Nuclear power plant in Chernobyl – nuclear engineer: “We stole fuel from the Russians to prevent disaster”

– Nuclear engineer: “We stole fuel from the Russians to prevent disaster”

What happened during the occupation of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which is once more under Ukrainian control? Plant employees tell the media regarding it.

Published today at 3:59 p.m

Ukrainian soldiers patrol the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (April 5, 2022)

Photo: Aleksander Ratushniak (AP/dpa/Keystone)

Shortly following invading Ukraine on February 24, Russian troops occupied the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant. However, Ukrainian personnel continued to take care of the maintenance work on the plant that was damaged in 1986. In an interview with the Russian-language branch of the British Senders BBC an engineer has revealed details of the Russian occupation.

“We had to constantly negotiate with them and do our best not to offend them so that they allowed our staff to manage the object,” said engineer Valery Semonov in the interview published on Saturday.

Could have come to “tragedy for mankind”.

During the occupation, the power also went out at times. At the time, he secretly stole fuel from the Russian soldiers to keep the emergency generators running, the Ukrainian expert said. “I wasn’t afraid for my life. I was afraid of what would happen if I didn’t take care of the facility.

Aleksander Lobada, the station’s radiation protection officer, added in the interview: “If we had lost the power supply, it might have been catastrophic. Radioactive material might have been released.” Lobada feared that “a tragedy for humanity” might have occurred. Radioactive waste is still stored in Chernobyl today.

Concern regarding missing colleagues – dig “in the red forest”

The employees of the former nuclear power plant are concerned regarding their colleagues who are believed to have been kidnapped to Russia. About 170 Ukrainian National Guardsmen who secured the plant were held hostage by the occupation in the building’s bomb shelter. The Ukrainian leadership accuses Russia of forcibly bringing the workforce to Russia followingwards. The information might not initially be verified.

CNN also reports high levels of radiation in the so-called “Red Forest”, a radioactive exclusion zone near the nuclear power plant. In the past few days there have been several reports that Russian soldiers have dug trenches in the forest and are said to have irradiated themselves in the process. “We told them not to do it, that it was too dangerous – but they ignored us,” Engineer Semonow said in an interview with the New York Times.

Drone footage intended to show trenches and earth dug up.

Photo: Ukraine Army/Energoatom

Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s former president, visited Chernobyl on Friday with food and other supplies for staff. The way to Chernobyl was only made possible by an off-road route. The bridge to Chernobyl was previously blown up to stop the Russian advance.

Ukrainian soldiers stand on a destroyed bridge between the village of Dytiatky and Chernobyl.

Photo: Aleksander Ratushniak (AP/dpa/Keystone)

SDA

Published today at 3:59 p.m

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