Main / Repository / Places and Nature / Russian military occupation of Chornobyl became a crime against the environment, the level of nuclear waste is three times higher than IAEA estimated

Russian military occupation of Chornobyl became a crime against the environment, the level of nuclear waste is three times higher than IAEA estimated

July 22, 2022

Russian military occupation of Chornobyl became a crime against the environment, the level of nuclear waste is three times higher than IAEA estimated

The Russian military occupation of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone has become a crime against the environment, Greenpeace experts announced on July 20, 2022.

A Greenpeace Germany investigation team working with Ukrainian scientists at Chornobyl found radiation levels in areas where Russian military operations occurred to be at least three times higher than the estimation by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In April 2022, the IAEA provided very limited data with assurances that radiation levels were “normal” and not a major environmental or public safety issue, said the statement.

The investigation team in Chornobyl also documented that Russian military actions against essential laboratories, databases, and radiation monitoring systems have caused severe damage to the scientific infrastructure developed by the international scientific community.

“Understanding the complex radiation effects at Chornobyl is essential for the world and that means conducting research and working with international scientists. All of that has been put at risk by Russia’s war against Ukraine. Scientists and workers conducting essential radiation hazard monitoring are now threatened by an unknown number of Russian landmines and anti-personnel explosives. This is one further outrageous legacy of Russia’s illegal war and is a crime against the environment and global science. The IAEA appears reluctant to explain the scale of the radiation hazards at Chornobyl and the impact of the Russian occupation,” Shaun Burnie, a senior nuclear specialist at Greenpeace Germany, said.

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