Hmm… Not sure what to make of this at this point, but it’s good to be aware of.
German officials say that a spike in radioactivity has been detected in the air in Western and Central Europe but there’s no threat to human health.
The Federal Office for Radiation Protection said Thursday that elevated levels of the isotope Ruthenium-106 have been reported in Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and France since Sept. 29.
Spokesman Jan Henrik Lauer told The Associated Press the source of the Ruthenium-106 isn’t known but calculations indicate it may have been released in eastern Europe.
Ruthenium-106 is used for radiation therapy to treat eye tumors, and sometimes as a source of energy to power satellites.
Also see this, from 2011: Hungary likely source of elevated radioactivity levels: IAEA
Hungarian officials said the leak probably came from the Budapest-based Institute of Isotopes, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement.
The institute has acknowledged emitting higher quantities of iodine-131 than normal but denies being the source of any elevated radiation.
“Radiation levels in Hungary were only a little higher in Budapest than elsewhere,” said Institute of Isotopes director Mihaly Lakatos.
“If the source of heightened radioactivity had been Budapest, the levels measured here should have been much higher.”
On November 11, several countries including Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary and the Czech republic warned the IAEA that they had detected an increase in iodine-131.
France’s nuclear watchdog also reported on November 15 that very small concentrations of iodine 131 had been detected in the air.
The international agency said the levels detected were low and that there was no risk to human health.
