Rosatom: ruthenium over Europe could be behind the burned-out satellite
Radioactive ruthenium could appear in the sky over Russia and Europe because some of the satellite, which burned up in the atmosphere, said Rosatom on results of work of the special Commission.
The version of accidental release at the plant “Mayak” in the Chelyabinsk region, Rosatom rejects.
In the case of emissions from a single source, the cloud could go the way of 2.5 thousand km, according to Russian experts. The dispersion of territories affected by pollution, and lack of data on the presence of ruthenium-106 in the regions between the South Ural and East Europe has led them to the idea that the isotope was in the atmosphere from ground and from space.
The hypothesis that a radioactive substance into the atmosphere as a result of falling to Earth of an artificial satellite equipped with a thermoelectric generator with ruthenium, has been put forward.
However, the International atomic energy Agency (IAEA) has not recorded the fall of satellites in the period when the cloud of pollutants passed from the Urals to Europe, reported the Institute for nuclear and radiation safety of France (ISRN).
“This pattern can indicate the presence of another emission source which was external to the said territories. Such a source could be, in particular, the combustion in the atmosphere of an artificial satellite (or its fragment), on Board of which was the source of ruthenium-106 with a high total activity”, — stated in the message of the Russian interagency Commission, which, in addition to Rosatom, included experts of the Institute of problems of safe development of atomic energy of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Federal medical-biological Agency subordinate to the Ministry of health of Russia.