Ukraine crisis: Workers stranded at Chernobyl nuclear site for 12 days

Russia captured the now-defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant on the first day of its invasion of Ukraine. Chernobyl is known for the world’s most harrowing nuclear disaster in 1986 which shook the entire world. Now, over 35 years later, more than 100 workers are stranded in the plant along with 200 Ukrainian guards for over 12 days. 

They have not been able to leave the ill-fated plant ever since the Russian forces seized it. As of now, Russian soldiers are inside the 32-km Chernobyl exclusion zone and have surrounded the perimeter of the plant, BBC reported. 

"The situation is complicated and tense," Slavutych mayor Yuri Fomichev told the public news broadcaster. He added, "It is difficult for them morally, psychologically and physically.” 

A relative of one of the stranded workers said that though Russians were willing to allow workers to swap shifts, they neither guaranteed safety of the workers on their journey to home nor of those workers travelling to the nuclear site. As a result of this, workers are swapping their shifts to get enough rest. 

At the site, the workers seem to be having some food for now. In order to ensure they don’t run out of food, they are limiting themselves to single meal per day consisting mainly of bread and porridge. 

These are also challenging times for the workers’ families back home. A relative noted, "All the staff are super exhausted and desperate. They doubt that anyone cares about them. Right now they don’t see anyone doing anything to rescue them." 

Mayor Fomichev said, "Some of the workers require extra medication which is limited at the plant, and that adds extra work for the relatives." He further stated, “We have to tell them that there is currently no safe way of getting the workers out of there.”

They are also concerned that the stress can impact their ability to safely carry out their duties at the nuclear site. As per Fomichev, “Under these conditions, the workers’ concentration gets worse and worse, and that is a threat to safety.” He added, “It may not be a working plant, but it still requires a lot of attention to make sure all systems are working normally.”

Despite Chernobyl not being a functional nuclear power plant, it requires constant management and was never fully abandoned. The plant’s other reactors continued to operate for a few years after reactor number 4 exploded in 1986. 

After the incident, the town of Slavutych was built for workers who were evacuated from the site. Currently, around 2,400 people including scientists, cooks, technicians, medics and other support staff and members of the National Guard work on the site.

(With inputs from BBC)

Also read: Ukraine invasion: Here's why Russia wants to capture Chernobyl 

Also read: Ukrainian nuclear power plants in focus amid Russian attack