Lithuanian border guards prevent a Russian truck loaded with radioactive cargo from entering the country
At a border checkpoint on Saturday evening, March 31, officers of the State Border Guard Service of Lithuania (VSAT) detected excessive radiation levels. A Volvo truck with a Schmitz semi-trailer was passing through the checkpoint, heading to Šalčininkai, in the east of Lithuania from Belarus. As it passed through the checkpoint radiation gates, the transported cargo emitted ionizing radiation levels 7.5 times higher than tolerable levels, immediately alerting the guards.
The incident was reported the following day by the VSAT’s press service. According to their report, the truck had Russian plates, was driven by a citizen of Belarus, and after inspection, the driver’s documents were all in order. The radioactive cargo consisted of construction materials intended for further transportation to Germany.
Further inspection of the construction materials using portable dosimeters showed a radioactivity level of 1.5 micro Sieverts per hour. The acceptable level is 0.2 mcSv per hour. The radiation came from Radium-226 isotopes. The truck was denied entry to Lithuania and, after formal arrangements were finalized, the vehicle was returned to the territory of Belarus that evening.
In October 2017, German specialists on radiation protection recorded isotopes of radioactive ruthenium in the atmosphere of a number of European countries. Experts said Russia’s territory of Southern Ural was a possible source of its dissemination.