of Chernobyl?
by
C. L. Cook
Looking at the news last night on Al Jazeera (English), it seems those eagerly awaiting the apocalypse need wait no longer. It's here.
Incredibly, this morning the news got worse: The wild fires ravaging Russia's forests from Central Russia all the way to the gates of Moscow are moving inexorably south, licking at the edges of the Bryansk region, where
Russia Today (RT) reminds reside the buried radioactive remnants of the
Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown of 1986.
RT cites Emergencies minister, Sergey Shoigu saying;
"If fires erupt there, there is a risk that radionuclide can be released into the air with other combustible gases, and more areas could become contaminated."
Smoke from the fires has already prompted public safety calls in the capital, where people speaking on Al Jazeera said life was becoming impossible, and where according to health officials, a few minutes of exposure to the heightened carbon monoxide levels in the city was the equivalent of smoking several packs of cigarettes.
0fficials report too, the noxious smog has forced the closure of Moscow's Domodedovo and Vnukovo airports. Incoming flights have been diverted to St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, and Kazan airports.
