Ukraine reports high but ‘non-critical’ Chernobyl radiation

An aerial view from an aircraft shows a new Safe Confinement (NSC) structure above the old sarcophagus covering the damaged 4th reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant during a tour to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine, April 3, 2021. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo

(Reuters) – Ukraine’s Nuclear Energy Agency and the Interior Ministry said on Friday they were recording increased radiation levels from the site of the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Experts at the state nuclear agency did not mention exact radiation levels, but said the change was due to the movement of heavy military equipment in the area raising radioactive dust into the air.

The Ministry of the Interior said: “The radiation begins to increase. It is not critical for Kiev at the moment, but we are watching.”

The still radioactive site of the 1986 nuclear disaster is located about 100 kilometers from Kiev.

Poland, neighboring Ukraine, said it had not recorded any increase in radiation levels on its territory.

(Pavel Politiuk and Gabriela Bachinska report); Editing by Hugh Lawson

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