Researchers: The radioactivity increase in Europe originates from Russia

 

 European researchers have concluded that a 'radioactive cloud' that passed through Europe in 2017 was likely to originate in Russia, most likely from a plant that was the site of a nuclear disaster.

Meteorologists and researchers had discovered the explosion of radioactive particles in October 2017, and have made efforts to determine its origin.

At the time, evidence indicated that the radioactivity was coming from Russia, but authorities denied the responsibility. The radioactive particles were harmless to human health but visible from the monitoring equipment.

In a July 26 article in PNAS, a team of researchers concluded that the origin was a "major but undeclared nuclear accident" at a nuclear reprocessing facility in the Ural region of Russia.

The researchers also said that particles called "ruthenium isotopes" had not been discovered in the world atmosphere since the 1986 disaster in Chernobyl.

They also reported that while the threat to human health in Europe was at minimal levels, the incident may have had more serious consequences closer to its location.

The Russian authorities have not yet responded to these researchers' conclusions. The state-owned nuclear company Rosatom did not respond to questions related to this matter.