Reuters reports from Ukrainian officials that on February 25, 2022, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and its surrounding area showed increased radiation levels following intense clashes between Ukrainian and Russian forces in the region.
One day after the site was seized by Russian military forces, scientists and environmental experts raised alarms about the potential ecological disaster that could arise.
Online data from the automatic radiation monitoring system of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine indicated: “Gamma radiation has increased 20 times above normal levels at many observation points.”
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. (Photo: Nomadsoulphotos via Canva)
Most importantly, according to Ukrainian officials, the radioactive dust stirred up by military activity (specifically due to the movement of heavy military equipment in the area) is disturbing soil still contaminated from the worst nuclear disaster in history in 1986 [the Chernobyl disaster] and not due to a reactor breach, Euronews reported.
Wim Zwijnenburg, Head of the Humanitarian Disarmament Project at the Dutch peace organization PAX, stated: “The dust and soil are likely one of the factors causing the higher-than-normal radiation levels“.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stated that it is monitoring the situation in Ukraine “with serious concern”, but noted that there have been no reports of damage at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant site.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi stated: “It is crucial that the safety and security of nuclear facilities within the 30 km Zone* are not affected or disrupted in any way.”
*The 30 km Zone, also known as the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, encompasses the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and its adjacent areas. This zone was established by Soviet armed forces immediately after the 1986 disaster, forming a 30 km radius from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant designated for evacuation due to high levels of radioactive contamination.
Abandoned buildings in the vicinity of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. (Photo taken in 2019. Source: Natalia Liubchenkova / Euronews)
On the afternoon of February 25, 2022, the IAEA issued an updated statement indicating that the increased radiation levels are not currently a cause for concern.
The IAEA assessed that the reported levels – reaching up to 9.46 microSieverts per hour – are low and remain within operational ranges measured in the 30 km Zone since its establishment and therefore do not pose a risk to the public.
Currently, there is a cover over the plant built to prevent the release of hundreds of tons of radioactive material.
According to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), this structure was upgraded in 2016 and is said to be able to “withstand a tornado” and last at least 100 years.
Environmental Experts Express Concerns
However, environmental experts continue to warn that the existing risk is the nuclear waste still retained in the area. These waste sites contain radioactive materials and have several hotspots within the region.
As the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is one of the most radioactive places in the world, many parts of the 30 km Zone have been closed off since the catastrophic accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986.
In that year of 1986, two massive explosions inside the reactor caused its 2,000-ton lid to be blown off like a coin, blanketing an area of 2,600 square kilometers with radioactive dust and reactor debris.
On May 2, 1986, the Soviet Union officially declared the boundaries of an area around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and called it the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. This area covers approximately 2,700 square kilometers, with a 30 km radius from the plant.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, this area is considered the most severely radioactive contaminated zone and is off-limits to anyone except government officials and scientists.
After evacuation, the reactor was sealed, and this area is deemed uninhabitable for humans for the next 24,000 years.
What remains of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant after the explosion. (Photo: AP).
Environmental experts argue that the fierce fighting around the Chernobyl plant on February 24 raised concerns that stray munitions could accidentally breach the two protective layers of the exploded reactor and release deadly radioactive materials trapped inside.
Claire Corkhill, a professor of nuclear materials degradation at the University of Sheffield in the UK, wrote on Twitter that gamma radiation around the Chernobyl plant “appears to have increased about 20 times compared to a few days ago.” However, caution is advised “not to overinterpret at this stage.”
Professor Corkhill noted that the highly radioactive fuel inside the Chernobyl reactor is buried deep beneath the plant and is unlikely to be released unless the reactor is directly targeted in an attack.
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history, following an explosion that released radioactive waste across Europe in April 1986.
In recent years, this site has become a popular tourist destination, as well as telling an unexpectedly successful environmental story as various species have begun to thrive in the area.
Why is the 30 km Zone Important to Ecologists?
Euronews Green spoke with Professor Nick Beresford, a radiobiologist at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH). He explained the environmental history of the area and what scientists are currently concerned about with the area being occupied.
“After the nuclear disaster in 1986, an area of up to 5,000 km2 around the nuclear plant was abandoned. In 2016, Ukraine’s Chernobyl Exclusion Zone was designated as a Biosphere Reserve, which, combined with the 2,160 km2 Polesie Radiological Ecological Reserve (established in Belarus in 1988), has become the third largest nature reserve in continental Europe.”
The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, captured in 2019. (Photo: Nataliia Liubchenkova / Euronews)
The absence of human activity has seen an increase in populations of many species including Eurasian lynx, wolves, brown bears, and birds of prey. This is the only vast wilderness area where all large carnivore species in Europe still exist, interacting with a range of large herbivores and prey animals.
Thus, this area provides us with an opportunity to study an experiment that could offer crucial knowledge as humanity attempts to tackle global climate change and biodiversity crises.
The 30 km Zone has some of the most strongly radioactive contaminated ecosystems on Earth and has become an important natural laboratory allowing us to study the effects of radiation on wildlife. Research is no longer taking place there, and we do not know when we can resume these studies. This impacts our ability to provide science that underpins the regulation of radiation use from medicine to nuclear energy.” – Professor Nick Beresford stated.
