satellites from old warships

[andrew1947]

Recently I heard on Eggheads that companies making satellites use iron from the German fleet scuppered at Scapa Flow in 1919 after WW1. The reason given for this was that the metal was made before the nuclear age and is thus uncontaminated with radiaoctive atoms.
I find this hard to believe for several reasons:

1) Surely satellites are made from aluminium, titanium, magnesium and the like - not steel.
2) Iron bought today has surely been made from ore dug from deep in the ground, unaffected by all the fallout from the 1940's, 50's and 60's?
3) The environment that satellites operate in is loaded with ionising radiation anyway - any from the construction material of the device would be swamped by all the cosmic rays and solar stuff.

Is this story a myth or can it really be true?

[alanseago]

Reminiscent of Beachcomber in the old Daily Express!

[louise]

From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scuttling_of_the_German_fleet_in_Scapa_Flow (with references)

"Minor salvage is still carried out to recover small pieces of steel, as this low-background steel is used in the manufacture of radiation-sensitive devices, such as Geiger counters, as it is not contaminated with radioisotopes, it having been produced prior to any chance of nuclear contamination"