nuclear power plant Zaporizhia, in Ukraine, was attacked by Russian forces last Thursday. The attack caused a fire that has already been controlled by firefighters in a building and a laboratory at the plant, but raises questions about the country’s nuclear safety.
“The territory of the Zaporizhia NPP is occupied by the armed forces of the Russian Federation”Kiev said in a statement. Zaporizhia is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and is located 150 kilometers north of the province of Crimea. At the moment, there are no reported victims of the incident.
Ukraine has 15 nuclear reactors distributed in four active plants that generate much of the electricity in the country:
- Khmelnitsky: two
- Rivne: 4
- South Ukraine: 3
- Zaporizhia: 6
Military activity near nuclear territory can cause power outages that affect a plant’s power supply, jeopardizing reactor cooling. Ukraine, a member country of the Association of European Nuclear Regulators, is prepared for “the loss of external power supply or water to cool the core and fuel”, Patricia Fernández, CSN spokesperson, explains to EFE. “The plants have emergency diesel generators capable of operating autonomously for several days.”
Roger Spautz, responsible for the nuclear campaign of Greenpeace France and Luxembourg, points out that these reserves can spare for several weeks, so “it is necessary that electricity works 24 hours a day.” Spautz also told DW that “the biggest risk is that the spent fuels will be hit by a missile or that they cannot be cooled due to the power system becoming unusable.”
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Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), spoke out against the Russian attack and stated that it is an event that “is unprecedented”. “Physical security has been compromised with what happened last night, we are lucky that there was no release of radiation” said the Argentine director, who also promised to travel to Ukraine to reach an agreement between both parties and avoid further incidents.
Chernobyl, the nuclear power plant that in 1986 starred in the biggest environmental disaster in history, It was also invaded by the Russian Army in previous days, amid the international community’s concern about a new nuclear accident.
“It is evident that nuclear installations are a weak point in the security of a country in the event of war, whether they are an intentional target or not,” the Iberian Antinuclear Movement highlighted in a statement.
“Russia, as a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), knows that an armed attack on a nuclear facility intended for peaceful purposes is a violation of international law,” said Patricia Fernández.
The Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelensky, expressed his concern on his social networks after the Russian impact on the Zaporizhia plant: “Europe must wake up now. Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is on fire. At this moment, Russian tanks are firing at nuclear units. These are tanks equipped with thermal imaging cameras. I mean, they know where they’re shooting, they’ve been preparing for this!” (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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