Plutonium traced in British soil
September 6, 2004
Traces of plutonium from American nuclear tests in Nevada 50 years ago appeared in British soil soon after, scientists will reveal on Monday.
The amounts are "very, very small" and pose no danger, Professor Keith Goulding, of Rothamsted Research in Hertfordshire, will tell a conference.
He said the find came from the world's longest running continual experiment.
The owner of the Rothamsted estate first appointed a researcher to take soil samples 160 years ago.
John Bennet Lawes wanted to measure the effect of fertilisers on crop yields.
Acid rain
The experiment has been going ever since and the samples have enabled scientists to study the impact of environmental changes, the industrial revolution, nuclear weapons tests and accidents like Chernobyl on the soil.
Scientists at the Geosciences Advisory Unit at Southampton University are using archives of the samples to produce a record of nuclear fallout in the UK.
"They have provided us with the first evidence that plutonium from the Nevada Desert tests in 1952 and 1953 contaminated northwest Europe," said Dr Ian Croudace of the Southampton Oceanographic Centre.
The study shows material from the nuclear tests in 1950s arrived in this country within days.
Prof Goulding will tell the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science such experiments are very valuable.
"Events such as the industrial revolution, the introduction of unleaded petrol and acid rain can all be seen in the changing chemistry of the sample archive," he said.
This story was first carried on the BBC website.
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