Fires broke out around the radioactively contaminated restricted area of Chernobyl. Radioactive clouds have already entered the atmosphere. How serious is the situation for Germany?
- A fire broke out around Chernobyl in northern Ukraine on April 4 .
- The smoldering fires also lie in the radioactively contaminated restricted area of the town.
- There are already radioactive clouds in Ukraine. Can they also get to Germany?
Update from April 22, 2020: In the fight against the fires in the radioactive pollution zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant , the National Guard and Army are now also supporting the Ukrainian fire brigade. The flames have raged in the northern part of Ukraine for more than two weeks. According to the civil protection in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, more than 1200 people were deployed on Wednesday . There were five known smoldering fires .
The authorities have repeatedly asserted that radioactivity in the neighboring populated regions is below the limit values . However, the fire in the contaminated area whirls up radioactive material. Most recently, the medical organization to prevent nuclear war warned of a radioactive cloud over Europe. According to the Ukrainian authorities, an area of more than 11,500 hectares has been burned . The environmental organization Greenpeace, however, assumed that the area would be more than four times as large.
In recent years there have been repeated fires in the uninhabited areas of the exclusion zone. Arson is often assumed to be the cause . Ukrainian media repeatedly suspect that the fires were set up to cover up illegal logging in the restricted area. At least one message is hopeful: Rainfalls are expected next weekend .
Chernobyl fire: Flames have been blazing for more than two weeks - fear of radioactive clouds
First report from April 21, 2020:
Chernobyl - A fire has been burning in the Ukrainian city of Chernobyl for two weeks now - of all places, of course, which attained fame in 1986 due to the serious nuclear disaster .
The inglorious history of the city near the Ukrainian-Belarusian border now means that the consequences of the fires could be far more serious than with a "normal" fire.
Chernobyl fire: Radioactive clouds reach Kiev
The area is still radioactively contaminated and there are still six smoldering fires in the region despite further increases in the emergency services . In the meantime, 1,400 firefighters are trying to extinguish the sources of the fire in the restricted area. They have not yet completely succeeded.
For this reason, the question arises of the effects of the fire, which was allegedly triggered by people who wanted to burn their garbage . Because the clouds of smoke have now reached the capital Kiev , around 100 kilometers away . So does the radioactive air continue to circulate and become a real problem?
The satellite image shows a view of smoke clouds from a forest fire in the exclusion zone around the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear power plant
© dpa / -
Chernobyl burns: radioactive clouds of smoke "could also hit Germany"
The international medical organization for the prevention of a nuclear war (IPPNW) warns at least of downplaying the situation. There are already radioactive clouds over Ukraine . "If the weather conditions * and wind direction are unfavorable, the rest of Europe and Germany could also be affected by the radioactive clouds, " explains Alex Rosen, co-chair of the IPPNW. Heaps of thinned smoke have already reached other parts of Europe.
Fine measurements would have shown an increase in the values of the radioactive isotope cesium-137 . The measured radiation levels have so far been “not a relevant danger for the population,” said Rosen, but parts of the exclusion zone that are significantly more contaminated could also catch fire if the fire could not be brought under control soon
Chernobyl: fires in contaminated areas - how serious is the situation for Germany?
So is Germany really threatening the arrival of a nuclear cloud? The Federal Office for Radiation Protection also commented on the possible consequences for the Federal Republic and explains: “In the exclusion zone, large parts of the radioactive substances released in 1986 in the accident have been deposited in the ground and are still there. In the event of a fire, these substances can be released again - but do not have to. ”
This depends "on various parameters, especially the temperature of the fire and the properties of the radioactive substances."
The Federal Office therefore summarizes: " Forest fires in contaminated areas can release radioactive substances into the atmosphere and spread ."
Therefore, there is still no danger of a radioactive cloud: For the foreseeable future, the wind will blow to the south, not to the west. If the wind should turn, the measured concentrations of Cs-137 would be diluted to the point where they would arrive 6/7
- Federal Office for Radiation Protection (@radiation protection) April 21, 2020Fires in Chernobyl: Federal Office for Radiation Protection currently sees no danger to Germany
According to the current status, there is no need to fear that the radioactive clouds will reach Germany, which is due to the current weather conditions * and the favorable wind conditions for Europe *. Should the wind finally turn, the values measured in Germany would still be "probably below the detection limit", so that the Chernobyl fires would not pose a threat to Germany at the current level .
Violent bush fires * have raged in Australia for several months since October. These have now been deleted - which is now also to be hoped for in Chernobyl.
* merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network
as / dpa
Rubric list picture: © dpa / Yaroslav Yemelianenko
