From EPA and DOE documents, we know Tank-111 is likely to contain, in addition to uranium and plutonium, traces of the following radionuclides from these processes:
•Cesium-137, half-life about 30 years, collects in the soft tissues of the body, and according to EPA, “exposure to radiation from cesium-137 results in increased risk of cancer. Everyone is exposed to very small amounts of cesium-137 in soil and water as a result of atmospheric fallout. Exposure to waste materials, from contaminated sites, or from nuclear accidents can result in cancer risks much higher than typical environmental exposures.”
•Strontium-90, half-life 29.1 years, “is chemically similar to calcium, and tends to deposit in bone and blood-forming tissue (bone marrow). Thus, strontium-90 is referred to as a ‘bone seeker.’ Internal exposure to Sr-90 is linked to bone cancer, cancer of the soft tissue near the bone, and leukemia.
•Technetium-99, half-life 212,000 years. EPA: “Once in the human body, Tc-99 concentrates in the thyroid gland and the gastrointestinal tract. The body, however, excretes half of the ingested Tc-99 within 60 hours. It continues to excrete half of the remaining Tc-99 every 60 hours that follow. After 120 hours, only one-fourth of the ingested Tc-99 remains in the body. Nearly all of ingested technetium will be excreted from the body within a month.
• Nickel-59, half-life 760,000 years, and Nickel-63, half-life 100 years, are hazardous if inhaled, according to Idaho National Laboratory: “The major radiological concern with these two nuclides is related to limiting the exposure to people who are decommissioning and dismantling reactors, primarily for reactors in service for more than 30 years.”
•Americium-241, half-life 432 years. According to the American Library of Medicine, “in the nuclear fuel cycle the transuranic radionuclides plutonium-239, americium-241 and neptunium-237 would probably present the most serious hazard to human health if released into the environment. The principal late effects of all three radionuclides are the induction of cancers of bone, lung or liver.”
THANKS OBAMA