Radioactivity

Kashiwazaki nuclear plant - report from the scene

Posted by bex — 24 July 2007 at 6:28pm - Comments

After the conflicting reports about last week's earthquake in Japan, a Greenpeace team of nuclear and radiation experts headed over to Japan to check radiation levels on the ground.

Happily, most places the team checked around the plant didn't show signs of increased radioactivity, but they had a couple of bizarre moments along the way. Their diaries are on our international site.

Article tagged as: japan, nuclear accidents, nuclear power, radiation, radioactivity, reactor safety

Is Britain still the 'dirty man of Europe'?

Posted by bex — 13 June 2003 at 8:00am - Comments
In 1998, the UK Government promised a 'progressive and substantial' reduction of radioactive discharges from the Sellafield spent fuel reprocessing plant into the Irish Sea.


At the time of the decision, the UK's Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, famously declared "I was ashamed of Britain's record in the past but now we have shed the tag of the Dirty Man of Europe and have joined the family of nations".

Yet discharges from Sellafield are higher now than in 1998 and are set to double over the next few years (Find out more in Greenpeace's briefing paper on OSPAR and radioactive discharges from Sellafield).

Article tagged as: nuclear power, nuclear waste, radioactivity, UK

Sellafield's radioactive salmon

Posted by bex — 21 May 2003 at 8:00am - Comments

Radioactive waste from Sellafield has been found in Scottish farmed salmon sold in major British supermarkets. Tests commissioned by Greenpeace revealed traces of radioactive waste in packets of fresh and smoked salmon.

salmon
The tests, conducted independently by Southampton University's oceanography centre, found low levels Technetium-99 (Tc-99) in farmed Scottish salmon sold at Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda, Safeway, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer.


Tc-99 is a byproduct of Magnox fuel reprocessing. Dr David Santillo, a scientist at Greenpeace's research laboratories at Exeter University, said: "Tc-99 should not be there at all. It is inexplicable yet significant. Scottish salmon is marketed as something that comes from a pristine environment."

Article tagged as: north sea, nuclear power, oceans, radioactivity, reactor safety, salmon, sellafield
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