Are Canadian fish being poisoned by radiation?

Are Canadian fish being poisoned by radiation?

Source: cosmosmagazine

6/11/2017

A news story has done the rounds on social media this year claiming that salmon in Canada had been found contaminated with radioactive isotopes from the damaged nuclear power plant at Fukushima in Japan.

Is it true? And, if so, is there anything to worry about? The answer to the first question is “yes, sort of”, but the answer to the second is “definitely not”!

The story grew from the fact that, in 2015, a single salmon caught in Osoyoos Lake in British Columbia was found to contain very low levels of a radioactive isotope called caesium-134.

The isotope is produced during nuclear fission – the process that drives both atomic power stations and atomic bombs. Because it has a half-life of about two years, any caesium-134 that was released into the atmosphere by previous bomb tests or reactor disasters (such as Chernobyl) has long since decayed away.

Therefore, any caesium-134 found in anything at the moment can only have come from Fukushima.

So, yes, a radioactive nasty from Japan did end up in a fish in Canada. However, there is much more to the story than that.

First off, scientists have always predicted that radioactive stuff from the damaged reactor would spread around the world, through the oceans and the air.

Salmon, Kokanee

Continue...

News Id		Source	Stamp	country
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4303	New Mexico teen catches possibly record breaking fish, releases it before getting official weight	Fox News	2021-03-07	US
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4305	Norway's salmon rot as China takes revenge for dissident's Nobel Prize	independent	2011-10-23	UK
4306	Research Finds Fish Behavior May Seal Their Fate	underwatertimes	2011-10-04	CA
4307	The World's Largest Floating Fish Factory	gizmodo	2011-10-03	US
4308	Pros Carr, Bradley Qualify For Bassmaster WS National Championship	underwatertimes	2011-10-02	CA
4309	Mystery of Canada's missing salmon continues	nature	2011-09-28	CA
4310	Illusion Of Plenty' Masking Fish Population Collapse Off California Coast	Underwatertimes	2011-09-27	US
4311	Wind Whips Angler Teddy Carr At Oneida Lake	Underwatertimes	2011-09-24	US
4312	Study Finds Aquarium Fishes Are More Aggressive In Reduced Environments	underwatertimes	2011-09-23	US
4313	Small Fish Recover Faster Than Large Fish	Underwatertimes	2011-09-21	US
4314	The Science Behind the Fishy Smell in Smelly Fish	miaminewtimes	2011-09-20	CA
4315	Anglers Bradley, Carr Land Enough Fish To Qualify For Regional Bassmaster Event	underwatertimes	2011-09-19	US
4316	Bay of Fundy farmed salmon found in rivers	CBC News	2011-09-16	CA
4317	Fish shrinkage probed in lab	BBC News	2011-09-18	NO
4318	Salmon And Other Fish Predators Rely On No Guts, No Glory Survival Tactic	underwatertimes	2011-09-15	US
4319	Climate change boon to UK seafood	BBC News	2011-09-15	UK
4320	World's largest fishing lure, at 355 pounds, is a real whopper	petethomasoutdoors	2011-09-13	US
4321	Ancient Toothy Fish Found in Arctic—Giant Prowled Rivers	National Geographic News	2011-09-12	US
4322	The World's Worst Place To Catch Fish	Underwatertimes	2011-09-07	US
4323	Colossal Aggregations Of Giant Alien Freshwater Fish As A Potential Biogeochemical Hotspot	Underwatertimes	2011-10-06	GE
4324	Iceland joins alliance to tackle ‘ghost’ fishing gear abandoned at sea	thegrocer	2021-03-10	UK
4325	Dozens change name to salmon	Taipei Times	2021-03-18	TW

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