November 2008 Archives

Tanya Kazyra, a 16-year participant in a summer program for children from Belarus’ Chernobyl-affected areas, finally returned to her home in Belarus last weekend. Kazyra made worldwide headlines in August when she remained with her host family in Petaluma, California after refusing to return to Belarus at the end of her summer holiday. Apparently, Kazyra changed her mind after speaking with a Russian Orthodox priest.

Tanya’s host family the Zapata’s, opposed her return to Belarus. In an interesting twist, the girl’s grandmother, Nadzeya Novik, expressed concern that the Zapata’s were preventing Tanya from going back to Belarus and from communicating with Belorussian authorities.

Reports of Tanya’s possible reasons for returning home include Lito Zapata’s departure for military service in Iraq and complaints that Ashley Zapata spent too much time with her boyfriend. The real reason may be that Tanya’s tourist visa expires on December 25, even though she did apply for a 6 month extension.

The furor over Tanya’s refusal to return home resulted in the Belorussian government placing a ban on travel outside the country for all “Chernobyl Children.” Since August, several charity organizations and governments have attempted to get the program reinstated. Hopefully with Tanya’s return to Belarus, these programs will get back to normal in the near future. Don’t be surprised, however, if additional safeguards and limitations are put in place by the Belorussian government.

On November 21, 2008 over 25 construction companies attended a meeting in Slavutych, Ukraine. The meeting allowed representatives to hear about the prospects for new construction at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Discussions centered on the construction of a new spent nuclear fuel facility (ХОЯТ-2) and the New Safe Confinement structure that will cover Reactor 4 and the original Sarcophagus.

The event informed potential contractors about planned work at the Chernobyl facility. Obtaining information first-hand will allow the companies to better assess their ability to possibly participate in the construction projects. Detailed information was also provided about Novarka and Holtek, who won bids to implement the construction projects at the Chernobyl Plant.

Some of the companies attending the session included Ukrenergobud, Spetsstroymontazh, Ukratomenergostroy, Pivdenteploenergomontazh, Engineering Systems and other leading industrial construction companies.

Last week, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko indicated that the snap election scheduled for December 14 will be delayed until 2009. Yushchenko said it would not be reasonable to hold elections during the holiday season.

That may be his public line, but the real reason for delay is Yushchenko’s inability to get the government to approve funds to hold the election. Political Analyst Volodomyr Fesenko said that Yushchenko is waiting until the country’s deepening financial crisis chips away at Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s popularity and influence.

If this is true, it is the latest move by Yushchenko as he tries to position himself for a run at a second term of President.

The second half of my interview with former Chernobyl liquidator Sergei B is now online. I have also added an extra paragraph to Part I - I forgot to mention that Sergei wrote a novel about his Chernobyl experiences. Currently, it is only in Russian, but Sergei hopes to translate it to English and publish it in the US. If Sergei is able to get an English-language copy of his story published, I will post all the information here.


Photo: (c) Corbis/Verlag Antje Kunstmann - Liquidators preparing to go on roof of Reactor 3

Earlier this year I conducted an interview with a former liquidator who now lives in the US. In the summer of 1986, Sergei B. spent approximately one and a half months working on cleanup at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. His work included several trips to remove highly radioactive materials from the roof of Reactor 3.

Sergei recently consented to my posting our interview on this site. This two-part interview contains some fascinating revelations about why people volunteered to be liquidators, life as a liquidator in the Chernobyl Zone, life after completing service as a liquidator, and thoughts about the Soviet government’s handling of the accident and nuclear power.

It is my pleasure to present the first half of this two-part interview with a Chernobyl liquidator. Come back tomorrow for the conclusion of this intriguing interview.

Photo: © Igor Kostin/NOVOSTI - Liquidators on the roof of Reactor 3

The following video is a 2:52 slideshow of photos taken in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in 2006. Unlike most of the photos you have seen, this set is exclusively shots of elderly  residents of the Exclusion Zone (samosels).

The photos were taken by photographer Serge Van Cauwenbergh as part of a larger project.



You can also read some background on Serge’s visits with these people on his blog (the links are to Google translations into English for each blog entry):

Ganna
Olga
Olena and Sava
Maria and Micah

On October 31, 2008, four residents of the Kyiv region were found guilty of trying to removed 15 tons of contaminated, radioactive scrap metal from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. A judge in the Ivankov District Court of Kyiv found the individuals in violation of the requirements of radiation safety. Radiation from this scrap was found to be hundreds of times higher than permissible limits.

Two residents of the Ivankiv District were arrested while trying to remove 15 tons of scrap metal from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone without proper documentation.

In late May, the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office revealed that prosecutors in the Kyiv region and the General Directorate had begun combating organized crime and corruption in the Ukrainian Security Service. A task force investigating the crime found that two other people involved in the crime were members of the police force.

The prosecutor’s office instituted criminal proceedings under Article 267-1 of the Penal Code, which covers violations of radiation safety when removing items from the Exclusion Zone without providing statutory authorization, committed with the purpose of marketing.

The verdict, announced on October 31, found all four guilty of the crimes and pronounced sentence in accordance with the appropriate sanctions according to the Penal Code, including imprisonment.

Photo Credit: Pripyat.com

At a meeting of the UN General Assembly, Vitaly Churkin, permanent Russian representative to the United Nations anounced his country’s intention to provide $17 million for improved safety at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The funds will also be used to accelerate decommissioning of the plant.

The funds will be provided to the Nuclear Security Fund for the Chernobyl Shelter, which is managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.