Norway detects radioactive iodine by Russian border days after blast
Norway's nuclear safety authority is analyzing tiny amounts of radioactive iodine detected in the air in northern Norway in the days after a deadly explosion during a rocket engine test over the border in Russia.
Woman conducting tests in a chemical laboratory. Reference Image / Pixabay
Reuters | Lefteris Karagiannopoulos
Listen to this article
Leer en español: Noruega detecta yodo radiactivo en la frontera con Rusia
Russia's state nuclear agency, Rosatom, said on Saturday that five people killed in the blast were its staff members, and the accident involved "isotope power sources", giving no further details.
The samples were collected in the period Aug. 9-12, while the accident in the Arkhangelsk region of northern Russia occurred on Aug. 8, it said.
Also read: Hong Kong protesters offer apologies, China doubles down after airport clash
"At present, it is not possible to determine if the last iodine detection is linked to the accident in Arkhangelsk last week. DSA continues more frequent sampling and analysis," DSA said.
Such radiation measurements are not unusual in Norway, as its monitoring stations detect radioactive iodine about six to eight times a year and the source is usually unknown.
Russia's state weather service said on Tuesday that radiation levels in the city of Severodvinsk had spiked by up to 16 times last Thursday, while medics who treated victims of the accident have been sent to Moscow for a medical examination, the TASS news agency reported.
