Low-level radiation in Europe still a mystery: IAEA

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/international/2011/November/international_November661.xml§ion=international

(Reuters)

17 November 2011

VIENNA - The source of low levels of radioactive iodine-131 detected in several European countries over the past few weeks is still unclear, the U.N. nuclear agency said on Wednesday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) first announced on Friday that traces had been detected in Europe, after it was tipped off by authorities in the Czech Republic.

The IAEA has said the traces should not pose a public health risk and that it does not think the particles are from Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant after its emergency in March. snip

“Authorities from the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Germany, Sweden, France and Poland have continued to measure very low levels of iodine-131 in their respective atmospheres in recent days,” the IAEA said in a statement.

[MADem]

1. Meet George Jetson....his Boy Elroy?

Aliens it were...aliens, I say!!!

Who knows, really? It is puzzling.

[Demeter]

7. Everybody in Europe is an alien...

to us.

[MADem]

10. But they don't have nuke powered space ships!

Of course, France is LOADED with nuke plants--maybe one of theirs has a problem and sensors are failing?

[dtexdem]

2. Maybe the mystery is why radiation levels aren't higher.

Japan is not the only place with nuclear power plants, after all.

[The Wielding Truth]

3. Radiopharmaceuticals? Interesting. Anyone know about these?

[TheWraith]

4. Catch-all term for the use of radiation in medicine...

Either for diagnosis, such as taking highly accurate pictures of certain parts of the body, or actually for treatment; doses of iodine-131, for instance, are used to treat thyroid cancer. The iodine accumulates in the thyroid and effectively creates a highly targeted form of radiation therapy to poison the cancer cells.

[The Wielding Truth]

5. Thank you so much,TheWraith. I bet we have these all over the US.

[librechik]

6. illegal toxic dumping

it's everywhere, and eventually it will kill us all. ESp since we don't even know where to look to clean it up. Thank you crooks and capitalists.

[TheWraith]

8. Even if that were the case, it's the LEGAL dumping you need to worry about.

Low, non-harmful levels of iodine, versus the coal plants that dump ~2,000 tons a year of uranium and thorium, plus 50 tons of mercury, directly into the air every year right here in the US.

[librechik]

9. I can do something about that potentially--but I can't stop the stuff done insecret

and they are both a problem!