‘The next Chernobyl could be Chernobyl itself,’ says Irish charity

On the 36th Anniversary of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, Irish charity Chernobyl Children International (CCI) says it is deeply concerned about reports of an alarming rise in radioactivity, due to the ongoing devastating war in Ukraine, which could result in a second Chernobyl disaster. 

Speaking in advance of UN Chernobyl Remembrance Day, CCI Voluntary CEO, Adi Roche said:

“Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine signified a catastrophic change in modern warfare as we know it.

“During the recent Russian Army occupation of the Chernobyl Nuclear Facility and Radioactive Exclusion Zone, the world was essentially held to ransom, and the subsequent effects of the military takeover of the nuclear plant and environs have been devastating.

“The people living in the Chernobyl region, a highly radioactive contaminated zone, are facing a war within a war…a nightmare scenario with potentially devastating implications for Europe, and indeed the world.”

UN Chernobyl Remembrance Day is a poignant day for Chernobyl survivor, Raisa Miknovitch Carolan, who is profoundly troubled by the ongoing war;

“As a victim of the first generation of those affected by Chernobyl, I am deeply worried for all the children of today that are now seriously threatened by the re-release of radiation in the Chernobyl Region, and I plead with those in power to heed these dire warnings.”

CCI say the outbreak of the war has resulted in a series of very worrying incidents at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant and Exclusion Zone, including deadly forest fires from Russian shelling, the disturbance of highly radioactive soil by Russian soldiers due to the digging of trenches, and the looting and destruction of an EU-funded research laboratory that was used to monitor nuclear waste.

Officials have said that Russian troops stole radioactive material that is deadly if mishandled, and there is also a risk of over 200 tons of unprotected fuel at the bottom of the Chernobyl reactor escaping into the atmosphere if the reactor is damaged as a result of the war.

While it is a welcome development that Russian Troops have left the Chernobyl region for now, there is no guarantee that they will not return.

Soaring levels of radiation have been discovered by world-renowned scientist, Professor Yuri Bandazhevsky, and he warns “that any disturbance of radioactive material is lethal, as it re-releases radioactivity into the atmosphere”.

Professor Bandazhevsky has urged the international community to “save the victims of war in the Chernobyl region, over 300,000 people are facing a ‘double war’.”

To further compound the problem, there are fears that Russian Troops may have laid a maze of landmines in the surrounding areas of Chernobyl as they retreated, which would result in even more radioactivity being released into the environment if these mines were to explode.

Roche continued: “Chernobyl is often relegated to the realm of history, with many thinking that it is something that happened a very long time ago and no longer poses any threat.

“However, we are now witnessing that the reality is very different.

“Chernobyl is not something from the past; Chernobyl ‘was forever’, Chernobyl ‘is forever’; the impact of that single shocking nuclear accident can never be undone; its radioactive footprint is embedded in our world forever and millions of people are still being affected by its deadly legacy.

“The recent military activity at Chernobyl is further proof that Chernobyl remains an unfolding disaster.”

CCI says it is calling for an immediate evacuation of those who are trapped in the Chernobyl Region, especially the innocent and vulnerable children, to cleaner and safer areas in Western Ukraine.

CCI is also calling on the Irish Government to lobby the UN to declare that any attack on Chernobyl or any other Ukrainian nuclear facilities, be deemed a most heinous war crime, and for the region to be declared a ‘no War Zone’.