Raging fires threaten Chernobyl nuclear plant

Forest fires raged yesterday in the contaminated area near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, but officials insisted there is no radiation threat.

Hundreds of firefighters backed by aircraft have been battling several forest fires around Chernobyl since last week. They managed to contain the initial blazes, but new fires are now raging close to the decommissioned plant.

Volodymyr Demchuk of Ukraine’s state Emergencies Service insisted that the situation is under control.

“There is no threat to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, waste fuel storage or other critical facilities.”

The emergencies service said radiation levels in the capital, Kiev, about 100 kilometers south of the plant, were within norms.

Activists warned, however, that the blazes were getting dangerously close to waste storage facilities.

Yaroslav Yemelyanenko, a member of the public council under the state agency in charge of the closed zone around the plant, said one fire was raging within 2 kilometers from one of the radioactive waste depots. “The situation is critical,” he said.

Last week, officials said they tracked down a person suspected of triggering the blaze by setting dry grass on fire in the area. The 27-year-old said he burned grass “for fun” and then failed to extinguish the fire when the wind caused it to spread quickly.