The videos, which were seen by Sky News Arabia, showed the reactor surrounded by tanks and armored vehicles, and it is noteworthy that pictures showed soldiers from the Ukrainian National Guard, and they appeared to cooperate with the Russian special forces inside the station.
One of the Russian soldiers, covering his face in front of the cameras, says that radiation levels are “under control”, stressing that “the protection of the area is carried out (jointly) with the Ukrainian National Guard and the civil servants who work here.”
This clip raised questions, including why until now the reactor is run by civilian workers in Ukraine? And why is the Ukrainian National Guard involved in securing the facilities as the fighting between the two sides intensifies?
Sky News Arabic contacted nuclear energy experts and political analysts to find out whether there was a technical reason forcing the Russians to share power over the station with the Ukrainians, or whether it was political propaganda.
The nuclear expert and former deputy head of the Egyptian Nuclear Energy Authority, Dr. Ali Abdel Naby, answers that the Chernobyl nuclear plant contained 4 Russian-made reactors, and there are none in the world except in Russia and Ukraine.
According to Abd al-Nabi, it was reactor number four that caused the disaster of the 1986 explosion, which destroyed the roof of the reactor, which weighs 2,000 tons of iron and steel; This led to a huge radioactive leak. As for the rest of the reactors, they went out of service in a row, the last of which was discontinued in 2000.
Abdul-Nabi points out that the reactors’ going out of service is not the end of the day. There are long-term procedures, including maintenance and cooling work for burning nuclear fuel; This necessitates the presence of maintenance teams and nuclear experts inside the reactor.
Also, the reactor that caused the crisis is surrounded by very large concrete and steel blocks, and this also needs periodic follow-up.
With regard to the latest development, the nuclear expert continues, the Russian forces know what is happening in the area of the reactors, and when they approached them, they asked the Ukrainian forces to conclude an agreement that would allow the Ukrainian forces protecting the reactor, maintenance teams and experts to remain; Because their evacuation will put Russia in charge of maintaining the reactor, and carrying out maintenance and prevention.
Until now, the region is considered a very dangerous source of radiation, and both sides are well aware of this. It was necessary to reach a serious agreement between them in order not to exacerbate the crisis, according to the same spokesman.
Radiation and dust tanks
For his part, political analyst Majed Al-Anwar says that the status of Chernobyl is different from any hotspot between Russia and Ukraine; This site is among the dangerous areas for the high level of radiation, and the countries are well aware of the extent of the disaster if the reactor is damaged; Where reports announced that radiation levels increased in the air only due to the dust of tanks and armored vehicles heading towards it, let alone if confrontations erupted.
The political analyst speculated that the picture taken by the Russian and Ukrainian forces while they were working in the service of the reactor might be the result of a secret agreement; Fear of exacerbating the situation.
The Chernobyl reactor is linked to one of the worst health disasters in human history, an explosion in the reactor core that caused a radiation leak equivalent to the size and capacity of 500 nuclear bombs of the same type as those dropped on Japan on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
According to the statistics of the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, 2.3 million residents are still suffering from the disaster.
The explosion also caused the pollution of 1.4 million hectares of agricultural land in Ukraine and Belarus with polluted radiation.