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Radiation in Chernobyl zone falls to normal levels in certain areas: Ukrainian minister

Xinhua, November 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

The radiation in some areas of the exclusion zone around the destroyed Chernobyl nuclear power plant has fallen to normal levels, a Ukrainian minister has said.

"The Chernobyl area has become safer," Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Ostap Semerak wrote on Facebook late Sunday after his visit to the site.

The latest radiation test, carried out Sunday in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, showed that the radiation in certain areas stands at only 0.12 microsieverts per hour, more than twice lower than the boundary radiation level of 0.25 microsieverts per hour, he said.

On April 26, 1986, a series of explosions occurred at the Chernobyl plant located 110 km north of the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, resulting in the demolition of the No. 4 reactor and the spread of radiation across Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and some other European countries.

By the end of this month, Ukraine is set to complete the works to cover the destroyed reactor with a new protective confinement, which is designed to prevent leakage of radiation. Endi