One and a half months have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine from the South, the East and Belarus. This is the second episode in our special series on the environmental impacts of the war. On this episode we discuss the nuclear risks and hazards surrounding the war in Ukraine.
With us today is Andriy Martynyuk, Executive Director of the NGO Ecoclub in Rivne, Western Ukraine. An environmental engineer by background, Martynyuk been working at Ecoclub since 2003 and is intimately acquainted with the country’s nuclear situation. Following an overview of the nuclear power plants in the country, he and Boris Schneider discuss the most pressing nuclear risks tied to the war, from radioactive dust from Chernobyl to how attacks on spent nuclear fuel storage facilities could unleash a "dirty nuclear bomb". Also on the table is the question of the international community's response, as the two men delve into the effectiveness of bodies such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the face of the conflict.
This episode is produced by:
•Boris Schneider, a climate and environment lead at n-ost, a Berlin-based network for cross-border reporting. Boris heads initiatives to boost climate journalism in Central Asia, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe.
•Angelina Davydova, an environmental journalist from Russia. Angelina has been writing about climate change in the region for Russian and international media and attending UN climate summits since 2008. She also teaches environmental journalism and environmental and climate policy and communication in a number of universities and regularly organises training for journalists from Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Caucasus on environmental and climate reporting.
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This podcast is produced by https://www.thepodcastcoach.co.uk/