After a month of Russian occupation of the former chernobyl nuclear power plantthe radiation levels are high, but not dangerous for health, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear agency.
This has been indicated by its general director, Rafael Grossi, upon his return from a visit to Chernobyl this Thursday. During a press conference from Vienna, he indicated that the radiation detected in the earth excavations carried out by the Russians in the so-called ‘exclusion zone’, close to the plant, is six times higher than normal.
A level of radiation -registered this Wednesday by IAEA experts- which, however, is three times less than the allowed limit for plant personnel, according to Grossi. “We do not have any confirmation of a dangerous exposure to radioactivity,” she stressed. Specifically, the level of radioactivity detected is the equivalent of an exposure of 6.5 millisieverts per year, while that allowed for employees of nuclear plants is 20 per year.
Behind the withdrawal of the Russian army from Chernobyl At the end of March, information emerged about an alleged lethal radioactive exposure for russian soldiers who were in the exclusion zone. “I would never recommend anyone to dig there, that was apparently a military order. But it is not a place to have a picnic or a dig,” Grossi said.
The IAEA expert mission, led by Grossi himself, has been in Ukraine this week to deliver measuring instruments and reestablish connections telematics between the Chernobyl plant and the IAEA headquarters in Vienna. “Since this morning we have received information from the site again,” confirmed Grossi, who has been warning since the beginning of the war about the nuclear dangers in the combat zones in Ukraine.
After visiting Chernobyl, which requires major maintenance work to prevent radioactive leaks, Grossi met in kyiv with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky. After meeting with Ukraine’s nuclear and political authorities, Grossi plans to meet Russian nuclear officials in the coming days and weeks.
Although Russian forces have left Chernobyl, they continue to occupy the plant Zaporizhia, the largest in Europe, located in the south of the country. Precisely, this very week was the 36 years since the biggest nuclear accident in historyoccurred in Chernobyl on April 26, 1986.
Source: Lasexta
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