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Over 10,000 hectares of forests are burning near Chernobyl, leading to the risk of radioactive air pollution

March 28, 2022

Over 10,000 hectares of forests are burning near Chernobyl, leading to the risk of radioactive air pollution

Forest fires have broken out in the exclusion zone around the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant because of combat actions, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova wrote this on Facebook.

Fire control and extinguishment are impossible due to the capture of the exclusion zone by Russian troops, she wrote. As a result of combustion, radionuclides are emitted into the atmosphere, carried by the wind over long distances, which threatens Ukraine, Belarus, and European countries with radiation. Due to windy and dry weather, the intensity and area of fires will increase, which can lead to large-scale fires that are difficult to fight even in peacetime.

Denisova warned that the flames could engulf spent nuclear fuel storage facilities and nuclear waste storage facilities located in the Chornobyl zone.

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