Fears for Ukraine’s nuclear facilities follow Russian troops taking charge of Chernobyl site

‘Obviously, you don’t want nuclear reactors in the middle of a war. But here we are,’ says nuclear waste expert Cheryl Rofer on the situation in Ukraine. While reports of spiking radiation levels around the decommissioned Chernobyl power plant and missiles hitting two radioactive waste disposal sites don’t seem to be of immediate concern, they have shown how vulnerable other nuclear sites across the country remain to accidental – or intentional – damage.

‘So much can go wrong in this situation’, says Azby Brown, lead researcher for the citizen science organisation Safecast, which manages a global radiation data network. ‘A shell damaging a nuclear facility could be disastrous, could lead to a widespread release of radiation. The Russians’ behaviour is in violation of every procedure, every safety guideline, every international agreement, every agreement of the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency]. It is foolish to trust that they will behave in a way that preserves safety.’