Russia Denies Causing Latest Radioactivity Over Europe; UN Agency Says Origin “Still Unclear”
Last Friday monitors with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) issued an alarming report that its radiation sensors based in Scandinavia picked up abnormal radioactivity levels in the air over the Baltics and Scandanavia. Its ultra-sensitive networked sensors set up across Europe and the world are capable of picking up nuclear weapons testing or possible nuclear power plant leakage anywhere around the globe.Leningrad plant in the town of Sosnovy Bor. TASS/Getty Images.
The Stockholm monitoring station “detected 3 isotopes; Cs-134, Cs-137 & Ru-103 associated with Nuclear fission at higher than usual levels,”according to CTBTO chief Lassina Zerbo. The UN nuclear agency has been investigating the ‘mystery’ radioactivity, which while not considered in large enough concentrations to harm humans, still “are certainly nuclear fission products, most likely from a civil source,” according to the prior CTBTO statement. “We are able to indicate the likely region of the source, but it’s outside the CTBTO’s mandate to identify the exact origin.”
However it’s clear that there was a release of “very low” levels of man-made radioactivity.
The UN watchdog said Tuesday that the small amounts of radioactive isotopes detected over a significant area spanning from western Russia to Baltic countries to parts of Scandinavia still have an unclear origin and cause.
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) director general, Rafael Grossi, also sought to assure the public that “the levels reported to the IAEA are very low and pose no risk to human health and the environment.”
According to the AP, European countries are being asked to self-report any radiation releases. So far at least 29 have voluntarily reported no known incidents within their borders, including Russia. Map issues by the CTBTO showing a spike in radioactivity over Nordic countries.
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