Russian authorities have confirmed reports of a spike in radioactivity in the air over the Ural Mountains.
The Russian Meteorological Service said it recorded the release of Ruthenium-106 in the southern Urals in late September and classified it as 鈥渆xtremely high contamination鈥�.
France鈥檚 nuclear safety agency earlier this month said that it recorded radioactivity in the area between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains from a suspected accident involving nuclear fuel or the production of radioactive material.
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It said the release of the isotope Ruthenium-106 posed no health or environmental risks to European countries.
At the time, Russia鈥檚 state-controlled Rosatom corporation said there had been no radiation leak from its facilities.
Denial
The Russian meteorological office鈥檚 report, however, noted high levels of radiation in the villages adjacent to Rosatom鈥檚 Mayak plant for spent nuclear fuel.
Mayak has denied being the source of contamination. The plant said it has not conducted any work on extracting Ruthenium-106 from spent nuclear fuel 鈥渇or several years鈥�.
Mayak, in the Chelyabinsk region, has been responsible for at least two of Russia鈥檚 biggest radioactive accidents. In 2004 it was confirmed that waste was being dumped in the local river. Nuclear regulators say that no longer happens, but anti-nuclear activists say it is impossible to tell given the level of state secrecy.
Environmental pressure group Greenpeace said it would petition the Russian Prosecutor General鈥檚 office to investigate 鈥渁 possible concealment of a radiation accident鈥� and check whether public health was sufficiently protected.
Read more: The shocking state of the world鈥檚 riskiest nuclear waste site
