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Betty MacDonald, the author of The Egg and I and the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle Series is beloved all over the world. Don't miss Wolfgang Hampel's Betty MacDonald biography and his very witty interviews on CD and DVD!
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Nuclear accident in Russia?
Russian nuclear facility denies it is source of high radioactivity levels
Greenpeace calls for investigation after levels of ruthenium-106 in atmosphere near Urals site found to be 986 times norm
A secretive Russian nuclear facility has denied it was behind high
atmospheric concentrations of the radioactive isotope ruthenium-106,
after Russia’s meteorological service confirmed levels several hundred
times the norm were found in several locations in the country during
tests in late September. Greenpeace has called for an investigation into a potential cover-up
of a nuclear accident after Russia’s nuclear agency had denied European reports of increased ruthenium-106 levels.
Rosgidromet, the weather monitoring service, released test data on
Monday that showed levels were indeed much higher than normal. The most
potent site was Argayash in the south Urals, where levels were 986 times
the norm. Argayash is about 20 miles from Mayak, a facility that reprocesses
spent nuclear fuel. The plant facility issued a denial on Tuesday. “The
contamination of the atmosphere with ruthenium-106 isotope registered by
Rosgidromet is not linked to the activity of Mayak,” a statement said. It went on to reassure people that the measurements were well below
dangerous levels: “The measurements which Rosgidromet has released
suggest that the dose people might have received is 20,000 times less
than the allowed annual dose and presents no threat at all to health.”
Nuclear experts also said there was no evidence to suggest the leak
posed a significant hazard to human health or the environment. A report this month from France’s Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) said ruthenium-106 had been detected in France between 27 September and 13 October. In mid-October, the state nuclear agency Rosatom issued a statement saying that samples from across Russia
during the same period showed no trace of ruthenium-106 after European
agencies had reported levels that were higher than usual.
Greenpeace Russia called on Rosatom to open “an in-depth inquiry and
publish the results about the incidents at Mayak”, and the group also
said it would ask prosecutors to look into the potential concealment of a
nuclear incident. Later on Tuesday, Rosatom released a statement saying the scare had been down to a “misreading” of the data. “Rosatom categorically confirms there have been no unreported
accidents or reportable events on any of its nuclear sites. It also
confirms that the recent Ru-106 emission which is being reported is not
linked to any Rosatom site,” the nuclear agency said. Rosatom said the high readings in Argayash were still lower than those taken elsewhere in Europe, such as in Bucharest, suggesting the emission did not take place on Russian territory. Neil Hyatt, professor of nuclear materials chemistry at the
University of Sheffield, said: “This isotope comes from recycling of
nuclear fuel or medical isotope targets. It’s quite short-lived so that
means it must be relatively young fuel. It must have come out of a
reactor recently and been reprocessed recently.”
Ilya Yarmoshenko, a scientist, told a Russian news agency that the
high levels of ruthenium-106 were harmless, and levels 10 times higher
of other radioactive substances could be found inside normal homes. He
said there was no need to evacuate any of the residents of the affected
areas but added that the most important thing now was to identify the
source of the radiation. Hyatt agreed: “It’s certainly not a major health concern based on
what we know at the moment. If it’s concentrated you would certainly
want to limit access to that area. If it’s not ingested then the hazard
is going to be lower.” Prof Paddy Regan, a nuclear expert at the University of Surrey, said:
“When they say this was 900 times the background level it’s a
surprising number, but the background level is basically zero. I don’t
think there’s any radiological danger from it. “The measurement of this highlights how sensitive radiation detectors
are. It’s basically impossible to hide a leak. If it was a weapon
explosion or a reactor leak there’d be other radioisotopes, so it looks
like a leak from waste reprocessing.”
Hyatt said it was unusual that other radioisotopes had not been
detected as normally waste fuel would contain a mix of different nuclear
materials. One possibility is that the fuel was being processed and
concentrated for use in nuclear batteries, which are used in satellites.
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“If the plant that’s making those has sprung a leak it might explain why they’ve detected that and nothing else,” he said. Evgeny Savchenko, the top health and safety official in Chelyabinsk
region, where the Mayak facility is located, dismissed health fears as
“hysteria” and said the fact that the information came from abroad was
suspicious, noting that France also has a nuclear fuel processing site
“that competes with our Mayak”. Savchenko said there was absolutely no reason for the population to
fear health effects. “Note that officials and their families don’t have
injections against radiation … so you’d have to be a total fool to hide
dangerous information and not take steps to save people,” he said. In 1957 Mayak was the site of one of the worst nuclear disasters in
history, which at the time was covered up by the Soviet regime. This
year shipments of spent nuclear submarine fuel
that had been left at an Arctic naval base since the Soviet period
began to be shipped to Mayak, where it will be reprocessed and
repurposed for use in civilian nuclear reactors. Much of the plant’s
operations remain shrouded in secrecy.
Betty MacDonald Fan Club, founded by Wolfgang Hampel, has members in 40 countries.
Wolfgang Hampel, author of Betty MacDonald biography interviewed Betty MacDonald's family and friends. His Interviews have been published on CD and DVD by Betty MacDonald Fan Club. If you are interested in the Betty MacDonald Biography or the Betty MacDonald Interviews send us a mail, please.
Several original Interviews with Betty MacDonald are available.
We are also organizing international Betty MacDonald Fan Club Events for example, Betty MacDonald Fan Club Eurovision Song Contest Meetings in Oslo and Düsseldorf, Royal Wedding Betty MacDonald Fan Club Event in Stockholm and Betty MacDonald Fan Club Fifa Worldcup Conferences in South Africa and Germany.
Betty MacDonald Fan Club Honour Members are Monica Sone, author of Nisei Daughter and described as Kimi in Betty MacDonald's The Plague and I, Betty MacDonald's nephew, artist and writer Darsie Beck, Betty MacDonald fans and beloved authors and artists Gwen Grant, Letizia Mancino, Perry Woodfin, Traci Tyne Hilton, Tatjana Geßler, music producer Bernd Kunze, musician Thomas Bödigheimer, translater Mary Holmes and Mr. Tigerli.
