Update 11/18/11:
Further research indicates that there is more going on at the Institute of Isotopes than just meeting medical isotope needs; it appears as if they also do research on prompt fission products of U235. That being the case, if IoI is the sole cause of the European I-131 detections, then the Iodine 131 was possibly less than ONE PERCENT nuclear frappe of radioactive isotopes released from the facility during the time period in question.
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Original post
The IAEA seems to have laid the blame of the expansive European Iodine 131 detections at the door step of the Hungarian company Institute of Isotopes Co., Ltd. The company does admit to releasing about 300 thyroid killing doses; and God help anyone who was caught in a downwind rainstorm during that release, but putting the finger on IoI co. does NOT explain the detection of the other FISSION products.
It makes no economic sense for the company to produce I-131 via fission; they likely were manufacturing I-131 by neutron bombardment of Tellurium, and a leak in a fume-hood or filter could explain some of the I-131 detections. It might also explain the Cobalt-60 detections, if they were also making a production run of that product during the same time period. But, blaming the airborne detections of Cs-134, C-137, Te-132, I-132, Ru-103, and Ce-144 on the Institute of Isotopes Co., Ltd. makes absolutely no cents or dollars because using a process that creates those type of fission contaminants to make Iodine 131 would NOT be cost effective.
The IAEA may have claimed to have fingered the location of the Pink Panther and the case to be closed, but the real evidence dictates otherwise.
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