In harms' way

Radioactivity from the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in Cumbria, UK, has reached as far as the northern waters of Canada spreading through the Arctic Ocean. Data compiled by the Norwegian research ship CSS Henry Larsen showed that a plume of iodine-129 from the nuclear plant had penetrated beyond Siberia to the north-western shores of Canada at the depth of about 200 metres. Reports say contamination from the nuclear plant is affecting the Arctic region more than that from the Chernobyl accident. Radioactive discharges from Sellafield peaked in the late 1970s and early 1980s, before new clean up equipment was installed. Sellafield has released 40,000 billion becquerels of caesium-137, says Per Strand of the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority. About 15,000 billion becquerels have reached the Arctic, which is two to three times more than the contamination from Chernobyl, he adds ( New Scientist , Vol 154, No 2081).