A cloud of radioactive pollution over Europe in recent weeks indicates that an accident happened in a nuclear facility in Russia or Kazakhstan in the last week of September, the French nuclear safety institute IRSN has said. The IRSN on Thursday ruled out an accident in a nuclear reactor, saying it was likely to be in a nuclear fuel treatment site or centre for radioactive medicine. The ruthenium-106 was probably released in a nuclear fuel treatment site or centre for radioactive medicine, Peres said. Jean-Christophe Gariel, director for health at the IRSN, said the responsibility for identifying the source of the nuclear cloud was now with the Russians or Kazakhs. Seven German stations recorded levels from a few microbecquerels to five millibecquerels per cubic metre of air, posing no hazard to health.

Source: The Guardian November 10, 2017 00:33 UTC