Chernobyl and Eastern Europe Blog

Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Institutes H1N1 Flu Precautions

2009-11-05T16:06:22Z

Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant General Director Igor Gramotkin has requested all staff at the facility to take a serious and responsible attitude toward the H1N1 influenza epidemic that is spreading throughout Ukraine.

All employees are expected to make every effort to avoid the spread of infection within their families and team members at the plant. The Chernobyl Plant administration has also ordered appropriate sanitary measures be taken at the facility to protect the health of all employees.

Despite a shortage of funds, management has purchased specialized, high-strength disinfectants that are used for the treatment of surfaces in public places. Disinfectants have also been used to clean all the electric trains that transport workers to and from their homes in Slavutych, as well as on buses that employees use between the train and the plant buildings.

H1N1 Flu Panic in Ukraine

2009-11-03T18:20:41Z

In case you have not been paying attention to current events in Ukraine over the past week, or have simply been hiding under a rock, the eastern European country is firmly in the grip of an H1N1 flu panic.

According to the Kyiv Post, 71 people in Ukraine have died from flu or acute respiratory infections since the epidemic began. It is not known if any of those deaths are directly related to the H1N1 swine flu.

Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko indicated that through November 2 - 19,198 Ukrainians have contracted the flu and over 236,000 had acute respiratory infections. Citizens are so concerned about H1N1 that many people are now wearing medical masks whenever they go outdoors. Tymoshenko has even commissioned two million face masks to be made in the nation's prisons.

The panic has resulted in extreme reactions including:

People staying home from work
Schools closed until further notice
Food markets closed (by government order)
Public meetings banned
Roads closed between oblasts (I'm not sure how this can be enforced)

Greetings from Kyiv provides an interesting hypothesis regarding the public's panicked reaction:

Rumors are abounding everywhere about just what is going on in Ukraine. What some people outside of Ukraine don't understand is that there is a history in this country of the government not giving out vital health information (check your history on Chernobyl) and a socialized medical system in which many times doctors do not even communicate to people what kind of disease they have. So it makes sense that Ukrainians are nervous about what is really happening around them.

My friend ModovAnn, who lives in Kyiv, has also posted some interesting insights about the flu panic on her blog.

Photos: trinixy.ru (via English Russia)

After Chernobyl Web Exhibit

2009-10-27T17:43:58Z

Regular readers of Chernobyl and Eastern Europe may remember a series of posts I wrote last April about a new photo exhibit entitled Inside Chernobyl: life goes on by my friend Michael Forster Rothbart.

Inside Chernobyl: life goes on
Inside Chernobyl Photo Exhibit

This exhibit was displayed for two weeks in Kyiv's Shevchenko Park and later in Slavutych, the city that replaced Pripyat as home for the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant workers.

Rothbart has since returned to the United States after completing a 10-month Fulbright fellowship, in which he spent time documenting life in Slavutych and villages near the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. He has created a second exhibit titled After Chernobyl, which details the daily lives of Chernobylites including samosels, former Zone residents and liquidators. This exhibit has recently been showing at the University of Wisconsin and is scheduled for other showings in the future.

If you are not able to see the exhibit in Wisconsin and are interested in seeing part of this show, Rothbart has just released a preliminary beta version of his new After Chernobyl web exhibit. This unique site is more than just a web gallery. It has been designed as a place where visitors can participate in meaningful discussions about the photographs by leaving either text or audio comments on each page.

This website utilizes VoiceThread to create a collaborative, multimedia slide show. It is different than any other Chernobyl site you have seen on the web and definitely worth your time. Check it out when you get a chance.

Rothbart is planning a second, much larger web exhibit for 2010. Upcoming shows of his Chernobyl photo exhibits are currently scheduled for:

Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Art, Kharkiv, Ukraine - Autumn 2009
National Chernobyl Museum, Kyiv, Ukraine - Autumn 2009
Washington, D.C. - Spring 2010 (Details to come)

Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Pond to be Decommissioned

2009-10-21T22:06:38Z

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is currently conducting a three-day seminar in Kyiv, Ukraine to discuss problems related to the decommissioning of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant's cooling pond.

