Scientists pinpoint Russian facility for radioactive cloud over Europe
Scientists have pinpointed the origin of a radioactive cloud that blanketed Europe in 2017, pointing the finger squarely at one of Russia’s biggest nuclear plants.
A radioactive cloud which blanketed parts of Europe in 2017 has been traced back to a nuclear power plant in Russia.
Scientists believe the widespread release of ruthenium-106 isotopes originated from the Mayak reprocessing plant, near the Kazakhstan border. The facility is one of the biggest nuclear plants in Russia.
It comes after more than 1300 radiation measurements were collected and analysed from sites across the continent in a bid to pinpoint the release.
The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America yesterday.
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It found that although there were no harmful radiation effects across Europe, there may have been more serious impacts closer to the site of the release.
Russia has denied responsibility for the leak.
The Mayak facility was at the centre of one of the world’s largest radiation leak in 1957, which came second only to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Thousands of people died and millions were affected from radiation exposure following an explosion at Chernobyl in the Ukraine, considered the worst nuclear disaster in history.
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