Reply #8: Nonsense - the Chernobyl commercial nuclear *disaster* released large quantities of "fallout"

[jpak]

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v329/n6142/abs/329825a0.html

Chernobyl radionuclides in a Black Sea sediment trap

K. O. Buesseler*, H. D. Livingston*, S. Honjo*, B. J. Hay*, S. J. Manganini*, E. Degens†, V. Ittekkot†, E. Izdar‡ & T. Konuk‡

* Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA
† Geologisch Paläontologisches Institut, Universität Hamburg, D-2000 Hamburg 13, FRG
‡ Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi, Deniz Bilimleri ve Teknolojisi Enstitüsü, Izmir, Turkey

ABSTRACT

The Chernobyl nuclear power station accident1–3 released large quantities of vaporized radionuclides, and, to a lesser extent, mechanically released small (<1–10 m) aerosol particles2,4. The total release of radioactivity is estimated to be of the order of 1–2 x 1018 Bq (3–5 x 107 Ci) not allowing for releases of the xenon and krypton gases2. The 137Cs releases of 3.8 xlO16 Bq from Chernobyl can be compared to 1.3 x 1018 Bq 137Cs released due to atmospheric nuclear weapons testing1. Chernobyl-derived radionuclides can be used as transient tracers to study physical and biogeochemical processes. Initial measurements of fallout Chernobyl radionuclides from a time-series sediment trap at 1,071 m during June–September 1986 in the southern Black Sea are presented. The specific activities of 137Cs, 144Ce and 106Ru in the trap samples (0.5–2, 4–12 and 6–13 Bq g-1) are independent of the particle flux while their relative activities reflect their rates of scavenging in the order Ce>Ru>Cs.

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