Is it true that in Poland they recorded a jump in radiation due to shells blown up in Ukraine with a depleted uranium?

On May 19, 2023, the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev said that a radioactive cloud was moving from Ukraine to Western Europe, and in Poland they had already paid attention to a surge in radiation. Earlier, Russian media wrote about the same. We decided to check if this is so.

About the radioactive threat Nikolai Patrushev He said May 19, 2023 at a meeting in Syktyvkar. According to him, this result was led by Russian missiles in a warehouse near Khmelnitsky, where shells with a depleted Uranus set up by the allies of Ukraine were stored. “Their destruction led to the fact that the radioactive cloud headed towards Western Europe. And in Poland, the growth of radiation has already been recorded, ”Patrushev said. May 17, two days before the performance of the Secretary of the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Federation, large Russian media wrote about the growth of radiation in Poland: for example, “”Komsomolskaya Truth","Tsargrad","Moscow Komsomolets","Arguments and facts" TV channel "360".

Radiation in Khmelnitsky

The first reports of an increased radiation background appeared after the Russian missile strike in the city of Khmelnitsky on the night of May 13. The Russian Ministry of Defense was limited to laconic commentary, Submittingthat the ware of ammunition of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is destroyed. The authorities of Khmelnitsky toldThat hundreds of houses were injured as a result of a blow, both multi -storey and private. A blow to the object near the city caused serious damage to the infrastructure, said the mayor of Khmelnitsky Alexander Simchishin. The fact that in the warehouse there were allegedly ammunition with impaired uranium, neither Russian nor Ukrainian officials mentioned. In conditions of military operations, it is not possible to confirm or refute these statements.

On the supply of Ukraine with impoverished uranium, UK UK reported In March 2023.  Russia in response to this expressed His indignation: President Vladimir Putin promised to answer that “the collective West begins to use weapons with a nuclear component,” and the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West of violating humanitarian law. At the same time, the impoverished uranium of serious damage in itself does not cause a person or the environment, such a weapon is included in the arsenal of many armies of the world, including the Russian.

May 13, a few hours after the Russian attack, a video of a powerful explosion in Khmelnitsky appeared in social networks.

On May 14, Russian Telegram channels began to publish posts about increasing the radiation background in the Ukrainian city, claiming that this happened precisely due to the explosion of ammunition with the depleted uranium. Bloggers referred to the Ukrainian Saveecobot portal that measured the level of radiation. "Russian newspaper"Wrote that from May 12 in the Khmelnitsky area" there is a jump in the level of radiation from 80-100 nanosivert to 140-160 nanosivert. "

If you discard some of the inaccuracies of the wording (it would be correct to indicate the gamma radiation in nanosivert per unit of time), the change in the radiation background corresponds to the data of the Ukrainian site. For example, on May 13, when a missile blow was inflicted, devices Fixed Radiation background in 149 nanosivert/hour (0.14 microsivert/hour).

The highest value in recent years has been noted in Khmelnitsky in the evening of May 19, when the radiation vona reached 157 NZV/h (0.15 μSv/h). 

At the same time, observers did not fix a sharp jump. Moreover, permissible power equivalent Doses of gamma radiation counts 300 NZV/h (0.3 μSv/h), and the norm - 150 NZV/h (0.15 mZv/h). For example, in the center of Moscow, according to the Rosatom’s structure, FSUE Radon, this indicator, depending on the region, ranges from 70 to 160 NZV/h (from 0.07 to 0.16 μSv/h).

The only part of Ukraine where the power of the equivalent dose of gamma radiation significantly exceeds the norm-areas in the immediate vicinity of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, polluted by radiation after the 1986 accident. According to the same Saveecobot, this indicator reaches 5544 NZV/h (5.54 μSv/h) there.

