Posted on 07/10/2019 1:19:29 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
Radiation levels in the water around a sunken Soviet-era nuclear submarine are some 100,000 times higher than normal, scientists have warned, raising fears that the K-278 Komsomolets may still pose a threat 30 years after it sunk.
Norwegian scientists have been analyzing the area around the submarine, which came to rest on the floor of the Norwegian Sea after sinking on April 7, 1989. The accidentcaused by a fire in the engine roomresulted in the deaths of 42 of the Komsomolets' 69 crew. Most were killed by radiation exposure while waiting for the Soviet navy to rescue them.
The 400 feet long submarine now sits one mile underwater, around 100 miles southwest of Norway's Bear Island, in one of the largest fishing grounds on Earth.
Research teams regularly check on the status of the wreck. Russian scientists detected low levels of radiation in the water around the Komsomolets in the 1990s and 2007...
Norwegian teams survey the site every year, and noted elevated concentrations of radioactive cesium-137 nearby between 1991 and 1993... However, no leaks have ever been found.
But of three samples taken Monday using a remote-controlled mini-submarine, one shows radiation levels 100,000 times higher than expected, Norwegian state broadcaster NRK reported.
Hilde Elise Heldal of the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research said she was not overly surprised that radiation was picked up, given past tests that have also recorded radioactive pollution. "The results are preliminary," she told TV2. "We will examine the samples thoroughly when we get home."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
I was thinking that if this was Japan instead of Norway that we would soon be seeing Godzilla in real life.
And more romantic, since you can eat it in the dark!..............
Godzira! Godzira!
Wait.....this is Norway.
Godzira, uff da! Godzira, uff da!
I used to work with a professional engineer, who had formerly been employed by the EPA. IIRC, one of his favorite sayings was:
"The solution for polution is dilution!"
;^)
Well that’s not great but it’s not horrifying.
Is it still waste,
if it can be re-conditioned/constituted and
used again to fuel a reactor?
7
Make more sense to store it on the moon anyway. The economics of Gerry Anderson.
Get the waste in the big black and fling towards the sun and keep your moon in orbit.
Oh really?
What is the normal radiation level of a sunken Russian nuclear submarine?
Assuming “normal” is defined as the natural background radiation, 100,000 times would be equivalent to radiation levels recorded in vicinity of Fukushima reactors during the accident there.
“Why is my lutefisk glowing?”
From what I’ve heard about how they prepare it, that’s completely normal.
CC
LOL!.................
Will thermoclines keep it down there?
Don't give the Ruskies any ideas of what to do with their aging nuke subs.
Sounds like the mini-sub stuck its sample tube up close to the leak at the vent. Unless every other sample was taken in the same place, one high sample can’t be compared to “normal “.
But two mouths to eat with !
If history teaches us anything, it’s that it does not teach us to listen?
Too much radiation on a Russian sub. Unexpected.
So what is the normal radiation level for a sunken Russian nuclear sub?
The whole point of land storage of nuclear waste is containment. If Caesium-137 is in ocean water it can go anywhere, including your next meal. It’s a gamma emitter. People don’t have 14 feet of water in their bodies to block it. Think about that. Yeah, with sufficient dilution maybe they’ll only get a little bit of cancer. /s
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