Russia-Ukraine war: why the Russian takeover of the Chernobyl plant worries Europe

The fighting at the nuclear plant Chernobyl of this Thursday generated concern, in the midst of the invasion of Russia on Ukraine. Radioactivity is still leaking there, more than 35 years after the worst disaster in history at an atomic plant.

the ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, He spoke about it and highlighted the work of his country’s troops, who fought to defend it “so that it does not happen again the tragedy of 1986″. For him, it is a “declaration of war against all of Europe”.

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In this regard, the adviser to the Ministry of the Interior of Ukraine, Anton Herashenko, warned that any attack on the nuclear waste repository could drop radioactive dust on “the territory of Ukraine, Belarus and countries of the European Union”.

Russian forces took control of the site after an intense battle with Ukraine’s national guard, who were protecting the disused facility, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said. And he added that the state of the plant’s facilities, a structure to contain radiation and a nuclear waste repository are unknown.

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According to this official, after this attack -which he described as “absolutely absurd”- “It is impossible to say that the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is safe.” Podolyak also warned that the Russian authorities could blame Ukraine for the damage to the facilities or launch provocations from there.

In this connection, an official familiar with current assessments noted that Russian missiles hit a radioactive waste repository in Chernobyl and that reported an increase in radiation levels, although at the moment this increase could not be corroborated.

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Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear energy safety at the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists, said in Washington: “I can’t imagine how it would be in Russia’s interest to allow any damage to the Chernobyl facility.” .

In an interview, Lyman said what worries him most is the spent fuel stored at the site, which has been sitting idle since 2000. If power to cooling pumps is interrupted or oil tanks are damaged, fuel storage, the results could be catastrophic, he warned.

Meanwhile, a senior US intelligence official noted that Washington believes that the Russian forces in Chernobyl had the objective of advancing towards Kiev, located about 130 kilometers south of the plant, to try to connect with other Russian troops in the country. These statements were anonymous, since he is not authorized to touch the subject due to the sensitivity of the matter.

The sarcophagus that protects Chernobyl

As published by LA NACION, the structure that protects Chernobyl is 108 meters high, 162 meters long and 257 meters wide and its foundations rest on a volume of 20,000 cubic meters of concrete and has been designed to prevent radiation filtration at least 100 more years. Its mission will be to provide a definitive solution to the more than 100 tons of uranium and other radioactive materials that the accident released.

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The vault is covered by specially resistant steel panels and inside it hides a twelve meter thick air chamber that incorporates a sophisticated ventilation system that minimizes the risk of corrosion, maintains the relative humidity of the installation at around 40 percent and allows to recirculate about 45,000 cubic meters of air per hour.

The vault is long enough to house two Boeing 747s or the Statue of Liberty and has the capacity to withstand a magnitude 6 earthquake, a category 3 tornado, winds of 155 to 200 mph (254 to 332 km/h) and extreme temperatures that They range from -43C to +45C.

With information from the AP Agency

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Source: Elcomercio

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