NUCLEAR FALLOUT
Ecuador had the least nuclear
fallout from bomb testing (1945 to 1958) anywhere on earth.
The U.S.
Public Health Service publication
RADIOLOGICAL HEALTH DATA (Jan. 1960,
near the apex of atmospheric nuclear
bomb testing) compiled comparative
figures on the total daily intake of Stontium 90 by various countries.
The comparative figures are as
follows:
United States 15.4 microcuries (mc)
Germany 13.0 mc
United Kingdom 9.8 mc
Vietnam 8.3 mc
Japan
7.8 mc
Peru
2.8 mc
Ecuador 1.2 mc.
Dr.
Norman French from the University of
California published in December
1960 an article on the Amount of
Strontium Radioactivity in Ecuador
published in Ciencia
y Naturaleza, the journal of the
Natural Sciences Institute at
Unversidad Central in Quito.
The
Atomic Energy Commision (AEC) analyzed 45 samples of soil and 19
samples of beef cattle bone in 1958 and
reported the following figures for
Rainfall and Strontium 90 fallout:
Manta
(Coast) 243 millimeters (mm), 1.8 mc
(per square mile)
Esmeraldas (Coast) 822 mm, 1.6 mc
San
Lorenzo 2797 mm, 1.6 mc
Quevedo 2484 mm, 5.5 mc
Santo
Domingo 4015 mm, 2.7 mc
Aloag
(Plateau) 940 mm, 1.6 mc
Quito
1364 mm, 1.4 mc
Calderon 960 mm, 0.6 mc
Guayllabamba 565 mm, 1.4 mc
Otavalo 1029 mm, 2.1 mc, Ibarra 743
m, 1.9 mc
Latacunga 272 mm, 1.4 mc, Ambato 472
mm, 0.7 mc
Banos
1249 mm, 0.5 mc
Puyo
(Amazon, a short distance from Banos
which is in the Andes) 3871 mm, 12.6
mc
The
east side of the Andes mountains in
the Amazon jungle has the highest levels of
fallout proving that fallout moves
from east to west and that high
mountains block Strontium 90 and
therefore other fallout particles
from being deposited in the soil.
Samples of bone and soil collected
in 1958 show highest values for Sr90
in the tropical region on the east
side of the Andes.
Lowest values are
found in the high central valley,
where samples used in estimating
world-wide distribution of fallout
were collected.
If the major fallout
deposition occurs in the interior of
the South American continent, such
estimates for these latitudes may be
low by as much as a factor of ten.
Although there has apparently been
greater Sr90 deposition in regions
of greater rainfall, analysis of
data from 16 locations fails to show
a significant correlation between
rainfall and fallout.
Norman R. French
Science 24
June 1960:
Vol. 131 no.
3417 pp.
1889-1890
DOI: 10.1126/science.131.3417.1889
1958 had the 2nd most (116)
above ground nuclear test
explosions, 2nd only to 1962
(178).
At the near apex of atmospheric
nuclear testing the inter-andean
plateau and west coast of
Ecuador had the lowest fallout
of any nation on Earth.
Coastal
Ecuador is hot and humid and
thus unhealthy in the long run
(nice for short visits).
+++
Germany will shut
down all their nuclear reactors by
2022
Following the March
2011 Fukushima
nuclear disaster,
Germany has permanently shut down
eight of its reactors and pledged to
close the rest by 2022.[1]
The Italian Government put a one-year
moratorium on its plans to revive
nuclear power, following the
2011 Japanese nuclear accidents.[22]
A
further Italian nuclear power
referendum
was held on 13 June 2011, with a
54.79% turnout and 94% of the votes
rejecting the use of Nuclear Power,[23]
leading to cancellation of any
future nuclear power plants planned
during the previous years.
Switzerland and Spain
have banned the construction of new
reactors.[3]
Japan’s prime minster
has called for a dramatic reduction
in Japan’s reliance on nuclear power.[4]
Taiwan’s president
did the same.
Mexico has sidelined
construction of 10 reactors in favor
of developing natural-gas-fired
plants.[5]
Belgium is
considering phasing out its nuclear
plants, perhaps as early as 2015.
+++
Did you know?
In September, 1996 the United Nations
General Assembly voted to adopt the
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty,
which prohibits all "nuclear weapons
test explosions and all other nuclear
explosions."
As of September 1998, 150
nations had signed the treaty, and 21
nations had ratified it. Notable
exceptions are India and Pakistan, both
of which conducted nuclear tests in May,
1998. North
Korea withdrew in 2003 and conducted
6 tests from 2006 to 2017.
+++
CALIFORNIA
Good News!
The San Onofre nuclear power plant
has been shut down.
On June 7, 2013, Southern California
Edison announced it would "permanently
retire" Unit 2 and Unit 3.