NUKEWATCH - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of the Los Alamos Study Group in New Mexico, Asse
Greg Mello, executive director of the Los Alamos Study Group in New Mexico, asserted August 14, "It is not difficult to figure out who is shooting at this power plant, and the dam, and hydroelectric facility on the Dnieper [River], which are necessary for its operation and safety even in a shutdown condition." With Ukraine forces shelling the area on a regular basis, there is an ongoing chance that munitions aimed at Russian forces surrounding the site could strike one of the reactors, one of its high-level waste storage units, or power lines that supply the site with electricity to circulate cooling water.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Environmental Science at the University of Portsmouth
Jim Smith, a Professor of Environmental Science at the University of Portsmouth, wrote in The Conversation, October 23, that "Radiocaesium [cesium-137], which is the most important long-lived radioactive element emitted by the accident in terms of radiation dose, adheres to soil particles very strongly. Consequently, the decontamination of agricultural land primarily involved removing the top 5cm [about 2 inches] of topsoil. In urban areas, decontamination efforts entailed the removal of soil from sports fields", school yards and other public areas.
Job Titles:
- Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross
Robert Mardini, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, told The Guardian, "The slightest miscalculation could trigger devastation we will regret for decades," adding that the stakes were "immense … When hazardous sites become battlegrounds, the consequences for millions of people and the environment can be catastrophic and last many years."
Job Titles:
- Researcher at Kyushu University
President Vladimir Putin said Oct. 18, 2018 that Russia would only use nuclear weapons in response to an incoming missile attack, the equivalent of a "no first use" pledge, the AP reported. Putin reportedly said Moscow would resort to launching nuclear weapons only in retaliation "if early warning systems spotted missiles heading toward Russia."