Radiation levels rise after Russian troops capture Chornobyl plant, monitoring agency says
By Solarina Ho, CTVNews.ca writer
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TORONTO, Ontario (CTV Network) — Radiation levels in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone rose after Russian forces took control of the nuclear reactor plant in Ukraine, according to radiation monitoring data, with Ukrainian experts attributing the spike to contaminated soil in the area being disturbed.
Chornobyl, located approximately 125 km north of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, is the site of the worst nuclear accident in history. More than 35 years after the catastrophic explosion, the area remains radioactive, with roughly 30 km around the decommissioned power plant designated the Exclusion Zone due to high levels of contamination, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
After Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, Russian troops took control of the Chornobyl plant on the same day following a battle with Ukrainian national guards protecting the site, the Ukrainian government said.
The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine reported that data from the automated radiation monitoring system of the Exclusion Zone showed that control levels of gamma radiation dose rate had been exceeded at a “significant number of observation points.”
The increase was due to “disturbance of the top layer of soil from movement of a large number of radio heavy military machinery through the Exclusion Zone and increase of air pollution,” the agency reported, adding that the condition of the facilities at the site remained unchanged.
“The readings reported by the regulator – of up to 9.46 microSieverts per hour – are low and remain within the operational range measured in the Exclusion Zone since it was established, and therefore do not pose any danger to the public,” the IAEA said in a statement, adding that it would continue to closely monitor developments in Ukraine and the safety and security of the reactors within the country.
Nuclear watchdog CRIIRAD said in its own statement on Friday that further research was needed to verify, cross-check, and interpret the data, but described the situation as extremely worrying.
“We can logically fear that the increase in ambient radiation (risks of external irradiation) is accompanied by contamination of the air, and therefore risks of inhalation for the military and civilians present,” the independent French watchdog statement said. It also did not rule out the possibility of a cyberattack or the impact from electromagnetic disturbances.
While many of the other nuclear power plants operating in Ukraine were unlikely to be military objectives, CRIIRAD said military conflict situations were always “high risk” and while shutting down reactors could reduce that risk, more than 50 per cent of Ukraine’s electricity use was nuclear dependent.
Meanwhile, the IAEA’s Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in an earlier statement that it was vitally important the safe and secure operations of the facilities within the exclusion zone not be affected or disrupted, with a reminder that member states had previously adopted a decision that any armed attack or threat against nuclear facilities meant for peaceful purposes was “a violation of the principles of the United Nations Charter, international law and the Statute of the Agency.”
The Chornobyl site itself does not have any military significance, but is the shortest route to the Kyiv from neighbouring Belarus, an entry point into Ukraine for Russian troops, according to military analysts quoted by The Associated Press.
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