– Very positive – VG

After more than a month of submitting to Russian control, according to Ukraine’s Nuclear Energy Minister, no Russian troops will remain at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Thursday night came the news that Ukraine has Take back control of the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, having been under Russian control since February 24.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) writes in one press releasethat Ukraine had informed them that Russian forces had given written notice that they had handed over control of the facility to Ukrainian personnel.

– We know that there have been very difficult conditions there since the war began, not least with regard to crew rotation, says Ingar Amundsen of the Directorate for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety, to VG.

210 employees, who went to work at the nuclear power plant on February 24, remained employed in Almost four weeksBecause Russia cannot guarantee their security if they try to flee.

Amundsen says the directorate continues to perceive a bewildering and difficult situation at the power plant. However, he looks positively at the Russian withdrawal from Chernobyl.

– If this can lead to better conditions for workers in the factory and protection from Ukrainian radiation, then this is very positive.

Amundsen explains that although Chernobyl is not a functioning nuclear power plant today, there have been concerns about accidents at the power plant or that radioactive material could be veered off course.

– If something happened in connection with acts of war, it could lead to the spread of radioactive materials that could have consequences beyond the country’s borders, he says.

Radiation damage reports

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, two convoys of Russian troops set off from the region towards Belarus. A third convoy is on its way to Belarus from the city of Slavutych, where many workers at the nuclear power plant live.

Ukraine’s Nuclear Energy Minister said Thursday night that employees reported that there were no more Russian troops at the plant. Reuters writes. According to the news agency, the Russian soldiers did not know that they were in the radiation zone.

Ukrainian state-owned nuclear power company Energoatom wrote in a statement that Russian forces were exposed to “large amounts” of radiation, after digging trenches in the most polluted part of Chernobyl. Both Ukrainian and Belarusian media reported that Russian soldiers were sent to Belarus for treatment.

In a press release, the International Atomic Energy Agency wrote that it was unable to confirm that Russian soldiers had received radioactive damage.