The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which caused a nuclear disaster 34 years ago, again puts people’s lives in danger. The fire, which started on April 4 in Chernobyl, where the closed nuclear power plant is located, has led to the burning of 12 villages and a large wooded area that have been evacuated after the nuclear disaster so far. The fire, which has been going on since April 4, has now begun to approach the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in a dangerous manner. People from the region state that the fire is 2 km from a waste site of the nuclear power plant. “The government hides the size of the fire” Yaroslav Yemelianenko, a member of the advisory committee of the Ukraine Emergency Service, wrote in a post on Facebook that the fire reached the abandoned city of Pripyat and that the fire is now 2 km from the waste disposal site of the nuclear power plant. Yemelianenko accused the Ukrainian government of hiding the dimensions of the fire. In the statement made by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on Monday, it was stated that the scale of the fire is large, but the radiation level is normal. The Emergency Department asked people not to heed fire-related “apocalyptic scenarios” and also stated that the fire is not a threat to critical areas. In the statement made by the Emergency Department, it was announced that 310 firefighters, dozens of fire trucks, 3 aircraft and 3 helicopters were fighting against fire. The distance from the nuclear power plant was not disclosed by the relevant ministry. “Fire is bigger than official predictions” Greenpeace’s Russian branch said on Monday that the fire was larger than the predictions of the Ukrainian government agencies and could pose a health risk. “A fire approaching a nuclear or hazardous radiation facility is always a risk,” said Rashid Alimov, Greenpeace’s Energy Projects President in Russia. The fire that has been going on since April 4 caused the burning of the 30 km area around the nuclear power plant and where human settlement is prohibited. Strong winds that continued throughout the weekend caused the fire to get stronger.
