High Radioactivity over the Urals

[JammedStab]

Is this anything to be concerned about. I have a flight in a few days across Russia....

Russia finds 1,000-times normal level of radioactive isotope after nuclear accident claims.

Russia's meteorological service said on Tuesday it had measured pollution of a radioactive isotope at nearly 1,000 times normal levels in the Ural mountains, the first official Russian data supporting reports that an accident had taken place.
The data appears to support a report by the French nuclear safety institute IRSN, which said on Nov. 9 a cloud of radioactive pollution over Europe had indicated that an accident had taken place at a nuclear facility either in Russia or Kazakhstan in the last week of September.
Neither Russia nor Kazakhstan has acknowledged any accident.
Russian state weather service Roshydromet said in a statement it had found "extremely high pollution" of ruthenium 106 in samples from two meteorological stations in the southern Ural mountains region in late September and early October.

At the Agrayash weather station the levels were 986 times those of the previous month, while at the Novogorny station they were 440 times higher. The weather service did not rule out that the radioactive isotope could be absorbed into the atmosphere and reach Europe.
The Agrayash weather station is located about 30 km (20 miles) from Mayak, a huge plant that reprocesses nuclear fuel and produces radioactive material for industrial and research purposes, owned by Russian state nuclear company Rosatom. Mayak accounts for half of Russian exports of radioactive isotopes.
In a statement, Mayak denied that its plant was the source of increased level of ruthenium 106. Rosatom was also quoted by Russia's RIA news agency as saying there were no accidents at any of its facilities which could increase the level of ruthenium 106 in the atmosphere.
Greenpeace said in a statement on Tuesday that it would ask Russia's prosecutors' office to investigate whether there had been an accident in the area.
"It also demands a check into whether the atmospheric radionuclide monitoring system is sufficiently prepared for possible accidents, and whether public health around a possible release of Ruthenium 106 was sufficiently protected," the environmental pressure group said in a statement.
France's IRSN ruled out the possibility of an accident in a nuclear reactor, saying the material it detected was more likely to have been released from a nuclear fuel treatment site or center for radioactive medicine.
The pollution would not be sufficient to cause an impact on human health or the environment in Europe, the French institute said.
The Institute of Nuclear Physics in Kazakhstan, which neighbors the southern Urals, has said there were no accidents at its scientific research reactor and no ruthenium 106 at its two disused testing areas in western Kazakhstan.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russia-finds-1000-times-normal-level-of-radioactive-isotope-after-nuclear-accident-claims/ar-BBFpSYE?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp

[birmingham]

Apparently a result of a mishap at a nuclear waste reprocessing facility - but no official announcement. Ruthenium 106 apparently has a half life of 15 days and would only have been of concern close to the source.

Should pose no risk to your flight.

Explained: ruthenium 106 and Europe?s radioactive cloud | Euronews (http://www.euronews.com/2017/11/21/explained-ruthenium-106-and-europe-s-radioactive-cloud)

[Just a spotter]

Follows on from a spike in Iodine-131 back in Feb (Mysterious radiation spreading across Europe after authorities keep it secret | The Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/radiation-europe-russian-missile-strike-radioactive-material-france-norway-iodine-131-irsn-a7591886.html)) and Ruthenium-106 in Sept (https://phys.org/news/2017-10-spike-airborne-radioactivity-europe.html).

:eek:

[mammothskier]

Ruthenium 106 apparently has a half life of 15 days and would only have been of concern close to the source.

106Ru half life is 373.59 days, not 15, but it emits beta particles (electrons) that don't travel further that a few centimeters, so you need to have it on your body to be dangerous.

Levels of it high in the air are very low, so don't worry about the flight.

[angels]

Worry about lying Russians though.

[Ex Cargo Clown]

Don't breath it in either

[A Squared]

Is no problem, Comrade!

[Nemrytter]

As a professional pilot you should be aware of the risks of radiation. Ground-level radiation isn't what should bother you.

[wiggy]

Problem is radiation is a much a "trigger" word

As a professional pilot you should be aware of the risks of radiation.

True, and with that mind we should be aware that mammothskier makes a valid point...

Ground-level radiation isn't what should bother you.

It certainly should "bother" you, or at least be of interest to you if you live in certain parts of the world...(..e.g. Anyone else here ever lived in an area with granite bedrock, perhaps in a house constructed on granite.?)

[Derfred]

106Ru half life is 373.59 days, not 15, but it emits beta particles (electrons) that don't travel further that a few centimeters, so you need to have it on your body to be dangerous.

Or in your body... such as lodged in your lungs...

[TURIN]

It certainly should "bother" you, or at least be of interest to you if you live in certain parts of the world...(..e.g. Anyone else here ever lived in an area with granite bedrock, perhaps in a house constructed on granite.?)

Yes, but in regard to the OP, if flying thousands of feet above it as a passenger or crew, it is not something to be immediately concerned about.

[gearlever]

Looks like an incident at Marjak.
Ruthenium-Wolke: Spuren führen zur Atomfabrik Majak im Sürural - SPIEGEL ONLINE (http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/technik/ruthenium-wolke-spuren-fuehren-zur-atomfabrik-majak-im-suerural-a-1180081.html)

http://cdn1.spiegel.de/images/image-1218300-860_galleryfree-nhxq-1218300.jpg

[jimjim1]

Reads very well. No idea if translation is correct of course but it does read very well.

