Russian forces have destroyed a lab that was used to monitor radioactive levels close to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, triggering fears that safety standards inside the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster could be compromised, CNN reports.
Citing Ukrainian government officials, CNN reported that “the laboratory was part of a European Union-funded attempt to improve radioactive waste management through on-site analysis of waste samples as well as the packaging used to dispose of waste. ”
The officials also reported that samples of radionuclides — unstable atoms that can emit high levels of radiation — had been removed from the lab. The report also suggested that by doing so, Russia may “harm itself, and not the civilized world.”
The development is the latest scare to emerge from the infamous nuclear site that sits close to the border with Belarus.
