Chernobyl's Radiation Spiked 20 Times Above Usual Levels as Russian Forces Arrive

BEN TURNER, LIVE SCIENCE
25 FEBRUARY 2022

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant and its surrounding area are showing increased radiation levels after heavy fighting between Ukrainian and Russian troops in the region, Ukrainian officials said Friday (Feb. 25)

Online data from the Chernobyl exclusion zone's automated radiation-monitoring system shows that gamma radiation has increased 20 times above usual levels at multiple observation points, which officials from the Ukrainian nuclear agency attributed to radioactive dust thrown up by the movement of heavy military equipment in the area.

The defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant has been under occupation by attacking Russian soldiers since Thursday (Feb. 24) after Russian president Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in the early hours of the morning.

Workers at the facility, stationed there to monitor and maintain radiation levels within safe bounds, have been taken hostage by Russian troops, according to Anna Kovalenko, a Ukrainian military expert.

"The station staff is being held hostage. This threatens the security of not only Ukraine but also a significant part of Europe," Kovalenko wrote on Facebook.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a news briefing on Thursday (Feb. 24) that the Biden administration was "outraged" by reports of Russian troops holding Chernobyl plant staff against their will and demanded their release.

She warned that the action "could upend the routine civil service efforts required to maintain and protect the nuclear waste facilities."

As one of the most radioactive places in the world, large parts of the Chernobyl exclusion zone have been closed off since the disastrous meltdown of Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986.

In that year, two enormous explosions inside the plant's reactor flipped its 2,000-ton (1,800 metric tons) lid like a coin, blanketing the surrounding 1,000-square-mile (2,600 square kilometers) with radioactive dust and reactor chunks.

Following evacuation and the dousing of the nuclear fire – which cost many firefighters their lives – the reactor was sealed off and the area deemed uninhabitable by humans for the next 24,000 years.

Heavy fighting around the plant on Thursday (Feb. 24) led to concerns that stray munitions could accidentally pierce the exploded reactor's two layers of protection – consisting of a new, outer safe-confinement structure and an inner concrete sarcophagus – and release the deadly radioactive fallout trapped inside.

In a contradictory statement, Igor Konashenkov, the spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, said that radiation around the plant was within normal levels and that Russian forces were working with the facilities' staff to ensure the area's safety.

Oleksiy Arestovych, an advisor to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, believes that the Chernobyl site was seized as part of a "possible blackmail" tactic against the West.

"Chernobyl has been seized and I think they will blackmail the West. The President's Office is preparing a response to possible blackmail through Chernobyl," Arestovych said in a statement.

The site, which is just 60 miles (97 km) north of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, lies on a direct invasion route between Kyiv and the Russian forces' northern entry point to Ukraine at the Belarusian border.

Claire Corkhill, a professor of nuclear material degradation at the University of Sheffield in the UK, wrote on Twitter that the gamma radiation around the Chernoybl plant "looks to have increased by around 20 times compared with a few days ago."

However, caution should be taken "not to over-interpret at this stage," she said.

"This appears to be based on a single data point," Corkhill added in a separate tweet. "What is intriguing is that the level of radiation has increased mostly around the main routes in and out of the Chernobyl exclusion zone, as well as the reactor. This would tend to suggest that increased movement of people or vehicles may have disturbed radioactive dust."

The highly radioactive fuel inside the Chernobyl reactor is buried deep beneath the defunct plant and is unlikely to be released unless the reactor is directly targeted, Corkhill said.

Fighting around the plant was just a small part of a much wider ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, the biggest on a European nation since World War II.

As Russian forces close in on Kyiv, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense wrote on its Twitter page, urging citizens to stay at home, inform the Ukrainian military about the movements of Russian military equipment, and make Molotov cocktails in preparation for urban warfare.

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Chernobyl nuclear disaster 25 years later (Infographic)

This article was originally published by Live Science. Read the original article here.

Chernobyl: Why did Russian troops take control of infamous nuclear disaster site?

Graeme Massie and Zoe Tidman
Fri, February 25, 2022

It is the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, and now Ukrainian officials say that the area surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear reactor is under Russian control.

The reactor at Chernobyl infamously melted down in April 1986 during a test, covering much of Europe in a radioactive cloud.

At that time, Ukraine remained a part of the Soviet Union, and to this day a highly protected 20-mile exclusion zone had existed around the site, which entombs a highly dangerous amount of nuclear material.

So why would Vladimir Putin have prioritised it for capture and control by his advancing troops?

Tracey German, a professor in conflict and security at the King’s Russia Institute, told The Independent this could be down to the site’s location.

“It lies on a direct route from Belarus down to Kyiv and would therefore be passed by Russian forces invading from the north,” she said. “If it wasn’t in this location, I don’t think Russian forces would be looking to secure it.”

The defunct nuclear site is situated in northern Ukraine just several miles inside the border and around 80 miles north of the embattled country’s capital.

“Chernobyl is the shortest route from Russia to Kyiv. The facility is not the goal,” tweeted CNN analyst and national security expert Juliette Kayyem.

Ukraine observers also say that Chernobyl sits on the western side of the Pripyat river, which merges with the Dneiper river just north of Kiev. The site therefore becomes strategically important for the western flank of Russian troops if they eventually circle the city.

Dr Ross Peel, a researcher at the Department of War Studies at King’s College London’s also suggested the threat posed by war could also play a role.

“I’d suggest the main motivation is they want to get the site secured. It’s not generating power at all and has no value that I can think of – I think the main motivation is they want to keep it safe from anything that might breach it,” he told The Independent.

“Prolonged fighting in the area only creates danger of the containment being breached and radiation escaping, so they want to prevent anything happening to it.”

