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Russian Forces Seize Control of Chernobyl Nuclear Plant (cnn.com) 239

Posted by BeauHD from the latest-developments dept.
"Slashdot has always had an interest in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which CNN describes as 'the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster,'" writes Slashdot reader DevNull127. "Today, CNN is reporting that Chernobyl has been captured by Russian troops." From the report: Troops overran the plant on the first day of Russia's multi-pronged invasion of Ukraine, a spokesperson for the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management, Yevgeniya Kuznetsov, told CNN. "When I came to the office today in the morning (in Kyiv), it turned out that the (Chernobyl nuclear power plant) management had left. So there was no one to give instructions or defend," she said.

Earlier Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russian forces were attempting to wrest control of the nuclear plant. "Russian occupation forces are trying to seize the Chernobyl (nuclear power plant). Our defenders are sacrificing their lives so that the tragedy of 1986 will not be repeated," Zelensky tweeted."This is a declaration of war against the whole of Europe." The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry echoed the President's warning, raising the specter of another nuclear disaster in the city. "In 1986, the world saw the biggest technological disaster in Chernobyl," the ministry tweeted. "If Russia continues the war, Chernobyl can happen again in 2022." "A map shows the power plant is nearly adjacent to the northern border of Ukraine -- so when Russian troops began their invasion, it was one of the first things they encountered," adds DevNull127.

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Russian Forces Seize Control of Chernobyl Nuclear Plant More

Russian Forces Seize Control of Chernobyl Nuclear Plant

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  • Staging area (Score:5, Insightful)

    by JDAustin ( 468180 ) on Thursday February 24, 2022 @05:05PM (#62300683)

    This gives them a staging area where there forces will not be bombarded due to the risk of nuclear radiation release from the plant.

    • sir turn your key!

    • Re:Staging area (Score:4)

      by Strudelkugel ( 594414 ) on Thursday February 24, 2022 @05:35PM (#62300789)
      Chernobyl is a Soviet era relic.

      I wonder if the Russian solders have had the thought, "We are fighting to restore a system that produced this?"

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by MrKaos ( 858439 )

      This gives them a staging area where there forces will not be bombarded due to the risk of nuclear radiation release from the plant.

      I wonder what would have happened if the Ukrainian forces stationed there? Would Russia have taken the risk?

      For whatever is going on the tactical planning is now being revealed. There have been a lot of meetings about how this would play out.

    • Re:Staging area (Score:5, Interesting)

      by DrSpock11 ( 993950 ) on Thursday February 24, 2022 @05:46PM (#62300833)

      I don't think Russia needs any more staging areas. Chernobyl is only 21km (13 miles) from the Belarus border, where Russian troops have been staging for months.

    • Mother Russia (Score:2, Insightful)

      by p51d007 ( 656414 )
      All the way back to the time of Peter the Great, Russia always wants "buffer land", so that if someone comes knocking, they can sacrifice "non" Russian land, and protect the core of Russia. Ultimately, I think Putin wants to put the soviet union back together. This push into Ukraine allows them "warm waters" via the Black Sea, which has access to the Med, and ultimately the Atlantic ocean. During the winter months, most of the Russian fleet is bottled up because of the northern ports.

      • What Putin may be intending to do with Chernobyl is scatter radiation from it to render a large swath of Ukrainian land uninhabitable. This may be his plan to keep any Western invaders out.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Jamu ( 852752 )
          Let's hope for rain and/or westerly winds.
        • Again and again I keep seeing these comments, as if somehow the only way Russia can build a dirty bomb is by using material from Chernobyl. Good grief, they have actual nukes and needless to say the actual proper materials to build a dirty bomb as well if they wanted. Why in God's name would they resort to using the crap at Chernobyl?

          Besides which, the remaining nuclear material at Chernobyl is poorly suited for building a dirty bomb with any dispersal. Nearly 100% of the radioisotopes of the 3 elements

      • This push into Ukraine allows them "warm waters" via the Black Sea, which has access to the Med, ...

        If NATO member Turkey allows it. Blocking access to the Med could be one of the sanctions.

      • All the way back to the time of Peter the Great, Russia always wants "buffer land", so that if someone comes knocking, they can sacrifice "non" Russian land, and protect the core of Russia.

        That's not really practical in the days of stealth bombers and nuclear weapons. Once you've lost air control, your buffer land won't protect you.

