Unprotected Russian soldiers disturbed radioactive dust in Chernobyl's 'Red Forest', workers say
Source: Reuters
LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Russian soldiers who seized the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster drove their armoured vehicles without radiation protection through a highly toxic zone called the "Red Forest", kicking up clouds of radioactive dust, workers at the site said.
The two sources said soldiers in the convoy did not use any anti-radiation gear. The second Chernobyl employee said that was "suicidal" for the soldiers because the radioactive dust they inhaled was likely to cause internal radiation in their bodies.
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Both men said they had witnessed Russian tanks and other armoured vehicles moving through the Red Forest, which is the most radioactively contaminated part of the zone around Chernobyl, around 100 km (65 miles) north of Kyiv.
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Specialists from the Russian military who are trained in dealing with radiation did not arrive at the site until about a week after Russian troops arrived, the workers said. They said the Russian specialists did not wear protective gear either.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/unprotected-russian-soldiers-disturbed-radioactive-dust-chernobyls-red-forest-2022-03-28/
More from Zarina Zabrisky, an independent reporter doing great work reporting on the nuclear plant risks from the war in Ukraine. She's worth a follow.
Link to tweet
= new reply since forum marked as read
Studies have found genetic damage, but not enough to harm the ecosystem.
The uncomfortable truth is that normal human activities we do daily are more harmful than a nuclear meltdown 
but here is one LBN OP - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142884873
including this - https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=2885065
Ukraine’s closed Chernobyl nuclear power plant has been disconnected from the nation’s power grid by Russian forces, Ukraine’s state-owned grid operator Ukrenergo said Wednesday, potentially jeopardizing the cooling of nuclear fuel still stored at the site
and them the OP continues with this -
“Because of military actions of Russian occupiers the nuclear power plant in Chornobyl was fully disconnected from the power grid.
It IS all related. IF Russia had not had tanks rumbling around within the exclusion zone, and kicking up radioactive soil, causing havoc at the site, then we would be here talking about this.
The troops who are occupying Chernobyl have been rumbling around the Exclusion Zone that still has radioactive soil that has slowly, over the past over 30 years, finally started to settle deeper in the earth. And now all that stuff has gotten kicked up to the surface again and is airborne.
Also posted about this in a different LBN OP - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142881528
here - https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=2881544
inside the "Exclusion Zone" of Chernobyl (of all places), which has kicked up radioactive soil.
I had posted this in another thread last week -
Concerns mount over conflict in Chernobyl exclusion zone
Radioactive material that lingers near Chernobyl could cause further calamity.
By Julia Jacobo
February 24, 2022, 5:22 PM
As Russian troops continue to inch their way through its invasion of Ukraine, a secondary catastrophe to the fighting between the ex-Soviet neighbors is possible: another nuclear reaction at Chernobyl.
On Thursday afternoon, Russian armed forces entered the deserted exclusion zone around the Chernobyl power plant, where the world's worst nuclear accident took place in 1986. By night, Russian forces had taken full control of the area, including the plant itself, according to Ukraine Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
The heavy fighting inside the "exclusion zone," a vast and empty land surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear plant that includes the ghost city of Pripyat, is causing concern that it could spark another nuclear disaster. International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano is watching the situation with "grave concern, appealing for "maximum restraint" amid the conflict to avoid putting the nuclear facility at risk.
"It is of vital importance that the safe and secure operations of the nuclear facilities in that zone should not be affected or disrupted in any way," Mariano said in a statement. On April 26, 1986, reactor No. 4 at the power plant, about 65 miles north of the capital Kyiv, exploded, spewing enormous amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere and causing more than 100,000 people in a 1,000-square-mile radius to evacuate.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/concerns-mount-fighting-chernobyl-exclusion-zone/story?id=83085943
Chernobyl: Radiation spike at nuclear plant seized by Russian forces
By Victoria Gill
Science correspondent, BBC News
1 day ago
The Chernobyl site contains several nuclear waste containment facilities to prevent radioactive materials spreading
A radiation spike has been recorded near Chernobyl's nuclear power plant which has been seized by Russian forces, monitoring data shows. Invading Russian troops took control of the plant - the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986 - on Thursday, Ukraine said. Radiation levels increased about 20-fold on Thursday, monitoring stations there reported.
But experts say another major nuclear disaster there is "extremely unlikely". The rise was caused by heavy military vehicles stirring contaminated soil in the 4,000-sq-km (2,485 sq-mile) exclusion zone surrounding the abandoned plant, Ukraine's State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate reported .
The biggest spike was recorded close to the damaged reactor. 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.
(snip)
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60528828
Edit to note - there are still Ukrainian workers there trying to keep the facility monitored manually because the direct connection to the IAEA that provided continuous electronic monitoring of the facility (for operational and radioactivity status). was severed by the Russian military (requiring "manually-relayed" readings to the IAEA), and the hope is that those workers have been able to protect themselves with the proper PPE from this newly exposed radioactive soil.
And since they have had tanks and whatever they have as the equivalent of APVs rumbling through the exclusion zone to get to the huge facility (and patrol it), they have been just tearing up the soil while walking around without protective clothing in that whole area.
The other issue going on is that this is "wildfire season" there and as of at least last week, there were at least 7 fires spotted around the exclusion zone. They routinely had personnel to fight these fires but since the plant is occupied, who is going to put out the fires?
Oliver Milman
@olliemilman
Tue 22 Mar 2022 13.05 EDT
Last modified on Wed 23 Mar 2022 01.11 EDT
Forest fires have erupted in the vicinity of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, with Ukraine claiming that Russian control of the abandoned power plant is hampering efforts to control the flames. At least seven fires have been spotted within Chernobyl’s exclusion zone via satellite imagery taken by the European Space Agency, according to a statement by Ukraine’s parliament. The fires were probably ignited by the “armed aggression of the Russian federation”, the parliament said, although it’s not clear whether it was shelling, arson or some other factor that caused the outbreak.
