Finland radioactivity normal despite smoke from Russia fire

Finland said Thursday its radioactivity levels were normal in areas affected by smoke from fire-ravaged Russia, where burnt regions include land contaminated by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Finland’s Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority said in a statement that it had “measured the the samples of particle collection in Helsinki, Kotka and Imatra,” and the radioactivity levels had not risen above normal.

The amounts of radioactive cesium “are not different from those normally measured… which shows that the forest fires in Russia have not increased the amount” of the substance, the authority said regarding Finland’s south and east regions.

Meanwhile in Russia millions of people continued to battle to douse the wildfires raging in the country, notably near the top nuclear research centre in Sarov, east of Moscow.