        This push into Ukraine allows them "warm waters" via the Black Sea, which has access to the Med, and ultimately the Atlantic ocean.

        This has been said a lot, but it makes zero sense. In the first place, Russia already controlled Crimea. In the second place, Russia has Sochi on the Black Sea. In the third place, the Black Sea doesn't matter as long as Turkey can block it off at Istanbul.

    • next level

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by kackle ( 910159 )
      So if a nuclear bomb went off there, everyone would just assume it was the reactor?

      • There are these things called "satellites" which have cameras on them. Reactor disasters, especially reactors that are no longer operating, look very different from a nuclear weapon detonation. And, the fission products are very different as well, so there would be physical evidence blowing on the wind over Russia's ally Belarus to put the lie to that.

        Also, why nuke an area that by definition has nobody living there, and nothing actually happening there due to the exclusion zone? That's a pretty massive

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by nagora ( 177841 )

        No. Nukes have a "double flash" phenomenon which is how yield is estimated from footage. A power plant going tonto would look very different.

    • But it's only a couple of miles from the Belarus border, where they are allowed to stage any amount they like. Also, they can be vulnerable to siege and other methods of attack.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Misagon ( 1135 )

      I heard a rumour that the Russian troops would already have blown up a nuclear waste storage facility in Chernobyl.
      If that's true and they stay, then joke's on them.

      BTW. The weather report for tomorrow says that the wind is blowing towards Belarus and Russia.

      • Re:Staging area (Score:4, Informative)

        by countach ( 534280 ) on Thursday February 24, 2022 @06:43PM (#62300989)

        Why would they want to blow up nuclear storage, contaminate the land they're trying to take, and probably Russia and their ally Belarus at the same time? Don't put out nonsense.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by mspohr ( 589790 )

          Why would Russia want this toxic nuclear waste dump?

          • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

            by Swampash ( 1131503 )

            Why would Russia want this toxic nuclear waste dump?

            To find the evidence hidden by the illegitimate state of Ukraine that proves the disaster was actually a work of sabotage by the CIA.

            That the evidence is still present to be found is a testament to the quality and durability of engineering produced by the workers of the Soviet Union.

          • Stalker used to be hugely popular in Russia. Playing it IRL is an opportunity they would kill for.

    • Great conspiracy theory. Or the reality: It's just an old nuclear plant on the way into Ukraine of no significant strategic value.

      You don't think Russians are actually hiding *in* Chernobyl do you? I'm sure they are more willing to die for their country fighting the enemy rather than cancer.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hey! ( 33014 )

      Not really an issue with modern munitions. This isn't WW2, where you had to flatten an entire city to get a factory.

  • Geneva convention (Score:2, Insightful)

    by sinij ( 911942 )
    Any combat near nuclear reactors should be against Geneva convention. What the fuck were they thinking? Are they trying to cause a nuclear disaster?

    • Re:Geneva convention (Score:5, Funny)

      by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Thursday February 24, 2022 @05:23PM (#62300741)

      What the fuck were they thinking?

      Maybe someone told Putin that radiation can make you taller.

      • Maybe someone told Putin that radiation can make you taller.

        Nah; they told him it grows chest hairs.

        (shhhh! it really grows tumors!)

    • They're thinking they can blackmail either Western Europe (wind direction) or portions of Ukraine with releasing some of the stockpiled waste. So, to answer your question: Yes.
      • Doubt it. More likely they're anticipating that no one is going to be willing to shell the position (other than them), making it a safe base of operations.

        • Re:Geneva convention (Score:4, Funny)

          by Rufty ( 37223 ) on Thursday February 24, 2022 @06:49PM (#62301009) Homepage

          Chernobyl as a safe base, well, the reviews were glowing.

          • Then again, it's Russia.
            Maybe they plan on disassembling the big ass containment vessel that the world bought for them into spare parts for their 50 year old tanks and frogfoots.

      • That's a really stupid reason. Winds change direction, and they currently are blowing anything that would come out of there right over Russia's ally, Belarus.

        Pretty sure that they don't need to drop any more Chernobyl fallout on Minsk - they got enough the first time around.

    • I'm sure that would have totally restrained Russia.

    • Keeping Europe safe (Score:3, Insightful)

      by ghoul ( 157158 )
      NATO and EU are keeping out of this war . Ukraine may get desperate and blow up the containment vessel to force NATO/EU to get involved. So it was important for Russia to render safe the site so that Ukraine could not use it to force a NATO intervention.

