Valeriy Semenov’s main concern was to prevent another disaster as Russian troops launched their tanks into the offensive. Chernobyl scene worst nuclear disaster in history. During the 35-day occupation, when the activities of the invading soldiers caused radioactivity levels to rise, he and dozens of employees returned to work.
Tanks, armored trucks and dozens of Russian soldiers settled in the forbidden zone and took over the nuclear power plant on February 24; this would come after more than a thousand soldiers were deployed in one of the areas doing all sorts of imprudence. has the highest levels of radioactivity on the planet.
But Semenov, the engineer responsible for safety and maintenance at the nuclear power plant.Despite the threats he received from the Russians, he decided to continue his studies. During the 35-day occupation, where he had to work almost 24 hours a day in shifts to ensure there were no radioactive leaks that would trigger another disaster like the one in 1986.
“We are talking about the security of the whole city, not just the security of this city. Ukraine. Anything that happened to Chernobyl would affect the rest of the country”, assures this engineer in a phone call with Efe.
playing with fire
When Russian troops entered Chernobyl, According to Semenov, 177 Ukrainian soldiers guarding the area surrendered their weapons for two reasons: because the invaders had more weapons and because shooting inside the nuclear power plant was literally playing with fire.
“Everything going on inside the facility would have been radiation leaks that would have hit us hard if they had damaged it. “It was a big threat,” he says.
After hours of negotiation with the Russians, they reached an agreement to allow the maintenance specialists to continue their work. To guarantee the safety of the place, especially the sarcophagus of the nuclear reactor, which was partially destroyed in the accident 36 years ago.
As a bargaining chip, however, they took 169 Ukrainian soldiers hostage, who were transported by trucks to an unknown location, possibly Belarus or Russia.
fatal blunders
One of Semenov’s main tasks during the occupation, “Observe the Russians” and warn them of the danger in the area. But it was all in vain because the soldiers, all very young, were “very curious” about what they had found in Chernobyl.
They looted all kinds of tools, tampered with contaminated objects, and even messed with the remains of a small equipment display that worked in 1986, which they also used to strengthen the barricades at the nuclear power plant.
What surprised Semenov most was this: The Russians used the trunks of the so-called Red Forest -a wooded area that absorbed large amounts of radiation after the accident and is now one of the most polluted areas on the planet- make fires, shelters and fortifications.
There they also dug ditches, lifted dirty dust onto their roads with tanks and trucks, and set up checkpoints.
“After doing this for a week, we had to beg them to stop because they were increasing their radiation levels, and it’s very dangerous,” says Semenov.
On the occasion of the anniversary of the disaster, the director-general of the IAEA will lead a delegation of experts to conduct radiological assessments and thus learn about the results of Russian activities during the five-week occupation.
According to Yevhen Kramarenko, head of the State Department for the Management of the State Exclusion Zone of Ukraine, Russian troops barricaded in Chernobyl will “experience the consequences” of long-term exposure to radioactivity.
Radiation levels were under-measured, in part because the Russians stole workers’ dosimeters and cut off all factory communications.
That is why Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will head an expert delegation at the nuclear power plant this Tuesday, which coincides with the anniversary of the 1986 disaster. make radiological assessments and thus know the results of Russian activity during the five weeks of the occupation.
Semenov continued to work in Chernobyl even after the Russian troops withdrew on March 31, assuring that “at this time there is no danger to those working” because the invaders “did not violate international violations to a large extent.” live”.
“There is no longer any danger to the facility or the whole country. “I think we’ve done a great job of negotiating and policing and that’s why we’re safe,” he says.
Source: Informacion
