Apr 24 Ukraine. A cigarette or candle at commemoration ceremonies for the Chernobyl nuclear accident, 10 ya, is believed responsible for a fire that's engulfed 5 villages inside the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine. Residents were evacuated from the zone after reactor number 4 exploded in 1986, but were making their annual pilgrimage to their abandoned homes when the blaze broke out. Firefighters report the fire is continuing to spread. Some observers have expressed concern over the radioactive contamination that may be stirred up by the fires but local officials [with a proven track record for accuracy] say there is no cause for concern.
Apr 24 Ukraine [Vremya]. Needles on rad meters showed "big increases" said Russian scientist Edward Bazulkin. On similar reports, US NBC mentioned a "40% increase" in radiation. The increase was caused by fires burning inside the Chernobyl "exclusion zone", around 18 km to SW of the Chernobyl plant. Officials there say there was no threat to its operations.
[With "normal" background rad reported at "several times higher than safe" in some parts of the 30 km exclusion zone, an increase of 40% may be more than significant. But then, unsafe is already unsafe].
Apr 26 Kiev. Ukrainian officials say a "minor radiation leak" has been found in a reactor destroyed at Chernobyl 10 ya, in what is so far the world's worst commercial nuclear accident. Reactor No. 4 was shattered by an explosion and fire 10 ya tomorrow. Today plant operators said a small amount of radioactive dust leaked into the water filtration system of a neighbouring reactor [some reports indicated it was the water table].
Apr 26 Sydney. Env groups are to rally today in Syd to mark the 10th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster and protest against further uranium mining. The Stop Uranium Mining Coal'n will gather outside Energy Resources of Aus offices at Circular Quay at 4.30 pm. The SUMC is made up of various env groups, including the Friends of the Earth, the Wilderness Soc, the Greens, and People for Nuclear Disarmament.
Apr 27. The Chernobyl accident dumped 100s of times the total fallout of the Hiroshima atomic bomb on 10s of 1000s in the Ukraine and other Soviet States. Today at Chernobyl the "survivors" grieved, commemorating the deaths of 100s of "liquidators" -- those that clean up the site.
A military salute was fired of those that died of rad sickness. Reportedly, 6K liquidators have died in Ukraine alone. Pres Kuchma re-affirmed the decision to close the Chernobyl plant in return for W aid. "...the planet is too small for someone else's troubles to be ignored...", he said.
Many people have reportedly rec'd significant doses of rad, but no attempt has been made to track them. According to some US estimates around 1/2 mn deaths across Europe are likely in the next few years as a result of the disaster.
Apr 27 Chernobyl. A monument recalling the world's worst nuclear disaster 10 ya has been dedicated in memory of the dead. The explosion at No 4 reactor killed 32 people at the time, and according to some estimates the radioactive fallout spread by the blast and fire is responsible for the deaths of 150K from radiation-related illnesses since 1986. The unveiling of the monument contrasts with the violence reported in Belarus today, where police and demonstrators clashed in the capital, Minsk. Because of prevailing winds and weather conditions [i.e. rainfall] Belarus was affected more from fallout than the Ukraine. [Radiation maps can be obtained in Minsk for $40 to $50, if you're interested].