Zelenski over brand bij kerncentrale Tsjernobil: 'Iedereen heeft recht op de waarheid'

President Volodimir Zelenski.

President Volodimir Zelenski wil precies weten hoe het er voor staat met de brand die de in april 1986 verwoeste kerncentrale van Tsjernobil bedreigt. Dat liet hij gisteravond laat weten. ''Wat ik te horen krijg, krijgt de bevolking te horen. Iedereen heeft recht op de waarheid'', aldus Zelenski over de uiteenlopende berichten. Hij wil duidelijk geen herhaling van 1986, toen de bevolking dagenlang onwetend werd gehouden over het gevaar van de radioactieve straling die vrij kwam bij de explosie en de daaropvolgende brand in de kerncentrale.

De ministeries van Binnenlandse Zaken en van Noodsituaties menen dat het allemaal wel meevalt. Greenpeace en het persagentschap Reuters kwamen gistermiddag echter met verontrustende berichten. Het vuur is de kerncentrale tot op een kilometer genaderd, en een opslagplaats van hoog radioactief afval tot op twee kilometer. Er zijn honderden brandweerlieden in touw om het vuur te bestrijden.

Onderminister Anton Herashtsjenko van Binnenlandse Zaken zegt vanmorgen dat rond de opslagplaats van nucleair afval veel bomen zijn weggekapt. ''Het is daar nu volkomen veilig. Alle brandhaarden zijn gedoofd.''

Over een wolk van radioactieve straling die vanochtend over de hoofdstad Kyiv zou trekken, is intussen weinig bekend. Het Wetenschappelijk en Technisch Centrum voor Nucleaire en Stralingsveiligheid (SSTC NRS), een overheidsinstantie, laat op haar website in een animatie zien hoe een radioactieve wolk vanuit Tsjernobil over de hoofdstad trekt.

Bron: Unian

Zelensky wants to hear report on Chornobyl fire: "The public must know the truth" (Photos, video) 04:30, 14 April 2020 Politics 950 0 Forest fires in the Chornobyl exclusion zone began on April 4. REUTERS REUTERS Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he would like to hear a report on raging forest fires in the Chornobyl zone as "the public must know the truth." "I'm closely monitoring the situation in the Chornobyl zone. I know firefighters are doing their best. I am thankful for their courage. I'll hear a report on the fires from Chairman of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine Mykola Chechotkin tomorrow [April 14]," Zelensky said on Facebook late on April 13. "Conclusions will follow soon after. The public must know the truth and be safe." Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Anton Gerashchenko, in turn, assured that there was no change in the radiation background at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, in the Chornobyl exclusion zone or beyond. According to him, spent nuclear fuel storage facility No. 2 in the exclusion zone is a huge, reinforced concrete structure surrounded by a fence, there are still empty tanks inside, they are made of monolithic reinforced concrete. Spent nuclear fuel from operating Ukrainian nuclear power plants will be transferred there in future. "Spent nuclear fuel storage facility No. 1, where spent fuel from the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, which was decommissioned in 2000, is stored, is located in the area of the NPP itself. It is completely safe there now. Any fires are excluded," Gerashchenko wrote on Facebook. According to him, the Pidlisne storage facility used for spent nuclear waste is also located in a place relatively safe from forest fires and represents fireproof reinforced concrete structures. He noted that the forest belt was specially cut down around the storage facility to avoid the threat of fire, and the distance to green spaces is more than 100 meters. As UNIAN reported earlier, forest fires in the Chornobyl exclusion zone began on April 4, covering 20 hectares then. On April 7, the area affected by the fire expanded to 35 hectares. According to the TSN TV news service, at least 12 abandoned villages, old cemeteries, forests and swamps have been destroyed there. The fire is said to be now just one kilometer from the defunct Chornobyl nuclear power plant and poses a radiation risk. 1/5 Director of the Chornobyl Tour operator Yaroslav Yemelianenko, writing on Facebook, described the situation as critical. He said the fire was rapidly expanding and had reached the abandoned town of Pripyat, two kilometers from where "the most highly active radiation waste of the whole Chornobyl zone [Pidlisne] is located." He called on officials to warn people of the danger, Reuters said. Satellite images taken by NASA Worldview and seen by Reuters showed the two fires had extended far into the exclusion zone. 1/7 Police say they have identified a 27-year old local resident who they accuse of deliberately starting the blaze.

Read more on UNIAN: https://www.unian.info/politics/10957478-zelensky-wants-to-hear-report-on-chornobyl-fire-the-public-must-know-the-truth-photos-video.html