But Ukraine’s nuclear agency and interior ministry said on Friday they were recording increased radiation levels from the site of the defunct nuclear power plant.

Experts at the state nuclear agency said the change was due to the movement of heavy military equipment in the area lifting radioactive dust into the air.

“It is not critical for Kyiv for the time being, but we are monitoring,” the interior ministry said.

Other observers have said that Russia wanted to gain control of the Chernobyl power substation, which provides energy to Belarus and parts of western Russia.

Shane Partlow, who used to work at the US embassy in Kyiv, said this could be the purpose of holding the Chernobyl area, as the substation was “critical to electrical supply in the region, including Belarus and Russia”.

White House is 'outraged' over reports that staff at Chernobyl have been taken hostage by Russian forces

Kelsey Vlamis
Thu, February 24, 2022

Ukrainian servicemen take part in a joint tactical and special

 exercises in a ghost city of Pripyat, near Chernobyl Nuclear 

Power Plant on February 4, 2022.

Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images

Russian forces took over the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine on Thursday.

Press secretary Jen Psaki called reports the plant's staff was taken hostage "incredibly alarming."

It's unclear how the Russian takeover will affect efforts to maintain radioactivity at the site.

Press secretary Jen Psaki said the White House is outraged over reports from Ukrainian officials that staff at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine have been taken hostage by Russian troops.

Russian forces took over the remnants of Chernobyl earlier on Thursday during the country's invasion of Ukraine. The move indicated Russia is likely to assault Ukraine's capital city, Kyiv, which is located just south of Chernobyl, the site of one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.

"We're outraged by credible reports that Russian soldiers are currently holding the staff of the Chernobyl facility hostage," Psaki said during a press briefing on Thursday afternoon, adding "we condemn it and we request their release."


Psaki said the situation at Chernobyl was not clear but that the hostage taking was "incredibly alarming and greatly concerning," adding it could hurt efforts to maintain the facility, which is dangerously contaminated with radioactivity as a result of the 1986 nuclear disaster.

Earlier on Thursday, an adviser to the head of the plant said: "After a fierce battle, Ukrainian control over the Chernobyl site was lost. The condition of the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant, confinement, and nuclear waste storage facilities is unknown."

Russia's takeover sparked concerns that it would jeopardize the decades-long efforts to contain the nuclear disaster, including a billion-dollar investment in a containment dome in 2016. It's unclear how the dome would hold up to combat damage, Insider's Brent D. Griffiths reported.

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UH OH 😨

'Insanity Not to Allow This': Calls for Ceasefire to Repair Chernobyl Power Supply

Ukraine's foreign minister said a ceasefire in the area would "allow repair crews to restore electricity supply" 

to the Chernobyl plant "as soon as possible."


A picture taken on April 13, 2021 shows the giant protective dome built over the sarcophagus covering the destroyed fourth reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant ahead of the upcoming 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

 (Photo: Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)


JAKE JOHNSON

COMMON DREAMS

March 9, 2022

This is a developing news story... Check back for possible updates...

Ukrainian authorities warned Wednesday that radioactive material could leak into the atmosphere after the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear plant was reportedly disconnected from the power grid by Russian forces, raising the risk that spent nuclear fuel stored at the site may not cool properly.

"Because of military actions of Russian occupiers, the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl was fully disconnected from the power grid," Ukrenergo, Ukraine's state-owned power grid operator, said in a statement.

Ukrenergo added in a Facebook post that emergency diesel generators have been activated in response to the electricity shut-off, but noted the fuel would last for just 48 hours.

Energoatom, Ukraine's national nuclear energy firm, cautioned Wednesday that without adequate electricity, "the temperature in the [spent fuel] holding pools will increase" and "release of radioactive substances into the environment may occur."

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, characterized the state of the Chernobyl plant as "an extremely dangerous situation."

In a social media post, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) wrote that Wednesday's development "violates a key safety pillar on ensuring uninterrupted power supply" to the Chernobyl plant.

But the agency added that it "sees no critical impact on safety at the moment," explaining that the heat load of the spent fuel storage pool and the "volume of cooling water" at the facility are "sufficient for effective heat removal without the need for electrical supply."

Russian military forces quickly seized control of the Chernobyl plant, the site of the 1986 nuclear catastrophe, soon after they invaded Ukraine late last month, heightening fears of a nuclear disaster stemming from possible damage to the facility.

In a pair of tweets Wednesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for an immediate ceasefire in the area to "allow repair crews to restore electricity supply" to the Chernobyl plant "as soon as possible."

"Spare diesel generators will power the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and its facilities for 48 hours," Kuleba wrote. "Then the cooling system of the spent nuclear fuel storage will be shut down, which will threaten the leakage of radiation. Russia's barbaric war threatens the whole of Europe. Putin must stop it immediately."

The advocacy group Beyond Nuclear said it would be "insanity not to allow this," referring to necessary repairs to the Chernobyl power supply.

"The fighting must stop," the group added. "Everyone will be affected."

Officials fear possible radiation leak after Chernobyl nuclear plant loses power in Ukraine

Losing power means that systems in the Chernobyl plant that regulate radiation could fail and allow harmful radiation to escape into the atmosphere. Photo by Carl Montgomery/Wikimedia Commons

March 9 (UPI) -- Officials in Ukraine said Wednesday that Russian shelling has damaged a high-voltage power line to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station, which is under Russian control, and that radiation could escape if it's not repaired soon.

Authorities said the damage to the power line was caused by the "occupiers" and urged Moscow to call a halt to the fighting in the area to fix it. The Chernobyl plant is located about 70 miles northwest of Kyiv.

