Russia Confirms ‘Extremely High’ Radiation in Ural Mountains

Russian officials on Tuesday confirmed reports of a spike in radioactivity in the Ural Mountains, with the country’s own meteorological service classifying the allegedly release of Ruthenium-106 as “extremely high contamination.” Russia’s Rosatom corporation has said there was no radiation leak from any of its facilities, but the meteorological office has noted unusually high levels of radiation in villages near the company’s Mayak plant for spent nuclear fuel. Mayak denied that it was the source of the contamination, according to a statement released by the plant on Tuesday. Greenpeace, the environmental-protection group, said it plans to petition the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office to look into “a possible concealment of a radiation accident.”