Off the Editor’s Desk 3-2-2022
Has Putin started the Third World War?
For weeks now Russian President Vladimir Putin has been building up his armed forces at the border with Ukraine. Last Thursday he sent his troops into Ukraine with hopes that the Ukrainian government would capitulate, but instead, Russia has a wild cat by its tail and the Ukrainians are putting up a great fight.
At this time the Country of Belarus is ready to help Russia and if they do allow Russian troops into their county, that would place the Red Army within striking distance of Poland, a NATO country. Belarus, a country of just under ten million people sits between Russia and Poland with Ukraine to its south.
Our President, Biden, has not been proactive in this matter. He sent aid after the Russians invaded; something that he should have done as Putin was lining up his troops at the border, and if this spills over into a NATO country, it will be World War Three.
We watched last week as Russian troops crossed the border near Chernobyl and now have the city surrounded. We should all remember what happened at Chernobyl back in April of 1986. It was the worst disaster at any nuclear power plant in the world.
We had the Three Mile nuclear power plant accident in Pennsylvania in 1979, and at Chernobyl, the only two incidents where radioactive material was released into the atmosphere.
That April 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was the product of a flawed Soviet reactor design coupled with serious mistakes made by the plant operators. It was a direct consequence of the cold war isolation and the resulting lack of any safety culture. This information came from the web site of the World Nuclear Association.
Chernobyl had four reactors, and number four was the one that exploded. The steam explosion and fires released at least five percent of the radioactive reactor core into the environment, with radioactive materials spreading to many parts of Europe.
Two plant workers died the night of the disaster and 28 more with in a few weeks as the results of acute radiation syndrome. Several of the dead were firemen.
Some 350,000 people were evacuated as the result of the accident. At present there is a 20-mile exclusion zone around that power plant with clean up still on going.
As I was watching the news about the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, a piece came on that told that the radioactive levels near the plant were increasing. It was attributed to the disturbance of the topsoil from the movement of a large number of heavy military machinery.
About 200 tons of highly radioactive material remains deep within reactor number four and this poses an environmental hazard until it is better contained.
The three other undamaged reactors at Chernobyl were put back into service and operated until August of 2000.
If Russia takes over the Ukraine, what will happen to the clean up efforts at that Chernobyl power plant? It was Russia’s lack of oversight that caused the explosion in the first place.
My prayers go out to the people of Ukraine and its armed forces with hopes that Russia finds its effort is not worth the price. But, with Putin in power, that will not happen.
Thanks for reading! ~Carlton