Russian forces have slowly been making advances in some parts of Ukraine and none at all in other areas that are guarded by Ukrainian troops and civilians. A new cease-fire that began on Wednesday was called to allow thousands of Ukrainians to flee the fighting, but it doesn't offer the necessary protection to fix the Chernobyl power line.

Losing power means that systems in the plant that regulate radiation could fail and allow harmful radiation to escape into the atmosphere.

A sign near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine warns of possible radiation exposure stemming from the 1986 explosion at the facility, which partially melted the core in reactor No. 4. 

File Photo by Sergey Starostenko/UPI

"About 20,000 spent fuel assemblies are stored in the spent nuclear fuel storage facility-1. They need constant cooling. Which is possible only if there is electricity," Ukraine's State Service of Special Communications said in a tweet Wednesday.

"If it is not there, the pumps will not cool. As a result, the temperature in the holding pools will increase. After that evaporation will occur, that will lead to nuclear discharge. The wind can transfer the radioactive cloud to other regions of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Europe. In addition, there is no ventilation inside the facility."

Officials also said that personnel at the plant will be exposed to a "dangerous dose of radiation."

Ukrainian officials said that there's also an increased risk of fire due to the outage, as extinguishing and suppression systems depend on electricity to function.

Making matters worse, officials said on Tuesday that systems that monitor nuclear waste at Chernobyl had stopped transmitting data.

"I'm deeply concerned about the difficult and stressful situation facing staff at the Chernobyl nuclear plant and the potential risks this entails for nuclear safety," Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said. "I call on the forces in effective control of the site to urgently facilitate the safe rotation of personnel there."

The IAEA said in a tweet earlier Tuesday, however, that it didn't foresee a "critical impact on safety" from the power outage.

More than 200 workers at the Chernobyl plant have been trapped there since the start of the war as no one is being allowed to replace them. The IAEA on Wednesday called on the international community to facilitate a staff rotation.

The Chernobyl nuclear plant was the site of a 1986 partial core meltdown after an explosion in its reactor No. 4. It was one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.

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Meet the thriving stray dogs of Chernobyl

Sarah Knapton

Mar 04 2023

The nuclear ghost town of Pripyat, 2 kilometres from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, in a video marking the town's 50th anniversary in 2021.

Living amid the fallout of the world’s worst nuclear disaster may not seem like a sensible lifestyle choice, but the dogs of Chernobyl may have evolved to make it work, a study suggested.

Scientists have found that strays living in the exclusion zone of the Ukrainian disaster have developed distinct DNA and behaviour from other canines.

Since the nuclear catastrophe took place in April 1986, the area surrounding the nuclear power plant has largely been abandoned by humans.

But although radioactive contamination devastated wildlife populations there, some animals survived and continued to breed – including feral dogs, some of whom may have descended from domestic pets.

The team found that the strays had formed into packs, like wild dogs and wolves, but the groups were living close together, a behaviour not seen in undomesticated animals.

The dogs have been monitored by the Chernobyl Dog Research Initiative since 2017, and a new study of blood samples taken by the project team has shown that the animals were genetically different from other canines.

Now the team are planning to study the new genetic traits to see if any of the mutations is helping them to survive in the radiation zone.

Discovering how mammals evolve to live in harsh radiation environments could bring important insights into how to predict cancer in humans, or protect astronauts in the deadly radioactive environment of space.

SEAN GALLUP/GETTY IMAGES
Some animals, including dogs, survived and continued to breed long after Chernobyl was sealed off to humans.

Dr Elaine Ostrander, a geneticist from the National Human Genome Research Institute, part of the US National Institutes of Health (Nih), said: “We don’t yet know what, if any, genetic differences might allow dogs to survive in one versus another environment.

“Looking for changes in the DNA that have helped one versus the other population survive is the long-term goal of the study and one we are working towards now.

“We think that is an important experiment because those changes, if identified, would be helpful for understanding early events in cancer, help guide using therapies for diseases that are motivated by radiation exposure, and would suggest ways in which we can better protect ourselves from both accidental and natural radiation exposure.

“For instance, we know that space is a high radiation environment, and information from this study could help scientists design ideal protection for those spending significant time in space, as space exploration continues to expand.”

DIMITAR DILKOFF/GETTY IMAGES
Scientists hope that the genetic discovery could offer insights in preventing cancer in humans.

The Chernobyl disaster began on April 26 1986 with the explosion of reactor number four at the nuclear power plant causing an updraft of radioactivity which spread across Europe.

Two people died immediately and 29 within the coming days of acute radiation syndrome, while the United Nations estimated some 4000 more died from the fallout.

Many women also aborted their babies for fear they would be affected by radiation poisoning.


Some 300,000 people were evacuated from their homes and, in the aftermath, a 1600-square kilometre exclusion zone was set up around the site.

DIMITAR DILKOFF/GETTY IMAGES
The stray dogs have been monitored by the Chernobyl Dog Research Initiative since 1997.

However, in recent years, researchers have found that closing off the land to humans has allowed wildlife to flourish, with the area now a haven for lynx, bison, brown bear, wolves, boar and deer as well as 60 rare plant species.

The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone currently represents the third-largest nature reserve in mainland Europe and is often considered an accidental experiment in rewilding.

Previous studies showed that exposure to radiation speeds up the genetic mutation rate among plants, with some species evolving new chemistry that makes them more resistant to radiation damage and protects their DNA.

Scientists have pointed out that in the past when early plants were evolving, levels of natural radiation on Earth were far higher than now, so species may be able to switch on dormant traits to survive.

However, it was unknown whether the same protective adaptations would be seen in larger animals.

The new study was based on 302 free-roaming dogs living in the exclusion zone, which were found to have different genetic make-ups depending on how much radiation they were exposed to.