The seminar, which was organized at the request of Chernobyl Plant management, includes experts from the United States, France and IAEA with expertise in the treatment of radioactively contaminated ecosystems. A date for decommissioning the cooling pond has yet to be announced.

The Chernobyl cooling pond is an artificial body of water that was created to cool the heat exchangers of four nuclear reactor units at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. As a result of the Chernobyl accident, the cooling pond was exposed to extremely high levels of contamination. The reservoir area has an approximate volume of 8.5 square miles, or 5,297,199,985 cubic feet.

The cooling pond is also home to a large number of huge catfish. It is not known what will eventually be done with the catfish when the reservoir is fully decommissioned.

Video: Catfish in Chernobyl Nuclear Plant Cooling Pond

2009-10-15T14:19:30Z

This video shows a large number of catfish that live in the cooling pond at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. In the video, you can also see an albino catfish.

These catfish are huge, but their size has nothing to do with radiation or contamination within the cooling pond. They are large because there are no predators in the pond and they eat very well.

A popular local tradition during many trips to Chernobyl is to stop at the small store/bar in Chernobyl town and purchase loaves of bread. After arriving at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant, visitors can step onto a small bridge, break off large chunks of bread and feed the catfish.

For more information about wildlife in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, visit http://www.chornobyl.in.ua

Video: Plant mutations in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

2009-10-12T14:35:22Z

The following short video (in Russian) discusses plant mutations in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone's Red Forest.

The Red Forest was an area decimated by radioactive fallout from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident. It is called the Red Forest because of the ginger-brown color of the pine trees after they died following exposure to high amounts of radiation. During cleanup operations, the Red Forest was completely bulldozed and buried in trenches.

In the past 23 years, a new pine forest has emerged, but remains highly contaminated. My friend Sergey has posted more information about the current status of the Red Forest in English at http://www.chornobyl.in.ua/en/red_forest.htm and another article in Russian at http://www.chornobyl.in.ua/red_forest_today.htm

Photo courtesy of www.chornobyl.in.ua

Poachers Caught Fishing in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

2009-10-08T14:47:21Z

On September 30, 2009, four men were arrested for catching fish from the Pripyat River in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

The men, between 28 and 40 years old, had caught 217 fish in their nets worth more than 2,000 UAH (approximately $235 US). The men claimed this was the first time they were in the Exclusion Zone and were fishing only for their own consumption.

Authorities are now checking if any contaminated fish from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone are being sold in markets within the Kyiv region.

The offenders have been banned from future entry into the Zone. Authorities have opened a criminal case against them, under Article 249 of Ukraine's Criminal Code (Illegal fishing). All boats, motors and nets were confiscated.

Geez, 217 fish between four people and it was caught for themselves? Unlikely, unless they planned to cure and smoke it.

Obviously, wood and scrap metal are not the only things criminals try to remove from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. This makes me wonder if Kyiv's food supply is really safe.

Video: Rabid Wolf at Chernobyl Nuclear Plant

2009-10-06T17:25:03Z

My friend Sergey recently posted two videos of a wolf encounter at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. The wolf, which was apparently affected by rabies, tried repeatedly to enter a building at the Chernobyl Plant.

Here are the videos:

You can also read about wolves and the rabies problem in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone on Sergey's website, http://www.chornobyl.in.ua

Google translate version of wolves and rabies article

Destination Truth: The Ghosts of Chernobyl - My Commentary

2009-10-01T11:53:52Z

Destination Truth's Ghosts of Chernobyl episode finally aired on SyFy last night. I think the only good thing I can say is it was interesting to see Pripyat at night, though it seemed they only spent time in the hospital complex, the cultural center and amusement park. The thermal image of the ferris wheel was also pretty cool.

