Irradiated Film Negatives from Chernobyl The images attached are taken during the cleanup at Chernobyl. The white "streaks" at the bottom of each picture are said to be from intense radiation striking the film negatives, which makes sense (that's how they were discovered after all). 
Question: My main question is about the structure of those white streaks? Why are they perfectly vertical? 
Guess: My guess is that they are due to the geometry of the camera's shutter, but I just don't know enough about cameras to assert this with confidence. 



 A: The spacing is very similar to what would be expected from the sprocket holes on 35mm film.

CC image by Voxphoto.
This is consistent with the film being stored rolled-up in a cartridge, with other layers of film protecting most of the emulsion from radiation.  But the removal of material for the holes reduced the absorption from that direction, leaving the extra exposure visible as streaks.
The film I'm familiar with has sprocket holes on both sides.  I don't see anything similar on the top of the images, so it's possible this reflects a difference in how the film was stored.  Perhaps the top of the image was stored downward and received less radiation in that direction, while the bottom of the image was stored upward.  Other scenarios are possible.  
A: Looks more like bromide drag, which is a result of developing with insufficient agitation. (If I understand it correctly.)
I am not an expert, but I recall reading that old film which was exposed many years before the film expired is often developed in a very dilute solution and for a long development time. This requires little agitation and is prone to this effect.
I do have a better understanding of gamma radiation and beta decay. These would not yield such a nice uniform pattern as the gamma radiation will mostly pass through the material or scatter depending on the energy. What you would see under heavy radiation is a fogging of the entire film.
