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On February 24, 2022, the Russian military took control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The next day an increase in radioactive activity was recorded. Why ? Is it dangerous for health and the environment? Answer with a nuclear expert.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is concerned about the situation in Ukraine and particularly since Russian military forces took control of the site and all the facilities of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on February 24. For the moment, according to the press release of March 2, 2022, there are no victims or destruction on the industrial site. “Director General Mr. Grossi said it was of the utmost importance that the safe and secure operations of nuclear facilities in this area were not affected or disrupted in any way.”
An increase in radioactive activity the day after the capture by the Russians
The day after the site was taken by Russian forces, the Ukrainian nuclear security representative told AFP an increase in the level of radioactive activity at the Chernobyl power plant. In addition to the danger of this new war, the unstable situation in particular around this site and other power plants in Ukraine is raising fears of a new accident similar to that of 1986 with disastrous ecological and human consequences.
Regarding the famous increase in the level of radiation, estimated between 60 and 70 microsieverts per hour, on February 25, we interviewed a nuclear expert, informed of the situation, who expressed the wish to remain anonymous. “The microsievert is the unit of measurement that quantifies the impact of radioactivity on living organisms”he explains to us before adding that the increase in activity recorded remains weak and harmless. “To give you an idea, this activity record remains below the level of radioactivity to which we are all exposed daily by new technologies (telephones, computers, medical analyses), or natural radioactivity such as the sun, our body, being itself radioactive, because it contains a small proportion of potassium.”
A rise caused by the passage of tanks?
According to the IAEA, the first hypothesis concerning the cause of this increase observed following the capture of the area by the Russian military would be that of the passage of tanks. A theory with which our interlocutor seems to agree. “It is important to qualify the fact that this is an increase in activity which was recorded on February 25, not an increase in radiation because it is much less alarming”says the specialist.
Around the Chernobyl power plant, a safety perimeter has been defined where no one should live, otherwise they will absorb too much radiation over the long term and reach a threshold that could become dangerous. This is called the exclusion zone. “Human activity having been severely restricted for a long time in this area, the passage of Russian military forces with tanks in particular has certainly stirred up the radioactive dust on the ground. They were suspended in the air, which explains the increase in activity recorded by the sensors. Since the authorities monitoring the sensors (whose analyzes are publicly available), announce that this increase in activity has decreased.
A health risk?
According to our specialist, “There is no risk to the health of people around, the sensors do not give any proven danger at the moment we speak. With the arrival of military troops which may continue, there is a potential risk of increased radioactive activity, but at the stage it is, it is diluting and mixing into the natural radioactivity.
Where this could start to pose a problem is if military activity intensifies because the surrounding regions are major transport routes and crossings. “The risk is that the suspension of radioactive dust in the air travels outside the exclusion zones. The dust sticks to the wheels and to the vehicles which will continue on their way. In normal times, there is a protocol that requires the truck to be washed, but I doubt that in wartime it will be respected”.
“If it was a question of waste having caught fire, the level observed would have been much higher.”
The first fears during this capture of activity concerned the storage areas for radioactive materials and waste produced by the nuclear power plant during the accident and until its operation ceased in December 2000. “For the moment the increase would be exclusively due to the movement of troops. If it was a question of waste having caught fire, the level observed would have been much higher.” The sarcophagus built by the European Union to mothball the damaged part of Chernobyl would also be intact and safe.
“The Russian forces that have taken control ensure that the area is under control. We don’t know of any risk of them blowing up anything, it wouldn’t be in their interest. This war is a little particular, for the moment, it seems that it is an ambition of conquest, they want to recover the territories in state and not to destroy them. Now in a war you are never sure what can happen”, tells us our interlocutor.
According to the latest IAEA press release dated March 2, 2022, the Ukrainian authorities claim to have maintained communication with the staff of the Chernobyl site, that they are carrying out their usual work to maintain the security of the site, “under ‘supervision’ – and that no operation involving nuclear material had been carried out at the site since February 24.”
Russia like Ukraine would have no interest in blowing up the plant
Chernobyl is not the only plant in Ukraine, since the country has 15 operational reactors spread over four sites. Ukraine’s State Nuclear Regulatory Inspection Service confirmed that all were operating “as before”.
What is not on the agenda for the moment, but which must nevertheless be kept in mind, is the case where there would be a Ukrainian response against Russia for the recovery of the site and everything degenerates in armed combat. Power plant reactors have external safeguards and safety systems that would shut down, but “it all depends on what type of projectile would explode, where it would explode and with what force”, adds our nuclear specialist before assuring that the Ukrainian people, like the Russian people, are qualified specialists in nuclear security, “they are fully aware of the risks involved and both have no interest in causing damage in the area.”