Chernobyl forest fires release ‘locked radiation’ causing spike ’16 times higher than normal’
FOREST FIRES near the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster have reportedly pushed radiation levels in the area up to 16 times their normal levels.
The blazes are releasing radiation trapped for decades in soil surrounding the Ukrainian city of Prypiat, which was abandoned in 1986 following an explosion at the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant that caused the world's worst nuclear accident.
The fires began on Friday evening in the western part of the exclusion zone and spread to nearby forests, some of which are in the part of the zone that still has higher radiation.
Footage shot by the emergency service shows forests covered with dense smoke, burning grass and shrubs.
Ukrainian authorities have attempted to play down fears that the radiation could spread to the capital Kiev just 62 miles from Prypiat.
Radiation levels at the centre of the inferno over the weekend had skyrocketed, according to Yegor Firsov, head of Ukraine’s state ecological inspection service.
“There is bad news – radiation is above normal in the fire’s centre,” Yegor wrote on Facebook Sunday.
The post included a video with a Geiger counter showing radiation at 16 times above normal.
Yegor added that the blaze had spread to about 100 hectares of forest.
About 100 firefighters have been drafted in to fight the fire, as well as planes and helicopters.
What is the Chernobyl disaster?
Here's what you need to know about the world's worst nuclear accident
- The Chernobyl nuclear power plant is situated near the now-abandoned town of Pripyat in Ukraine
- The power plant exploded in April 1986 when its poorly designed fourth reactor suffered a huge power surge
- The explosion and subsequent fires released a lot of nuclear radaition into the astmosphere
- The intial explosion killed two people but radiation sickness quickly began to kill more plant workers and emergency services employees who were responding to the inicdent
- Authorities were slow to release information about the extent of the disaster to the outside world until radiation alarms began to go off at a nuclear plant in Sweden
- Trees surrounding the area absorded so much radition they died and turned red resulting in an area known as the 'Red Forest'
- 116 000 people were evacuated from the surrounding area in 1986 and there is now a 30km exlcusion zone where it is illegal to live
- Tourists who visit Ukraine can book a short tour of Chernobyl because a short time spent in the radiation is not thought to be harmful
- The New Safe Confinement is the name of the shelter which now surrounds the exploded reactor and is intened to confine any radition that it stills gives off
- This confinement was not compelted until 2018
- Experts believe that the area won't be safe for humans to live in for another 20,000 years
The fires follow unusually dry weather but police also say they have identified a 27-year old local resident accused of deliberately setting fire to grass in the region.
Local authorities in Ukraine have dismissed residents' concerns that the fires have led to unsafe radiation levels.
The radiation levels in the capital Kiev and the exclusion zone established around the plant in 1986 "did not exceed natural background levels", the zone's authorities said.
Fires are common in the forest surrounding the disused power plant.
The emergency service said it was still fighting the fires but the situation was "fully under control".
After the explosion in April 1986, people were evacuated and resettled from the 30 km (19 mile) exclusion zone around the nuclear plant, and the zone is still strictly controlled.
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In other news, Chernobyl may still be causing spikes in cancer rates around the globe, according to one expert.
This eerie Chernobyl drone footage shows abandoned apartment blocks and funfairs in a city crippled by the nuclear plant explosion.
And, China are building an 'artificial sun' in an attempt to harness the power of nuclear fusion.
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