Des poissons radioactifs

Photo: NRDC

La centrale nucléaire Vermont Yankee a des fuites: on a trouvé du strontium-90 dans le sol autour de la centrale l'hiver passé. Cet isotope dangereux ne peut être présent que lors d'une réaction nucléaire et ne se trouve pas dans la nature dans un état naturel. Et maintenant, on a trouvé un poisson pêché l'hiver passé à 4 milles en amont de la centrale qui en contient dans ses os.

L'état insiste pour dire que le poisson est contaminé à cause des tests nucléaires ou à cause de Chernobyl, mais pas nécessairement à cause de la centrale nucléaire.

Le chef du département de la santé nucléaire de l'état dit que les fuites de la centrale ont relâché 6 différents matériaux radioactifs: du cobalt-60, du cesium-137, du manganèse, du zinc, du tritium et du strontium-90. Arnie Gundersen, un ingénieur nucléaire membre du Public Oversight Panel de la Législature aimerait que l'état prennent des centaines de prélèvements plutôt que les quelques-uns de l'hiver passé afin d'obtenir plus de données et établir possilement des liens avec le strontium-90. Il a des doutes sur les affirmations officielles des sources de radioactivité du poisson: si le poisson avait été contaminé par Chernobyl, il y aurait du cesium-137 également dans ses os.

Gundersen dit que le strontium-90 est le pire des radio-isotopes échappés du Vermont Yankee, précisant que c'est soluble dans l'eau et se fixe dans les os. "Je testerais beaucoup d'autres poissons. C'est très préoccupant." dit-il.
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"Fish in Connecticut positive for isotope

A Connecticut River fish caught four miles upstream from the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor this winter tested positive for low levels of strontium-90, a highly dangerous radioactive isotope recently confirmed in soil outside the plant. But the Department of Health said Monday(May24th2010) that the fish's strontium-90 was not related to this winter's radioactive leak at Vermont Yankee, and state officials attributed the strontium to atmospheric testing in the 1960s and the Chernobyl nuclear disaster 20 years ago, which spread radioactive fallout even as far away as Vermont.

William Irwin, radiological health chief for the Health Department, said that the fish was caught on Feb. 10, four miles north of Vermont Yankee as part of the testing done in the wake of the tritium leak at the plant, which was first disclosed publicly on Jan. 7. Tests have shown the radioactive leaks, originally described as a tritium leak, actually released at least six different radioactive materials – cobalt-60, cesium-137, manganese, zinc, tritium and now strontium-90.

Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear engineer who is a member of the Legislature's Public Oversight Panel, said he hoped the state would do samples of "hundreds of fish" rather than a handful, to get more data on the possible strontium-90 connection. But Gundersen said he had his doubts about Irwin's explanation of the source of the fish's radioactivity, noting that if the fish picked up its radioactivity from atmospheric tests and Chernobyl, it would have also tested positive for cesium-137.

Gundersen called strontium-90 "the worst" of the radioisotopes found to have leaked out of Vermont Yankee, noting it is water soluble and bone-seeking. "I would check a hell of a lot more fish," said Gundersen. "It raises a lot of concerns.""

Excerpts of article written by Susan Smallheer published in Rutland Herald here: http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100525/NEWS04/5250363

At the end of its planned life, Gentilly II in Quebec is also scheduled for a complete upgrade so it can continue to release isotopes in our backyard and generate more radioactive waste that we still don't know how to safely dispose of. Greenhouse gases-free, indeed, if we don't include the extraction and refinement of this long-lived DNA enemy!