The Nih team is now planning to study the genetic changes to find out whether they are helping the dogs to survive.

The research was published in the journal Science Advances

READ MORE:

* 'Our tourism is unique': The Chernobyl disaster, 35 years on

* Ukraine wants Chernobyl to be a tourist site. But there's a warning

* What it's like to stay at the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

* Nearly 30 years after the Chernobyl nuclear accident, nature is fighting back

The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster Created Genetically Mutant Dogs


Maddie Bender
Fri, March 3, 2023

Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Pixabay

Roughly 350,000 people evacuated during the 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986, leaving their lives and belongings behind to flee the worst nuclear disaster in history. Facets of residents’ lives left behind but often unmentioned are their pets, which evacuees were forbidden to retrieve. Despite the high levels of radiation in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, many of these animals survived, and their descendants can be found in and around the region today.

Prancer, one of these dogs, got her name from a dance she does whenever she greets Tim Mousseau’s research team. Mousseau, a biology researcher at the University of South Carolina, has studied the effects of radiation on living organisms in sites like Chernobyl and Fukushima for decades. Usually, however, his subjects are a lot smaller, potentially a result of the extremely harsh conditions created by nuclear radiation.

“These are dogs. You can't help but love them and develop relationships with them,” he told The Daily Beast. “We think about bringing them home with us every time we go.”

Dog Genes Hold More Secrets About Humans Than You Think

Even in conditions that drastically limit their lifespan—Mousseau said most of the Chernobyl canines only live to three—the dogs have found a way to thrive. Locals and an increasing number of dark tourists feed the dogs resulting in a surge in the canines’ population that have driven nonprofits and researchers to regularly provide veterinary care, and spay and neuter as many dogs as they can. Over the course of three years, Mousseau has collected hundreds of blood samples from the dogs as part of these efforts.

The dogs’ blood contained an incredibly rare opportunity: a glimpse into how life prevails even under unnaturally harsh conditions. When Mousseau came to National Human Genome Research Institute geneticist Elaine Ostrander to analyze nearly 300 of these blood samples, she wasn’t about to let the chance slip by.

“I said, ‘Me, me, me, me, me,’” she told The Daily Beast. “It's such an extraordinary opportunity, and it does have implications for human health and biology.”

The Mystery of Chernobyl’s Black Frogs

Mousseau and Ostrander’s team published genetic sequencing results from the Chernobyl dogs on March 3 in the journal Science Advances. According to the authors, the study represents “the first genetic analysis of domestic dogs affected by a nuclear disaster,” providing a baseline to measure the impact of prolonged radiation exposure on an animal’s genetic health.

The radiation in Chernobyl City and near the power plant breaks the pooches’ DNA strands. Their cells try to repair it, but errors often occur. DNA gets deleted, spontaneously added, or switched around willy-nilly. Understanding how the Chernobyl dogs are able to survive in spite of this constant assault could inform a field like cancer treatment, since incorrectly repaired DNA is often found in cancer cells, Ostrander said.

“These dogs are surviving generation after generation, they’re fertile, they're carrying out all their bodily functions, and they even have behavioral relationships with people in the area—they're doing all the dog stuff they're supposed to be doing,” Ostrander said. “What's allowed them to overcome [the radiation]? From the viewpoint of someone at the National Institutes of Health, we really care about that.”

Russian Troops Left Mines and Fires Around Chernobyl in ‘Nightmare’ Scenario

During visits to the Exclusion Zone, Mousseau and others have noticed dogs living both in Chernobyl City and in and around the nuclear power plant—the latter of which is striking, given the area’s high, ongoing levels of radioactive contamination. But it was not known how closely these two populations were related, and additionally, how genetically similar they were to dogs in a nearby village.

As it turned out, both were genetically distinct—from a nearby village dog population and from each other. The next step, which the researchers are already diving into, is to start to isolate the genetic regions that make the Chernobyl dogs different. It’s all speculation at the moment, but Mousseau and Ostrandar both have theories.

For his part, Mousseau has studied an assortment of flora and fauna in radiation zones and found that some species of birds have safety mechanisms in their genes that protect them from the worst effects of the radiation. Might the dogs living near the power plant have such molecular failsafes, too?

Roving Packs of Robot Dogs Are Coming to the Moon

Now that the researchers have a baseline for these dogs, they are able to isolate genetic differences that aren’t just due to the quirks of the populations. Any disparate finding could improve the dogs’ ability to survive in their environment. For instance, if the Chernobyl dogs have genes encoding shorter fur than others nearby, it might mean they don’t hold onto as much radioactive dust in their coats. Or, if they have more genes relating to processing scents, it might mean the dogs can smell without putting their noses to the radioactive soil.

“In terms of looking at the genome, this is one of the most exciting projects ever,” Ostrander said.

But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has complicated the research efforts: The last time Mousseau visited the region, the Crimea Bridge was bombed. Currently, his team sends about 800 kilos of food to the dogs every week, and the nonprofit Clean Futures Fund supports on-the-ground care for the animals.

“We hope that this research will shine a light on the situation in Ukraine to a broader audience,” Mousseau said. “We should all be concerned about the care of animals, even if they're stuck in a place like Chernobyl, in a war zone.”

Can the dogs of Chernobyl teach us new tricks on survival?

Scientists are studying hundreds of dogs at the Chernobyl disaster site that have managed to survive in extremely harsh conditions

By LAURA UNGAR - 

AP Science Writer
Mar 3, 2023 

This photo taken by Timothy Mousseau shows dogs in the Chernobyl area of Ukraine on Oct. 3, 2022. More than 35 years after the world's worst nuclear accident, the dogs of Chernobyl roam among decaying, abandoned buildings in and around the closed plant – somehow still able to find food, breed and survive.


