IAEA chief warns of ‘abnormal’ radiation levels during visit to Chernobyl

By AFP 26 April 2022, 4:02 pm

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Russian trenches and firing positions in the highly radioactive Red Forest stuffed with radioactive remnants near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, on April 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

CHERNOBYL, Ukraine — The level of radiation at the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site is “abnormal,” rising after Russian forces took over the area, the UN atomic watchdog’s chief says while visiting today.

“The radiation level, I would say, is abnormal. There have been some moments when the levels have gone up because of the movement of the heavy equipment that Russian forces were bringing here and when they left. We are following that day by day,” International Atomic Energy Agency director Rafael Grossi says.