Google Translate (http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/technik/ruthenium-wolke-spuren-fuehren-zur-atomfabrik-majak-im-suerural-a-1180081.html)

[hoss183]

Yes, but in regard to the OP, if flying thousands of feet above it as a passenger or crew, it is not something to be immediately concerned about.

Not at all true. The contamination is in the form of aerosols, i.e micro particles suspended in the air. They can travel thousands of miles and at any altitude (distance and dispersion will depend on particle size and density)
The nature of these beta emitters means that even a single particle breathed in COULD cause health risks.
Can we do anything about it / Is there cause to worry? - Probably not, its already spread, and we found out much later than the accident (that Russia are not even officially acknowledging).

[Radgirl]

No a single particle cannot cause a health risk

I would advise to not avoid eating bananas - they are full of radiation

[J.O.]

So you're suggesting that he should go ahead and eat lots of radioactive bananas.

[hoss183]

No a single particle cannot cause a health risk

I would advise to not avoid eating bananas - they are full of radiation

I should clarify by particle i meant mico fragments of material, as dust or aerosol. One of those that's an alpha or beta emitter in contact with body tissue can certainly cause problems.

(Credentials: I work at Europe's leading nuclear research organisation in the isotope facility)

[G-CPTN]

Can you recommend any (online) reading that might dispel the myths about radiation and particles?

My knowledge jumped from Dan Dare's ray-guns to the radiation teaching issued by the Air Training Corps in the late 1950s (when we were all going to die) . . .

[hoss183]

You could start with Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation

The fact is though we all live with radiation every day, especially pilots and CC. For example my yearly allowed dose in my work environment is 50uSv, which is less one trans-Atlantic flight at 80uSv.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ionising-radiation-dose-comparisons/ionising-radiation-dose-comparisons

Most people are unlikely to get any Gamma dose (except in hospital under controlled conditions) but the nasty stuff are the beta and alpha emitters, these would be produced in nuclear tests, accidents such as Chernobyl and the one we are discussing. Very small fragments of active material can be ejected and travel a very long way as aerosols.
Have a read about Downwinders https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downwinders

But there are a lot of factors:
- What elements/half-life - If short not much risk, its decayed before reaching anyone
- How far will it spread? wind, weather, remote location..

The health risk, the risk of a cancer depends on: how much is inhaled/eaten, the level of activation, how much it has already decayed and how long it stays in the body.

My point was its not impossible that one could encounter some of this material via flying through it. But the fact is it had already passed over Europe albeit in small quantities before we ever found out. And ref above we have many sources of radiation in our everyday lives, you just cant avoid it, so at least in my opinion its not worth worrying about.
(The exception to that is Radon, always worth finding out if you live in a susceptible area and taking precautions, because you can do something about it)

[BluSdUp]

The mystery is possibly solved!
It turns out Putin has testfired a atomic powered cruise-missile last year.
He was just on TV yesterday bragging about this and a few other ingenious gadgets his Boffins has concocted!

I never thought I was going to miss Leonid Bresjnev and the cold war,,,
MAD at least gave some predictability and stability.

Now its just Madness.

Good luck to us all!

[Airbubba]

And speaking of mysterious airborne radioactivity, one of the WC-135 Constant Phoenix nuke sniffer aircraft has been flying missions out of Mildenhall, UK in recent days. They have been accompanied by the familiar QID tankers and at least one RC-135W Rivet Joint spyplane.

From an article by Tyler Rogoway:

A WC-135 Constant Phoenix, one of just two in existence, arrived in the UK this weekend. This morning it launched out of RAF Mildenhall as "FLORY58" on a mission that would supposedly take the aircraft over the Norwegian and Barents Seas. Svanhovd, Norway, which sits near the Barents Sea and right along the border with Russia's heavily militarized Kola Peninsula, is where increased levels of the isotope iodine-131 was first detected in the second week of January. In the weeks that followed the isotope was identified in elevated levels by air monitoring stations across Europe.

The USAF has kept mum about what one of its Constant Phoenix jets is doing in Europe, but after this mission, or possibly series of missions, we should may hear more from them as to why the aircraft was forward deployed, as well as what it found.

A pair of KC-135R tankers also were reported to be accompanying the jet, and there is even an RC-135 Rivet Joint electronic intelligence (ELINT) collection aircraft and another KC-135R tanker headed in the same direction. If the WC-135 ventures near Russian airspace, which it very well could, having a Rivet Joint nearby would be beneficial to monitor Russia's response to their presence, including eavesdropping on command and control communications and recording the emissions activity of Russian air defense network.

There is the chance that the RC-135 could be on an entirely different mission, although considering the timing that is doubtful. Also of interest, is that all three of the KC-135Rs have returned to base at the time of publishing this post. Two returned near simultaneously, later the third made its way back to RAF Mildenhall as well. This makes some sense as the RC-135 is equipped with more modern and fuel miserly CFM56 turbofan engines, while the WC-135C is powered by relatively old and fuel-hungry TF33 engines.

USAF's Nuke Sniffing Plane Is Flying On A Mission Near The Arctic Right Now - The Drive (http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/7830/usafs-nuke-sniffing-plane-is-flying-on-a-mission-near-the-arctic-right-now)