Strontium 90 Soars into Manitoba

STORY BY: Len Kaminski
YEAR: 1955
LOCATION: Winnipeg, MB

Len adds some ominous details to the Cold War stories from BOOM. Winnipeg was due North of Nevada, where they performed many nuclear bomb tests. The fallout would go up in the air, and drift over Saskatchewan and Manitoba. One of the elements flying over - besides Carbon 14 - was Strontium 90. It would fall into fields, cows would eat them, and it would make its way into the food chain. Strontium 90 was radioactive, and would affect your bones when ingested. One of their friends was convinced that she could feel "the little Strontiums… burning me" when drinking milk. Even though that wasn't true, it was still very worrisome for Manitobans, and one of the serious issues around nuclear testing. Thanks for sharing, Len.