| 137-Cs and the Movies | | Date Created: Sep 08, 2004, 08:08 AM |
This morning's New York Times put 137-Cs in the news when it highlighted the documentaries of Maryann De Leo, "Chernobyl Heart", which won the 2003 Academy Award for best documentary and of Rory Kennedy, who created "Indian Point: Imagining the Unimaginable" that reports opinions about what would happen if terrorists flew a plane into the Indian Point nuclear power plant just up the Hudson.
The Chernobyl accident was truly a horrible accident. The radiation sickness caused by the meltdown is heartbreaking and continues, and the whole mess seems all the more tragic because the accident was preventable. With the aftermath of 9/11 still in the minds of us New Yorkers, I too wonder what sort attack will be next directed to the United States. Since nuclear power can deliver so much more destruction and than chemical explosives (including jet fuel), it's not surprising that the potential for nuclear terror is appearing often in today's news. |
| I am a huge sympathizer with those calling for safety in the nuclear power industry, but I am also a solid supporter of nuclear power. With proper design, maintenance, and oversight, nuclear power can be made safe. Indeed, it has a track record that has already demonstrated proper safety methods. As the Times article mentioned, the fossil fuel alternatives (coal, oil, and gas) appear to be worst. They are changing our planet?s climate in ways that are difficult to predict, and they have their own set of well-known safety issues. |
| This brings us to 137-Cs. This isotope was discoverd in the 1930's by Glenn Seaborg. The Center for Desease Control (CDC) gives a safety brief about 137-Cs and notes the primary sources of the isotope in our environment are nuclear weapons testing in the 1950's and 1960's and nuclear fission reactor accidents like the Chernobyl accident. |
| 137-Cs decays to a meta-stable isomer of Barium-137m. 137m-Ba decays quickly by emitting an energetic gamma-ray, and this gamma-ray may cause biological damage if sufficiently intense. (What is the approximate energy of the gamma-ray?) |
The EPA discusses 137-Cs and reports the health effects to high exposures to Cesium-137. The disturbing questions revealed by those living around the Chernobyl accident concern birth defects to developing fetus and to future babies of parents exposed to high-levels of radiation. Not being an expert on the health effects of radiation, I feel obligated to admit to having no answers to these sorts of questions. We know that we can (and must) live safely with some radiation, but clearly, in order to reap the many benefits from nuclear science, we must also work tirelessly to eliminate accidental (or terrorists-inflicted) exposures to high levels of radiation.
What do you think?
p.s. A short report on the aftermath of Chernobyl appeared in a 2001 issue of Science. |
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