The ordeal of workers trapped in the Chernobyl nuclear plant under Russian surveillance

More than 100 workers at the nuclear power plant in Chernobylon Ukrainethe site of the worst nuclear disaster in history in 1986, have been trapped there for more than 12 days, unable to leave after Russian forces seized the plant on the first day of the invasion.

Another 200 Ukrainian guards who were in charge of security at the time of the assault are also being held.

Workers continue to carry out their duties and the atmosphere appears to be calm, but the BBC has been told that conditions inside are difficult, with limited food and medicine.

There is also growing concern that stress may be affecting the ability of workers to safely carry out their duties at the nuclear site.

“Complicated and tense situation”

Russian soldiers are now inside the Chernobyl exclusion zone, which is 32 km long, and have surrounded the perimeter of the plant.

Russia says it has secured the site together with the Ukrainian national guard, but Ukraine denies this, saying Russian troops are in full control.

The relative of one of the workers trapped at the plant – whom we did not name for security reasons – told the BBC that the Russian side was willing to let them change shifts, but could not guarantee their safety on the return trip. home, nor that of the workers who travel to take their place.

The train between Slavutych and Chernobyl travels briefly through Belarus, an important ally of Russia.

Although it is no longer a working power plant, Chernobyl it was never completely abandoned and still requires constant management. In fact, after reactor number four exploded 36 years ago, its other reactors continued to operate for a few years and an entire city, Slavutych, was built to house the workers who were evacuated after the accident.

These days, around 2,400 people still work at the site: scientists, technicians, cooks, doctors and other support staff, as well as members of the national guard.

In normal times, workers would board a train from Slavutych at the start of their shift and return home afterwards. But for the employees who were there when the Russians invaded, everything suddenly changed: They were forced to live on site.

“The situation is complicated and tense”, tells the BBC Yuri Fomichev, mayor of Slavutych. “It is difficult for them morally, psychologically and physically.”

The workers have some food on site but because they don’t know how long they will be there, they limit themselves to one meal a day, prepared by cooks who are also trapped. Testimonials indicate that it is a very basic diet, mainly composed of bread and oatmeal.

On Sunday, Russian staff offered a food delivery, but Ukrainian workers rejected it, saying it was a propaganda stunt.

The facilities are not prepared to sleep in them, so temporary dormitories have been created; some workers sleep on folding beds and tables, and others on the floor.

To get some downtime, workers have been divided into shifts, with one group working while another rests.

For the families of employees in nearby Slavutych, it is a difficult time.

“Some of the workers need medications that are limited in the plant and that adds additional concern to family members,” Fomichev said.

“We have to tell them that we currently have no safe way to get the workers out of there.”

Is the Chernobyl site at risk?

With workers feeling the physical and psychological effects of spending nearly two weeks stuck on the job at a decommissioned nuclear power plant, there are fears that the stress may be affecting their ability to carry out their duties safely.

“Under these conditions, the concentration of workers is getting worse and worse and that is a security threat,” warned Mayor Fomichev.

“It may not be a working power plant, but it still requires a lot of attention to make sure all systems are working normally,” he added.

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, has repeatedly insisted on the need for staff to rest in order to carry out their work safely. In an interview for the BBC he said that he has been in contact with the Russians to give them that message.

However, nuclear experts maintain that because this is not an active nuclear power plant, the danger to public health is limited.

“It’s not good that people don’t change shifts and they’re surrounded by Russian soldiers around them, but I don’t see a big danger,” says James Smith, a professor of environmental sciences at the University of Portsmouth in the UK, who has been studying Chernobyl for years and has visited the site numerous times.

“The last reactor shut down in 2000 so the spent nuclear fuel doesn’t generate much heat anymore.” The expert explained that this makes it extremely unlikely that there will be a significant release of radioactivity.

Radiation levels rose in the region when the power plant was seized, as heavy military equipment removed contaminated dust around the site. However, Professor Smith said they did not rise to worrying levels.

exhaustion and despair

The risk of a major nuclear catastrophe may be low, but for the workers trapped inside and their families, the emotional toll is very real.

“All the staff are super exhausted and desperate. They doubt that anyone cares about them. Right now they don’t see anyone doing anything to rescue them,” said the relative of one of the trapped employees.

Through an interview for the BBC, he called on the IAEA to intervene so that the current workers can leave safely and another group take over.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said he was in contact with the Ukrainian and Russian sides in a bid to manage security both at Chernobyl and at Ukraine’s active nuclear power plants, where experts say the consequences of open conflict could be more serious.

Nothing definitive has been agreed upon yet.

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