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KATHMANDU, Nepal– Mountaineers as well as Sherpa guides have long been enduring a charter of challenge while attempting the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest – from freezing temperatures to altitude sickness.
A Scottish scientist has recently discovered a new finding that could leave novel upshots or might add another brick of risk in the mountaineering sectors.
Scientist cum mountaineer Bob Kerr who conquered the peak with the help of Nepali guide Dorje Khatri in May 2013 to record radiation levels at the summit said he found the mountain exposes climbers to 1milli sievert (mSv) of radiation – that is five times more than the average annual exposure in a nuclear power plant.
Kerr, 36, had recorded exposure levels at the peak applying a Geiger counter. While measuring the radiation levels, he reached a height of 26,000ft but unfortunately lost his sight temporarily due to a lack of oxygen.
Later Khatri helped Kerr to take the equipment to the summit of 29,000ft to record the readings. Khatri was among those climbers who were buried to death in the deadliest Everest avalanche on April 18. Kerr, however has clarified that no-one has ever died of radiation in the Everest.
‘When chatting about my career in radiation protection I find that climbers, despite participating happily in one of the world’s potentially hazardous hobbies, share the general public’s emotional fear of radiation,’ Kerr was quoted by the dailymail.
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