After the world media ignored the appearance of radioactive isotope ruthenium-106 in the air of many countries in Europe, Viciebsk human rights activist Leonid Svetik addressed a number of government departments to find out what measures these departments took to minimize the consequences of radiation contamination of the area.

Information on the discovery in September-October 2017 in the air of European countries of radioactive ruthenium, almost a month after the incident, was published by the Federal Office for Radiation Safety of Germany. Later, the Institute of Nuclear and Radiation Safety of France also reported an increased level of radiation. According to a statement published by Greenpeace, ruthenium appeared in the atmosphere, most likely because of the release from the Mayak production association that is located in Russia near Chelyabinsk. The Russian authorities initially denied that the incident was related to the operation of the said enterprise, but then Roshydromet reported that in fact, from September 25 to October 1, in the Chelyabinsk region, an extremely high level of ruthenium-106 was observed in the air – the natural background was exceeded hundreds of times.

"I, as a physicist, know that every radioactive element, including the isotope ruthenium-106, is potentially dangerous for human health and life. The only means by which the influence of radiation on a person can be mitigated is the timely notification of the public about the radiation threat and ways to avoid the adverse effects of radiation on the body," Leonid Svetik wrote to the Vitsebsk Zonal Hygiene and Epidemiology Center, the regional department of the Ministry for Emergency Situations and the Regional Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Center environment.

The appeal of the human rights activist to the center of hygiene and epidemiology was considered by the chief state sanitary doctor of the city of Viciebsk and Viciebsk region Nikolai Krasovsky. He informed that the daily radiation measurements were carried out by the dosimeter and reported that the dose rate in Viciebsk in 2017, including in September-October, did not exceed 0.047-0.049 microsieverts per hour, which corresponds to the value of the natural background and answers requirements of sanitary norms and rules.

There is no cause for alarm, according to Alexander Klobuk, the head of the Viciebsk regional department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. According to him, the operational management center of the department, which he heads, exchanges daily information on emergency situations of natural and man-made nature, as well as incidents in natural ecosystems with Viciebskobligromet, and information on the appearance of ruthenium-106 isotopes in September-October 2017 in the address of the Ministry of Emergency Control was not received.

But the head of Viciebskobblidromet, Andrey Makeev, responding to the human rights activist, confirmed that ruthenium-106 in the Viciebsk region was indeed: "As of October 6, at the observation point in the city of Brasłaŭ, as in Europe, in the air, traces of this isotope ... The fact that you are interested in, Belhydromet timely informed the parent organization (Ministry of Environment). The operative information was transferred to the Ministry of Emergency Situations".

However, as Mr. Makeev assured, "according to the results of gamma-spectrometric measurements of Belhydromet, the content of ruthenium-106 in air is extremely insignificant, does not affect the radiation situation and does not pose a threat to the environment and public health."

So, as it turned out, the radioactive cloud still hurt Viciebsk region, although not all the heads of departments responsible for notifying the population about the radiation threat and taking measures in case of danger, it was noticed. It remains only to believe the heads of the regional state institution in the structure of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection that there was really no threat.

Kastus Dzvinski, vitebskspring.org