new explosion possible in Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear plant

Kyiv : Scientists have issued a severe warning that there is a possibility of a nuclear blast in the Chernobyl nuclear project in Ukraine, again after a staggering 35 years. British nuclear scientist Neil Hyatt warned that nuclear reactions have automatically started in the nuclear material in a closed area of the nuclear plant, which can culminate into a major nuclear explosion. In the Chernobyl Disaster that transpired in 1986, more than 10,000 people are believed to have lost their lives.

Thousands of tonnes of nuclear waste and fuel is still lying at the closed Chernobyl nuclear facility, located just 16 kilometres from the Ukraine-Belarus border. There is a large stock of nuclear energy, in the form of Uranium, stored in an underground closed room 305/2. Besides, the researchers monitoring the Uranium fuel masses have informed that neutron reactions have begun to appear in it.

“The increasing number of neutrons triggers the nuclear fission reaction, necessary for a nuclear blast. Therefore, we cannot deny the possibility of a nuclear blast at the Chernobyl nuclear project soon,” Ukrainian scientist Maxim Saveliev said. Scientist Neil Hyatt at the Sheffield University in the United Kingdom said, the radioactive waste in the closed room is smouldering “like the embers in a barbecue pit”.

Since the Chernobyl nuclear explosion in 1986, a security construction called ‘New Safe Confinement was erected around the entire nuclear facility. The structure is said would contain the leakage of radioactive materials to other parts outside the safety construction. It is also believed that the design can even stop the reaction occurring in the fuel within the nuclear facility. Even so, attention has been drawn towards the rising number of neutrons in room 305/2.

On 26th April 1986, a significant nuclear leakage occurred from ‘Reactor 4’ in the Chernobyl nuclear facility in the Soviet Union. A total of 50 people died on the spot as a result of the explosion. Thousands of people had been killed due to the lethal nuclear radiation released during the eruption. Due to the dangerous nuclear leak, up to thousands of kilometres around the project had to be evacuated. The Chernobyl accident is known as the biggest nuclear disaster in the world.