Radiation levels across Europe have risen mysteriously – and Russia may be behind the baffling phenomenon. German scientists say there has been a slight increase in the amount of particles of the isotope Ruthenium-106 in Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and France. The low levels of the stable isotope do not pose a threat to human health, the Office for Radiation Protection said, but the
mysterious rise has baffled them.


Ruthenium-106 is used in chemotherapy to treat eye tumors and is also used in radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), which power satellites. The spike could not have come from a nuclear accident, experts added. The Office for Radiation Protection said: “New analyses of the source of the radioactive material are likely to indicate a release in the southern Ural, but other regions in Southern Russia cannot be excluded. READ MORE