Radiation in Poland

May 15 Telegram channel "War of Worlds Z" suggestedthat soon those who have entered the atmosphere due to the explosion in Khmelnitsky radioactive particles can reach the territory of Poland. The next day, May 16, this assumption was a statement, and with reference to the data of Polish specialists. The earliest post that managed to find “verified” is an entry in the Telegram channel ”Fire in Ukraine"(9.8 thousand views) at 17:30 Moscow time. The author of the post claimed that on the eve (that is, May 15), in the Polish city of Lublin, measuring devices recorded a sharp increase in the level of the bismuth by 6-7 times. And the bismuth was explained in the publication, this is a “product of the decay of the impoverished uranium used in ammunition”. During the evening of May 16, the post, along with the screenshot, first dispersed through Telegram channels with a relatively small audience, and then it Published In his channel Yakov Kedmi, a permanent guest of programs on Russian federal television channels. The record in the Telegram channel Kedmi read 1.8 million users, the source was referred to and Some media.

As with the monitoring of the radiation background in Khmelnitsky, the source of publications in Telegram is real: this is data Lublin University named after Maria Sklodovskaya-Kuri.

May 15 and really observed Improving the radiation background in the city relative to average data per week.

In addition, on May 15, an increase in the level of bismuth (on the graph - red color) was really recorded.

But if you set a longer time period (for example, a month), then the radiation table of isotopes looks completely different.

And on the schedule for the year (from May 22, 2022 to May 22, 2023), a “sharp jump”, which occurred on May 15, 2023, looks insignificant.

On May 17, the University of Maria Sklodovskaya-Kuri published a detailed explanation increasing the level of bismuth in the atmosphere. According to university employees, conducting observation, this is a natural phenomenon that is caused by sediments. “Vismot-214, which forms as a result of the decay of gaseous radon rising from under the ground, is intercepted by falling drops of water, which leads to an increase in the intensity of radiation near the soil surface,” the university said. They note that this is a natural phenomenon, and the concomitant growth of the radiation background does not cause significant damage to health.

Nuclide Vismot-214 is the result of the decay of uranium-238, which, in turn, enters the air from the soil. The increased content of uranium-238 in nature is due to the burning of charcoal. The air of the Vismot-214 is contained in the form of aerosols and dust, and the concentration of nuclide depends on the direction of wind and precipitation. The main conclusion that experts come to is this: changes in the radioactivity of the Wismute-214 depend on weather conditions in the studied area.

On the same day, May 17, with a similar statement It performed And the National Atomic Energy Agency of Poland: the level of radiation in the country is within normal limits, it is not dangerous to the health of people and the environment, and the increased content of the bismuth in the air is explained by natural factors.

With these conclusions agree and Russian scientist Boris Zhuikov, head of the Isotopic complex Institute of Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He called the reports of the “radioactive cloud impending to Europe” fake. Zhuykov explained that in the depleted uranium they cannot be contained by the Vismot-210 or Vismot-214, as, indeed, in pure uranium-238. “Many thousands of years are needed for Wismot-210 or Vismot-214 to accumulate in pure uranium-238. These radionuclides in the atmosphere may appear from uranium in nature, ”the scientist explains. In addition, he draws attention to the fact that the radiootoxicity of these isotopes of the bismuth is low, their concentration in the air is many orders of magnitude lower than the maximum permissible. In turn, the toxicity of Uranus itself is not higher than that of mercury or lead, and it is really harmful if Uranus is taken inside.

Thus, reports about the radioactive cloud, which allegedly formed after the explosion of the warehouse with ammunition in Ukraine and is now moving towards Europe, is not true. The data of measuring devices, both in Ukraine and in Poland, do not allow us to talk about any significant jump in the radiation background.

Photo on the cover: Screenshot "Checked"

Not true

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Stopfake. Fake: After a missile strike in Khmelnitsky, an “increased radiation background” was recorded.
2. "Voks Ukrainian." Injustment: a radiation threat due to explosions in Ternopol and Khmelnitsky.
3. "The detector of myths." Has the explosion in Khmelnitsky an increase in the level of radiation in Poland?