The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Feb. 27 that the last record it had on a sensor near nuclear waste storage facilities, before it lost control over the monitoring system, showed that the absorbed dose of radiation was seven times higher than normal. Ukraine's State Agency of Management the Exclusion Zone said on Feb. Reuters was not able to independently establish what the radiation levels were for people in the immediate proximity of the Russian convoy that entered the Red Forest. Seida and the mayor of Slavutych said on Monday that Russian forces had now left the town. The next day Russian forces seized the town Slavutych near Chernobyl, where most plant workers live. They were interviewed by phone on Friday on condition of anonymity because they feared for their safety. Reuters could not independently verify their accounts. "They drove wherever they needed to," Seida said.Īfter the Russian troops arrived, the two plant employees worked for almost a month along with colleagues until they were allowed to go home last week when Russian commanders allowed replacements for some of the staff to be sent in. He said workers at the plant told the Russian service personnel they should be cautious about radiation, but he knew of no evidence that they paid attention. There is no one there," Seida told Reuters. Valery Seida, acting general director of the Chernobyl plant, was not there at the time and did not witness the Russian convoy going into the Red Forest, but he said he was told by witnesses that Russian military vehicles drove everywhere around the exclusion zone and could have passed the Red Forest. Many radiation safety sensors showed exceeded levels," he said. "The convoy kicked up a big column of dust. "A big convoy of military vehicles drove along a road right behind our facility and this road goes past the Red Forest," said one of the sources. One of them said it used an abandoned road. The Russian military convoy went through the zone, the two employees said. The site got its name when dozens of square kilometres of pine trees turned red after absorbing radiation from the 1986 explosion, one of the world's worst nuclear disasters.Ī vast area around Chernobyl is off limits to anyone who does not work there or have special permission, but the Red Forest is considered so highly contaminated that even the nuclear plant workers are not allowed to go there. Russia has previously denied that its forces have put nuclear facilities inside Ukraine at risk. The Russian military said after capturing the plant that radiation was within normal levels and their actions prevented possible "nuclear provocations" by Ukrainian nationalists. The regular soldiers one of the workers spoke to when they worked alongside them in the facility had not heard about the explosion, he said.Īsked to comment on the accounts from Chernobyl staff, Russia's defence ministry did not respond. 24 and took control of the site, where staff are still responsible for the safe storage of spent nuclear fuel and supervising the concrete-encased remains of the reactor that blew up in 1986.īoth men said they had witnessed Russian tanks and other armoured vehicles moving through the Red Forest, which is the most radioactively contaminated part of the zone around Chernobyl, around 100 km (65 miles) north of Kyiv. The two Ukrainian workers who spoke to Reuters were on duty when Russian tanks entered Chernobyl on Feb. But until now, details of exactly what happened had not emerged. 25 there had been an increase in radiation levels at Chernobyl as a result of heavy military vehicles disturbing the soil. Ukraine's state nuclear inspectorate said on Feb. The second Chernobyl employee said that was "suicidal" for the soldiers because the radioactive dust they inhaled was likely to cause internal radiation in their bodies. The two sources said soldiers in the convoy did not use any anti-radiation gear. LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Russian soldiers who seized the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster drove their armoured vehicles without radiation protection through a highly toxic zone called the "Red Forest", kicking up clouds of radioactive dust, workers at the site said. IAEA said at time radiation rise no threat to population.Russia said after capture radiation within normal levels.
Site got name when trees turned red after 1986 explosion.Say Russian soldiers, specialists not in protection gear.The two workers at site when Russian force took control.
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