Radiation level increase in northern Europe may “indicate damage” to nuclear power plant in Russia

Russian authorities deny any leakage or fault with power plants in St Petersburg and Murmansk

Low levels of radiation spotted in northern Europe may have come from a malfunctioning nuclear power plant in western Russia.

Nuclear safety officials from Finland, Norway and Sweden have all announced earlier this week they have detected increased radioactive isotopes across Scandinavia and in some Arctic regions.

While the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority said on Tuesday it was not possible to confirm the source of radiation, Dutch authorities have analysed data from their Nordic neighbours and concluded it originated in western Russia.

“The radionuclides are artificial, that is to say they are man-made,” the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands said on Friday.

“The composition of the nuclides may indicate damage to a fuel element in a nuclear power plant [but] a specific source location cannot be identified due to the limited number of measurements”.

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Read more: The Independent