This photo provided by Timothy Mousseau in Feb. 2023 shows a dog in the Chernobyl area of Ukraine. More than 35 years after the world's worst nuclear accident, the dogs of Chernobyl roam among decaying, abandoned buildings in and around the closed plant – somehow still able to find food, breed and survive.

More than 35 years after the world's worst nuclear accident, the dogs of Chernobyl roam among decaying, abandoned buildings in and around the closed plant – somehow still able to find food, breed and survive.

Scientists hope that studying these dogs can teach humans new tricks about how to live in the harshest, most degraded environments, too.

They published the first of what they hope will be many genetics studies on Friday in the journal Science Advances, focusing on 302 free-roaming dogs living in an officially designated “exclusion zone” around the disaster site. They identified populations whose differing levels of radiation exposure may have made them genetically distinct from one another and other dogs worldwide.

“We've had this golden opportunity” to lay the groundwork for answering a crucial question: “How do you survive in a hostile environment like this for 15 generations?” said geneticist Elaine Ostrander of the National Human Genome Research Institute, one of the study’s many autho

Fellow author Tim Mousseau, professor of biological sciences at the University of South Carolina, said the dogs “provide an incredible tool to look at the impacts of this kind of a setting” on mammals overall.

Chernobyl’s environment is singularly brutal. On April 26, 1986, an explosion and fire at the Ukraine power plant caused radioactive fallout to spew into the atmosphere. Thirty workers were killed in the immediate aftermath while the long-term death toll from radiation poisoning is estimated to eventually number in the thousands.

Researchers say most of the dogs they are studying appear to be descendants of pets that residents were forced to leave behind when they evacuated the area.

Mousseau has been working in the Chernobyl region since the late 1990s and began collecting blood from the dogs around 2017. Some of the dogs live in the power plant, a dystopian, industrial setting. Others are about 9 miles (15 kilometers) or 28 miles (45 kilometers) away.

At first, Ostrander said, they thought the dogs might have intermingled so much over time that they’d be much the same. But through DNA, they could readily identify dogs living in areas of high, low and medium levels of radiation exposure.

“That was a huge milestone for us," said Ostrander. “And what’s surprising is we can even identify families” – about 15 different ones.

Now researchers can begin to look for alterations in the DNA.

“We can compare them and we can say: OK, what’s different, what’s changed, what’s mutated, what’s evolved, what helps you, what hurts you at the DNA level?” Ostrander said. This will involve separating non-consequential DNA changes from purposeful ones.

Scientists said the research could have wide applications, providing insights about how animals and humans can live now and in the future in regions of the world under “continuous environmental assault” – and in the high-radiation environment of space.

Dr. Kari Ekenstedt, a veterinarian who teaches at Purdue University and was not involved in the study, said it's a first step toward answering important questions about how constant exposure to higher levels of radiation affects large mammals. For example, she said, “Is it going to be changing their genomes at a rapid rate?”

Researchers have already started on the follow-up research, which will mean more time with the dogs at the site about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from Kyiv. Mousseau said he and his colleagues were there most recently last October and didn’t see any war-related activity. Mousseau said the team has grown close to some dogs, naming one Prancer because she excitedly prances around when she sees people.

“Even though they’re wild, they still very much enjoy human interaction," he said, “Especially when there’s food involved.” 

___

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Nuclear watchdog expresses concern over Chernobyl plant

IAEA appeals for ‘maximum restraint’ to avoid any action that may put nuclear facilities at risk amid Russia-Ukraine conflict

News Service

February 25, 2022

File photo

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expressed “grave concern” Thursday over the situation at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant amid Russia's military intervention in Ukraine.

The IAEA “is following the situation in Ukraine with grave concern and is appealing for maximum restraint to avoid any action that may put the country’s nuclear facilities at risk,” said Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director-general of the Vienna-based agency, in a statement.

“In line with its mandate, the IAEA is closely monitoring developments in Ukraine with a special focus on the safety and security of its nuclear power plants and other nuclear-related facilities,” said the statement.

The IAEA’s statement came after Ukraine announced that Kyiv had lost control of the Chernobyl nuclear plant in the country’s north after a fierce battle with Russian forces.

Ukraine’s regulatory body had earlier informed the IAEA that it is maintaining communications with the country’s operational nuclear power plants, which it said are operating safely and securely.

“Regarding the situation at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine has informed the IAEA that ‘unidentified armed forces’ have taken control of all facilities of the State Specialized Enterprise Chernobyl NPP, located within the Exclusion Zone,” the statement added.

According to the statement, the Ukraine regulatory body said there had been no casualties or destruction at the industrial site.

Grossi highlighted that 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.”

Recalling a 2009 decision adopted by the IAEA, he said “any armed attack on and threat against nuclear facilities devoted to peaceful purposes constitutes a violation of the principles of the United Nations Charter, international law and the Statute of the Agency.”

On Thursday, the US condemned reports that Russian forces had taken staff of the Chernobyl nuclear waste storage facility in Ukraine hostage and called for their release.

In 1986, an accident known as the world's worst nuclear disaster occurred at the fourth reactor in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, located 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the city of Pripyat -- which was built in the 1970s to house workers at the plant -- in the north of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

Russian troops enter Kyiv after taking control of Chernobyl nuclear power plant, says Ukrainian President

India Today Web Desk Kyiv

February 25, 2022 


Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy holds a joint news conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda in Kyiv, Ukraine on February 23, 2022. (REUTERS)

Russian troops are closing in on the seat of Ukrainian power after taking control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday.

Zelenskyy also warned that the Russian armed forces would seize Kyiv within 96 hours, bringing a 'new Iron Curtain' down on Europe, the Daily Mail reported.

