WORLD BRIEFING / ITALY
Police across Italy have seized 10,000 tons of wood fuel pellets contaminated by a radioactive substance, news reports said.
The fuel had been imported from Lithuania in the fall and was found to contain cesium-137, a highly toxic isotope whose radiation can cause serious health problems, including various types of cancer.
The Corriere della Sera daily quoted police officials as saying the pellets could have posed a health threat only through the smoke and ashes they produce when burned. Further tests on pellets were being conducted to determine how dangerous they were.
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