Fires like these within 10km of the plant are “particularly dangerous”, the statement added, with Ukraine claiming its firefighters are unable to tackle the blazes due to Russia’s presence. Russian forces captured the Chernobyl plant in the opening days of the invasion of Ukraine in February. The site is known for a 1986 explosion and resulting fire that caused a major nuclear disaster, spreading radioactive contamination across Europe. The plant and surrounding area have largely been sealed off since then.
However, about 200 tons of fuel remain at the bottom of the crippled reactor and is relatively unprotected. Experts have raised concern that fierce fighting in the area could damage the reactor further and cause radioactive material to escape. Ukrainian authorities say the ongoing war is also hindering attempts to monitor radiation levels at Chernobyl. “There is no data on the current state of radiation pollution of the exclusion zone’s environment, which makes it impossible to adequately respond to threats,” said Energoatom, Ukraine’s state-run nuclear company. “
Radiation levels in the exclusion zone and beyond, including not only Ukraine, but also other countries, could significantly worsen.” In 2020, a forest fire near the reactor caused radiation levels to spike to 16 times above normal. The conflagration was extinguished after a two-week effort by firefighters, with a man arrested for allegedly starting the fire “for fun”.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/22/chernobyl-forest-fires-ukraine-nuclear-plant
By Hannah Osborne On 3/22/22 at 9:16 AM EDT
Wildfires around Chernobyl have been reported by Ukraine's Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security, with authorities saying there are concerns radiation in smoke could spread. In a tweet on Tuesday, Stratcom Center UA said seven wildfires were burning in the area surrounding Chernobyl nuclear power plant. It said the area is controlled by Russian troops "so the fires are burning unchecked." It said the wildfires were likely started by artillery shelling or arson.
Link to tweet
The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone was set up after an explosion at the power station on April 26, 1986 sent a radioactive cloud over much of Europe, in the world's worst nuclear accident. Until recently the zone, which covers a 1,000 square mile area, was controlled by the Ukraine military, with extremely limited access to the public, leading it to become a wildlife haven and a long-term experiment in rewilding. That changed on February 24, when Russian troops entered and took control of the region. Staff at the Chernobyl power plant remain at the site, but how the zone is being managed is now unclear, with power cuts previously reported.
Ukrenergo, a Ukrainian energy company, said last week that a power line connecting the Chernobyl plant to the rest of the country had been damaged by Russian forces, just a day after it had been repaired. On March 21, Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said staff at the plant had been rotated for the first time since Russian forces took control. In a statement, he said 13 staff members had opted to stay on site, along with most of the Ukrainian guards.
The IAEA said the Ukrainian regulator had told it that radiation levels at all operating nuclear power plants in Ukraine were in the normal range. However, it said it was still not receiving remote data transmission from its monitoring systems installed at the Chernobyl plant.
https://www.newsweek.com/chernobyl-wildfire-ukraine-smoke-radiation-spread-wildlife-nuclear-1690413
TWEET TEXT
@StratcomCentre
❗️7 wildfires, likely caused by artillery shelling or arson, have broken out in the area surrounding the Chornobyl NPP, @ua_parliament reports. The area is now controlled by the 🇷🇺 troops, so the fires are burning unchecked, raising worries that the radiation smoke could spread.
4:50 AM · Mar 22, 2022
that because there had been that (seeming "head fake" ) threat early on where Putin ordered his troops to move into "nuclear readiness" (or whatever the term was), at some point, a decision was made to secure critical infrastructure like "electricity" (where Ukraine has multiple nuclear plants operating around the country). Troops were apparently sent to several (if not all) of them (that they could get to) to "take control, including Chernobyl, despite that plant obviously rendered inoperable for well over 30 years. But that one was probably picked because it is close to Belarus (where there were "friendly" troops there supporting Russia) and part of the "Exclusion Zone" actually extends into Belarus.
So I think it may have been some side strategy to use Chernobyl for "psychological" reasons but that seemed to have been a waste of their scarce resources (despite those resources being close by with an entrance/exit route using Belarus), and doing this spectacularly failed because it's not like Homer Simpson's nuke plant. 
Problem is, as innocent as the place looks with vegetation and animal life having partially returned in the area after 30+ years (and the whole place is supposedly an "experiment" in how radiation-damaged sites can "recover" ), they seemed to have forgotten or "weren't given the memo" that the place is still fragile and has been off-limits to the public for obvious reasons. And if there was shelling going on - even if random - with ordinance detonating anywhere in that large expanse that is the Exclusion Zone, that can disturb the radioactive soil and send it airborne right into Russia or Belarus.
There is a reason why that zone is the size it is. But then a whole "generation" has passed since that disaster and then a few years later, Ukraine became independent (in the early '90s with the fall of the U.S.S.R.). And although I understand that Ukraine has actually been paying Russia to re-process their spent nuclear rods from their other plants and had actually planned to "officially" open their own storage/processing facility on the grounds of Chernobyl just this month so they wouldn't have to pay Russina $200 million/year to deal with that nuclear waste, the Russians might have forgotten about or at least never took seriously the actual severity of the disaster, given the U.S.S.R. leadership were insisting there was "nothing to see here" and it was "under control" back when the explosion and meltdown occurred.
I know I have posted elsewhere that the U.S. "coalition" amassed almost 1 million troops (including 700,000 U.S. soldiers alone) in order to "remove" Iraq from Kuwait.
Kuwait is about 2/3rds the size of Crimea just to provide a size comparison. Yet Putin was going to attempt to take the entirety of Ukraine with just under 200,000 troops.