However, there was a bit of misinformation and redirection in the segment. Since I know the Chernobyl area pretty well, it was easy to identify misinformation and see how their editing took scenes out of chronological order. For instance, there is no "5 km checkpoint." The Dytyatky Checkpoint is at the southern entrance to the 30 km Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The Leliv Checkpoint is located 10 km from the Chernobyl Plant. What Josh Gates said was the 5 km checkpoint is at the entrance to Pripyat, which is 2-3 km from the Chernobyl Plant.

Editing took viewers from the Pripyat Checkpoint directly into the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant parking lot where visitors can see a close up of the Sarcophagus covering Reactor 4 (the visitor's center is also located at this parking lot). In reality, they would have visited the Chernobyl Plant several minutes after passing the Leliv Checkpoint, not the Pripyat Checkpoint.

The Thyroid Shield additive and radiation protection suits were definite overkill. The group was way too concerned about their radiation exposure. They did not seem to be in any areas of Pripyat that are known to have higher levels of contamination.

There is absolutely no way their cumulative dose of radiation reached a dangerous limit in that short amount of time. I personally know people who spend a lot more time in Pripyat, including in areas with higher levels of radiation and they have never had a problem ... and never wore radiation protection suits. Either someone manually set off the alarm or they set their dosimeter to sound its alarm at a very low level, just for effect.

As far as their evidence, my first reaction to the thermal footage with the shape in the window was a reflection, which was later verified by Jason and Grant from Ghost Hunters. I also question the other thermal footage that was referred to as a "great piece of evidence." The Destination Truth crew may have all been in radiation suits, but the shape could have been one of their cameramen or it could have been their guide Yuri. Despite what they implied, there is no way they would have been left completely alone in Pripyat without a guide.

They also got all excited about the small light in the cultural center (second floor of the building). As Jason and Grant mentioned, it could have been an animal. Wild dogs are known to wander the streets of Pripyat. If they did any research on the city, they would also know that thieves have been looting Pripyat for more than 20 years and continue to do so today. Could it have been a looter's flashlight?

The EVP session was also a joke. Construction of Pripyat began in 1970, so it was a young city that was only populated during Soviet times. Why the hell would you ask questions of spirits in the English language? In this location, do you really think someone is going to be able to understand a question in English and respond in English?

Lastly, Jael's freak out when she was "touched" reminded me of a scene with a wrestler on one of Ghost Hunter's live Halloween specials. It was too much of an overreaction to be real. The Destination Truth group is supposed to be there searching for the paranormal. If every little thing is going to scare you, why would you go on such investigations?

Overall, I found the Ghosts of Chernobyl episode to be a disappointment. For me, it revealed major issues with the Destination Truth show - issues that were previously suspected, but now seem more true than ever. These people are supposed to be professionals, yet whenever they see anything suspicious, they jump to the immediate conclusion they experienced something paranormal. Josh Gates has worked with Jason and Grant from Ghost Hunters and should be quite familiar with their approach, where if something is experienced, you investigate and try to disprove it.

I guess I should end with what I thought was a fascinating and appropriate quote from Josh Gates at the end of the episode's second segment: "Panic is a powerful agent of imagination." I think Gates and his crew proved that tonight in the Chernobyl segment, where the destination was not the truth.

Latest Ukrainian Presidential Election Poll - Voting Scheduled for January 2010

2009-09-30T19:43:48Z

After a lengthy layoff, today seems like a good time to return to discussions about Ukrainian politics. Ukraine's next presidential election is scheduled for January 17, 2010. If a second round ballot is necessary, it is expected to occur in February 2010.

According to an August 20, 2009 poll of 3,011 respondents by Kyiv-based Research & Branding Group, the Party of Regions' Viktor Yanukovych will become Ukraine's next president. Incumbent President Viktor Yushchenko has little chance of being a factor in the election. The poll results were:

Viktor Yanukovych - 26%
Yulia Tymoshenko - 16.5%
Arseniy Yatseniuk - 12.6%
Petro Simonenko - 4.5%
Vladimir Lytvyn - 4.2%
Viktor Yushchenko - 2%
Others - 7.3%
Against all candidates - 9.9%

The same poll provided the following results when asked who they would vote for if Tymoshenko and Yanukovych entered a second round of voting:

Viktor Yanukovych - 39.6%
Yulia Tymoshenko - 28%
Against all candidates - 19%
Will not vote - 6.8%
Difficult to answer - 6.6%

The poll also asked respondents which political party they would vote for in a parliamentary election. The results were:

Party of Regions - 27.9%
Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc - 16%
Arseniy Yatseniuk Bloc - 9.2%
Vladimir Lytvyn Bloc - 4.8%
Communist Party - 4.4%
Others - 9.4%
Against all parties - 9.6%
Will not vote - 7.1%
Difficult to answer - 11.6%

President VIktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party fell into the "Others" category. If these results hold through the election, expect some big political changes in Ukraine's government.

Technically, with the exception of less internal bickering, it may be difficult to see any changes in government, but it could very well be a throwback to the Leonid Kuchma era. Remember, Yanukovych was Kuchma's handpicked successor, but still lost to Yushchenko in the 2004 election, due in part to the Orange Revolution.

Don't expect a repeat of the Orange Revolution this time. Yushchenko and Tymoshenko completely blew their chance to effect real change in Ukraine. After all the nonsense of the last five years, all the people want now is a stable political situation and to reverse the course of the country's economic downturn.

Chernobyl Radiation Still Contaminating UK Sheep

2009-09-25T19:18:59Z

The U.K. Food Standards Agency recently published three 2008 monitoring reports about sheep on farms across England, Scotland and Wales that remain under post-Chernobyl restrictions. According to these new reports, none of the affected farms were considered suitable to have their restrictions lifted.

As a result of the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, large quantities of radioactivity was released into the atmosphere. Some of this radioactive contamination fell on upland areas of the United Kingdom where sheep are farmed.

To protect consumers, restrictions were placed upon the movement and sale of sheep from U.K. areas where contamination levels in sheep meat is over 1,000 Becquerels per kilogram (the safety limit set in 1986). Live sheep are currently monitored using hand-held radiation monitors that provide a count rate relating to radioactive contamination.

In 1986, almost 9,000 farms fell under these restrictions. Today, only 369 farms are still under restriction, 95% of which are located in northern Wales.

The Food Standards Agency will continue to survey the sheep to ensure that farms can be released from their restrictions as soon as possible, once the contamination levels in the sheep fall within safety limits.

Image: Welsh Sheep - Photo: Ian Wilson

Chernobyl and Pripyat to be Featured on SyFy's Destination Truth

2009-09-24T14:11:59Z

Destination Truth is a weekly television series on cable's SyFy channel that follows paranormal researcher Josh Gates around the world as he investigates claims of the supernatural. The next episode, scheduled to air on Wednesday, September 30, includes a ghost hunting investigation into the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The Ghosts of Chernobyl segment will include a quick review of the evidence with Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson from the popular SyFy series Ghost Hunters.

When viewing the episode's promo video (see below), it looks like they received permission to spend the night in Pripyat. This is confirmed when watching the minute and a half sneak peak clip (see below) on the Destination Truth website. I don't know how they managed to get that permission - it must be the power of television ... and the power of money. I'm sure they paid a hefty fee for the privilege.

So, what can we expect to see? In the sneak peak video, Gates says they are investigating claims of Pripyat being haunted. I've heard some people report feelings of being watched when walking past the city's hospital complex, but that's about it. If there really are ghosts or anything paranormal in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, I think they would most likely be around the Chernobyl Plant instead of in Pripyat.

Having watched some previous Destination Truth episodes, I think it's a safe bet that we'll see Gates and his crew overreact to something they find or encounter during their investigation. In the sneak peak video, you can see Gates getting into a panic about their geiger counter reading being too high within a room and having to immediately leave. I'm sure it's nothing more than an attempt to make viewers think they are in a truly dangerous situation. In reality, I doubt they encountered extremely high radiation levels. There's no way the Zone Administration would allow them to spend any length of time in a truly dangerous area.

After watching the sneak peak video, I'm wondering how much misinformation is going to be included in the Ghosts of Chernobyl episode. In the sneak peak, Gates refers to Pripyat as the home of the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor, specifically saying the Chernobyl Reactor is inside Pripyat. As most of us know, Pripyat used to be home to the Chernobyl Plant workers, not the plant itself, which is located approximately 3 km south of the city limits. I'll admit it's a small detail, but still a basic fact.

As worrisome as it sounds, this episode may be worth watching for no other reason than to see video footage of Pripyat at night (they use infrared cameras). This is the first time anyone has been allowed to film in Pripyat at night, so it could be interesting. When watching the episode, don't believe for a minute they were left alone in Pripyat without having a guide with them. The guide may not be seen on camera, but there's no way they were allowed to spend a full night in Pripyat completely unsupervised.

I'll write more next week after watching the complete episode.

My commentary on the Ghosts of Chernobyl episode is now online

Promo Video

Here is the episode sneak peak:

Electric Train Crash in Slavutych - Used to Transport Chernobyl Plant Workers

2009-09-11T16:10:01Z

In late August, an electric train crashed in Slavutych, Ukraine. The train was used to transport workers back and forth to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. While no official reason for the accident has been released, it appears the driver was drunk and driving the train at a very high rate of speed. No injuries were reported.

Here are 2 photos from the scene:

Wolf Attack in Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

2009-08-31T18:47:33Z

On August 29, 2009, a wolf in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone attacked six workers at a sanitary facility near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The wolf, which exhibited signs of rabies, rushed the workers before they had time to get to safety.

As a result of the attack, four workers from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and two workers from the contractor Ukrenergomontazh were injured. All victims were hospitalized in specialized health care units in Slavutych and Ivankov. Their conditions are described as satisfactory.

The wolf was later shot and killed by Chernobyl police officers in the area of the long-term waste storage facility near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Kiev area veterinarians performed tests and confirmed the wolf had rabies.

My friend Sergiy has more information on his website about wolves in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

Photo courtesy of http://www.choronobyl.in.ua/

Ukraine Strategy for Radioactive Waste

2009-08-31T16:22:07Z

The Ukrainian government has approved a national strategy for the safe handling and disposal of radioactive waste that has accumulated across the country. Implementation of the plan is expected to start in 2010 and continue for 50 years.

Radioactive Waste Accumulation

At the beginning of 2009, Ukraine had accumulated 2,724,7 thousand cubic meters of solid radioactive waste, including:

1,913 thousand cubic meters in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
600 thousand cubic meters within the Chernobyl Sarcophagus
171 thousand cubic meters from the decontamination of waste disposal sites

The country has also accumulated 42.1 thousand cubic meters of liquid radioactive waste, including:

20,000 cubic meters at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
18,570 cubic meters at other nuclear power plants

Ukraine's Strategy for Dealing with Radioactive Waste

Stage 1 (8 years): Establish a national organization for radioactive waste management, removal of radioactive waste from storage plants, establish a container fleet, construct and commission storage facilities for the disposal of short-lived, low- and intermediate level waste and the storage of highly active and long-lived, low- and intermediate level wastes.
Stage 2 (30 years): Provide for the burial of short-lived, low- and intermediate level wastes, construct and commission a repository for the disposal of high-level, long-lived, low- and intermediate level wastes and develop technologies for the removal of waste from within the original Sarcophagus at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
Stage 3: Complete the disposal of waste from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and the Sarcophagus. This involves deep processing of radioactive wastes on the sites of nuclear power plants, conditioning and storage of radioactive waste containers with further transport to a central repository, the creation of a certified container fleet and the capacity to produce the vehicles, etc.

The entire project is expected to cost 35.8 billion UAH ($4.32 billion US). For Stage 1, 4.9 billion UAH will be provided from the state budget, the State Fund of Radioactive Waste Management, producers of radioactive waste, international organizations and voluntary contributions.