Ambient office = 897 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 127 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 128 nanosieverts per hour

Small red bell pepper from Central Market = 93 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 137 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 130 nanosieverts per hour

      During the Russian occupation of the shuttered Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, someone stole radioactive materials from a radiation monitoring laboratory near the plant. A nuclear expert said that there was a low risk that this stolen material could be used to construct a dirty bomb.
      The looters took pieces of radioactive waste which could theoretically be used to construct a dirty bomb. This type of bomb combines radioactive materials with a conventional explosive. This was reported by Anatolii Nosovskyi who is the director of the Institute for Safety Problems of Nuclear Power Plants (ISPNPP) in Kyiv. They also took radioactive isotopes. These were radioactive chemical elements with different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei. They are usually used to calibrate monitoring instruments.
      On March 25, the journal Science reported that the radioactive materials had been taken. The journal New Scientist later confirmed these reports with an ISPNPP scientist. The source said that the earlier report in the journal Science was “accurate based on the information available.”   
      The stolen material cannot be used to make nuclear weapons because it does not contain any plutonium or uranium. Bruno Merk is a research chair in computational modeling for nuclear engineering at the University of Liverpool. He said, “There are so many radioactive sources around the world. If someone wants to get their hands on this there’s an easier way. These radioactive sources you can steal in every hospital. It would always have been possible for someone to sneak in and steal something. I don’t see that the risk is any higher than before the Russians invaded.” Although its not useful for making nuclear weapons, some of the stolen material could be of very limited use in the construction of a dirty bomb, according to Merk.
      Edwin Lyman is a physicist and the Director of Nuclear Power Safety with the Union of Concerned Scientists. He said that “Calibration sources typically have very small quantities of radioactive materials.”
      If the stolen waste materials were very radioactive, they would need to be stored and transported in heavy shielding to prevent the handlers from serious radiation exposure. Lyman went on to say, “I suspect the stolen samples are also small quantities. I’m skeptical that there would be any strategic purpose for Russia to use these materials in a dirty bomb.”
     Lyman said that a dirty bomb could spread radioactive material over a localized area, but it would not cause many immediate sever health effects. He did note that the extent and severity of the potential damage would depend on the size and other characteristics of the materials in question.
     Dirty bombs are also known as “radiological dispersal devices” (RDDs) do not release enough radiation to kill people or cause severe illness according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Those closest to the bomb when it is detonated would be the most likely to be injured by the conventional explosives in the bomb. The radioactive materials in the bomb could be dispersed within a few blocks or miles from the site of the explosion.” The NRC also said, “As radioactive material spreads, it becomes less concentrated and less harmful. “Immediate health effects from exposure to the low radiation levels expected from an RDD would likely be minimal.
      Lyman said, “It’s unlikely that such a bomb could cause death, destruction and terror anywhere near the scale of Russia’s bombardment of civilian areas with conventional weapons. Although the presence of radioactive contamination could add another element of fear to an already frightful situation.”

Ambient office = 87 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 68 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 66 nanosieverts per hour

Small cucumber from Central Market = 81 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 86 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 71 nanosieverts per hour

