Chernobyl nuclear plant: Russia and Ukraine at war in a region where humans have not been able to settle for 24,000 years.

 

Russia's Defense Ministry claims that radiation levels at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine are "normal". It should be noted that this nuclear plant located in Ukraine was occupied by Russia on the first day of the invasion of Ukraine.

Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov's statement was broadcast on Russia's Russia 24 channel. Earlier, the Ukrainian parliament's telegram channel reported that radiation levels in the Chernobyl zone were rising above normal levels. On February 24, the first day of the invasion of Ukraine, Russian troops took control of the entire area where the Chernobyl nuclear plant is located.

Russia's Defense Ministry says the level of radiation at the nuclear plant is normal, while officials there are keeping a close eye on the situation. The presence of Russian and special Ukrainian personnel was considered necessary so that no nationalist or terrorist organization could take advantage of the current tense situation and cause any major damage.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said yesterday that Ukrainian forces were fighting Russian forces seeking to seize a nuclear power plant in Chernobyl.

This is the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster in Ukraine.

An accident caused the plant to emit radioactive radiation, which spread into the atmosphere in some parts of Europe, leading to an increase in thyroid cancer.

Following the incident, a 1,000-square-mile area around the plant was isolated and is now a no-go area.

The Ukrainian government says nuclear radiation in the abandoned area will prevent people from settling in the area for the next 24,000 years.

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant was later withdrawn and shut down in 2000. At 1:23 pm on April 26, 1986, engineers cut off the power supply to parts of reactor number four at the Chernobyl nuclear plant. This important phase of the experiment was part of an attempt to understand the possible conditions that could occur in the event of a complete power outage or blackout to the reactors.

But the engineers did not know that the reactor was already unstable. The power outage slowed down the turbines delivering cold water to the reactor. Less water caused more steam to build up and as a result the pressure inside the reactor began to increase. By the time the operators learned of the situation and tried to shut down the reactor, it was too late.