Here’s some figures about the forest fires that have been sweeping Russia this week:

* At least 52 people have been killed.
* 127 settlements were burned.
* Up to 20 of Russia’s regions were declared emergency zones.
* At least three million hectares of forest have been burned.

To make matters worse, for almost a week the country’s Federal Nuclear Research Center in Sarov was surrounded by forest fires and under real threat. Nuclear materials were moved from the site for safety. Fortunately fires close to the Snezhinsk nuclear research centre which ‘specialises in the production and testing of nuclear weapons’ have been put out.

However, the area around the Mayak plant – a closed nuclear facility 80 kilometres from Snezhinsk - is under a state of emergency. Mayak is the biggest nuclear complex in the world, and includes a reprocessing plant, nuclear waste treatment with interim storage, pilot facilities for the production of plutonium-based Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel, and a facility for the vitrification of liquid radioactive wastes. According to some experts there is 40 tons of plutonium at Mayak. Were that plutonium to burn, the consequences for the region would be catastrophic – the contamination could make the Southern Urals uninhabitable.

Despite the government's denials, satellite photos show fires burning in forests contaminated by the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. This could cause the release of radioactive materials into the atmosphere. While the risks are not comparable to the Chernobyl accident itself, the radioactive materials in the smoke will increase the health risks when the smoke is inhaled. Also the materials can be dispersed over a large area, posing extra risks for people that are exposed.

What we see here, unfortunately, is a danger of nuclear power on top of the ones we already know about. Nuclear power offers risks that cannot be predicted. Fires moving in on solar and wind farms would not present such dangers to our health and the environment. An energy efficiency programme cannot throw deadly contaminants into the atmosphere. An increased reliance on nuclear power can only make the world a less safe place.