Nuclear site of Chernobyl, Ukraine

Radiation measurements are conducted at the Nuclear site of Chernobyl, which uses a StirLITE liquid nitrogen system.

In 2015 a special laboratory was opened in the immediate vicinity of Chernobyl, the site of the largest nuclear facility disaster in history, to monitor the area around the discarded power plant and to characterize the nuclear waste.

A lot of material was thrown in the air as dust particles during the initial explosion and this dust not only precipitated in the area, but also far beyond, and large parts of Western Europe were affected. A great amount of waste however, 700.000 – 800.000 m3, consisting of contaminated cars, trucks, furniture, building material etc. etc., was buried after the disaster in several non-documented pits all around Chernobyl. These pits radiate various amounts and sorts of radio activity, while nor their relative dangers nor their exact locations are known at present.

The Central Analytical Laboratory was initiated by the Ukraine government, with financial and technical support from the European Union. The majority of the equipment has been installed in a deserted school building, however also a special Mobile Lab is available to travel through the area and to take samples from the various known and at present unknown burial sites.

The various equipment in the laboratory require LN₂ for their proper working. Stirling was selected to supply its 2.5 l/h StirLITE to produce liquid nitrogen at the spot.