      I have been blogging about how the Russian attack and seizure of the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine has released radioactive materials into the atmosphere. But there is another side to the story. How have Russian troops been affected by the radioactivity around Chernobyl?
      A recent report states that the Russian convoy that took control of the Chernobyl drove through a highly toxic radioactive zone near the plant without any anti-radiation gear. This stirred up contaminated soil and exposed the Russian troops to highly dangerous radioactivity.
      Russian soldiers drove tanks and other armored vehicles through the “Red Forest”. This is a highly contaminated area about four miles from the plant. The trees in the Red Forest are all dead but they have not decomposed in the thirty-five years since the nuclear disaster in 1986 because all the microorganisms were killed by the initial radiation release. The Soviet Union downplayed the disaster, denying for years that it had even happened. The disaster was caused by poorly trained staff, a flawed reactor design, and made worse by a botched evacuation.
     The Russian troops had no protective gear according to two of the Ukrainian workers at the plant. The workers said that the drive through the forest was “suicidal” because the Russian soldiers likely inhaled radioactive dust that can cause internal radiation damage in their bodies. (Hard to call it suicide if the soldiers did not know they were are risk.”) In addition, it has been reported that the Russian troops were assigned to dig trenches in the Red Forest which would also expose them to high levels of radiation.
      The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) reported higher-than-normal radiation levels at the plant on February 25th, the day after the Russian Army took control of the plant. The SNRIU speculated that the heavy military vehicle were a possible cause for the spike.
      Though radiation levels increase following the Russian invasion, the International Atomic Energy Commission said that on the following day, the radiation readings were low and did not pose a public threat. The 1986 nuclear disaster at Chernobyl is considered to be the biggest nuclear catastrophe in history. Fifty-one people have died as a direct result of the explosion. It has been estimated that another four thousand people could eventually die from radiation exposure according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
      Yaroslav Yemelianenko is the CEO of tour operator Chernobyl Tour. He claimed that a group of Russian troops occupying the Chernobyl plant was rushed across the border to a special medical facility in Belarus after exposing themselves to dangerous levels of radiation. Yemelianenko wrote a March 30th Facebook post that said “Another batch of Russian irradiated terrorists, who occupied the Chornobyl zone, was brought to the Belarusian Radiation Medicine Center in Homel today. Have you dug enough trenches in the Red Forest, motherf*ckers.” It has been reported that one of the Russian soldiers had not even heard of the famous nuclear disaster that took place at Chernobyl in 1986.
      Military action in the Chernobyl zone has been a constant concern since the beginning of the Russian invasion. Many scientists around the world are worried that the Russian occupation of the Chernobyl plant poses a threat to the world. Fortunately, as of March 30, the Russian Army has been retreating around the Chernobyl site.

Ambient office = 91 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 64 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 60 nanosieverts per hour

Rocket apple from Central Market = 100 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 70 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 63 nanosieverts per hour

     There has been great concern following the Russian occupation of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that there is an increased danger of release of radioactive materials into the atmosphere. A large area was irradiated by the nuclear accident in 1986. Now those concerns have been verified.
      At first, the movement of Russian heavy equipment and vehicles around the plant stirred up some radioactively contaminated soil. Now Russian shelling of a village where Chernobyl workers live has started a twenty-five acre forest fire whose smoke is carrying radioactive materials into the atmosphere. Officials are concerned that the fire could spread through the forest and engulf the power plant. This would lead to a nuclear disaster with severe consequences for Ukraine and the whole world.
      Inna Sovsun is a Ukrainian politician who tweeted that Ukrainian officials are unable to put out the forest fire because the area is under Russian control and the Russians will not let Ukrainian firefighters approach the fire. She tweeted that “10 hectares of forest are burning in the Chornobyl Zone, caused by shelling. It isn’t possible to put out the fire now, as this territory isn’t controlled by Ukraine. We’re afraid that the fire will reach the nuclear power plant. The radiation level is already elevated.”
     Ms. Sovsun’s remarks came after the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Lyudmila Denisova, announed details of the wildfires earlier today. Denisova stated that thirty-one fires have already been recorded in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ) which is a one thousand square area surrounding the plant where radioactivity from the nuclear disaster is highest and where public access and residence is restricted.
     Ms. Denisova warned that the forest fires have already led to a spike in radioactive air pollution. She called on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to send experts and firefighters to Ukraine in order to “prevent irreparable consequences not only for Ukraine but for the whole world. As a result of combustion, radionuclides are released into the atmosphere, which are carried by wind over long distances. This threatens radiation to Ukraine, Belarus and European countries.”
      Chernobyl contains spent nuclear fuel storage facilities and nuclear waste dumps. If they are set alight, it could lead to a major nuclear disaster. The fires could intensify based on the weather. There could be large-scale blazes if weather condition became windy and dry.
      However, Russian state media channels claim that the CEZ is not on fire. They showed video of an area that they claimed is near the Chernobyl plant without any blazes raging or smoke billowing into the sky.
     Access to the CEZ was restricted after the nuclear disaster when an explosion on April 26, 1986, produced a radioactive cloud that stretched across Europe. This event is called the worst nuclear disaster in history.
     Earlier today, Ukrainian authorities announced that Russian forces had fired rockets at a nuclear research facility in Kharkov which is currently under siege. There are fears that Russian shelling of Ukrainian checkpoints in the city of Slavutych, a village which houses Chernobyl nuclear workers is prevent workers from entering or leaving the plant. The Russian attack came just days after Ukrainian workers who were being held by Russian forces to maintain the nuclear power plant for four weeks without staff rotation were finally able to go back to their homes in Slavutych. Staff working at Chernobyl have been held hostage since Russia captured the site on the first day of the invasion on February 24.