Forest fires continue to rage
near Chernobyl power plant
 |
| Forest fire at exclusion zone around Chernobyl nuclear power plant (ANSA) |
Environmental activists are concerned that major forest
fires that have been burning for over a week, are now just one kilometre from
the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
By Vatican News
Ukraine's Emergency Service continued on Tuesday to battle
major forests fires that began following an unusually dry weather spell on
April 3rd.
Battling the Blaze
Hundreds of firefighters backed by aircraft were able to
contain the initial blaze, but new fires are now raging close to the abandoned
Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Authorities in the country say that the situation is under
control and have appealed for calm.
Police have already arrested a 27-year old local resident
who is accused of deliberately starting the blaze.
Late on Monday President Volodymyr Zelenskiy promised
transparency regarding the fires. "Society must know the truth and be
safe", he said.
But as the fires rage on, concern is growing as to their
proximity to the now defunct power station which was the site of the world’s
worst nuclear disaster in 1986.
Proximity to Chernobyl
Environmental organizations such as Greenpeace say the blaze
is just one kilometre from the abandoned site. Aeriel footage showed images of
scorched, blackened earth and charred trees around the exclusion zone near the
plant.
A Chernobyl tour operator also described the situation as
critical. He said the fire had reached the abandoned city of Pripyat, two
kilometers from where "the most highly active radiation waste of the whole
Chernobyl zone is located".
Ukrainian officials have, however, sought to play down
fears. Radiation levels in the exclusion zone, they say, had not changed and
those in nearby Kiev, the country’s capital, did not exceed normal levels.
An abandoned zone
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant has been abandoned and the
city of Pripyat uninhabited since the nuclear accident at the No. 4 reactor
nearly thirty four years ago.
People to this day are not allowed to live within 30km of
the site.
The three other reactors at Chernobyl continued to generate
power until the plant closed in 2000.
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