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World

Ukraine says radiation levels in capital city not affected by fire in Chernobyl exclusion zone

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    A fire strip crosses a forest floor in the Chernobyl area, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 28, 2015, as fire has engulfed a large sector of woods in the exclusion zone around the destroyed Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk says the fire is being brought under control. (AP Photo/Andrew Kravchenko, Pool) (The Associated Press)

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    An aerial view of a forest fire in the Chernobyl area, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 28, 2015. Fire has engulfed a large sector of woods in the exclusion zone around the destroyed Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Ukrainian prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk says the fire is being brought under control. (AP Photo/Andrew Kravchenko, Pool) (The Associated Press)

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    Fire hits an abandoned village in the exclusion zone around Chernobyl, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 28, 2015, as fire has engulfed a large sector of woods in the exclusion zone around the destroyed Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk says the fire is being brought under control. (AP Photo/Andrew Kravchenko, Pool) (The Associated Press)

KIEV, Ukraine – Ukrainian authorities say there has been no change in background radiation levels in the capital as a result of fires in woodlands in the exclusion zone around the destroyed Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

The emergency services agency said in a statement Wednesday that isotope levels in surface soil and water are within standard levels.

Kiev, the capital, lies less than 100 kilometers (60 miles) downriver from the zone around Chernobyl, which was heavily contaminated by radiation from the 1986 reactor explosion and fire.

A 30-kilometer (18.6-mile) zone around the plant is off-limits to most people except for workers constructing a new shelter to cover the destroyed reactor's building, and to visitors on short trips.

Authorities said Tuesday evening's fire swept through 400 hectares (1.5 square miles) of woodland.