Krypton 85 increases the electrical conductivity of the atmosphere

[Iconoclast]

i'm currently reading the excellent "Du Pont Dynasty - Behind the Nylon Curtain" by Gerard Colby and a small sentence made me perk up:

Already releases of krypton 85, a fission product, from SRP (Savannah River Plant) have contributed to changes in the electrical properties of the atmosphere that affect weather.

looking at wikipedia we read:

Krypton-85 releases increase the electrical conductivity of atmospheric air. Meteorological effects are expected to be stronger closer to the source of the emissions.

and

The average atmospheric concentration of krypton-85 was approximately 0.6 Bq/m³ in 1976, and has increased to approximately 1.3 Bq/m³ as of 2005.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krypton-85

not sure what to make of it, but i don't think this is widely known, so i had to post it here.

 

[JGeropoulas]

That is very interesting considering I lived the first 25 years of my life (and the past five) 10 miles from SRS.

 

[horse]

Maybe not widely known, well, maybe it should be. Krypton-85 was not even a trace element in the atmosphere until man-made releases for the last 70 years. That doubling from 1976 to 2005 came from Nuclear Power Plant routine operational releases, mostly reprocessing plants and accidents. Read more about radioactive noble gases at CaféRadLab.

http://caferadlab.com/thread-168.html?highlight=krypton-85

The atmospheric effects, intense storms and lightning, in the early years of the Fukushima Dai-ichi disaster supported the theory that the plume acted as a radioactive cathode delivering more electric charge to earth. Electronic tubes with radioactive cathodes are used to amplify current and regulate voltage in high power circuits. Six years has dispersed the radioactive plume around the globe. The atmosphere is more conductive and trace elements are still being added to amplify the atmospheric effects.