Windscale emissions

A cluster of cases of childhood leukemia has been found in West Cumbria (Forman et al., 1987). As a result, an exhaustive reexamination has been made of the emissions from the Windscale piles and the adjacent Sellafield reprocessing plant, including those before,... 

In the UK, rainfall of 10-20 mm on 2-4 May gave heavy fallout in the coastal region of Cumbria and Galloway (Clark Smith, 1988). By a coincidence, there was particularly heavy deposition in the hills 20 km SSE of Sellafield, which were also in the path of the emission of October 1957. In this area, there was about 12 kBq m-2 of 137Cs from the Windscale accident (Fig. 2.5), 6 kBq m-2 from distant bomb tests, 1955-65, and 20 kBq m-2 from Chernobyl. Clark Smith estimated the total fallout of 137Cs over the UK at 300 TBq. This compares with about 10 TBq from the Windscale accident and 1000 TBq from weapons tests. 

Emission of fission products and other activities during the accident to Windscale Pile No. 1 in October 1957. AERE Report M-3194. Harwell, Oxon. 

Knapp s calculations showed the possibility of a public health hazard from the Nevada tests, which, in retrospect, would have justified a ban on the sale of local milk, similar to that applied in Cumbria after the Windscale accident. The calculations were criticised as speculative. However, a further comparison can be made of the consequences of the Harry test and the Windscale accident. St George is 200 km from the Nevada Test Site. Leeds is 150 km from Windscale. In Table 3.11, the calculated Cj(max) levels at Leeds (Burch, 1959) are compared with the respective emissions of 131I. 

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