Fears of second Chernobyl disaster
Dire warnings of a potential “second Chernobyl disaster” have been voiced by an Irish humanitarian organisation.
Irish charity Chernobyl Children International (CCI) said it’s deeply concerned about reports of an alarming rise in radioactivity due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
CCI believes the rise could lead to a second Chernobyl disaster and is calling for an immediate evacuation of those who are trapped in the region. The organisation is also calling on the Irish Government to lobby the UN to declare that any attack on Chernobyl or any other Ukrainian nuclear facilities, be deemed a most heinous war crime.
CCI voluntary CEO, Adi Roche, said: “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine signified a catastrophic change in modern warfare as we know it. During the recent Russian army occupation of the Chernobyl Nuclear Facility and radioactive exclusion zone, the world was essentially held to ransom, and the subsequent effects of the military takeover of the nuclear plant and environs have been devastating.”
Tuesday marked the 36th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, a poignant day for survivor Raisa Miknovitch Carolan, who is very troubled by the ongoing war.
She said: “As a victim of the first generation of those affected by Chernobyl, I am deeply worried for all the children of today that are now seriously threatened by the re-release of radiation in the Chernobyl region, and I plead with those in power to heed these dire warnings.”
According to CCI, the outbreak of war has resulted in a series of incidents at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant and exclusion zone, including forest fires from the disturbance of highly radioactive soil by Russian soldiers digging trenches, and the looting and destruction of an EU-funded research laboratory that was used to monitor nuclear waste.
The organisation said there is also a risk of over 200 tons of unprotected fuel at the bottom of the Chernobyl reactor escaping into the atmosphere if the reactor is damaged as a result.
According to renowned scientist Professor Yuri Bandazhevsky, who discovered the increased levels of radiation, any disturbance of radioactive material is lethal as it re-releases radioactivity into the atmosphere. Professor Bandazhevsky urged the international community to save the victims of war in the Chernobyl region as over 300,000 people are facing a “double war”.
The CCI said it fears Russian troops may have laid “a maze of landmines” in the surrounding areas as they retreated, which, if triggered, would result in even more radioactivity being released.
Ms Roche continued: “Chernobyl is often relegated to the realm of history, with many thinking that it is something that happened a very long time ago and no longer poses any threat. Chernobyl is not something from the past; Chernobyl ‘was forever’, Chernobyl ‘is forever’; the impact of that single shocking nuclear accident can never be undone.”