Increased radioactivity after forest fire near Chernobyl nuclear power plant

Radioactivity increases after a forest fire near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

• The forest is burning near the Chernoby l nuclear power plant .
• Increased radioactivity measured.
• Localities are not endangered.

Increased radioactivity has been measured in the exclusion zone around the former Ukrainian Chernobyl nuclear power plant as a result of a forest fire. "There is bad news: At the center of the fire, radioactivity is above average," wrote Yegor Firsow, head of the state environmental inspection service, on Sunday in the online service Facebook .

Chernobyl: The fire is under control

He published a video in which a Geiger counter showed 16 times the normal value. The fire spread to 100 hectares, Firsow wrote. The Ukrainian emergency services announced on Sunday morning that no increased radioactivity had been measured in the air and that the fire was under control.

Two planes, a helicopter and about a hundred firefighters were deployed on Sunday to fight the fire that broke out on Saturday evening. On Saturday, the authorities spoke of "difficulties" in fighting fires due to the increased radioactivity in some areas.

Chernobyl reactor accident 34 years ago

Surrounding towns are not at risk. After the reactor accident 34 years ago, a restricted zone was built around the site of the former nuclear power plant within a 30-kilometer radius. Commercial farming is still prohibited there.

Reactor block 4 of the Soviet Chernobyl nuclear power plant had exploded on April 26, 1986 during a safety test. The GAU, around a hundred kilometers north of the Ukrainian capital Kiev, was the most serious nuclear accident in history, and the area surrounding the Akw is still heavily contaminated to this day.

Chernobyl: Demolition of Ignalina nuclear power plant is suspended

Meanwhile, due to the corona pandemic, dismantling work on the Ignalina nuclear power plant in Lithuania that has been shut down is temporarily suspended.

In order to implement corona virus protection measures and measures to limit contact among the more than 1,800 employees, the decommissioned plant in the Baltic EU country will be converted to minimum operation for around two weeks from Monday.

This was said by Director General Audrius Kamienas of the BNS agency. To ensure the maintenance of the systems, a shift operation with minimal staffing is maintained. Lithuania has reported 696 confirmed coronavirus infections and nine deaths.

The government in Vilnius declared the state of emergency and quarantined the country by April 13. (FR / afp)