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Nuclear Rumors from Ukraine
This is a brief compilation of a couple of different rumors I’ve heard out of the Ukraine war and what they mean. Now I don’t know much but I know a little bit about nukes and how they work and some of these things are flat out implausible. What I’m looking to give here is a quick reality check to see if any given statement is worth worrying about further. To be clear I’m talking about science; whether or not Putin is willing to deploy tactical nuclear weapons is beyond the scope of this post. Let’s get down to it.
Increasing Radiation levels at Chernobyl
The Claim: In the first day or two of the war the Russians attacked and took Chernobyl. The fight kicked up a lot of dust. The Ukrainian government’s automated radiation monitoring says the background radiation there jumped from 3,000 nSv/hour to 65,500 nSv/hour. Claim found in this video, though I’ve heard it elsewhere too.