Military vehicles and the fighting around Chernobyl have led to an increase in radiation levels in Chernobyl. Russian troops captured the destroyed Chernobyl nuclear power plant on the first day of the invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers had tried in vain to defend the area. No people are said to have been killed.
Belarusian journalist Tadeusz Giczan posted a video on Twitter showing tanks and soldiers in Chernobyl. The Ukrainian government confirmed the capture of the nuclear power plant. The conquerors would have captured the staff
Mykhailo Podoliak, the adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said according to a report by Tagesschau, that the condition of the old reactor facility, the protective cover over the highly radioactive accident reactor, and the nuclear fuel storage facility is not known. "It is impossible to say whether the power plant is safe," said Podoliak. It is "one of the most serious threats to Europe".
There was fighting in Chernobyl
According to official Ukrainian data, Chernobyl was taken after heavy fighting. A storage facility for radioactive waste was hit during the shelling. Ukraine's nuclear agency has reported an increase in gamma radiation beyond normal levels, the Associated Press (AP) news agency reports. Details were initially not mentioned.
According to the automated measuring system, on-site, radiation has increased sharply in some cases. In some places, 20 times the usual values were measured. This is shown by a map that the Ukrainian parliament tweeted on the morning of February 25.
According to the AP, the nuclear agency attributes the increase in radiation to "disruption of the upper layers of the earth" and to the "release of contaminated radioactive dust into the air". The triggers were movements of heavy military equipment through the exclusion zone and the fighting.
The IAEA is concerned
According to the Ukrainian government, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been informed of developments on the ground. The situation in Ukraine is being followed with great concern, said IAEA Director Rafael Mariano Grossi.
Grossi called for the utmost restraint from all involved to avoid anything that could endanger the country's nuclear facilities. "In line with its mandate, the IAEA is following developments in Ukraine with particular attention to the safety of the country's nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities."
The entire system must be constantly monitored. It is vital that the safe operation of the nuclear facilities in this zone is not compromised or disrupted in any way, Grossi said.
Unit 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded in April 1986, causing a core meltdown. As a result, large amounts of radioactive material were released, which traveled as far as Western Europe. The area has been a no-go zone ever since. A protective cover was erected over the reactor in the year of the disaster to prevent further leakage of radioactive material. After the so-called sarcophagus became dilapidated, a new protective cover was built in 2010, which has sealed off the destroyed reactor block since 2016. There is also a nuclear waste storage facility there.
The reason for taking Chernobyl is unclear. The invaders had pushed south into Ukraine from neighboring Belarus. From their staging area, the area is on its way to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
However, other reasons are also conceivable: Russia wants to prevent the western defense alliance NATO from interfering in the war, an unnamed source from the environment of the Russian government told the British news agency Reuters.
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