Nearly 40 years after nuclear disaster, radioactive substances still dangerous, scientist says

April 26, Pozirk. The Chernobyl accident occurred precisely because radiation was not taken seriously, Siarhiej Biesarab, a radiation scientist, has told Pozirk.

The No. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded in the early hours of April 26, 1986.

Although the plant is located in Ukraine, about 70% of the radioactive fallout from landed in Belarus, heavily contaminating one-fourth of the country, one-fifth of its agricultural land and affecting at least 7 million people.

“In 1986, most contamination was on the surface and could be measured by simple dosimetry devices. In 2024, most of the contamination is hidden in food, trees and plants, and can only be detected by spectrometry,” Biesarab said referring to an analytical technique that is used to identify chemicals by shattering them into smaller fragments and determining the masses of those fragments.

“A usual cheap household dosimeter no longer shows anything. This applies to caesium and strontium, which are well known to the media, but also to alpha ray emitters such as plutonium and americium. And it turns out that alpha radiation is 20 times more dangerous,” he said.

For instance, when villagers burn wood to heat their houses, “they put the wood’s radionuclides back into the active state they were in 1986.”

Locally, on a piece of fabric, a 1 μm small alpha particle of plutonium or americium emits 50,000 rads per hour. But even a dose as small as 20,000 rads per hour leads to carcinogenesis, he said.

“So the radiation from this dust particle exceeds all safety limits. Suppose a plant containing plutonium ions burns, sending ash and dust into the air. A very stable aerosol is formed. The wind carries it wherever it blows. Scientists have found that dust storms transport and distribute isotopes such as cesium, strontium, americium and plutonium.”

Storms are mostly recorded in Belarus’ contaminated areas, he noted.

In addition, scientists say, storms occur regularly in the spring-summer period.

“Seasonal wind carries them across the country, so it is advisable not to do any agricultural activity during this time,” Biesarab said.

From April to June, fires, construction and the movement of vehicles are not desirable in the contaminated areas.

Although officials are aware of it, the military is building fortifications there and farms cultivate land. “This is just crazy,” he said.

Also read: Caesium-contaminated area shrunk to 12 percent of Belarus – official