Current Affairs

Issue

Invading Russian forces have managed to capture the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after a brief war with Ukrainian forces.

Background

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a war on Ukraine and Russian troops have entered Ukraine from all the three sides.

Details

• Chernobyl is the site for one of the most devastating nuclear disasters in history.

• It caused a major embarrassment for erstwhile Soviet Union regarding its technical capabilities.

The plant

• The plant, also known as Vladimir Lenin Nuclear Power Plant, is located near the city of Pripyat in northern Ukraine on the banks of river Pripyat.

• The plant was commissioned in 1977 and consisted of four RBMK-1000 reactors. It was the first nuclear plant on Ukrainian soil and third in Soviet Union.

The disaster

• The reactor number 4 at the Chernobyl power plant exploded and caught fire in 1986. It resulted in emission of radioactive material into the sky.

• The radioactive strontium, caesium and plutonium affected Ukraine and neighboring Belarus, as well as parts of Russia and Europe.

• A number of direct and indirect deaths were reported due to effects of the radiation caused by the nuclear disaster.

Post disaster

• The Soviet authorities decommissioned the plant and constructed a sarcophagus to limit radiation.

• Still, the catastrophe seems to have contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union few years later.

Reasons for capture

• The plant zone lies between the Belarus-Ukraine border and the Ukrainian capital. It is a strategic location for Russian troops to enter Ukraine.

• There was a belief that Ukraine would destroy the plant to spread radiation and prevent Russian troops from advancing into the country.

• Russia also wanted to make sure that their shelling or rocket attacks did not cause damage to the structure resulting in radiation leak.