Bucha Residents Learned about Radiation Threats during Street Event
On 1 July 2023, street event “Radiation Threats of Wartime” took place on the embankment of Bucha Town Park.
Experts from the State Scientific and Technical Center for Nuclear and Radiation Safety (SSTC NRS) talked with Bucha residents about the radiation threats of wartime during the event.
“Last summer, during the first phase of the SURVEY project, we conducted a radiological survey of the de-occupied Bucha territory,” says Zakhar Ivanov, a researcher at the SSTC NRS Emergency Preparedness and Radiation Monitoring Department. “We also surveyed Bucha Park, particularly the entrance area and the embankment near the lake. The gamma background levels were not exceeded.”
Tetiana Verbytska, SSTC NRS spokesperson, emphasized the ongoing relevance of increasing the level of public awareness regarding nuclear and radiation safety. In the context of radiation threats on liberated territories or those related to hostilities, illicit movement of radiation sources, a potential accident at the Zaporizhzhia NPP due to occupation and mining by russian forces, the algorithm of actions in the event of a radiation accident, and the expediency of iodine prophylaxis, people need to have a clear understanding of how to act in every scenario, as their health depends on it.
“During the measurements in Bucha and other settlements of the Kyiv region liberated last spring, we received numerous requests. People were afraid to return to their homes and hesitant to bring their children back. After all, the russian occupiers passed through the Chornobyl exclusion zone, they could transfer radioactivity from there, could steal contaminated objects and leave them here, in the town. After returning, some of the residents discovered objects with radiation hazard signs,” the experts explain. “That’s why we came to Bucha to address these concerns, answer questions, dispel myths, and provide advice.”
As part of the street event, Bucha residents had the opportunity to visit the SSTC NRS radiological reconnaissance laboratory, talked with its crew, and took part in a test administered by the SSTC NRS experts. Overall, the Bucha residents successfully passed the test intended to check their awareness of nuclear and radiation safety. For each correct answer, they received souvenirs such as books, stickers, notebooks, reflectors, puzzles, T-shirts, or respirators.
“The organization of such events is particularly important at the moment,” comments Dmytro, a visitor to Bucha Park. “Since the President’s announcement of a potential accident at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, people have had many questions. It is reassuring to have these questions answered by experts.”