Nuke agency reports unusual radiation in Europe

November 11, 2011 – VIENNA — The U.N. nuclear agency is reporting “very low” — but higher than usual — levels of radiation in the Czech Republic and elsewhere in Europe. The International Atomic Energy Agency says the “very low levels of iodine-131 have been measured in the atmosphere over the Czech Republic” and elsewhere on the continent. Its statement on Friday said the current levels do not seem to pose a public health risk. IAEA says the cause is not known, but it is not the result of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, which spread radiation across the globe in March. The agency says the radioisotope will lose much of its radiation in about eight days and that the agency is investigating.

The Czechs are betting heavily on nuclear power and have plans to dramatically increase production — a move that would give the country a place among Europe's most nuclear-dependent nations. They currently rely on six nuclear reactors for 33 percent of their total electricity. The government hopes to at least double that output.
That's in stark contrast to its neighbors: German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government decided to phase out nuclear energy by 2022 following the meltdown at the Fukushima plants, and Switzerland has followed suit. Austria abandoned nuclear energy after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster and strictly opposes the Czech nuclear program. read more at link above...