Post-Chernobyl disaster sheep controls lifted on last UK farms

[Diver]

Restrictions covering sheep movements after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster have finally been lifted from all farms in England and Wales after 26 years.

As a result of the explosion and fallout, radioactive particles became locked in upland peat and accumulated in grazing sheep.

Only 26 years!

[TimberWolf]

Probably been waiting for radioactive caesium-137 and strontium-90 (both with half lives around 30 years) levels to come down. They'll be about half what they were 26 years ago.

[Diver]

Probably been waiting for radioactive caesium-137 and strontium-90 (both with half lives around 30 years) levels to come down. They'll be about half what they were 26 years ago.

google is your friend

[TimberWolf]

google is your friend

Research after Fukishima

Typical nuclear fission products after reactor meltdown:
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% Element Half-life
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6.9% Caesium-135 2.3 million years Beta. Not bad
6.3% Caesium-137 30 years Bad
6.1% Technetium-99 211,000 years Beta. Cancer risk if inhaled
5.4% Zirconium-93 1.53 million years Beta. Not bad.
4.5% Strontium-90 29 years Beta. Bad
~ 3% Iodine-131 8 days Bad for a few weeks
1.25% Palladium-107 6.5 million years Beta. Not overly dangerous
0.8% Iodine-129 15.7 million years Beta & gamma. Long term concern
0.2% Krypton-85 10.8 years Mostly beta & little gamma
0.1% Tin-126 230,000 years Gamma. Potential concern
0.53% Samarium-151 90 years Beta. Not dangerous.
0.04% Selenium-79 500,000 years Beta. Not dangerous but could be bio-concentrated
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Can't be arsed to format it as I've already provided the fission products of likely interest.

[Diver]

Yes but are the sheep safe?

It comes to something when our food and recreation are affected by radioactivity

[TimberWolf]

Yes but are the sheep safe?

It comes to something when our food and recreation are affected by radioactivity

Yeah, I think we tend to err quite heavily on the side of safety, except when something goes disastrously wrong in which case they will say everything is fine.

[Diver]

Originally Posted by Diver - Yes but are the sheep safe? It comes to something when our food and recreation are affected by radioactivity

Yeah, I think we tend to err quite heavily on the side of safety, except when something goes disastrously wrong in which case they will say everything is fine.

[TimberWolf]

There's probably more to be worried about inhaling dust from those granite paving stones you've been lugging around than from eating a sheep.

[Diver]

There's probably more to be worried about inhaling dust from those granite paving stones you've been lugging around than from eating a sheep.

Wooosh!

You missed the joke TW. I thought I'd get it in before somebody else did.

I'm Welsh

Sheep

Geddit?