Chernobyl: The plant is intact, but the Russians have been exposed to radiation

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine was not damaged when it was occupied by Russian troops, but Ukrainian officials said Friday that they may have exposed themselves to radiation, including digging trenches in the polluted area.

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When asked about this, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Crozi, could not confirm this information. UN The organization said in a statement that it was “trying to obtain additional components to provide an independent assessment of the situation”.

“The amount of radiation around the plant is now normal,” Crossey told reporters in Vienna.

The withdrawal of troops, however, could have led to an increase in “localized” radiation due to the movement of vehicles, such as the capture of the site by the Russian army on the first day of the attack on February 24.

Mr. Crozi had returned from a stay in Ukraine and Russia, where he negotiated with the authorities of each country a “framework” for the deployment of equipment and specialists in Ukrainian nuclear installations. He hopes to lead Chernobyl on a mission “very, very soon.”

The plant was released on Thursday, the scene of the largest nuclear disaster in history in 1986, when Russian forces withdrew from the area north of Kiev.

“All equipment is working,” as well as “all radiation control and monitoring systems,” said Valery Zeta, director of the plant, quoted in a press release from the Ukrainian nuclear company Energodom.

Damaged reactor number. There is no problem in storing sarcophagus or radioactive material containing 4.

The Russian soldiers “took five of the 15 containers of spare parts for the plant,” he said.

Moscow’s “irresponsibility”

But most of all, in this restricted zone, which was heavily polluted by the 1986 disaster, it is reassuring to the Ukrainians that they have probably been exposed to large-scale radiation.

“The thick dust and radioactive particles in the air of their vehicles could have easily penetrated the Russians’ lungs,” he said. Zeta said.

Worse, they seem to have dug trenches in the most polluted part of the “red forest”.

“So it is quite possible that they have been exposed to significant radiation pollution,” says Enercott.

In a separate statement to the press in Warsaw, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba denounced Moscow’s “irresponsibility” as much as the public safety of the facilities.

“Russia has shown irresponsibility on every level, from refusing to allow plant workers to do their job fully, to digging trenches in the polluted area,” he said.

Plot No. 4 of the plant exploded in 1986, causing the worst civilian nuclear disaster in history. It will be covered by a double sarcophagus: one built by the Soviets is now damaged, and the other, more modern, opened in 2019.

The other three reactors at the plant were gradually shut down after the 2000 disaster.