Russia denies involvement in leak of radioisotope detected over Europe
Ruthenium-106 is thought to have escaped from a nuclear reprocessing facility, possibly in Russia
Russia’s environmental monitoring service, Roshydromet, has confirmed that it recorded ‘elevated’ levels of ruthenium-106 in the atmosphere in late September and early October. However, it added that these were 100–10,000 times lower than the maximum permissible levels. This confirmation comes after the French Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) was first to report elevated ruthenium-106 levels over Europe early this month.