Russia said Monday that it did not detect a radiation emergency after sensors discovered last week that strange nuclear particles were present in Sweden.
22 /23 June 2020, RN #IMS station SEP63 #Sweden???????? detected 3isotopes; Cs-134, Cs-137 & Ru-103 associated w/Nuclear fission @ higher[ ] than usual levels (but not harmful for human health). The possible source region in the 72h preceding detection is shown in orange on the map. pic.twitter.com/ZeGsJa21TN
— Lassina Zerbo (@SinaZerbo) June 26, 2020
“We have an absolutely advanced radiation levels safety monitoring system and there are no any emergency alarms,” said Dimitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, to Reuters, “We do not know the source of this information.” (RELATED: REPORT: Deadly Pakistan Plane Crash Occurred Due To Pilot’s ‘Human Error,’ Being Distracted By COVID-19 Fears)
The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) said that it discovered nuclear particles in the air in Stockholm, Sweden, June 22-23. The group posted a map that showed several Baltic and Scandinavian countries, as well as a large part of western Russia.
The International Atomic Agency has asked countries if they have also detected the isotopes and is seeking to find an explanation for their presence, per Reuters. The Finnish nuclear authority STUK said that it also found nuclear particles along its southern coast but attributed them to “the normal operation or maintenance of nuclear reactors,” according to Reuters.
The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment said Friday that the isotope’s composition “may indicate damage to a fuel element in a nuclear power plant,” per BBC. “Radiation levels at both NPPs and surrounding areas remained unchanged in June, and no changes are also observed at present,” said a spokesperson for Rosenergoatom Concern, the agency that operates the Leningrad and Kola nuclear plants, to TASS.
The particles, which the CTBTO said were “certainly nuclear fission products,” were caesium-134, caesium-137 and ruthenium-103 which are unusual but not harmful to humans, reported Reuters.