Status: 02/25/2022 02:47 am
Even after the fighting near the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant has apparently ended, concern remains high. The USA spoke of a “hostage taking” of the employees. The International Atomic Energy Agency warned of an unsecured facility.
The United States has expressed concern over the Russian military’s capture of Ukraine’s former Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Taking the exclusion zone of the former kiln and the employees there is a “hostage situation,” said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki. “This unlawful and dangerous hostage situation, which could suspend routine conservation and safety operations at the nuclear waste facilities, is incredibly alarming and of great concern,” Psaki said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is also concerned about the fighting at the destroyed Chernobyl nuclear facility. Because of the potential risk of accidents, she is following the situation in Ukraine “with great concern,” the UN organization said. She called for “a maximum of restraint” from everyone involved. An unsecured nuclear facility harbors great danger.
Fighting is currently going on in many places in Ukraine. The separatist areas in the east of the country can be seen hatched.
“One of the most serious threats to Europe”
The Russian military had previously seized the destroyed nuclear reactor in northern Ukraine after “bitter” fighting with Ukrainian forces, according to Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak. The condition of the old reactor facility, the protective cover over the highly radioactive accident reactor and the nuclear fuel store is not known, Podoljak said. “It’s impossible to say if the power plant is safe.” It is “one of the most serious threats to Europe”.
The Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986 is considered the greatest catastrophe in the civil use of nuclear power. Last summer, a new interim storage facility for nuclear waste was inaugurated in the radioactive exclusion zone around Chernobyl. With the camp, Kiev wanted to end its dependence on Russia in the area of nuclear waste. According to Ukrainian information on Thursday, Russia had conquered the exclusion zone around Chernobyl.