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Sensors detect rise in nuclear particles on Baltic Sea

Drumboy44

Power Poster III
Radiation sensors in Stockholm have detected higher-than-usual but still harmless levels of isotopes produced by nuclear fission, probably from somewhere on or near the Baltic Sea, a body running a worldwide network of the sensors said on Friday.

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) oversees a network of hundreds of monitoring stations that use seismic, hydroacoustic and other technology to check for a nuclear weapon test anywhere in the world. That technology can, however, be put to other uses as well.

One of its stations scanning the air for radionuclides - telltale radioactive particles that can be carried long distances by the wind - detected unusually high levels of three radionuclides earlier this week: caesium-134, caesium-137 and ruthenium-103.

The Stockholm monitoring station "detected 3isotopes; Cs-134, Cs-137 & Ru-103 associated w/Nuclear fission @ higher[ ] than usual levels (but not harmful for human health)", CTBTO chief Lassina Zerbo said on Twitter (here on Friday evening.

The particles were detected on "22/23 June", he added.

Zerbo's post included a borderless map showing where the particles might have come from in the 72 hours before they were detected - a large area (here) covering the tips of Denmark and Norway as well as southern Sweden, much of Finland, Baltic countries and part of western Russia including St Petersburg.

 
First, in week 23 (June 2-8), iodine-131 was measured at the two air filter stations Svanhovd and Viksjøfjell near Kirkenes in short distance from Norway’s border to Russia’s Kola Peninsula. The same days, on June 7 and 8, the CTBTO-station at Svalbard measured tiny levels of the same isotope.

CTBTO is the global network of radiological and seismic monitoring under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization.

Norway’s nuclear watchdog, the DSA, underlines that the levels are very small.

“We are currently keeping an extra good eye on our air-monitoring system,” says Bredo Møller with DSA’s Emergency Preparedness unit at Svanhovd.

While iodine-131 is only measured in the north, in the Kirkenes area and at Svalbard, Swedish and Finnish radiation authorities inform about other isotopes blowing in the skies over southern Scandinavia.

Bredo Møller says to the Barents Observer that his agency can’t conclude there is a connection between what is measured up north and what his Scandinavian colleagues measured in week 24.

“As part of our good Nordic cooperation we are currently exchanging data,” he says.

Møller tells about radiation just above detectable levels. “We found 0,9 microBq/m3 at Svanhovd and 1,3 microBq/m3 at Viksjøfjell.”

Finland’s Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) detected on June 16 and 17 small amounts of the radioactive isotopes cobalt, ruthenium and cesium (Co-60, Ru-103, Cs-134 and Cs-137).

STUK says the measurements were made in Helsinki where analysis is available on the same day. “At other stations, samples are collected during the week, so results from last week will be ready later.”

All these isotopes indicate that the release comes from a nuclear-reactor. Iodine-131 has a half-life of 8 days, and given the small amount measured in the north, this isotope could be gone before the radioactive cloud reached the southern parts of Finland and Sweden a week after the first measurements in the north. That be, if the release was somewhere in the Arctic or northwestern Russia and winds were blowing south or southwest.

Neither of the Scandinavian radiation agencies will speculate about the origin.

“It is not possible now to say what could be the source of the increased levels,” writes the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority in a statement. Also the Swedes underline that the levels are low and do not pose any danger to people or the environment.

 
22 /23 June 2020, RN #IMS station SEP63 #Sweden🇸🇪 detected 3isotopes; Cs-134, Cs-137 & Ru-103 associated w/Nuclear fission @ higher[ ] than usual levels (but not harmful for human health). The possible source region in the 72h preceding detection is shown in orange on the map. https://t.co/ZeGsJa21TN
 
In the first half of June 2020, small amounts of artificial (man-made) radioactive substances have been detected at several measuring stations in Northern Europe. The Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish radiation protection authorities have reported this on their websites. RIVM National Institute for Public Health and the Environment has analysed the available data to determine a possible cause and source location.

Iodine-131 was detected in Norway, while cesium-134, cesium-137, cobalt-60 and ruthenium-103 were detected in Sweden and Finland. The amount of radioactivity was very low and there was no impact on the environment or human health. No artificial radioactive substances have been found in The Netherlands. RIVM National Institute for Public Health and the Environment continuously monitors the presence of radioactivity in The Netherlands. Detecting very low levels of radioactivity (such as in this case) is only possible with advanced equipment. Such equipment is available at RIVM.

The detected radioactive substances are artificial. The combination of radionuclides may be explained by an anomaly in the fuel elements of a nuclear power plant. RIVM has performed calculations to find out the source of the radionuclides. The calculations indicate that the nuclides come from the direction of western Russia. Determining a more specific source location is not possible with the limited data available.

Note: Some recent media reports claimed, possibly based on a mistranslation of our original report (in Dutch ), that the radionuclides originated from western Russia. The claim RIVM makes is that the radionuclides travelled from the direction of western Russia to Scandinavia, but that no specific country of origin can be pointed out at this moment.

A similar situation occurred in 2017: radioactive ruthenium-106 was found in the air in several European countries. Because many more measurements were available then, RIVM was able to locate the source more accurately. The calculated source was in excellent agreement with an existing nuclear facility that was pointed out as the most probable source in multiple international investigations.

 
A recent nuclear leak may relate to one of the country’s new nuclear-powered strategic weapons. These are part of a range of new ‘super weapons’ unveiled by President Putin on March 1, 2018. Russia is testing a nuclear-powered mega-torpedo called Poseidon, and a nuclear-powered cruise missile called Burevestnik. If either are to blame, then it would not be the first radiation spike caused by testing one of these weapons.

This may have previously happened on August 9, 2019. There was a fatal radiation incident at the State Central Navy Testing Range at Nyonoksa. This is near to Severodvinsk in Russia’s arctic north, the same area that the CTBTO has pointed towards this time. Then it was caused by an explosion in a rocket engine. Many analysts believe that this was most likely related to the Burevestnik missile.

The other weapon in the frame is Poseidon. This is a massive nuclear-powered torpedo which will be launched from specially built submarines. At 60-78 feet long it is about twice the size of a Trident missile. It’s designation is believed to be 2m39 and it is known in NATO as Kanyon. Its virtually unlimited range and high autonomy mean make it hard to classify. The U.S. Government has described it as an Intercontinental, nuclear armed, undersea autonomous torpedo. It is a weapon worthy of a bond-villain which literally goes underneath missile defenses. Its threat is slow but inevitable doom to coastal cities such as New York and Los Angeles.

While Poseidon probably doesn’t have very much shielding on its reactor, it is normally underwater. So any radiation leak may not reach the atmosphere. But it would be lifted out of the water after a test launch, so there is room for an incident which could get detected hundreds of miles away in Scandinavia.

 
This is why I don't eat anything that comes from our ocean. Besides the fact our oceans are nothing but toxic material bathtubs.

Only eat farmed fish never eat fish or any seafood from our ocean.

You're just asking to get cancer if you eat from our ocean.

You have no idea if that fish or crab came within feet of a nuclear power sub, or if your fish swam in toxic material that is littered everywhere around every ocean.
 
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