Antinuclear

Radioactive cesium-137 still carried across Europe from Chernobyl forest fires

Chernobyl Radiation Still Blows Across Europe http://www.earthweek.com/2015/ew150220/ew150220b.html Lingering fallout in the soil around Ukraine’s crippled Chernobyl nuclear power plant is still spreading over parts of Europe when local wildfires lift the contamination into the atmosphere.

Nearly 30 years after arguably the world’s worst nuclear accident, a new study led by the Norwegian Institute for Air Research used satellite images from 2002, 2008 and 2010 to detect three fires in the forests of Ukraine and Belarus near Chernobyl.

The findings were then compared with measurements of radioactive cesium-137 deposited on the area, and fed into models of air movements and fires.

Smoke from the fires was found to have carried between 2 and 8 percent of the cesium-137 in the soil as far south as Turkey and as far west as Italy and Scandinavia.

Even though the contamination was at nearly insignificant levels by the time it reached those areas, the researchers said better forest management and construction of fire breaks could help cut down on the Chernobyl area fires.

But they say the radiation seems to be inhibiting the decay of leaf litter on the ground that can help spark the blazes.  The contamination may have killed off the key insects and microorganisms that promote natural breakdown of the leaves.

February 21, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized