{"id":5606,"date":"2015-01-23T11:53:15","date_gmt":"2015-01-23T10:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/robindesbois.org\/?p=5606"},"modified":"2016-04-18T13:19:27","modified_gmt":"2016-04-18T12:19:27","slug":"les-retombees-du-cosmos-954","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robindesbois.org\/en\/les-retombees-du-cosmos-954\/","title":{"rendered":"Cosmos 954 downfalls – 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Nuclear Code of Silence<\/h2>\n

Thirty-seven years ago, the Russian nuclear powered satellite Cosmos 954 returned to Earth during its 2060th revolution. Its debris crashed on the Canadian Far North close to the Arctic. It was the 24th of January 1978, 11h53 Universal Time, 5h53 at Yellowknife on the banks of Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories Canada.<\/p>\n

The decade 1970-1980 is marked by the worldwide launch of nuclear-based electricity. It is the height of the Atoms for Peace campaign launched in the 1950s to erase the horrors of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. Nuclear for all is on the way.<\/p>\n

Therefore, when Cosmos 954 started to go off course in November 1977 the nuclear club fell silent. From Moscow to Washington including Tokyo, Bonn, Paris, London, Canberra and Ottawa, mum\u2019s the word. According to different sources Cosmos 954 contained 30.5 to 60kg of Russian 90% enriched Uranium-235 homologous with American Uranium-235 which, on August 6, 1945 struck and irradiated Hiroshima.<\/p>\n

Eight days before the Cosmos 954 final reentry, a handful of Russian, American and Allies insiders knew that it would crash on the North American continent. Miami, Detroit, Chicago, the Great lakes were all sworn to secrecy. Right up until the end, up until day break on January 24, 257 million inhabitants were left in the dark about the explosive information.<\/p>\n

Thirty-seven years after, there has been no long-term follow-up on the consequences of this nuclear accident. In the Northwest Territories, the environmental monitoring of the lakes and rivers deals with heavy metals, Persistent Organic Pollutants and indeed radionuclides but, in the administration\u2019s own words: \u201cradionuclides have received the least attention.\u201d \u201cThere is a general lack of long-term, comprehensive monitoring of fish.\u201d \u201cOnly sporadic information exists.\u201d \u201cStudies specifically designed to measure radionuclides in freshwater aquatic environments were not identified.\u201d \u201cAlthough the potential for human health impacts from radionuclide contamination of fish in the Northwest Territories exists, only limited data has been gathered on radionuclide levels in fish.\u201d<\/p>\n

These data deficiencies have not stopped the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada from declaring that traditional food sources are edible: \u201cyou can still enjoy them without worrying about health problems related to radiation.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cosmos 954 downfalls<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

1 \u2013 The fall<\/h3>\n

January 24 1978, at 11:53 Universal Time, a jewel of spatial technology penetrated into Canadian air space. Within 70 seconds, the Cosmos 954 on fire disintegrated in the sky over a straight course of 1000km and deposited on Canadian soil scrap metal, tiny pieces and radioactive particles. The \u201cintrusion\u201d as it was called by Canadian diplomatic circles of a Soviet nuclear powered satellite in an Arctic region qualified, for the event, \u201cvirtually uninhabited\u201d was covered up by an international political consensus and by later terrestrial incidents such as Three Mile Island (1979), Chernobyl and Fukushima.<\/p>\n

Normally, at the end of its working life the nuclear reactor of a Cosmos satellite is ejected from low orbits (+\/- 200km) towards a cemetery orbit at an altitude of around 1000km; a type of space junkyard which allows for a total decay of short-life isotopes or medium-life isotopes such as, Iodine-131 Strontium-90, Cesium-137 before falling back to earth 500 to 600 years later. No official figures were given on the quantity of 90% enriched Uranium-235 on board Cosmos 954. The USSR always avoided clear replies. The minimal quantity was 31.5kg; the majority of the references mention 50kg. The half-life of Uranium-235 is 713 million years.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
\n

The mission of Cosmos satellites was to monitor the movements of American aircraft carriers and submarines via super-powerful radars. Nuclear reactors were installed on board Cosmos satellites to provide electrical power all the reconnaissance and transmission systems.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cosmos 954. DR<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\"01_KOSMOS954_bw_robin-des-bois\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

2 \u2013 Chronology<\/h3>\n

1977<\/strong><\/p>\n

– September 18 :<\/p>\n

Launch of Cosmos 954 by the USSR from Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n

– November :<\/p>\n

US intelligence services identified management problems of the satellite.<\/p>\n

– December 1 :<\/p>\n

In the United States, the Under-Secretary of State for Defence is notified.<\/p>\n

– December 19 :<\/p>\n

Creation of an ad hoc committee on the space debris under the direction of the NSC (National Security Council)<\/p>\n

1978<\/strong><\/p>\n

– January 6:<\/p>\n

The NEST (Nuclear Emergency Search Team) tells its confidential interlocutors that the Cosmos 954 is falling and will crash on land or at sea in an unknown place on January 23 or 24.<\/p>\n

– January 12-19 :<\/p>\n

The United States approach the USSR through diplomatic channels and request accurate information on the in distress Cosmos 954.<\/p>\n

The laconic reply from the USSR: the satellite is powered by Uranium-235. There is no risk of criticality or of explosion. The installation design will allow for the combustion and destruction in the dense layers of the atmosphere. There is a risk that parts or fragments will fall on the Earth\u2019s surface causing local contamination without serious consequences which would require \u201cthe implementation of standard remediation measures\u201d.<\/p>\n

– January 18 :<\/p>\n

NATO countries are informed as well as Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Canada. A recommendation to be discreet accompanies the information note. US Emergency Management Specialists consider it to be unnecessary to warn the population given the uncertainties on the location of the crash. This is a world first. All informed countries observed the code of silence. Before the crash of Cosmos 954, no Head of State or Prime Minister had to mention the disaster scenario of an atomic explosion, which was still feared despite the Soviet Union\u2019s reassurances. Nor did they need to address the isolation or removal measures in case Cosmos 954 crashed on a metropolis or a densely populated valley.<\/p>\n

A White House advisor explained later that the priority was to avoid a remake of the War of the Worlds. In 1938 CBS Radio broadcasted an adapted version of H.G. Wells\u2019 science fiction novel for Halloween. The editing by Orson Welles, striking realistic, is said to have triggered a collective panic.<\/p>\n

– January 24<\/p>\n

At 6:53 (Eastern Standard Time in Ottawa), a red hot and silent object suddenly appeared in the Southwest of Canada and disappeared in the Northeast. 22 minutes later, Pierre Elliott Trudeau the Canadian Prime Minister is informed by Jimmy Carter the United States President that the Soviet satellite has crashed in Canada\u2019s Far North of the country.<\/p>\n

Following a misleadingly reassuring model, it was quickly declared that only an area of 124,000 km2 cut with a scalpel was likely to have received the debris from the radioactive satellite. Looked at on a map, the area looks like a revolver. To the west the area includes Great Slave Lake, 27,200 km2, frozen from September to April, which flows into the Mackenzie River\u2019s basin, which in turn flows into the Beaufort Sea and the Arctic Ocean. To the east the Wildlife Sanctuary of Thelon River which flows into Baker Lake and into Hudson Bay.<\/p>\n

\"02_Chute-Cosmos_carto_robin-des-bois\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3- Operation Morning Light<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
\"03_flowimage2_robin-des-bois\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A Canadian\u00a0C-130 and crew =><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\"04_OperationMorningLightCrew_robin-des-bois\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By the evening of January 22, radioactivity detectors, decontamination tools, containers, helicopters, trucks, computer equipment, and special equipment were embarked on cargo aircrafts at 3 military bases in Washington DC, California and Nevada. The force is ready to intervene where the Cosmos 954 will fall. For several days it has been assessed that the point of impact would be on the North American continent. 247 million inhabitants are still unaware of the danger. Very quickly during the morning of the 24th, Canada and the United States have reached an agreement to carry out joint rescue and emergency operations. Operation Morning Light \u2013 a code name which permitted all the laboratories and American services on alert to communicate in secret for a couple of weeks on the subject of Cosmos 954 \u2013 is now underway and briskly exposed to the public and to the international press. At the same time a U2 from the US Air Force was analysing the air at high altitudes above the Canadian Arctic trying to detect plumes of U-235 and fission products. The negative results indicate that most of the artificial radioactivity from the satellite wreck was actually falling more or less quickly on Earth.<\/p>\n

Between January 24 and March 25, 608 flyovers of the area thought to be contaminated tracked down from an average altitude of 300 m physical traces and radioactive traces of the Russian satellite. One hour of flight time by 4 Canadian C130\u2019s produced electronic data decipherable within 4 hours. The interpretation of the raw data was sloppy. Very strong signals of radioactive aggregates were detected while the teams landing onsite from helicopters on the tundra and on frozen lakes were unable to relocate them. The search for reactor core which was thought to have dug into the permafrost a crater of about 1 m in depth was carried out in vain. Gamma-ray spectrometers and computers could not withstand the extreme variations in temperature. Ground teams designated to find and pack the waste were also having a very tough time, immersed in the Arctic winter and in the atomic fear.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
At the end of March, Operation Morning Light was suspended. Only 65 kg of the radioactive metals which are deadly on contact were recovered. The Cosmos 954 weighed 4 to 5 tons. Only 0.1% of the reactor core was found in the form of particles visible to the naked eye, and irradiated by U-235, fission products such as Sr-90 and Cs-137 and transuranic elements such as plutonium, ie: 31.5 grams if one takes 31.5 kg of uranium as the weight reference on board the Cosmos 954.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Several particulates containing megabecquerel quantities were found near Snowdrift village, around 400 inhabitants in 1978, 290 in 2012. Source: United States Department of Energy<\/td>\n

\"05_Particulate_robin-des-bois\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The preliminary report published in September 1978 was validated by the American Head of Operation Morning Light. It presented the hypothesis that the reactor core had vaporised into fine particles and that 75 % of the radioactivity was concentrated on the bottom and on the banks of the lake.<\/p>\n

The scientific journal Health Physics noted in August 1984, in an article focused on the health impacts of the disaster, that at least a quarter of the reactor \u2013 ie: 7 to 8 kg \u2013 had fallen in the form of fine particles less than 1mm in diameter. These micro particles fell like an invisible slow fog on the Northwest Territories and on the barren Arctic and sub-Arctic land. In April and May, following the thawing of the rivers and lakes and the melting of the snow on the tundra, they were remobilised, sedimented and accumulated in unidentified areas.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4- Information to the public<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
\"06-danger-rad_robin-des-bois\"<\/a><\/p>\n

DR<\/td>\n

\n

Inuit and Chipewyan\u2019s, the majority of the population living east of Great Slave Lake received briefings as well as the inhabitants of Yellowknife a majority of which are not of native origin. The inhabitants were called on to report metallic debris, to stay away from them and to move away from any marked areas or areas undergoing radiological inspections. From a strict health view point, the general message was not alarming: Most of the radioactivity was diluted, fine particles are practically insoluble in water and in the case of ingestion would be quickly expulsed by the human body. There was no risk of water contamination. As we will see later, this official stance would be maintained in 2007 when, 29 years after the events, concerns resurface.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

\n\n\n\n
\n

Behind the scenes, the precautions were more drastic. In the Edmonton laboratories where the radwaste was regrouped, the technicians filtered samples of snow to separate any possible radioactive particles. \u201cThey wore complete protection suits because of the risk of ingestion of radioactive elements\u201d notes the preliminary report of Operation Morning Light. Ingestion indeed but also inhalation and contact notes Robin des Bois.<\/p>\n

Source : Non technical Summary \u2013US Department of Energy<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\"07_Operation<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

5- Protocol agreement<\/h3>\n

On April, 2nd 1981 Canada and the Soviet Union signed in Moscow a protocol of agreement valuing at 3 million Canadian dollars the damages be awarded to Canada for all of the consequences caused by the disintegration of the Cosmos 954. To substantiate its claim, Canada points out to the USSR that they had not replied to the questions sent on January 24, 1978 resent on January 27, February 8 and April 13, concerning the nuclear reactor and the debris discovered in the Northwest Territories, in Alberta and in Saskatchewan. Furthermore, Canada stressed that all the debris except 2 were radioactive, that some were deadly, that inscriptions in Cyrillic alphabet were found on one of the samples, that the clean-up operations carried out in 2 phases (January 24 \u2013 April 20) ( April 21 \u2013 October 15), which aimed at circumscribing and reducing the actual damage, at reducing the risk of future damage and at remediating in the best possible way all the areas impacted by the intrusion of the satellite, returning them as close as possible to their original state as if the Cosmos 954 intrusion and waste downfall had not taken place. This agreement was based on the international responsibility for damage caused by spatial objects Convention (1972).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

6- New downfalls 29 years after<\/h3>\n

In 2007, former employees of the weather station at Fort Reliance asked the Canadian government via legal channels questions on the transit of Cosmos 954 waste within their workplace and on the possible risks that they or people who lived for over 2 years within the areas contaminated by the U-235 could have been exposed to. The Ministry of Defence answered that \u201cthe debris had indeed transited via Fort Reliance that they had been stored in adequate containers to avoid any external contamination eg: adequately lead shielded boxes.\u201d The containers were then flown to Yellowknife and then to Edmonton (Alberta) for temporary storage in a special cask provided by the Ministry of Defence while waiting to be sent under escort towards Winnipeg then to Pinawa (Manitoba) for storage.<\/p>\n

In its response the Ministry of Natural Resources underlined that at the time of the Cosmos 954 crash, Canada did not have a specific political policy for this type of unique situation. \u201cA federal Plan in case of nuclear emergency\u201d was put in place in 1984. This plan is managed by Health Canada.<\/p>\n

Health Canada replied that they had not participated in any of the inspections carried out at Fort Reliance and recycled the same arguments as 1978: \u201cIf a particle was accidentally ingested, it would transit intact through the digestive tract.\u201d \u201cThe estimated doses exiting the large intestine would range from 40 to 140 mSv.\u201d \u201cThese doses are typical of specific diagnostic radiology procedures.\u201d \u201cNo harmful effect on health should be expected at these levels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Health Canada does not consider that inhabitants could have ingested radioactive particles several times and expresses the opinion that from 1980, no risk could still exist for anyone touching, manipulating, inhaling or ingesting debris!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
\"08_reliance8_robin-des-bois\"<\/a>Fort Reliance 1957\u00a0 – Photo Fred Burwell<\/td>\n\"09_reliance_robin-des-bois\"<\/a>Fort Reliance 1951 – Photo Edith Nielsen<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

7- Where is the U-235 ?<\/h3>\n

A – The Thelon Sanctuary<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n
\"10_Antlers_Cosmos-954_debris_cropped_robin-des-bois\"<\/a><\/strong><\/strong>Source: United States Department of Energy<\/td>\n\"11_Cosmos<\/a><\/strong>Cosmos acrylic by Nick MacIntosh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
On the morning of January 24. 2 naturalists taking weather readings for the Canadian government noticed, during dogsled ride, a big piece of metal. When they returned to the base they heard about the fall of Cosmos 954. They had just discovered the first piece of waste. The local newspaper \u2018The Yellowknifer\u2019, qualified the metal scrap from the satellite a radioactive \u201cantler\u201d in reference to the caribou\u2019s antler.<\/td>\nBeneath the \u201cantler\u201d of the Cosmos 954 thousands of holes in the melted snow showed that at the moment of impact a pyrophoric substance proliferated on the site. Most probably liquid sodium which was used to cool down the reactor. The artists were not wrong when they likened the wreck of the satellite to an inextinguishable source.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was in the heart of this Sanctuary that the greatest amount of larger debris from the Cosmos 954 was found between the end of January and April 1978. The Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary was created in 1927 to protect muskox and caribou from extermination by hunter trappers. As early as 1930, the Canadian government had banned all mining activities from the interior of the park thereby also protecting it from all discarded waste, except waste coming from the sky.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n
\"12_Caribou_robin-des-bois\"<\/a><\/strong><\/strong>
\nCaribous on the tundra \u00a9 Galen Rowell\/Corbis<\/td>\n		\"13_musk_ox_thelon@large_robin-des-bois\"<\/a><\/strong><\/strong>
\nA muskox crossing a river \u00a9 Steve Maka<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"14_rockptarmigan_hiver_robin-des-bois\"<\/a><\/strong><\/strong>
\nA ptarmigan in winter plumage
\n<\/strong>\u00a9 David R. Gray, Canadian Museum of Nature<\/td>\n		\"15_Rock_Ptarmigan1_robin-des-bois\"<\/a><\/strong><\/strong>
\nA ptarmigan in summer plumage
\n<\/strong>\u00a9 Ken Simonite<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"16_arcticgrayling242_robin-des-bois\"<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n\"17_arctic_grayling_robin-des-bois\"<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Arctic grayling
\n<\/strong>Picture c<\/strong>redit Environment Yukon<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The fauna in the Thelon Sanctuary was contaminated by the fallout of Cosmos 954. Caribou feed on terrestrial and arboreal lichens and fungi, muskox feed on grass on the tundra and ptarmigan feed on berries, on invertebrates and on buds. All the fauna including a dozen fish species in the rivers and lakes were contaminated. Nobody knows the level of radioactivity introduced into the food chain of herbivores, piscivores or omnivores such as wolves and bears and on food chain of Inuits and Indians hunters-gatherers on all the contaminated areas.<\/p>\n

B- Great Slave Lake<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is the second largest ecosystem directly impacted by the radioactive pollution from the satellite. Etymologically, the name is derived from Slavery, one of the First Nations Tribes from the Mackenzie Basin. It is the 9th largest lake in the world. Recreational and commercial fishing is very prominent today between May and September. Islands, marches, rivers and shores are used as breeding grounds by numerous species and as a resting place for migrating birds that follow the Mackenzie valley in spring to go and breed on the shores of the Arctic Ocean.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
\"18_GSL_Planetflyfishing11_robin-des-bois\"<\/a><\/strong><\/strong>\u00a9 Planet Fly Fishing<\/td>\n\"19_Great<\/a><\/strong><\/strong>\u00a9 Northwest Territories Film<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

In his book Operation Morning Light \u2013 Terror in the Sky, the True Story of Cosmos 954 \u2013 which was published late 1978, Leo Heaps wrote in his last chapter on the subject of contamination: \u201cwho will have the courage to say that the fish in Great Slave Lake are radioactive?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Considering the international feedback of nuclear accidents since 1985, Robin des Bois considers that the Canadian government has an obligation to instigate a full radioactive survey including the sediments, the benthic flora and fauna and fish of the Great Slave Lake, taking into account the long-lived radionuclides.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On the same subject: <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cSpace waste\u201d. Robin des Bois (pdf 60p.)<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cPolar Star\u201d n#2. 2750 contaminated sites in Arctic<\/a><\/p>\n

Writing : <\/strong><\/p>\n

Jacky Bonnemains<\/p>\n

Research and illustrations: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Miriam Potter, Jean-Pierre Edin, Christine Bossard et Charlotte Nithart<\/p>\n

Maps :<\/strong><\/p>\n

Christine Bossard<\/p>\n

Translation :<\/strong><\/p>\n

Miriam Potter et Jacky Bonnemains<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources<\/h3>\n

Aftergood, Steven. \u201cBackground on Space Nuclear Power.\u201d Science & Global Security, Vol. 1 pp. 93-107, 1989.<\/p>\n

AMAP, 1997. \u201cArctic Pollution Issues: A State of the Arctic Environment Report.\u201d Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), Oslo, Norway. Xii pp.188.,1997.<\/p>\n

Benk\u00f6 Marietta et al., Space Law in the United Nations Boston: Martinus Najhoff, 1985.<\/p>\n

Community Population Estimates by Ethnicity Northwest Territories, July 1, 2014 and July 1, 2001.<\/p>\n

Department of External Affairs – Ministere des Affaires exterieures, Canada. \u201cCanada: Claim against the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics for Damage Caused by Soviet Cosmos 954\u201d, No. FLA 268, Ottawa, K1A OG2. March 15, 1979. Note of February 28, 1978,No. FLO-0497. Note of March 3, 1978, No. FLO-0532 and Annex. Note of April 13, 1978, No. FLO-0840. \u201cUnofficial Translation of the Note of May 31, 1978, from the Embassy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics at Ottawa\u201d. Note of December 18, 1978. No. FLO-2884 and Annex.<\/p>\n

Ducrocq, Albert. \u201cLa chute de Cosmos 954 – L’aventure spatiale vient de conna\u00eetre sa premi\u00e8re alerte nucl\u00e9aire… \u201d Sciences & Avenir, No. 373, March, 1978<\/p>\n

<http:\/\/atomicsarchives.chez.com\/chute_cosmos954.html.><\/p>\n

Editorial \u201cNation: Cosmos 954: An Ugly Death\u201d Time Magazine, February 6, 1978.<\/p>\n

Editorial \u201cSatellite Crisis Stirs Controversy\u201d Reading Eagle Sunday 29, 1978, p.6.<\/p>\n

Elliot, S.E.M., et al., from Western Region Department of Fisheries and Oceans Winnipeg, Manitoba. \u201cCesium -137, Radium -226, Potassium-40 and Selected Stable Elements in Fish Populations from Great Slave Lake (NW.T.), Louis Lake (Saskatchewan), Lake Winnipeg (Manitoba), and Experimental Lakes Area (Northwestern Ontario)\u201d Canadian Data Report of Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences No. 293, October, 1981.<\/p>\n

Enrique, a456 \u201cDeath, Caribou, Cosmic Debris, and Parabolas on the Thelon River\u201d Aggregat456.com Tuesday, May 18, 2010<\/p>\n

<http:\/\/www.aggregat456.com\/2010\/05\/death-caribou-cosmic-debris-and.html.><\/p>\n

Frazier, N., Douglas., Ed. Journal of Space Law – A journal devoted to the legal problems arising out of man’s activities in outer space. L.Q.C. Lamar Society of international Law of the University of the Mississippi School of Law Vol. 6, No. 2, 1978, p.106.<\/p>\n

“Great Slave Lake”. Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica. Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica Online. Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica Inc., 2015. <http:\/\/www.britannica.com\/EBchecked\/topic\/243729\/Great-Slave-Lake>.<\/p>\n

Hagen, Regina. \u201cPast Missions: a Chronology\u201d Flybynews August 11, 1998.<\/p>\n

Hamelin, Louis-Edmond, \u201cLa Population des Territoires-du-nord-ouest au cours des ann\u00e9es 1960 et 1970.\u201d Universit\u00e9 Laval, Qu\u00e9bec.<\/p>\n

Health Canada, \u201cThe Cosmos 954 Accident\u201d Modified June 24, 2008.<\/p>\n

<http:\/\/www.hc-sc.gc.ca\/hc-ps\/ed-ud\/fedplan\/cosmos_954-eng.php.><\/p>\n

Heaps, Leo. Operation Morning Light: Terror In Our Skies: The True Story of Cosmos 954. New York: Paddington Press, 1978.<\/p>\n

Hore-Lacy, Ian. Nuclear Reactors for Space, World Nuclear Association December 6, 2009.<\/p>\n

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Northwest Territories Contaminants Fact Sheets. \u201cRadionuclides\u201d<\/p>\n

IRSN \u2013 Institut de Radioprotection et de S\u00fbret\u00e9 Nucl\u00e9aire. \u00ab Note d\u2019information : L\u2019uranium et les risques associ\u00e9s. \u00bb July \/ Juillet, 24, 2008.<\/p>\n

\u201cLa chute de Cosmos 954\u201d Info Nucl\u00e9aire, depuis Septembre 1998, Site d\u2019information sur le nucl\u00e9aire.<\/p>\n

<http:\/\/www.dissident-media.org\/infonucleaire\/chute_cosmos.html.><\/p>\n

Lokan, Dr., K., H., Address for the Australian Radiation Laboratory \u201cCosmos 954 \u2013 A Case Study\u201d.<\/p>\n

Moshenko, R. W., Gillman, D.V. from Western Region Department of Fisheries and Oceans<\/p>\n

Winnipeg, Manitoba. \u201cCreel Census and Biological Data from the Lake Trout Sport Fishery on Great Bear and Great Slave Lakes, Northwest Territories, 1979\u201d. Canadian Data Report of Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences No. 307, April, 1982.<\/p>\n

Nazarenko, A.I., et al., \u201cSpacecraft with a Nuclear Power system and Problems of Space Debris\u201d. Proceedings of the Fourth European Conference on space Debris, Darmstadt, Germany, 18-20 April 2005.<\/p>\n

Petition No. 199: Pr\u00e9occupation au sujet de l\u2019environnement et de la sant\u00e9 \u00e0 la station m\u00e9t\u00e9orologique de Fort Reliance, April 2007.<\/p>\n

Richelson, T. Jeffrey. Defusing Armageddon: Inside Nest, America’s Secret Nuclear Bomb Squad. New York: WW. Norton & Company, 2009.<\/p>\n

Robin des Bois. \u201cSpace Waste\u201d, June 2011.<\/p>\n

<https:\/\/robindesbois.org\/english\/Space-Waste.pdf.><\/p>\n

SENES Consultants Limited for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, NWT Environmental Audit Status of the Environment Report. December, 2005.<\/p>\n

Taylor, Mitchell from Wildlife Research Section. \u201cThelon Wildlife Sanctuary: Final Report\u201d Nunavut, Report No. 10, 2006.<\/p>\n

Tracy B.L., Prantl, F.A., Quinn, Q.M. \u201cHealth Impact of Radioactive Debris from the Satellite Cosmos 954\u201d Health Physics Society, 47(2):225-33 August, 1984.<\/p>\n

United Nations General Assembly, Committee on the Peaceful uses of Outer Space. \u201cNote verbale dated 19 December 1978 from the Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations addresses to the Secretary- General. A\/AC.105\/236 22 December, 1978.<\/p>\n

United States Department of Energy, Nevada Operations Office Las Vegas, Nevada. \u201cOperation Morning Light Northwest Territories, Canada \u20131978: A Non-Technical Summary of U.S. Participation\u201d Authorized for Publication by Gates E. Mahlon, Senior U.S. Government Representative, Operation Morning Light, September 1978.<\/p>\n

Wallace, Ron. \u201cWhy Canada Needs a Robust Arctic Air Rescue Capacity: A policy Update Paper\u201d. Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute, March 2009.<\/p>\n

Weiss, W., Gus. \u201cThe Life and Death of Cosmos 954\u201d. CIA historical Review Program Vol. 22, Spring, 1978.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nuclear Code of Silence Thirty-seven years ago, the Russian nuclear powered satellite Cosmos 954 returned to Earth during its 2060th revolution. Its debris crashed on the Canadian Far North close to the Arctic. It was the 24th of January 1978, 11h53 Universal Time, 5h53 at Yellowknife on the banks of Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories Canada. The decade 1970-1980 is marked by the worldwide launch of nuclear-based electricity. It is the height of the Atoms for Peace campaign launched in the 1950s to erase the horrors of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. Nuclear for all is on the way. Therefore, when Cosmos 954 started to go off course in November 1977 the nuclear club fell silent. From Moscow to Washington including Tokyo, Bonn, Paris, London, Canberra and Ottawa, mum\u2019s the word. According to different sources Cosmos 954 contained 30.5 to 60kg of Russian 90% enriched Uranium-235 homologous with American Uranium-235 which, on August 6, 1945 struck and irradiated Hiroshima. Eight days before the Cosmos 954 final reentry, a handful of Russian, American and Allies insiders knew that it would crash on the North American continent. Miami, Detroit, Chicago, the Great lakes were all sworn to secrecy. Right up until the end, up until day break on January 24, 257 million inhabitants were left in the dark about the explosive information. Thirty-seven years after, there has been no long-term follow-up on the consequences of this nuclear accident. In the Northwest Territories, the environmental monitoring of the lakes and rivers deals […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9246,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[338,1849,1850],"tags":[1953,1955,1954,1172,101],"class_list":["post-5606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arctique-et-antarctique","category-dechets-dans-lespace-dechets-longue-vue","category-risques-et-accidents-radioactivite-longue-vue","tag-cosmos-954","tag-debris","tag-dechets-de-lespace","tag-nucleaire","tag-radioactivite-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robindesbois.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robindesbois.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robindesbois.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robindesbois.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robindesbois.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/robindesbois.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robindesbois.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robindesbois.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robindesbois.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robindesbois.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}