Three years ago, before the COVID-19 pandemic, people were buzzing about the HBO miniseries “Chernobyl”, which depicted a 1986 accident at the Ukrainian nuclear plant – the worst nuclear disaster in world history.
At the time, it seemed like concerns about radiation at the plant were mostly in the past. Now, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has stirred those concerns along with contaminated soil at the site.
Russian troops had seized control of Chernobyl – which is located in northern Ukraine – Thursday, according to CNN. That day, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said there were reports that Russian soldiers were holding staff at the Chernobyl facilities hostage.
Russia confirmed its takeover of the plant Friday, and Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States said that day that Russian forces were holding 92 workers at the plant hostage.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ukraine said heavy military vehicles have disturbed soil at Chernobyl. Readings reported by the regulator were up to 9.46 microSieverts per hour. Travel agency Chernobyl X said average radiation levels around the plant were around 1.2 microSieverts per hour as of 2016, when a new safe confinement structure was put in place.
While radiation readings did increase, the IAEA said that levels are “low and remain within the operational range measured in the Exclusion Zone since it was established, and therefore do not pose any danger to the public.”
Poland, which borders Ukraine, said it had not recorded any increase in radiation levels on its territory, according to Reuters.
“Ukraine informed the [IAEA] today that the country’s nuclear power reactors are continuing to operate safely and securely,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said. He appealed for maximum restraint to avoid any action that could jeopardize plant safety.
Chernobyl is located around 80 miles from the country’s capital in Kyiv. As of Saturday, Ukrainians in Kyiv were fighting a Russian invasion into the heavily populated city.
Though tensions between Ukraine and Russia go back to at least 2014, when Russia took control of the Crimean Peninsula, a large-scale invasion began this week with military action in several Ukrainian cities. Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied that Ukraine is a sovereign nation.
The U.S. and other countries have condemned the Russian invasion and imposed sanctions in response.
“Ukraine is a sovereign, democratic, and peace-loving nation,” said a Saturday statement from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken regarding around $1 billion in financial aid from the U.S. to Ukraine.
Russia has not reported any casualties related to its invasion of Ukraine, according to CNN. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that his country’s forces have killed “hundreds” of Russian soldiers. Ukraine’s health minister Viktor Lyashko said Saturday that 198 people had been killed in the Russian invasion, including three children. He also said there were 1,115 wounded civilians, including 33 children.
“In the terrible hands of the aggressor, this significant amount of plutonium-239 can become a nuclear bomb that will turn thousands of hectares into a dead, lifeless desert,” said Ukraine’s environmental protection ministry of Chernobyl.
Chernobyl is inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, a 1,000-square mile area of forest lying between the Belarus-Ukraine border and Kyiv. When reactor No. 4 at the power plant exploded and caught fire in April 1986, radioactive material was spewed into the sky and two plant workers died. Following the accident, 28 people died within a few weeks as a result of acute radiation syndrome and 5,000 thyroid cancers have been linked with the incident, according to The World Nuclear Association.
The IAEA will continue to provide regular updates on the current situation at Chernobyl, said the agency.
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