Through Quentin PERCEROU, editor
Posted on 04/15/20, updated on 04/16/20 at 10:07 a.m.-
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Since April 4, a fire has broken out in the Chernobyl exclusion zone in Ukraine. The flames moved closer to the reactors and radioactive fumes were released from these fires.
The first months of 2020 definitely accumulate anxiety-provoking events. Last event to date: a fire around the old reactors of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. As a reminder, these are the most serious nuclear disaster of the 20th century which claimed the lives of almost 35,000 people (Ukrainian data, this number could be much higher).
Where’s the fire?
The fire, started on April 4 by a young arsonist, burned more than 20,000 hectares of forest around the Chernobyl power plant. The strong winds of the past weekend helped make the situation critical. Using satellite surveys, the NGO Greenpeace estimated that the flames came within two kilometers of the nuclear power plant. Still according to the same organization, even if this area is used to forest fires, it is the worst fire in the last thirty years.
Wildfires near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant burning since April 3 have already become the largest for the entire existence of this exclusion zone. These fires are extremely dangerous because radionuclides located in the upper soil layers might be released into the air. pic.twitter.com/QyDkeq6PGY
– Greenpeace Russia (@greenpeaceru) April 13, 2020
Tuesday April 14, and according to Ukrainian authorities, the fire is under control. The 400 firefighters and a very active disturbance from Monday to Tuesday made it possible to take advantage of the fire which threatened one of the reactors of the plant. But the surfaces contaminated and burned by the fire raised a worrying plume of smoke.
Where are the smoke from the fire going?
Even if the fire is brought under control, another concern remains. The contaminated and burned surface of Chernobyl releases cesium 137 into the air, one of the elements released during the explosion of one of the reactors of the power station in 1986. This element then mixes with the smoke and gives rise to radioactive clouds that can be carried for several kilometers and beyond borders.
According to the images, the fumes traceable by carbon monoxide went to the north and northeast of the contaminated and burned area. With the arrival of a cold front between Monday and Tuesday, the one that brought the saving rains, the wind changed direction and these fumes went in the opposite direction: namely towards the south, in the direction of the capital of the country, Kiev.
Are the fumes from the fire dangerous?
However, the Kiev authorities have indicated that the level of radioactivity is normal. The Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) in turn indicates that the level of radioactivity is not abnormal. The institute installed a beacon in April 2011 at the French embassy in Kiev. The institute will conduct surveys in eastern France to confirm these mersures.
What risk for France?
According to our forecasts, Ukraine is on the eastern edge of the high pressure which protects a large part of theCentral Europe and France right now. The flow over the area is therefore oriented to the west, pushing the smoke towards the east, which protects France as well as Central Europe. As for the fires, several disrupted passages during the week and new rains should help the firefighters in extinguishing the remaining fires.
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