Chernobyl

There are reports that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has lost contact with Chernobyl nuclear data systems and that the Chernobyl site is ...

Some parts of the site might become off limits to the workers until the power is restored. In the unlikely event of a release of any radiation, this would be only to the immediate local area, and therefore not pose any threat to Western Europe – there would be no radioactive cloud. It is also important to note that drying out of the ponds will not cause a nuclear reaction or explosion to occur. I think that while it is important to avoid the cooling ponds drying out, the consequences of drying out the ponds will be far less than either the Chernobyl accident of 1987 or the more recent Fukushima accident. This should hopefully allow enough time for the power to cooling systems to be restored. By cutting off the power lines to Chernobyl the site will have to depend on their own generators, which will have a limited supply of diesel or gas. It may become much harder for workers to enter some parts of the site without full protective clothing, they may also have greater difficulty in changing in and out of their protective clothing. This prevents further degradation of Reactor number 4 and the hazardous exposed nuclear fuel within, and is essential to the future decommissioning of the site. “I think that drying out the ponds will generate a threat to workers rather than the general public. “The fuel in these pools is decades old, and hence has very little residual heat being generated. The lack of these safety systems is therefore a conditional concern.” Nevertheless, it is an unhealthy situation for both for staff at the site and the surrounding area.

Halyna and Valeriy, a Ukrainian couple in their 60s, were evacuated from their home near the Chernobyl plant where they worked as engineers when a reactor ...

We have no road to anywhere. "We have no hope for any (humanitarian) corridors. They have covered their kitchen windows in blankets so there is no light that might attract air strikes. The couple declined to give their surname or exact location, fearing it might put them at risk. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

With no working reactors, there is no risk of a meltdown. But the ruins from the 1983 disaster still pose considerable dangers.

As is common practice in the nuclear power industry, the fuel removed from all four Chernobyl reactors over the years, more than 20,000 assemblies in all, is stored in pools of water that dissipate the heat produced as the fuel decays radioactively. The fuel inside a reactor eventually becomes used up and is replaced. This is what happened at the Fukushima reactors in Japan in 2011, when an earthquake and tsunami wiped out backup power systems.