Posted on 04/09/2022 6:30:23 AM PDT by Timber Rattler
As the staging ground for an assault on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, one of the most toxic places on earth, was probably not the best choice. But that did not seem to bother the Russian generals who took over the site in the early stages of the war.
“We told them not to do it, that it was dangerous, but they ignored us,” Valeriy Simyonov, the chief safety engineer for the Chernobyl nuclear site, said in an interview.
Apparently undeterred by safety concerns, the Russian forces tramped about the grounds with bulldozers and tanks, digging trenches and bunkers — and exposing themselves to potentially harmful doses of radiation lingering beneath the surface.
(snip)
At just one site of extensive trenching a few hundred yards outside the town of Chernobyl, the Russian army had dug an elaborate maze of sunken walkways and bunkers. An abandoned armored personnel carrier sat nearby.
The soldiers had apparently camped out for weeks in the radioactive forest. While international nuclear safety experts say they have not confirmed any cases of radiation sickness among the soldiers, the cancers and other potential health problems associated with radiation exposure might not develop until decades later.
(snip)
In a particularly ill-advised action, a Russian soldier from a chemical, biological and nuclear protection unit picked up a source of cobalt-60 at one waste storage site with his bare hands, exposing himself to so much radiation in a few seconds that it went off the scales of a Geiger counter, Mr. Simyonov said. It was not clear what happened to the man, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I understand they burned firewood in the area. That was probably worse than digging in the ground. Radioactive elements collect in the plants and trees live a long time.
https://realrawnews.com/2022/04/putin-frees-35000-imprisoned-children-in-ukraine/
https://realrawnews.com/2022/03/putin-beheads-bioweapon-engineers-in-ukraine/
I truly hope you don’t believe that shit.
Maybe the Russians want some data points for rad exposure to extrapolate for a similar event they expect on their own soil….
You know, like scouting out a team in a preseason scrimmage match.
I is good etiquette when posting an article that is behind a paywall... to find a link that gets people to a source where it can be read. They are typically found at archive.org or similar places. I am still looking.
As a retired Hazmat Officer who drilled with the military frequently the excerpts you posted smell like complete BS. The Russians may be a lot of bad things, but they have plenty of people who know a lot about radiation hazards.
All speculation. No evidence. Could be, not recommended, and, of course, the “experts”.
Saw this on TV this morn. Russians apparently walked over ‘hot’ soil, brought it back to the dorm area and contaminated every thing. They slept in it, then abandoning the site, took the intense radioactivity with them on their clothes and equipment.
Glow in the dark Orcs.
Link to the same story not behind a paywall...
That’s nothing. Back in the early days of Stalin’s race for nuclear weapons, his plutonium plants gave the workers paper suits, no gloves, a broom and had them clean out the plutonium processing tubes. Contrary to everything, most lived. This is a very old story from 1998-2000 so I doubt if it is still online.
Entrenching into radioactive soil is the new definition of “stooopid.”
There are sat images of the trenches. Digging in that ground is a bad idea. Rolling around in that soil is not a good idea either.
Do I think they are all going to get cancer? I have no idea of their exposure.
But the fact that trenches were dug around the plant is pretty obvious to an objective eye.
I hope they all melt from the inside out.
L
Thank You
Interesting story from the Stalin era... of course he died in 1953. At that time our own government was still exposing both the military and the public to radiation hazards that would be considered unacceptable these days.
Most of the people who actually have experience working with radioactive materials or are exposed to low level radiation have a different perspective than others about the danger involved. People who are exposed to low level radiation such as pilots or workers in nuclear power plants typically have lower cancer rates than the public.
Your Stalin era story may not be as outlandish as you imagine. The primary radiation hazard in these plutonium plants may have been a lack of personal hygiene and keeping contaminated particulate out of people’s lings and digestive systems. They most likely were wearing some form of respiratory protection otherwise there likely would have been more health problems associated. And the disposable paper clothing likely helped keep people from taking radioactive dirt and filth home with them.
NYT? Saturday morning funnies.
Best avoided even if the radiation isn't an issue... which it is.
Jeremy Wade of River Monsters was granted 5 continuous days of fishing at Chernobyl. There are hotspots at the site and without radiation detectors there is no way to know where they are. If he hit his radiation limit before the 5 days were up, he had to leave.
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