A mysterious plume of radioactive particles wafted across Europe, and no one has fessed up to causing it

In early October, radiation monitors around Europe began detecting a puzzling plume of radioactive particles over the continent. Nearly two months later, no one has claimed responsibility for the leak, but experts suspect it came from Russia.

Specifically, the preponderance of evidence points to an area around the Ural Mountains near the Russia-Kazakhstan border as the source of the emissions. 

The radioactive isotope detected at unusually high levels is Ruthenium-106. Ruthenium is a by-product of a radioactive material used in medicine, molybdenum-99, according to NPR. These days, radiation detection monitors are extremely sensitive, so even small leaks are eventually exposed. Read more…

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