I wonder if those young Russian soldiers have any idea how dangerous Chernobyl is

[alphafemale]

And why it is

In the controlled information environment where they were born and raised I am fairly certain it isn't free information.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. They know. It's not a secret.

[alphafemale]

21. Not a secret to people in a free society

That is not their reality.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

23. Having lived there, I can assure you Chernobyl is not a secret to Russians.

[SheltieLover]

2. Of course they don't know!

[Xipe Totec]

3. They'll be telling war stories to their children.

Or, maybe not...

[LisaL]

8. Those children might be mutated.

NT

[Xipe Totec]

9. If they even come into existence. nt

[lapfog_1]

4. if they stay long enough...

or get curious about the elephant foot...



They will learn all too well why nobody lives within 100km of that place.

[Silent3]

5. Depends where you are in Chernobyl

Chernobyl is, of course, nowhere you'd want to live right now. But except for scattered hot spots, and going in an around the old reactor building, you can spend a few days at a time there and not experience very significant radiation and contamination exposure.

A great deal of wildlife is flourishing in the area now.

[hippywife]

14. Not right now you can't.

Have you not been following the news about the radiation spikes there since Russia attacked on the 24th?

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/100216398244

[Act_of_Reparation]

22. The radiation spikes aren't uniform across the entire facility.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60528828

Prof Claire Corkhill, a nuclear materials expert from Sheffield University, told the BBC the spike was "quite localised" and there had been increases along the main routes in and out of the zone around the reactor.

"The increased movement of people and vehicles in and around the Chernobyl zone will have kicked up radioactive dust that's on the ground," Prof Corkhill said.

"Provided there's no further movement, it should decrease again over the next couple of days."

[hippywife]

24. That's far from

disputing what I said.

[hippywife]

26. Maybe this tweet thread of readings will help:

https://mobile.twitter.com/OAlexanderDK/status/1497156832170815516

[Takket]

6. i doubt Russia is telling them anything other what direction to drive and who to kill

[no_hypocrisy]

7. Are you kidding? A lot of Russian soldiers didn't know they were in Ukraine

after they got there.

[BGBD]

10. It's really not that dangerous

Lots of people work at the plant still, doing things like building and maintaining the dome and decomissioning the other reactors. People still live in the exclusion zone, including within Chernobyl town.

It's not a wasteland, it's actually probably one of the healthiest ecosystems in the world since human interaction there is so minimal.

[hippywife]

15. Have you not seen this?

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/100216398244

[USALiberal]

20. Here...,

Radiation levels are continuously monitored there - measured as a dose that you would receive per hour in a location.
Close to the reactor, you would normally receive a dose of about three units - called microsieverts - every hour. But on Thursday, that jumped to 65 microSv/hrs - about five times more than you would get on one transatlantic flight.

[BGBD]

25. Which is still not that much

Not enough to cause immediate radiation sickness and maybe not enough to ever cause a problem. Plus it was due to radioactive dust being stirred up, something that may no remain that high going forward

[USALiberal]

29. I agree! Nt

[BigmanPigman]

11. I saw Tony Bourdain visit the site with Zamir and they had to

carry a radiation detector (geiger counter) to make sure they were at a safe level..They could not even walk on weeds coming up through the sidewalk cracks and not to drag their feet (kick up radioactive dirt) and to stay on the paths while walking. Tony got nervous about his dick growing 2 heads when the radiation went up really quickly. They got out of there fast and drank tons of vodka.

[drray23]

12. Its not deadly anymore.

After the 1986 disaster it was sealed with concrete (at the expense of many people's lives who volunteered to do it). At that time, it was lethal within hours if you were on site.

After nearly 50 years the levels have decreased such that, it is safe to be around it or work there (Chernobyl is still running the other reactors). On average we are exposed to about 620 micro sieverts per year in the USA. In the residential area near Chernobyl, it's about 3 times that. Its considered safe. Nearer to the site its more so workers do 3 weeks on/3 weeks off to reduce their total exposure.

[hippywife]

17. Check out what's happening there since the attacks.

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/100216398244

[ProfessorGAC]

19. All Reactors Are Down

They shut down, one at a time between the mid 90s & around 2000.
That said, the reactors are not completely decommissioned, so there are active fuel rods there.
But, it's been 20 years since the last power train was shut down.
But, they did run the other 3 systems for years after the incident. Just not any longer.
As to levels, the area around the plant has recovered into a flourishing ecosystem. Plants & animals are more abundant now than when people lived there. Took 20+ years, but that makes it obvious that there aren't unsafe levels of radiation.
A History Channel show, "As We Watched" covered Chernobyl. Near the end, they showed the area. Deer, squirrels, rabbits, ferns, trees, flowers. We've got a state conservation area a few miles from our house that nothing on that area around Chernobyl.

[leftieNanner]

13. Jeremy Wade (River Monsters on Animal Planet)

Did one of his shows from there. He went fishing in one of the cooling ponds and caught a big ugly catfish.

He had a radiation monitor on him the whole time and had to leave at a very specific time.

[hippywife]

18. Radiation spikes since the 24th.

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/100216398244

[Deuxcents]

16. Putin n his thugs know

He could use the waste as a weapon

[Chainfire]

28. The troops are told what to do, they are not told what could happen.

But they do know what will happen if they don't do what they are told. So, in effect, it makes no difference whether they know or not.