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal had said that the Chernobyl exclusion zone and all the structures of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant have been captured by the Russian armed groups.

Some Russian military massed in the Chernobyl "exclusion zone" before crossing into Ukraine early on Thursday, a Russian security source had said, adding that Russia wants to control the Chernobyl nuclear reactor to signal NATO not to interfere militarily.

Russia's defense ministry also confirmed it's in full control of Chernobyl, saying that radiation levels are normal, BNO news reported.

The nuclear plant - the site of the world's worst nuclear accident - lies 130 kilometers north of Kyiv, Ukraine's capital city.

On Thursday, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry tweeted saying that a Russian attack on Ukraine could “cause another ecological disaster.”

Amid Russian military operations, the Ukrainian President is creating an anti-Russia coalition against President Vladimir Putin.

Meanwhile, the Ukranian army provided 10,000 assault rifles to locals to defend the country, Kyiv media reported on Friday.

CNN reporter explains the likely reason Russia wants to seize control of Chernobyl site

Matthew Chapman

RAW STORY
February 24, 2022

‘We have a chance to show the truth’:

 Inside Chernobyl's 'death zone' 30 years later

On Thursday's edition of CNN's "The Lead," correspondent Matthew Chance explained the likely reason why Russian forces are moving on the site of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant — the location of the worst civilian nuclear disaster in history.

"Do we have any idea why Russia might want control of Chernobyl?" asked anchor Jake Tapper. "Is it just another piece of territory, or is there something more to it than that?"

"I've been they thinking about that a little bit and it's difficult to say. But the obvious answer is the geographical location of it," said Chance. "It's not far from Kyiv, but it's also on the border of Belarus, so it's a bit of open territory which even though it's contaminated terribly of course still with radioactive material, it is territory that gives access to Ukraine from the north, from Belarus. There was also a lot of speculation in the Russian media particularly before this invasion happened that Chernobyl could be a potentially dangerous place where an ecological disaster could be sparked."

"Ukrainians have been expressing their concern about that as well," continued Chance. "That's why I said it was so terrifying that it's a potentially dangerous military confrontation around that nuclear reactor, which is currently housed in a sarcophagus made out of concrete to try to limit any further damage that could be caused by it. Of course, if it does become the focus of a strong military confrontation between these two armies, that could kick up all sorts of horrific radioactive material and, you know, cause that massive catastrophe to repeat itself all over again. I think probably it's fair to say neither side wants that."

Watch below:
Matthew Chance explains why Russia is seizing the Chernobyl site

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Chernobyl no-go zone targeted as Russia invades Ukraine

By JIM HEINTZ

1 of 6

 A Soviet-era top secret object Duga, an over-the-horizon radar system once used as part of the Soviet missile defense early-warning radar network, seen behind a radioactivity sign in Chernobyl, Ukraine, on Nov. 22, 2018. Among the most worrying developments on an already shocking day, as Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday, was warfare at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, where radioactivity is still leaking from history's worst nuclear disaster 36 years ago. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)


KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — It was among the most worrying developments on an already shocking day, as Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday: warfare at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, where radioactivity is still leaking from history’s worst nuclear disaster 36 years ago.

Russian forces took control over the site after a fierce battle with Ukrainian national guards protecting the decommissioned plant, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told The Associated Press. The condition of the plant’s facilities, a confinement shelter and a repository for nuclear waste is unknown, he said.

An official familiar with current assessments said Russian shelling hit a radioactive waste repository at Chernobyl, and an increase in radiation levels was reported. The increase could not be immediately corroborated.

A senior American intelligence official said the U.S. believes Russian forces at Chernobyl were aiming to push to Kyiv, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of the plant, to try to link with other Russian forces throughout Ukraine. The officials were not authorized to be publicly named discussing the sensitive matter.

The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, a 2,600-square-kilometer (1,000-square-mile) zone of forest surrounding the shuttered plant, lies between the Belarus-Ukraine border and the Ukrainian capital.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian officers fought to defend it, “so that the tragedy of 1986 will not be repeated.” He called it a “declaration of war against the whole of Europe.”

Adviser Podolyak said that after an “absolutely senseless attack ... it is impossible to say that the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is safe.” He warned that Russian authorities could blame Ukraine for damage to the site or stage provocations from there.

Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashenko warned that any attack on the waste repository could send radioactive dust over “the territory of Ukraine, Belarus and countries of the EU.”

Russian officials, who have revealed little of their operations in Ukraine and not revealed their goals, did not publicly comment on the battle.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said it is following the situation in Ukraine “with grave concern” and appealed for maximum restraint to avoid any action that may put Ukraine’s nuclear facilities at risk.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, the IAEA’s general director, said Ukraine has informed the Vienna-based agency that ”unidentified armed forces” have taken control of all facilities at the plant and that there had been no casualties or destruction at the industrial site. Grossi said 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.″

Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, said, “I can’t imagine how it would be in Russia’s interest to allow any facilities at Chernobyl to be damaged.”

In an interview, Lyman said he is most worried about spent fuel stored at the site, which has not been active since 2000. If the power to cooling pumps is disrupted or fuel-storage tanks are damaged, the results could be catastrophic, he said.

Reactor No. 4 at the power plant exploded and caught fire deep in the night on April 26, 1986, shattering the building and spewing radioactive material high into the sky.

Soviet authorities made the catastrophe even worse by failing to tell the public what had happened, angering European governments and the Soviet people. The 2 million residents of Kyiv weren’t informed despite the fallout danger, and the world learned of the disaster only after heightened radiation was detected in Sweden.

The building containing the exploded reactor was covered in 2017 by an enormous shelter aimed at containing radiation still leaking from the accident. Robots inside the shelter work to dismantle the destroyed reactor and gather up the radioactive waste.

