heavy equipment in Chernobyl. Experts warn: the risk of cancer is enormous

Contents

“We warned that it was dangerous around Chernobyl”
Earthworks have a higher radiation risk
The soldier gripped the cobalt with his bare hands
Staying in this area for a few days is a huge cancer risk
Radiation sickness and acute radioactive syndrome – what are the risks?

bulldozers in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone are a huge risk. Earthworks may spread the radiation from this place far beyond the borders of Ukraine – Ukrainian specialists are alarming.

Tanks tore up toxic soil, bulldozers built trenches and bunkers – describes the situation “The New York Times”
The risk concerns not only soldiers who are in the vicinity of Chernobyl, but it is much more serious – explains Valery Semionov, chief safety engineer at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
In an interview with the newspaper Semionow, he mentions many dangerous behaviors of s, incl. one of the soldiers. “In one of the waste warehouses, he picked up a source of cobalt-60 with his bare hands, exposing himself to so much radiation that in a matter of seconds the Geiger counter was out of scale”
What’s going on in Ukraine? Follow the broadcast live
More information can be found on the Onet homepage

The Exclusion Zone is an area directly adjacent to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, closed after the disaster in 1986 and considered one of the most irradiated places in the world. Right after Our Country’s attack on Ukraine on February 24 this year. the exclusion zone was occupied by troops.

“We warned that it was dangerous around Chernobyl”

The newspaper describes what happened in the forests of Chernobyl. Undeterred by security issues and fear of radiation, forces entered the area with bulldozers. Machines built bunkers, dug ditches and trenches. “In just one site of extensive excavations, a few hundred meters from the city of Chernobyl, the army has dug a complex maze of sunken pavements and bunkers. An abandoned APC stood nearby, writes The New York Times.

“We told them not to do it, it was dangerous, but they ignored us,” Valery Semionov, chief safety engineer at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, told The New York Times.

soldiers spent weeks in the forest near Chernobyl, which could have exposed them to radiation sickness.

The situation in Chernobyl. The increase in radiation is the result of the movement of heavy equipment

Earthworks have a higher radiation risk

Semionov, quoted by the newspaper, claims that the military sent officers from the nuclear, biological and chemical unit, as well as experts from Rosatom (the nuclear energy agency) to consult on the threat and safety issues with Ukrainian scientists on the spot. However, Semionov points out that even nuclear experts have little influence over army commanders, who were more focused on planning the conquest of Kiev than on soldiers’ safety issues.

The expert explains that the danger does not only concern soldiers in the irradiated exclusion zone, but is much more serious. Earthworks could spread the radiation from this place far beyond the borders of Ukraine.

The soldier gripped the cobalt with his bare hands

“Particularly reckless was the action of a soldier from the chemical, biological and nuclear protection unit, who picked up a source of cobalt-60 with his bare hands in one of the waste warehouses, exposing himself to so much radiation that in a few seconds the Geiger counter was out of scale,” he said Semionov. As he added, it was not clear what happened to the man.

The New York Times interviewee explains that the most disturbing moment at the power plant occurred in mid-March, when power was cut off in the cooling pool where the spent nuclear fuel rods are stored. They contain many times more radioactive material than was dispersed in the 1986 disaster. This caused concern among Ukrainians about the fire, which luckily did not happen.

The s took Chernobyl. What does it mean? There is an official announcement: there is no danger

Staying in this area for a few days is a huge cancer risk

The expert points out that radiation in the Exclusion Zone is not the same everywhere. In most of the area of the Exclusion Zone, he explains, it is moderate. However, there are spots – some one or two ares, others – a few square meters – where the radiation is several thousand times higher than in the rest of the zone.

“A soldier in such a place would be for an hour, receiving a dose of radiation that is considered a safe limit all year round,” explains Bruno Chareyron, director of the CRIIRAD laboratory, a French radiation risk monitoring group, quoted by The New York Times. He explains that the most dangerous isotopes available in this area are cesium 137, strontium 90 and plutonium isotopes. He explains that staying in this area for several days or weeks is associated with a high risk of cancer.

Here you can check the radiation level in Poland [CURRENT DATA]

The expert points out that radioactive particles that are underground are relatively little radioactive. Their unearthing – which the s did – means that they are becoming very dangerous.

“The bulldozer scraped the topsoil to build embankments for artillery and trenches. At one of the stations, soldiers buried a bunker in a sandy road embankment, leaving a pile of rubbish there – food wrappers, abandoned shoes, a blackened pot – which suggests that they lived underground for a long time, “the New York Times reads.

Radiation sickness and acute radioactive syndrome – what are the risks?

A few days ago, the media wrote about soldiers who were to be sent to Belarus with symptoms of an acute radioactive syndrome. Earlier – as it was written – they were stationed in the vicinity of Chernobyl.

This information was commented on by Krystian Machnik, the organizer of the expeditions to Chernobyl and co-author of the Napromieniowani.pl portal. He explained that the level of radiation in the Zone and next to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in most places does not differ significantly from that in Poland, so just being there can be dismissed as a potential risk.

What is acute radioactive syndrome? Could Chernobyl soldiers have it?

The only potentially dangerous place, which is additionally indicated by various media, is the Red Forest, to which the most remnants of the reactor explosion in 1986 flew to.