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Chernobyl still contaminating Scottish sheep
for Sunday Herald, 26 April 2009
It exploded 23 years ago today more than 1,400 miles away, but it is still contaminating sheep in Scotland.
The Chernobyl nuclear reactor near Kiev in Ukraine spewed a huge cloud of radioactivity over Europe, after it overheated and ripped apart on 26 April 1986 because of errors made by control room staff. It was the world's worst nuclear accident.
Now, according to the government's Food Standards Agency (FSA), some 3,000 sheep are still subject to restrictions because they remain contaminated by Chernobyl in breach of the safety limit. They are at five farms covering about 7,000 hectares in Stirling and Ayrshire.
Peat and grass in upland areas were polluted with radioactive caesium-137 released by the accident and brought to ground by rain. This is eaten by sheep and has persisted much longer than originally anticipated.
The restrictions apply where concentrations of caesium-137 in sheep exceed 1,000 becquerels of radioactivity per kilogram. Farmers have to mark the radioactive animals with indelible paint, and can't have them slaughtered for food until they fall below the limit.
The FSA conducts surveys every summer to check whether controls can be relaxed at any farms. "The restrictions will remain so long as they are required to protect public food safety," said an FSA spokeswoman.
Restrictions were first imposed in 1987, covering 73 farms across southwest and central Scotland. In the past, high levels of caesium-137 from Chernobyl have also been found in Highland deer and grouse.
Duncan McLaren, the chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, pointed out that radioactive pollution was very persistent. "Sadly only Scottish ministers seem to have learned the lesson and ruled out new nuclear power," he said. "The thinking of UK ministers on nuclear power remains as woolly and foolish as these contaminated sheep."
Posted by Rob Edwards on 25 April 2009 at 10:15 PM in Nuclear power | Permalink