Experts uncover likely source of radiation

Experts searching for the source of increased radiation at a children’s playground in Prague’s Podolí district have unearthed a small metal rod. The object has been sent to a laboratory for tests. Dana Drábová, head of the country’s Nuclear Safety Institute confirmed earlier on Thursday that radiation levels in the area were over a thousand times higher than the permitted level. Police closed off the area late on Wednesday after a man wearing a wristwatch with a radiation measuring device raised the alarm. Experts say the source of radiation could be radium 226 isotopes used in the manufacture of certain medical equipment such as radium needles.