WWII Sunken German Warships Exposed by Drought

[mtaylor]

https://abcnews.go.com/US/severe-european-drought-reveals-sunken-world-war-ii/story?id=88591918

[BANYAN]

Thanks Mark Interesting, I wonder if the opportunity will be taken to remove them?  The costs would be very high though I would assume - I wonder if being submerged they have been protected from radioactive contamination, thus making their steel much more valuable.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Chuck Seiler]

Radioactive contamination?  What did I miss?

[Captain Slog]

Low background steel is to do with contamination with radiative nucleoids,  however it has to do with when the steel was produced  (pre-nuclear bomb testing) not where the steel has been or what conditions the steel has been under.

 

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-background_steel

[shipman]

Many components in modern labs and instruments use recovered steel and other metals from pre-nuclear testing wrecks, notably WW1 German ships which were scuttled in Scapa Flow.

NASA has an entire room made from 12inch armor plate, used to shield sensitive experiments from atmospheric background radiation. Few today appreciate that isotopes from the atmospheric testing remain, floating in today's environment. A sobering reminder.

These components have to be machined from the metal as recovered; if it is re smelted, then it becomes contaminated from the air all around us.

[mtaylor]

17 hours ago, BANYAN said:

Thanks Mark Interesting, I wonder if the opportunity will be taken to remove them?  The costs would be very high though I would assume - I wonder if being submerged they have been protected from radioactive contamination, thus making their steel much more valuable.

 

cheers

 

Pat

 

Perhaps they could be.  I don't think there would be an issue as they aren't war graves like some the ships have been salvaged in the Pacific.

[realworkingsailor]

2 hours ago, mtaylor said:

 

Perhaps they could be.  I don't think there would be an issue as they aren't war graves like some the ships have been salvaged in the Pacific.

The problem is the possibility of UXO remaining on board. A risky and pricey salvage.

 

Andy

[mtaylor]

3 hours ago, realworkingsailor said:

The problem is the possibility of UXO remaining on board. A risky and pricey salvage.

 

Andy

That's very much a problem.  They have no idea what munitions are still on board and their status.  I would hope that they somehow lined off the wrecks to keep souvenir hunters and urban explorers away. One article mentioned that some "experts" think they removed all the explosives before scuttling for use elsewhere.   But they really don't know for certain.

[wefalck]

I believe the scuttled ships in Scapa Flow are not only protected was a war memorial, but expressedly as a valuable resource for low-background radiation steel.