Radioactive isotopes are detected over Scandinavia. Is Russia to blame for?

Elena Ivanova

Russia does not recognize that two nuclear power plants in the North-West of the country are related to fixed in Scandinavia increased radiation background. Rosenergoatom, a division of the state concern Rosatom, which operates nuclear power plants, said that nuclear plants near St. Petersburg and Murmansk are operating normally.

"Both stations operate normally, there are no comments on the operation of the equipment. The total emissions of Leningrad NPP and Kola NPP for all normalized isotopes for the specified period did not exceed the control values. There are no incidents related to the release of radionuclides over the installed barriers", the concern said. "The radiation situation at the industrial sites of both nuclear power plants, as well as in the areas of their location - both in June and at present - is unchanged, at a level corresponding to the normal operation of power units, not exceeding the natural background values," Rosenergoatom added, noting that no accidents were recorded at the Leningrad and Kola NPPs.

The IAEA, the United Nations International Organization for the Supervision of Nuclear Power Plants, said it had requested all countries to receive detailed information on the release of radioactive isotopes into the atmosphere. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization recorded at one of its monitoring stations in Sweden appearance in the atmosphere isotopes of radioactive cesium and ruthenium, having an unnatural origin. Lassina Zebro, executive secretary of the organization, reported on "the discovery of three isotopes that appear during nuclear fission." Their level is not hazardous to health. ” “The source of the appearance of isotopes is civilian”, the official added, “But we can determine the region of occurrence, although the source of the issue does not cover the mandate of our organization”.

In 2017, the Russian authorities took several weeks to publicly confirm the leak of ruthenium at the Mayak plant in the Chelyabinsk region, which processes nuclear fuel. In early June this year, the Swedish Nuclear Safety Agency first discovered the presence of cesium-134 and cesium-137, cobalt 137 "-60 and ruthenium-103, and the Finnish agency confirmed this. The Dutch National Institute of Public Health said on Friday that the combination of radionuclides is due to an anomaly in nuclear fuel". According to the calculations of the Dutch, the source of the leak is in the West of Russia.

"FT" indicates that several nuclear power plants are located in this area: near St. Petersburg, on the Kola Peninsula, where the Chernobyl-type reactor operates. The station is currently under reconstruction. There are also nuclear power plants in Smolensk and Tver. In addition to Russia, there are nuclear power plants in Finland and Sweden. Ignalina NPP in Lithuania It was closed in 2009. New nuclear power plants are being built in Belarus and Kaliningrad.