“…Small amounts of nuclear radiation spread across Europe last month, and no one can figure out why.
First detected over the Norway-Russia border in January, the radioactive Iodine-131 bloom was then found over several European countries, and while unsubstantiated rumours of nuclear testing by Russia have been cropping up, officials say it's most likely linked to an unreported pharmaceutical mishap.
While the radiation spike happened in January, officials in Finland and France have only just gone public with information on the incident, announcing that after the spike was detected in Norway, it appeared in Finland, Poland, Czechia (Czech Republic), Germany, France and Spain, until the end of January.
When asked why Norway didn't inform the public last month, when it was the first to detect the radiation in its northernmost county, Finnmark, Astrid Liland from the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority told the Barents Observer:
"The measurements at Svanhovd in January were very, very low. So were the measurements made in neighbouring countries, like Finland. The levels raise no concern for humans or the environment. Therefore, we believe this had no news value."
As France's nuclear safety authority, the IRSN, announced last week, the actual amount of radioactive Iodine-131 in Europe's ground-level atmosphere in January "raise no health concerns", and has since returned to normal.
But what's most disconcerting about the event isn't the level of radiation that spread through Europe - it's the fact that no one can say what actually happened….”
http://www.sciencealert.com/no-one-can-figure-out-what-s-behind-a-mysterious-radiation-spike-across-europe
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/7758/has-there-been-a-nuclear-incident-in-the-arctic
Update: https://theaviationist.com/2017/02/22/u-s-wc-135-nuclear-sniffer-airplane-has-left-the-uk-heading-towards-norway-and-the-barents-sea/
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“A US Air Force plane which helped in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster has been called in to find the source of a mysterious radioactive cloud heading towards the UK.
The WC-135 Constant Phoenix, which is specially modified to collect atmospheric samples, flew out of RAF Mildenhall on a mission to find evidence of nuclear activity or explosion, according to strong rumours.
Specialist equipment enables the crew to detect radioactive debris ‘clouds’ in real time - after such a cloud was believed to be heading towards northern Europe and the Barents Sea.
News of the deployment comes amid claims Russia may be testing nuclear weapons, either to the east or in the Arctic, after a spike in radioactivity was reported.
The WC-135 Constant Phoenix, which is known as a nuclear ‘sniffer’ plane, was deployed to Britain last week on an undisclosed mission.
Air quality stations in Norway, Finland, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, France and Spain have detected the presence of Iodine-131 at low levels. This has fuelled speculation that the WC-135 has been called in to investigate the cause of the higher-than-normal levels of Iodine-131.
The spike has sparked speculation that Russian president Vladimir Putin is testing nuclear weapons in Novaya Zemlya near the Arctic. However, the CTBTO (Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation) ruled out a nuclear test had recently taken place….”
Update2: http://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/news/environment/mysterious-radioactive-cloud-moves-towards-uk-as-plane-which-tackled-chernobyl-called-in-to-find-source-1-8407845