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Q&A on risks with radiation expert Vadim Chumak


Hospitals in Ukraine were bombed. Do radioactive materials in these buildings pose a risk?

This is something we have to consider because many unthinkable things have come true in this war.

Radiation has two medical sources. One is machines such as X-ray machines or linear accelerators used to treat cancer. They do emit some radiation, but only when they are on. When you close it, it’s just a piece of metal.

But the second source uses isotopes such as cobalt or cesium, which are used in nuclear medicine and radiation therapy, for example positron emission tomography (PET). They are physically protected in the hospital, that is, they are protected from theft. But they are not protected against being hit by a bomb.

If they’re compromised, we might see something like 1989 Goiânia accident in Brazil. Later, some people stole and dismantled a radiotherapy device from an abandoned hospital site to sell the parts as scrap metal. They discovered this little light bulb filled with cesium that glows blue at night. It’s a long story, but the only radiation source destroyed has polluted most of Goiânia. Four people died, 20 needed hospital treatment, and 249 became contaminated. Eighty-five houses were significantly contaminated and 200 people living in these houses were evacuated. So this kind of scenario needs to be considered. And this is without considering the malicious use of resources.

What kinds of malicious uses?

For example, spent fuel assemblies are a very good material for making a dirty bomb, a terrorist attack scenario. The more technical term is a radiological dispersion device. If you connect such radioactive sources to a device and detonate it, it will contaminate a large area with radioactive material. There are many such radiological scenarios on the table right now.

How are nuclear power plants in Ukraine currently monitored?

Radiation monitoring networks were installed at each nuclear power plant, but now they are disconnected, so Ukrainian and international organizations no longer receive real-time data from them. The Ukrainian government and authorities no longer have access to this network, which was very complex and operational before this invasion.

There is also a nationwide remote monitoring network to detect radiation. I think the points closest to the switchboards are also disabled or at least cut off from this public network. If something really bad had happened, it would have been noticed by farther monitors. This isn’t real-time control – hours would pass before it was noticed. Unless reported by persons under Russian control.

Have you had any problems so far?

What I do know from official reports is that, shortly after the invasion, there was an approximately five-fold increase in radiation dose rates in the Chernobyl area, before disconnection. The most plausible explanation is that the tanks disrupted the radioactive material in the ground.

The Chernobyl exclusion zone is a restricted area. Some tourism is allowed and quite safe if you follow the rules, but can still be dangerous. What they did was get the tanks out of the way. This was a very heavily polluted area after the 1986 accident, and some of the most polluted areas were purposely covered with soil and vegetation to protect the radioactivity from resuspension.

Tanks can immediately disturb these heavily contaminated soil layers. those guys [Russian soldiers] they not only neglect the law, but also neglect reasonable radiation safety rules. Now they have inhaled this dust and they have radiation in their body. It’s stupid from an ecological and global perspective. At the local level this is very dangerous and stupid. A fivefold increase in dose would be a local problem.

If an event were to occur now, how would you measure contamination in humans?

There are two or three types of devices that really matter in the event of an accident. But most of the devices we currently have in Ukraine are outdated.

After the Chernobyl accident, we went through a period between 1987 and 1991 when radiation monitoring capacity was accumulated. Since then, interest in Chernobyl has been much lower. As a result, most of our dosimetry devices date back to 1991 or 1992 at the latest. The normal life of such instruments is 10 years. Now, they are over 30 years old. Equipment still in working order is not in very good condition. In conclusion, we really need this. [new equipment]. We’ve made some official requests for this type of equipment, but I’ve also made requests to my colleagues in the US.

What devices do you need?

One type is called a survey meter. They are radiometers like the Geiger-Müller tube. They have a screen that shows you the dose rates so you can see which area is dangerous and which is not. There are also some special dose-rate meters that are useful for measuring contamination of clothing, hair and surfaces in an emergency.

So-called whole-body monitors are specifically calibrated to measure internal contamination, for example, in people who drink local milk or breathe polluted air. Personal dosimeters look like badges. They are small, maybe 10 gram devices that attach to people’s clothes. They are sent to laboratories to determine the dose a person has been exposed to.

Can we learn from Chernobyl?

Not really. After the Chernobyl disaster, everything was completely under control. It was possible to mobilize and hire a thousand buses to evacuate the population. It was a completely different story.

Now we have fights – some areas are out of control and others are under fire. I can’t imagine such an evacuation process possible. We do not have the means for such an evacuation and we do not know where to evacuate. As in Mariupol, evacuation routes can be attacked and bombed.

My advice is to seek shelter as long as possible before receiving special orders from the authorities if such an emergency occurs. Don’t move. Don’t try to escape. Just shelter. It doesn’t have to be underground – even apartment blocks offer adequate protection against radiation if you stay away from windows.

You moved from Kiev. Where are you staying now?

I am in a country house close to Kiev, about 25 kilometers away. Fortunately this area is quite safe and I can communicate with Kyiv. I’m staying an hour’s drive from Kiev so I can get to Kiev if needed. I’m on standby – I’ll be back at my place of work if my qualification or job is needed. That’s why we decided not to run.

I am optimistic about the success of the Ukrainian army against the Russians. Ukraine will not bow down. Giving up or forgiveness is not an option.

Since our children have two 4-year-old daughters, we moved them to a safer place. But the old people stay here. I am old enough to sacrifice my life if necessary.



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