Saharan sand cloud carries radioactive particles from French nuclear blast to Europe

During the week, several portals reported that wind containing radioactive particles was blowing through the Mediterranean from sandy Algeria to Europe. “Radioactive Sahara sand” has caused pollution in parts of southern Europe.

According to a report by the Western Radioactivity Control Association (Acro), scientists have observed a phenomenon that has been going on since February, during which they studied desert sand in different parts of France. After testing the samples, it was confirmed that the sand also contained radioactive particles, which were stirred up and blown north by a storm that recently ravaged North Africa. During the storm, radioactive particles also got into the dust clouds, which remained after the French nuclear experiments in Algeria, then still in colonial territory, in the 1960s.

Some experts say the dust cloud is not dangerous, while others point out that the dust contains cesium-137 radioactive isotope particles and therefore prefer to stay at home.

Euronews writes, citing a French non-profit organization that investigates nuclear pollution, that "Acro claims to have examined the Sahrawi dust collected in Jura, not far from the French-Swiss border."

“Taking into account the wide range of homogeneous deposits, the analysis found that Acro estimated that there was 80,000 bq / km2 of cesium-137 in the sand,” the organization said in a statement.

“This radioactive contamination, which comes from a distant, 60-year-old nuclear explosion site, may remind us of the radioactive contamination of the hereditary Sahara, for which France is responsible,” they added.

In the short term, the health impact of radioactive sand is negligible, but according to experts, Euronews writes that it could transport additional radioactive particles from sub-Saharan sand to Europe.

"A rather thick cloud is creeping across the Mediterranean, covering Spain, France, the United Kingdom and Germany, among others, where 'mud' has now been reported in several places."

The French blew up the code name “Gerboise Bleue” in Algeria on February 13, 1960, when special attention was paid to carrying out nuclear experiments in a place far from the mainland, thus protecting the French population.

The dust cloud is also reported to reach Turkey, where health authorities have already begun warning the population to stay home for a few days.