Chernobyl radiation detectors are back online for the first time since Russia’s invasion.

Radiation detectors at the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine are back online for the first time since the Russian invasion more than 100 days ago, and radiation levels are normal, the head of the international nuclear watchdog agency said.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, called the resumption of radiation data transmission “a very positive step forward for nuclear safety and security in Ukraine.”

“It ends a long period of virtual information blackout that created much uncertainty about the radiation situation in the area, especially when it was under Russian occupation,” he said.

The detectors stopped working on Feb. 24, the first day of the invasion. Russian forces set up encampments and dug trenches in the forests around the plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986. Russian troops left on March 31. Read more

@nytimes