'Each
fire around Chernobyl re-mobilizes poison'
RT,
3
May, 2015
As
opposing views on the Chernobyl fires persist, nuclear waste expert
Kevin Kamps believes the problem is now an international one,
requiring multi-faceted efforts. The region is a tinderbox, as each
fresh calamity rearranges the deadly poisons.
RT: How
serious are the wildfires in effecting the radiation levels in the
region?
Kevin
Kamps: It
is significant and it is not a one-time affair. There have been many
fires over the years, and with climate change, with drought, with the
death of the forest from the radioactivity in the first place, the
fact that the litter, the leaves and the dead tress will not decay
properly, again because of radioactivity.
This
is a tinderbox and there is always potential for a catastrophic
radioactive wildfire. Each of these fires is remobilizing poison,
cesium 137 and strontium 90, plutonium of different isotopes into the
air. So the firefighters are in harms’ way. Anyone down wind who
breathes it, could ingest these poisons and that can result in cancer
or other diseases.
RT: You
have been in Chernobyl yourself. What was your impression and how is
the area reacting to what had happened in the original нdisaster?
READ
MORE: ‘No one tells us the truth’: Locals near Chernobyl fear
radiation, Kiev says fire put out
KK: I've
flown to Ukraine and Belarus a number of times in the years and
decades, all related to Chernobyl activities. And this is an ongoing
catastrophe in so many ways. Every spring thaw, with the snow and the
ice, the very water solvable cesium will wash into the waterways, the
surface waters. It could contaminate drinking water supplies. So
unfortunately the radioactive ecosystem, the radioactive environment
that people live in is an ongoing risk.
RT: What
you're saying is contrary to what they're saying. Their claim is
there is no radiation threat. What do you make of that?
KK: First
of all, you need very significant radiation detection equipment to
know what is going on. And every different approach in trying to
figure out what is happening in the environment requires different
equipment, whether it is in the air, the water, or food supplies.
You
have to have the right equipment to even know what is going on. Our
senses aren't really geared toward detecting radioactivity. Although
it is very telling that the firefighters testified about tasting
metal and feeling a tingling on their skin due to these radioactive
fires. That is an indication of significantly high levels of
radioactive contamination.
RT: Locals
are claiming they didn’t have any evacuation instructions at all...
KK: This
is an international issue and Ukraine should not be left alone with
it. Because the risks are international down wind and down stream,
resources should be made to deal with those threats. So certain areas
of the forest may need clear cutting to prevent this from happening.
Certainly,
firefighting equipment sufficient to meet this challenge has to be
put in place. And of course the firefighters themselves need to have
respiratory protection.
RT: Can
these fires at the moment reignite the original levels of radiation?
KK: To
give some idea, there have been scientific studies done by Timothy
Mousseauat at the University of S. Carolina and a team of colleagues.
Their determination is that the fires of 2002, 2008 and 2010, just
three of these fires, excluding 1992 and 1996, have remobilized 8
percent of the original cesium 137 contamination back into the
atmosphere, which is really significant because it was a such a large
amount of contamination.
So
for eight percent to go back up into the air just because of three of
these fires, not to mention any of the others, is very significant
indeed.
From the Russian meteorological service a map showing the location of the fires/. To the immediate right is Pripyat' and to the right (and down) is Chernobyl'
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