'Dirty bomb' ingredients go missing from Russian-occupied Chernobyl lab

dailystar.co.uk:

Chernobyl monitoring lab.The Russian-occupied nuclear power plant and disaster zone was occupied by Russian forces at the start of March and since then a flurry of issues have hit the site.

A barrage of problems have hit the site since its Russian takeover, with Daily Star reporting of vital repairs needed on the site and Russian soldiers overworking staff.The most recent development indicates that insecure and radioactive materials that could make a "dirty bomb" have been reported missing from a monitoring lab.Initial worries over missing material was reported by Ukraine's Director of Institute for Safety Problems of Nuclear Power Plants (ISPNPP), Anatolii Nosovskyi who reported several raids on surrounding Chernobyl labs.Nosovskyi claimed looters had made off with radioactive isotopes used to calibrate instruments and pieces of radioactive waste that, when mixed with explosives, could make a "dirty bomb".He added that the ISPNPP has a separate area for testing more dangerous materials including "powerful sources of gamma and neutron radiation" used to test devices and store radioactive parts from the Chernobyl meltdown.For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.After the ISPNPP lost contact with Chernobyl and the lab, Nosovskyi has said that "the fate of these sources is unknown to us," sparking worries that the dirty bomb ingredients could be missing.