- (Reuters) -- Worringly high levels of radioactivity have
been discovered in southern Israel's underground water table.
-
- According to scientific research published on Wednesday,
the soaring radioactivity levels measured in the Negev Desert and in the
Arava valley are caused by natural radioactive elements such as uranium
and radon gas.
-
- But Professor Avner Vengosh, who co-authored the study
by Ben Gurion University, dismissed any relation between the abnormal findings
and the nearby nuclear plant of Dimona, also in southern Israel.
-
- Contaminated water?
-
- "This phenomena has spread throughout the area,"
he said, referring to Jordan and Egypt's Sinai desert.
-
- "We discovered concentrations of radium reaching
up to 10 times the normal average in (Israel's) water table," he added.
-
- Officials in the environment ministry have advised local
fish farmers not to use the water for fear it will contaminate fish destined
for human consumption.
-
- The agriculture ministry insisted however that no contaminated
fish had been found in the area.
-
- © 2003 Aljazeera.Net
- http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AE4F
B40C-5F1C-4AED-B02C-2EEAB498AA6B.htm
|
