Chernobyl: Wildfire breaks out in forest surrounding Russian-occupied nuclear power plant in Ukraine
22 March 2022
Published by: https://inews.co.uk
RUSSIA/UKRAINE – Wildfires have broken out in the forest surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine, with officials warning that extinguishing the flames would be impossible as the area is controlled by Russian troops.
There are fears the radiation from the forest at Chernobyl, the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster, could spread widely in the smoke if the fires burned unchecked.
“Probably the fire was caused by the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, namely the shelling or arson,” the Ukrainian parliament said in a statement on Monday night, without giving further evidence.
Ukrainska Pravda, a Ukrainian news site, said on Tuesday there were seven fires burning in the forest in Chernobyl.
The New York Times reported that forest fires are common in the spring and summer in the abandoned areas – called the exclusion zone – around the nuclear plant, where “radiation levels are considerably lower than they were immediately after the 1986 accident but still pose risks”.
In a post on the Telegram messaging app on Monday, Ukrainian nuclear operator Energoatom said that there was no data on “the current state of radiation pollution in the exclusion zone, which makes it impossible to adequately respond to threats of deterioration of radiation”.
It added that “extinguishing fires is impossible due to the occupation of the exclusion zone by Russian troops”.
It comes after about half of the single shift of staff who have been working non-stop at the radioactive waste facilities at Chernobyl were relieved by other Ukrainian staff on Sunday. Earlier reports said the hungry and exhausted staff were being forced to work under prison-like conditions.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the rest of the workers were able to go home on Monday, with the exception of thirteen staff members who declined to rotate.
