WP: Scientists finally know why Germany’s wild boar are surprisingly radioactive

[China]

Scientists finally know why Germany’s wild boar are surprisingly radioactive

 

On April 26, 1986, the infamous explosion at a Chernobyl nuclear power plant unleashed large amounts of radiation into the atmosphere, an event that contaminated wildlife across country lines. The radiation levels seen in animals as a result has decreased in recent years — with the exception of one animal: the wild boar.

 

For years, scientists questioned why levels of a radioactive isotope known as cesium-137 have remained surprisingly high in wild boars rooting around Germany and Austria, while decreasing in other deer and roe deer. In a new study released last week, a team of researchers finally solved this “wild boar paradox.” They uncovered that the main radioactive source is not the Chernobyl accident but nuclear weapons testing from the 1960s.

 

What a radioactive boar may look like

 

“My mind was blown when I realized how relevant this source of radioactive contamination in general still is,” said Georg Steinhauser, a radiochemist at TU Wien and author of the new study. Steinhauser said people might not think that 60 years after a nuclear weapons explosion, wild boar populations would still be contaminated with radiation levels well above the regulatory food limit.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

 

[CobraCommander]

18 hours ago, China said:

 

 

What a radioactive boar may look like

 

 

What radioactive boar actually look like.