I recently posted an article about the detection of a cloud of ruthernium-106, a radioisotope used for medical treatment, over Europe in early October of this year. It was concluded by the scientists who detected the cloud that it was probably released from some facility that processed the isotope for medical use or from a facility that was reprocessing spent nuclear fuel to recover uranium and plutonium. From the prevailing wind patterns, it was decided that the cloud came from a facility in either Russia or Kazakhstan.
Rosgidromet, the Russian weather monitoring service reported higher levels than normal for Ru-106 at several locations in Russia during early October. The highest levels were recorded at Argayash in the south Urals where they were about a thousand times normal. Argayash is about twenty miles from Mayak which is a spent nuclear fuel reprocessing facility. Mayak was the site of a very serious nuclear accident in 1957. The accident was covered up by the Soviet government and was not made public for thirty years following the accident.
The secretive facility just issued a statement denying that they were the source of the Ru-106 cloud. The statement said, “The contamination of the atmosphere with ruthenium-106 isotope registered by Rosgidromet is not linked to the activity of Mayak. The measurements which Rosgidromet has released suggest that the dose people might have received is 20,000 times less than the allowed annual dose and presents no threat at all to health.”
Greenpeace is skeptical about the Russian denials. Yesterday, they called on Rosatom to conduct a full investigation of the Ru-106 release. Greenpeace also called for an investigation into the possible coverup of a nuclear accident. Following the Greenpeace call for investigations, Rosatom, the Russia owned nuclear company said “Rosatom categorically confirms there have been no unreported accidents or reportable events on any of its nuclear sites. It also confirms that the recent Ru-106 emission which is being reported is not linked to any Rosatom site.” Rosatom went on to say that the finding of Ru-106 readings in Bucharest that were higher than the readings around Argayash proves that Russia was not the source of the Ru-106 cloud.
Neil Hyatt, professor of nuclear materials chemistry at the University of Sheffield, said: “This isotope comes from recycling of nuclear fuel or medical isotope targets. It’s quite short-lived so that means it must be relatively young fuel. It must have come out of a reactor recently and been reprocessed recently. It’s certainly not a major health concern based on what we know at the moment. If it’s concentrated, you would certainly want to limit access to that area. If it’s not ingested then the hazard is going to be lower.”
Hyatt said that is was odd that other radioisotopes were not found in the cloud over Europe if the cloud was released from a spent nuclear fuel reprocessing facility. He thought that the Ru-106 might have been separated from the spent fuel as it was being reprocessed for use in satellite batteries.
Mayak facility logo:
