Forest fire breaks out near Chernobyl nuclear plant

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A fire has broken out in woods near Ukraine's disused Chernobyl nuclear plant, the site of a meltdown in 1986.

 

Emergency services were battling on Tuesday to prevent Ukraine's largest forest fire since 1992 from spreading towards the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said about 400 hectares of forest was alight in the exclusion zone around the plant

Up to 200 firefighters, along with scores of trucks and aircraft, were tackling the blaze about 15 to 20km (9 to 12 miles) from the nuclear plant.

The meltdown at Chernobyl sent a plume of radiation across Europe, the worst nuclear accident in history.

Maya Rudenko, a spokeswoman for Chernobyl, told the AFP news agency that the fire posed no risk to the heavily contaminated former plant.

 

 

 

Arson suspected

 

But Mr Avakov warned that "the high flames and sudden gusts of wind mean there is a serious risk that the fire could spread".

He added that authorities suspected the fire was started deliberately and had tightened security around the exclusion zone.

Ukraine's Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk visited the area on Tuesday afternoon and later told reporters the fire was "under control".

A state nuclear inspection official told AFP that the level of background radiation around the plant had not changed since the fire broke out.

 

A fire raged at the plant for ten days after the reactor meltdown 1986, sending huge amounts of radioactive material into the surrounding environment and over large parts of Europe, particularly Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.

 

The area around the plant was evacuated and a 30km (19 mile) exclusion zone remains in place to this day. Work on laying a new seal over the damaged reactor began in 2007 and is due to be completed this year.

 

 

 

 

source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32502393

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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