Tomi Routamo, Deputy Director for the Supervision of Nuclear Power Plants at the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (Stuk), thinks of the threat posed to Europe by the nuclear power plant.
- It's hard to imagine some radiation coming from there that would travel very far. The fuel there has cooled there for so long that it no longer has the potential to spread over a very wide area. The plants have been out of service for a long time and the reactors have been decommissioned, Routamo tells Iltalehti.
According to Routamo, Stuk monitors the situation at a general level, but Chernobyl is not a specific target. The threat of radiation spreading is mainly local and Finland, for example, is not in danger.
- We at Stuk do not see such a threat that significant quantities of any substances could enter Finland. They are quite local, not spreading to the environment in the same way as they did then, Routamo says, referring to the Chernobyl accident.
- Of course, it should not be underestimated, the substance there is still very radioactive. If something spreads in the area, it will make it significantly more difficult to stay there. However, there is no potential comparable to that of the Chernobyl accident.