it takes for half of a given amount of material to decay — is 30 years. In addition to that, cesium-137’s total ecological half-life — the time for half the cesium to disappear from the local environment through processes such as migration, weathering, and removal by organisms is also typically 30 years or less, but the amount of cesium in soil near Chernobyl isn’t decreasing nearly that fast. And scientists don’t know why. It stands to reason that at some point the Ukrainian government would like to be able to use that land again, but the scientists have calculated that what they call cesium’s “ecological half-life” — the time for half the cesium to disappear from the local environment — is between 180 and 320 years. “Normally you’d say that every 30 years, it’s half as bad as it was. But it’s not,” said Tim Jannik, nuclear scientist at Savannah River National Laboratory and a collaborator on the work. “It’s going to be longer before they repopulate the area.” [...] [ link to ex-skf.blogspot.com] |
Anonymous Coward (OP) User ID: 1515199 United States 08/23/2011 07:25 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Re: ‘Scientists don’t know why’: Cesium-137 in soil near Chernobyl has half-life of 180 to 320 years, not 30 years as is typical |
Anonymous Coward (OP) User ID: 1515199 United States 08/23/2011 07:28 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Re: ‘Scientists don’t know why’: Cesium-137 in soil near Chernobyl has half-life of 180 to 320 years, not 30 years as is typical On Tuesday April 26, 2011, Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) held a joint press conference with Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Massachusetts) and the Institute for Policy Studies’ Robert Alvarez on the ongoing impact of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster to public health 25 years after the accident, the continuing nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima, Japan, and the lessons from both for U.S. public health and safety. At 7:30 in Former PSR President Jeff Patterson, osteopathic physician: … Recent reports show that the Cesium levels around the Chernobyl plant have not declined as we anticipated they would… [ link to www.youtube.com] |
Average American User ID: 1242484 United States 08/23/2011 07:57 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Re: ‘Scientists don’t know why’: Cesium-137 in soil near Chernobyl has half-life of 180 to 320 years, not 30 years as is typical Dude! Didn't you see the latest "Transformers"? They spell it all out for us. |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 1516530 United States 08/23/2011 09:54 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Re: ‘Scientists don’t know why’: Cesium-137 in soil near Chernobyl has half-life of 180 to 320 years, not 30 years as is typical |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 1516707 United States 08/23/2011 05:13 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Re: ‘Scientists don’t know why’: Cesium-137 in soil near Chernobyl has half-life of 180 to 320 years, not 30 years as is typical |