The combustion residuals from the Chornobyl exclusion zone are moving to the western parts of the Kyiv region and from the Zhytomyr region towards Korosten and Zhytomyr, director of the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center, Mykola Kulbida, said.
“The combustion residuals discharged into the atmosphere are moving southward at the speed of 10-15 kilometers per hour: from the exclusion zone to western parts of the Kyiv region and from the northern parts of the Zhytomyr region towards the cities of Korosten and Zhytomyr,” Kulbida was quoted by the national emergency situations service as saying at a briefing on April 23.
There had been no drastic change in weather conditions in the exclusion zone and in northern Zhytomyr region in the preceding 24 hours, he said.
“Chemical pollution of the atmospheric air in Kyiv is largely at a level characteristic of April. There has been an increase above permitted maximum levels for nitrogen dioxide and partially for sulfur dioxide and formaldehyde. Radioactive contamination in the Kyiv and Zhytomyr regions remains within the natural background range. No air migration of Cesium-137 has been recorded,” he said.
The direction of wind will vary in coming days, he also said.
“With the wind often changing its direction the pollutants, which can be emitted during the fires, are unlikely to travel beyond the exclusion zone and northern Zhytomyr region,” Kulbida said.