It’s expected to take until 2064 to finish dismantling the reactors. Ukraine decided to use the deserted zone as the site for its centralized storage facility for spent fuel from the country’s other remaining nuclear power plants.

Germany’s vice chancellor and economy minister, Robert Habeck, told The Associated Press that Russia would not need to obtain nuclear material from Chernobyl if it wanted to use it for any purpose, because it has enough such material of its own.

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Associated Press writers Nomaan Merchant and Matthew Daly in Washington, James LaPorta in Boca Raton, Florida, Angela Charlton in Paris and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for CHERNOBYL 

DARK TOURISM

Chernobyl looking to develop tourism post-war

Monday, 9 June 2025

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the Slavutych City authorities have signed a memorandum of cooperation with the goal of developing local tourism as part of the post-war revival of the region.

The former Chernobyl nuclear power plant is surrounded by an exclusion zone (Image: CHNPP)

According to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP) state enterprise, "this will contribute to the development of the tourist attractiveness of the Slavutych community and the region as a whole, the preservation of historical memory, and the formation of a positive image both at the national and international levels".

Slavutych was the city built 45 kilometres east of Chernobyl to house its workers evacuated from Pripyat which was three kilometres from the plant, after the 1986 accident.

The framework of the memorandum includes support for the city museum of Slavutych, the tourist information centre and expanding exhibitions related to the history of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and "the construction of the cities of Pripyat and Slavutych, as well as the elimination of the consequences of the accident, which will contribute to a deeper understanding of the events of 1986".

There are also proposals for "thematic excursions" and "joint tourist, cultural, educational and educational events - conferences, festivals, excursions, study tours for students, thematic events dedicated to the topics of Chernobyl, ecology and sustainable development with the involvement of specialists of the ChNPP State Enterprise and institutions and organisations of the city, scientists and tourists".

Education of future generations of people in Slavutych is also seen as a key goal of the cooperation and "provides for joint participation in training courses, seminars for guides and researchers specialising in the topics of Chernobyl, nuclear energy, and ecology".

The background

Following the Chernobyl accident in April 1986 (you can read more about it in the World Nuclear Association's Chernobyl Accident information paper) a 4200-square kilometre Chernobyl Exclusion Zone was established, which has been largely uninhabited since. A containment shelter was built at speed over the ruins of unit 4 after the accident and there has since been a giant new shelter - the New Safe Confinement built over it. The last operating unit at Chernobyl, unit 3 operated until 2000.

There was a developing tourist/visitor industry before the war with Russia began in 2022.

In 2019 a decree by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky titled "On the development of areas affected by radioactive contamination due to the Chernobyl disaster" aimed to begin turning the exclusion zone into one of the growth points of the new Ukraine.

It aimed to remove a ban on filming in the area and to "popularise" tourism in Chernobyl at international events. "We must give this territory of Ukraine a new lease of life. Until now, Chernobyl has been a negative component of the Ukrainian brand. It's time to change that. We must showcase this place to the world: to scientists, ecologists, historians, tourists," he said at the time.

As well as the historical and educational potential of the area, the exclusion zone has become what the United Nations' environment programme describes as "a haven for wildlife, with lynx, bison, deer and other animals roaming through thick forests" in "the third-largest nature reserve in mainland Europe and an iconic – if accidental – experiment in rewilding".

However tourism to the area halted after the Russian invasion in February 2022, which saw its forces taking control of the Chernobyl plant and area for two months before they withdrew. The war continues and in February the New Safe Confinement shelter was damaged by a drone strike.

Zaporizhzhia security, restart and US fuel discussed in IAEA-Russian talks

Monday, 9 June 2025

In the latest meeting between International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi and Rosatom Director General Alexei Likhachev the two sides discussed the on-going security situation and issues relating to any future restart of the plant's units.

The talks were held in Kaliningrad (Image: Alexander Podgorchuk/Strana Rosatom)

Grossi, who visited Russia following talks in Ukraine, described the talks on social media platform X as a "comprehensive and necessary" exchange "on the current safety, security and safeguards situation" at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant "and the essential role" played by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts stationed at the plant "to prevent a nuclear accident".

At a press conference in Vienna on Monday as the IAEA board of governors met, Grossi said there was a "common view" between the Russian side and the IAEA that it would be inadvisable to restart the plant in the current military situation. He added: "There are other more technical aspects like, for example, the availability of enough water to cool down the reactors or also the availability of sufficient, stable, external power so you can rest assured that if it's started there will be no blackout and the plant will be able to operate."

"Apart from that we know that they have the intention to restart it at some point - some plans were shown to us - but that is a matter which has other interconnections with wider negotiations that are taking place."

The Russian Tass news agency's report of Likhachev's comments said the plant could only be restarted once there was no military threat, and quoted him as saying "we have already started construction of a floating modular pumping station with a capacity of up to 80,000 cubic metres per hour, which will address all problems related to water supply in the event that the units are brought to their design capacity".

Rosatom has already produced a plan for restarting the units in the future which is currently being considered by the Russian government.

One of the other topics covered was the issue of the rotation of the IAEA teams, which have been subject to delays because of security concerns. There was also a general discussion on how to ensure nuclear safety and security, and the general security situation at the plant, which has been under Russian military control since March 2022 and which is on the frontline of Ukrainian and Russian forces.

There has also been an issue with the US nuclear fuel at the plant, with Tass saying that Likhachev had asked Grossi to mediate discussions on the use of the US-manufactured fuel which are currently loaded into four of the six units with more in the fresh fuel storage facility and in the used fuel pools.

