A state of emergency has been declared in a Russian city due to nuclear contamination.

The Russian authorities have not explained what is causing the alarming radiation in the Khabarovsk specialised plant ‘Radon’, southeast Russia.

A mystery radiation source was today ‘removed and placed in a protective container’ and ‘transported to a radioactive waste storage facility’.

Yet a state of emergency is to remain for at least three more days in the Industrialny district of the city, as law enforcement agencies examine the origin of the leak.

It appears to have taken a week for the authorities to act.

Access to the area in question has been restricted as specialists are working to locate the source of the radiation.

A man wearing a nuclear protective mask is seen in darkness with a radiation reader that quickly rises as he walks over a ‘waste dump’.

His reader sounded an alarm at 0.45 microsieverts and the highest reading visible on screen is 5.99.

Yet on the video the man says there was a reading of 20, enough potentially to increase cancer risk, damage DNA, cause foetal damage, and threaten the health of children.

Astonishingly, the potentially lethal radiation leak in Khabarovsk was known for around one week before action was taken on it, or the public alerted, say reports.

A ‘boy’ who made an initial reading on 28 March had reported it to the Russian special services, yet it was only today that a state of emergency was called.

Andrey Kolchin, head civil defence in the city, said: ‘A source of increased radiation levels was discovered….the area was cordoned.

‘It was decided to introduce a state of emergency in Khabarovsk to carry out work faster.’

The authorities insisted there was no threat to life.

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