Ruthenian riddle

At the end of September, in the atmosphere of Germany, an excess of the content of the radioactive isotope of Ruthenius-106 was recorded . The Federal Department of Germany on radiation protection considered that the release of radionucleide, with a high probability, could occur in the South Urals or in the south of Russia. Russian relevant organizations denied the release for some time, but later the information of European specialists was confirmed by the data of Roshydrometeorological Center. The release really occurred, most likely, it is associated with the disposal of radioactive waste, where exactly and when it happened is unknown.

Experts say that there is no reason for panic (and the Russia-24 television channel even cheerfully reports about the “safe Ruthenium rain”), but the very fact that information about the Russian radiation incident was received from abroad, as once about the Chernobyl accident, cannot but disturb.

The first German data became interested in the IAEA. Experts said that in late September-early October, the increased content of Ruthenenia-106 was recorded not only in Germany, but in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria and other European countries. The Institute of Nuclear and Radiation Safety of France (IRSN) said that most likely, the release of Ruthenenia-106 occurred at an enterprise located between the Volga and the Urals.

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The conclusions of European specialists in Moscow were not supported. In mid -October, Rosatom said that "the radiation atmosphere around all objects of the nuclear industry of the Russian Federation is within normal limits and corresponds to the natural radiation background." The state corporation claims that the Roshydromet radiation monitoring system conducted a check, which lasted from September 25 to October 7. She allegedly showed that the concentration of a radioactive substance in Russia was not found, with the exception of St. Petersburg. “Rosatom” called this data “insignificant”, since the indicators of ruthenia there were below almost 10 thousand times permissible volumetric activity.

However, later Roshydromet published its data on the radiation situation in Russia for September. The ballot said that in several settlements the values of volumetric activity of aerosols were increased. Five villages are 100 kilometers from the Mayak production association in Ozersk (Chelyabinsk Region), where the components of nuclear weapons are produced, and also stored the spent nuclear fuel. An increased concentration of substances was also found in settlements 100 kilometers from the Rostov NPP and 100 kilometers from the Volgograd burial point of radioactive waste. Experts noted that in general, the radiation situation in Russia was stable.

But already in early October, Roshydrot published a weekly report on the state of the environment in Russia. According to him, from September 25 to October 1, all posts in the Southern Urals recorded an excess of activity in the samples of radioactive aerosols. At the same time, Rutheneniya-106 decay products were found in Tatarstan, the high pollution of the aerosol samples was in Volgograd and Rostov-on-Don. In the area of the village of Argayash and Novogorni near Ozersk, extremely high pollution was discovered. In Argayash, the radioactive background was exceeded by 986 times, in Novogorno - 440 times compared to September data.

Rashid Alimov, the head of the Greenpeace Russian Energy Program, in an interview with Radio Liberty suggested that the release could occur at the enterprise where the Rutheneniya-106 source is sometimes used in medicine. In this case, we can talk about the center of nuclear medicine in Dimitrovgrad (Ulyanovsk region). The capsule with elements of the substance could also get into the melting furnace. As other possible reasons, he calls the fall of a space satellite or processing of nuclear fuel products. Alimov excludes an accident at the nuclear power plant, because in this case there would be an release of radioactive cesium and iodine.

The head of the laboratory of the radioisotope complex of the Institute of Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Boris Zhuikov, in an interview with Radio Liberty, suggested that Ruthenius-106 could get into the atmosphere due to non-compliance with the technology in the processing of nuclear waste. He admitted that the accident could really occur at the Mayak enterprise in the Chelyabinsk region, although incidents at other enterprises are not excluded. He stated that Ruthenius-106 could disappear when the aqueous solutions of radioactive waste in the air were evaporated. The technology could be broken, and the filters did not absorb this radionuclide.

Ozersky ecologist Nadezhda Kutepova , who was forced to emigrate to France in 2015 after accusations of espionage, agree with him. On her Facebook page, she suggested that on September 25–26, the release occurred on an electric furnace "during the technological process of glazing highly active nuclear waste, an emergency emission of Ruthenenia-106 took place."

Greenpeace Russia decided to contact the prosecutor after publishing by Roshydromet on the presence of ruthenium in the atmosphere in late September - in early October. Ecologists believe that the supervisory authority should check whether there was a deliberate concealment of a radiation accident and information about the state of the environment and how the radionuclides monitoring system in the atmosphere works. "Mayak" denies an accident in production. The press service of the enterprise said that in "2017, sources from Ruthenenia-106 were not made, emissions into the atmosphere were in ordinary regulatory values." The company noted that the radiation background is normal, and the work on the allocation of ruthenium-106 from the exposed nuclear fuel has not been carried out "for many years."

The Minister of Public Security of the Chelyabinsk Region Yevgeny Savchenko also stated on his Facebook page that "from September 26 to October 1, no information about dangerous radiation levels from the hydrometeorological center" authorities "authorities. The administration of Ozersk Interfax reported that there is no panic among the population in the city.

Greenpeace Russia gives data from the Institute of Nuclear and Radiation Safety of France (IRSN): according to French experts, due to the accident, an emission of 100 to 300 terabekkeraels of radioactive substance could occur-10,000 times more than the permitted annual release of ruthenia-106 together with the Rhodium Isotope-106 at the Mayak plant. If an accident occurs with the release of such activity, then people within a radius of several kilometers from the emission place need to be evacuated, according to IRSN. At the same time, Boris Zhuykov believes that there is no question of danger to the population - in any case, if the data voiced by Russian services correspond to reality. “Exceeding the radioactive background that the Roshydrometing Center recorded is not dangerous for the population,” Zhuikov is sure. “All sorts of panic numbers, which is hundreds of times exceeding the background, do not say anything at all. We need to talk only about the achievement or exceeding the maximum permissible norm, and according to the data that are published 2–4 of the magnitude lower than the permissible medium -year -old one Activity, ”he explained. Zhuykov emphasized that the very presence of radioactivity is not a problem, its value is important. But so far these data are insignificant.

Not everyone believes that the "Mayak" and the authorities of the Chelyabinsk region are told the truth. Nadezhda Kutepova on her Facebook page recalled several cases when the company hid malfunctions in work. As the largest, she called the discharge of highly active waste to the Techa River in 1949–1952 and 2007, as well as the Kyshtym accident in 1957, which was confirmed only after 30 years. Some residents of the region, commenting on the news about the possible ejection of radiation in the Southern Urals, are also sure that the accident is silent. “In short, I am not me, the horse is not my. There was no emission, but if it was, then not with us, and if we, we didn’t know, and if we knew, you think so, the population was poisoned with everything else-well, they added a little, what to hysterical, then when they officially confirm, then we will say : and we are innocent, he himself came.