At his media conference on Monday, Grossi said the general situation at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant - which continues to rely on one external power line - "continues to be very fragile ... the level of military activity is increasing, not decreasing". He also noted that the erosion of infrastructure in Ukraine "continues to have an impact on nuclear safety".

Emergency core cooling system tank shipped for Xudabao 4

Monday, 9 June 2025

The 80-tonne tank, which has a capacity of 60 cubic metres, was produced at the Petrozavodskmash plant of Rosatom's machine-building division with the ceremonial shipment marking the plant's 65th anniversary.

(Image: Rosatom)

The emergency core cooling system tank is a thick-walled high-pressure vessel about three metres in diameter and will be filled with an aqueous solution of boric acid which would be automatically fed into the reactor to cool the active zone in the event of a pressure drop in the primary circuit.

Each unit's emergency core cooling safety system includes four of the tanks, with the fourth and final one for unit 4 to be shipped during June.

The background

In June 2018, Russia and China signed four agreements, including for the construction of two VVER-1200 reactors at the new Xudabao (also known as Xudapu) site in China's Liaoning province. Agreements signed in June 2019 included a general contract for the construction of Xudabao units 3 and 4, as well as a contract for the supply of nuclear fuel.

Construction of Xudabao unit 3 began in July 2021, with that of unit 4 starting in May 2022. Commissioning of the units is scheduled for 2027 and 2028, respectively.

When completed, the two units are expected to generate more than 18 billion kWh of electricity per year, equivalent to saving about 6.4 million tonnes of coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 18.9 million tonnes per year.

The Xudabao plant is owned by Liaoning Nuclear Power Company Limited, a joint venture between China National Nuclear Corporation (70%), Datang International Power Generation Company (20%) and State Development and Investment Corporation (10%).

What they said

The head of the Rosatom Machine-Building Division, Igor Kotov, said: "Rosatom's machine builders have now manufactured 95% of the contracted equipment for the four new power units being built at the Tianwan and Xudapu nuclear power plants. In particular, main circulation pipelines, main circulation pump housings, equipment for safety systems and much, much more have been shipped from Petrozvodskmash. By the end of 2025, the manufacture of all products involved in the operation of the nuclear island will be completed."

Deputy Director General of the Rosatom State Corporation for Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Solutions, Andrey Nikipelov, said: "Petrozavodskmash produces equipment that is unique for the industry and participates in all Rosatom projects for the construction of nuclear power plants. In the coming years, the company will have a lot more work."

Artur Parfenchikov, the head of the Republic of Karelia in northwest Russia where the plant is located, said: "Petrozavodskmash makes a great contribution to the economy and industrial development of Karelia ... and in this anniversary year, we honour the veterans of the plant, talk about achievements ... it creates new jobs, increases the tax base of our budget ... [and] is an interesting and promising place to work for our Karelian youth."

World Nuclear News

Air Chernobyl? Tourists get chance to fly over nuclear disaster zone

By Sergiy Karazy and Margaryta Chornokondratenko

REUTERS 

4/23/2021

Reuters/GLEB GARANICH A view shows the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant during a tour to the Chernobyl zone

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian nuclear agency worker Viktor Kozlov received an unusual birthday gift from his wife Maryna: tickets for a 90 minute flight over Chernobyl, site of the world's worst nuclear disaster.

© Reuters/GLEB GARANICH People take a tour to the Chernobyl zone

The trip gives passengers a bird's eye view of the abandoned buildings in the ghost town of Pripyat that once housed nuclear workers, and the massive domed structure now covering the reactor that exploded on April 26, 1986.

On the flight, run by Ukraine International Airlines, passengers craned their necks, pointed and took pictures on their phones of the site that has become one of the country's major tourist destinations.

The disaster, which struck during a botched safety test at the plant 110 km (70 miles) north of the capital Kyiv, forced tens of thousands of people to abandon the area permanently, leaving wildlife behind to thrive in the contaminated zone.

© Reuters/GLEB GARANICH People take a tour to the Chernobyl zone

"I read a lot about the Chernobyl accident and I know every second of the disaster timeline," Kozlov, whose interest in the industry was prompted by having grown up in another town with a nuclear plant, said during the flight.

© Reuters/GLEB GARANICH People take a tour to the Chernobyl zone

Gallery: Ukraine eyes UNESCO status for abandoned Chernobyl wasteland (Reuters)
Air Chernobyl? Tourists get chance to fly over nuclear disaster zone (msn.com)













Children's beds are seen in a kindergarten near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the abandoned city of Pripyat, Ukraine, April 12. REUTERS/Gleb Gar
24 SLIDES © Reuters

Children's beds are seen in a kindergarten near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the abandoned city of Pripyat, Ukraine, April 12. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

"I was surprised by the nature around the plant. It looks so pure, nature won over a human here," he added.

Thirty-one plant workers and firemen died in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, mostly from acute radiation sickness. Thousands more later succumbed to radiation-related illnesses such as cancer, although the total death toll and long-term health effects remain a subject of intense debate.

As Ukraine marks the 35th anniversary of the accident, the former Soviet republic will apply for Chernobyl to receive UNESCO World Heritage status to attract more visitors and funding to develop the area.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the site became more popular with tourists thanks to the HBO series "Chernobyl" in 2019.

For Pilot Yevhen Nechyporenko, the flights over Chernobyl reminded him of his childhood when he spent summer holidays near the area.

"It attracts people like a magnet. Also by looking at these places from above, you imagine yourself there," he said in the cockpit.

© Reuters/GLEB GARANICH A view shows the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant during a tour to the Chernobyl zone

"It is very interesting to look closely into every detail of the area, into what is happening there, what changes took place around the plant and in the town, how the nature is developing and taking over."

(Editing by Matthias Williams and Alison Williams)