Radioactive Tellurium, Silver
Detected Near Fukushima Plant
Fukushima Power Plant
EMF Protection Devices
Magnetic Field Detector
November 01, 2011
High concentrations of radioactive tellurium and silver have
been found in soil around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power
plant, according to the science ministry's contamination
maps released on Oct. 31.
The elements, minor components of radioactive fallout, were
detected at sampling locations within 30 kilometers of the
stricken nuclear plant.
An analysis showed that the concentration levels equaled a
50-year human radiation exposure of up to 3.2 millisieverts,
the ministry said.
Soil samples were collected at about 2,200 locations within
100 km of the plant between June 6 and July 8. Studies were
conducted on the concentrations of about 800 samples of
tellurium-129m and about 350 samples of silver-110m.
"We have confirmed that the contributions of tellurium and
silver to radiation doses are small compared to that of
cesium," a ministry official said. "Neither tellurium nor
silver easily accumulates in human bodies."
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ2011110116244
The symbol "m" indicates that the nuclides in question
differ in properties from tellurium-129 and silver-110.
Tellurium-129m, with a half-life of about 34 days, is
generated by nuclear fission of uranium fuel. When
accumulated in human bones, tellurium-129m is excreted from
the body in a shorter time than iodine-131, a major
component of radioactive fallout along with cesium-134 and
cesium-137.
A peak tellurium-129m concentration of about 2,660,000
becquerels per square meter was detected about 2.5 km from
the nuclear plant in the town of Okuma.
Silver-110m, with a half-life of about 250 days, tends to
stick to hemocyanin, or blood pigment in squid and other
animals. A peak silver-110m concentration of about 83,000
becquerels per square meter was found about 5 km from the
nuclear plant in the town of Futaba.
Both locations lie in the no-entry zone within a 20-km
radius of the nuclear plant.
The ministry estimated that a person who stays at these
locations for 50 years would receive a combined internal and
external radiation dose of 0.6 millisievert for
tellurium-129m and 3.2 millisieverts for silver-110m.
Calculations for 50 sample locations showed that tellurium
and silver combined accounted for less than 1 percent of the
total radiation exposure, and cesium accounted for most of
the rest, according to ministry officials.
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