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Several wildfires blazing in Chernobyl NPP exclusion zone

The press service of Ukraine’s State Emergency Service says the situation is under control

© TASS/EPA/ANDREW KRAVCHENKO

KIEV, August 10. /TASS/. Firefighting efforts continue in separate areas of wildfire in the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear plant, the situation is under control, the press service of Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said on Monday.

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Chernobyl fire poses danger of radiation spread over vast areas — expert

"Works continue on extinguishing fire between abandoned villages of Kovshilovka and Buda Varovichi in the morning on August 10. The area of fire is 60 hectares, around 15 hectares are engulfed in crown fire. For now, crown fire has been put out," the emergency service said.

Fires broke out in the exclusion zone around Chernobyl on June 29 when dry grass and reeds blazed over some 130 hectares. On July 1, Ukraine’s state nuclear inspectorate identified radiation levels one order of magnitude above the natural background in some spots inside the area affected by fire near the Chernobyl NPP. "In the air sample taken in the area of the fire on the outskirts of the abandoned village of Polesskoye the content of caesium-137 is 0.0025 becquerel per one cubic meter, which is one order of magnitude above the control level set under the current norms of hygiene," the watchdog’s statement said.

On Sunday, August 9, dry grass and forest floor caught fire in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, and the wildfire resumed.

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