      • Yeah, because people that are fighting for their own homes are likely to spread radioactive waste across large swaths of their own land... because reasons!

        Even if Russia was to leave tomorrow, they'd still be left with a shitload of radioactive waste spread across their own country, by them. That's the very definition of "fucking stupid" and could only be conceived on Slashdot.

        • When people are LOSING those homes and feeling abandoned by the rest of the world they absolutely would salt the ground. "If I can't have it no one can", never underestimate people that have had everything taken from them.

      • Re:Keeping Europe safe (Score:4, Insightful)

        by r2kordmaa ( 1163933 ) on Friday February 25, 2022 @02:26AM (#62301805)
        That's just stupid, not only would it fail to involve NATO/EU, it would also throw away all the international support Ukraine is currently getting. It wouldn't have that much of an effect from radiological perspective either, there is already containment zone around the place and the entire thing has had 40 years to cool its tits. If anyone were stupid enough to try any dirty bomb tactics, the good stuff can be found at the operational nuclear power stations, not this relic of the past.
    • probably the opposite, by seizing it quickly it avoids the risk of ongoing conflict around a potentially hazardous zone. quite smart for it to be one of the first targets to avoid unintentional devasting damage to both sides and others.

  • Slashdot has always had an interest in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, ...

    I hear it's for sale -- cheap, it's a fixer-upper.

    • The most recent bit of housekeeping, the New Safe Confinement cost 2.1 billion, so cheap fixer upper may not be the right label.

      • The most recent bit of housekeeping, the New Safe Confinement cost 2.1 billion, so cheap fixer upper may not be the right label.

        True, having a safe room often adds to the value of a property. :-)

        • With great natural and unnatural lighting, free unlimited heat, and no neighbors for miles. You’d have to be crazy to NOT want to live there!

  • >Slashdot has always had an interest in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant..

    All of the Soviet Russia jokes perhaps?

  • The reactors were shut down years ago, right? I know there's some control panels still there that route power or something, but nothing particularly strategic. I don't know why you'd bother, other than it's an empty area easy to take.

  • A map shows.... (Score:3)

    by andymadigan ( 792996 ) <amadigan@@@gmail...com> on Thursday February 24, 2022 @06:41PM (#62300985)
    Sigh, a map *also* shows that Chernobyl is basically on the direct path from the Belarusian border to Kyiv (the Ukranian capital). It's less than 100km from Chernobyl to Kyiv, and there's very few obstacles between there and Kyiv since the whole area was evacuated long ago. That same route also runs along a major river (the Dnieper) which I believe supplies drinking water to the region.

    There's not much of strategic value in Pripyat/Chernobyl. There was an over-the-horizon radar installation, but it's long since decommissioned. It's potentially a place where Ukrainian special forces could have hidden, but otherwise it's probably just best to make sure nobody tries anything stupid.

    By comparison, Three Mile Island is ~150km from D.C.
  • The EU was in the middle of like a 30 year, many billions/trillions plan to build a superstructure around Chernobyl for "another hundred years" containment deal. Science channel had an hour special on it recently. Would be very bad if that was damaged/affected at all. Obviously its at least delayed as long as this is going on.

    • The good news is that the new structure was moved into place a year or so ago. So unless it's shelled or actively targeted, it should be fine. Obviously this mess is going to delay the ongoing deconstruction and cleanup efforts because the operators of that multi-billion dollar piece of equipment won't really be able to get there to do the work of tearing that fucker down inside the containment, but nobody is interested in letting it just sit for another hundred years.

      After the shooting stops, people will

  • Maybe we could offer Florida to Russia. It's kind of like Chernobyl. It's not exactly radioactive, but it is a croc-infested swamp.

    Would anything of value really be lost?

    • Given them a few of the Democrat-run large metropolitan areas. I remember when someone wanted to film a post-apocalyptic war movie and they wanted to film it in downtown Detroit because it was the closest thing to a bombed out war ruin that they could find domestically. Oh wait, that was the (really terrible) Red Dawn remake in 2009.
  • The Russian army is stretched so thin they can’t respond to any counterattack, and of the options two would secure the risks brought by their occupation of this site. One is to obliterate every single Russian oil installation, and the other is to obliterate the few functioning nuclear weapons that Russia retains. Coordinated action can actually accomplish both objectives at the same time, and only requires that the real world powers act together. Kill Putin, kill his Allie’s, and kill all of the

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