kravietz 🦇 on Nostr: An interesting example on how #radiophobia is being built in #Germany - the ...
An interesting example on how #radiophobia is being built in #Germany - the “Federal company for final storage” posted news[^1] from the Asse II salt mine with the following title:
Contaminated salt water found at the 700 meter level
On the photo you can see a tiny puddle of soaked salt rock. The news continues:
The investigations showed that the salt water is contaminated with radioactive substances. Radioactive hydrogen (tritium) and cesium-137 were measured. Measurements are 15,000 becquerels of tritium and 7 becquerels of cesium-137 per litre Becquerel is used to measure activity. One becquerel corresponds to one decay per second.
Factually, this is all true. The salt is technically “contaminated” because the isotopes don’t naturally occur in it, the measurements were done, isotopes were found, these “thousands of becquerels” look “big”. But what does that mean in practical terms?
Well, not much - becquerel (Bq) is a very small unit. An average human body produces 4400 Bq of radioactivity due to naturally radioactive isotopes we all contain and ingest with food (tomatoes and bananas are their richest sources). A home smoke detector with americum isotope produces 37’000 Bq. Few people do realise that, so any mention of “radioactivity” is causing panic, when the reality is that humans had been literally bathing in radiation from rock and from the sapce for millions of years of evolution and it’s only the absorbed dose that matters from health perspective.
All the report means is that some German miners in 1990’s were likely sloppy with using slightly contaminated water to moist the filler salt (as explained in the article as a working hypothesis). It’s a curiosity but it has literally zero value for anyone living on surface 700 m higher.
But it’s being spinned as some kind of huge news on social media only because it contains the magic key word “radiation” which guarantees panic and engagements, while nobody really realises that Germany already has not one but two massive deep geologic repositories that store thousands of tons of highly toxic chemical waste - arsenic, mercury, cyanides etc.[^3] And that’s perfectly OK, just as the #nuclear storage, because geology guarantees these will stay below the ground for billions of years.
[^1]: https://www.bge.de/de/aktuelles/meldungen-und-pressemitteilungen/meldung/news/2024/11/kontaminiertes-salzwasser-auf-der-700-meter-ebene-gefunden/
[^2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Background_radiation#Natural_background_radiation
[^3]: https://www.kpluss.com/en-us/our-business-products/waste-management/
Contaminated salt water found at the 700 meter level
On the photo you can see a tiny puddle of soaked salt rock. The news continues:
The investigations showed that the salt water is contaminated with radioactive substances. Radioactive hydrogen (tritium) and cesium-137 were measured. Measurements are 15,000 becquerels of tritium and 7 becquerels of cesium-137 per litre Becquerel is used to measure activity. One becquerel corresponds to one decay per second.
Factually, this is all true. The salt is technically “contaminated” because the isotopes don’t naturally occur in it, the measurements were done, isotopes were found, these “thousands of becquerels” look “big”. But what does that mean in practical terms?
Well, not much - becquerel (Bq) is a very small unit. An average human body produces 4400 Bq of radioactivity due to naturally radioactive isotopes we all contain and ingest with food (tomatoes and bananas are their richest sources). A home smoke detector with americum isotope produces 37’000 Bq. Few people do realise that, so any mention of “radioactivity” is causing panic, when the reality is that humans had been literally bathing in radiation from rock and from the sapce for millions of years of evolution and it’s only the absorbed dose that matters from health perspective.
All the report means is that some German miners in 1990’s were likely sloppy with using slightly contaminated water to moist the filler salt (as explained in the article as a working hypothesis). It’s a curiosity but it has literally zero value for anyone living on surface 700 m higher.
But it’s being spinned as some kind of huge news on social media only because it contains the magic key word “radiation” which guarantees panic and engagements, while nobody really realises that Germany already has not one but two massive deep geologic repositories that store thousands of tons of highly toxic chemical waste - arsenic, mercury, cyanides etc.[^3] And that’s perfectly OK, just as the #nuclear storage, because geology guarantees these will stay below the ground for billions of years.
[^1]: https://www.bge.de/de/aktuelles/meldungen-und-pressemitteilungen/meldung/news/2024/11/kontaminiertes-salzwasser-auf-der-700-meter-ebene-gefunden/
[^2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Background_radiation#Natural_background_radiation
[^3]: https://www.kpluss.com/en-us/our-business-products/waste-management/