http://blogs.aljazeera.net/europe/2010/08/11/heatwave-may-rekindle-chernobyls-curseIt was almost as a footnote to the catalogue of catastrophes Russians have faced over the last week when Sergey Shoigu, Russia's emergency situations minister, announced that there might also be a radioactive addition to the nation's woes.
It's already been the hottest summer in 1,000 years.
Wildfires have killed more than 50 people, wiping entire villages off the map and leaving Moscow blanketed for days under a layer of choking smog.
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Greenpeace and other environmental groups say that fires burning in areas contaminated by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster could spread harmful radiation.
Fire crews quickly extinguished blazes in the Bryansk region south west of Moscow, one of the areas worst affected by the Chernobyl fallout.
Experts say that top soil holds radioactive particles that could be thrown into the air by wildfires.
Officials say that 3,900 hectares of land affected by the Chernobyl fallout have already been engulfed by fire but according to the authorities no radioactive particles have spread.
Many Russians though are taking the official response with a pinch of salt.
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wishing them well
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