KYIV : Ukraine’s nuclear energy regulatory agency said on Friday that higher than usual gamma radiation levels have been detected in the area near the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear plant, after it was seized by the Russian military. It, however, didn’t provide details of the increase.
It attributed the rise to a “disturbance of the topsoil due to the movement of a large amount of heavy military equipment through the exclusion zone and the release of contaminated radioactive dust into the air. ” Ukrainian authorities said Russia took the plant and its surrounding exclusion zone after a fierce battle on Thursday.
A Russian defence ministry spokesman said Russian airborne troops were protecting the plant to prevent any possible “provocations”. He insisted that radiation levels in the area have remained normal. The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said it was told by Ukraine of Reuters the takeover, adding there had been “no casualties or destruction at the industrial site. ”
The 1986 disaster occurred when a nuclear reactor at the plant 130km north of Kyiv exploded, sending a radioactive cloud across Europe. The damaged reactor was later covered by protective shell to prevent leaks.