The situation around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant remains tense during the Ukraine war. The warnings from research and politics of a catastrophe are piling up.
Enerdohar – In the south of Ukraine, on a reservoir of the Dnipro River, is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe: the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. There has been excitement around the facility for weeks. There is heavy fighting in the region. The armies of both warring factions Ukraine conflict accuse each other of being responsible for the shelling of the nuclear power plant.
In addition to the finger pointing, both the Ukraine and Russia raised their concerns about security in the region. A nuclear catastrophe is imminent if the power supply in the power plant is interrupted. It is responsible for cooling the radioactive fuel elements in a total of six reactors, two of which are currently in operation. If the permanent cooling of the fuel rods fails, the material eats its way through the reactor and out: the worst possible accident, a so-called GAU.
News about the Ukraine war: in the case of a nuclear power plant disaster – wind as a decisive factor
Nuclear research experts have repeatedly warned that a nuclear accident could affect not only Ukraine, but also neighboring countries Russia, Moldova, Belarus, Romania and Bulgaria. The fighting could damage critical infrastructure, including reactors, said Andrei Ozharovsky, a radioactive waste safety specialist at the Russian Social-Ecological Union Moscow Times.
Both research and politics have already emphasized that the wind will probably be the decisive factor in the event of a meltdown. He should decide where the radioactive material will be blown. The consequences of a radioactive material release depend on “the weather conditions at the time of the event and which way the wind is blowing”, recently explained meteorologist Wolfgang Raskob the weekly newspaper time. “In Zaporizhia, it blows mainly in a southerly or easterly direction.” Both Russia and the Turkey could be hit by it. Germany, on the other hand, is out of reach, emphasized Raskob, who heads the “Consequences of accidents at the Institute for Nuclear and Energy Technology” working group at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
“In the event of an explosion – and given that the power plant is located near the river – the radiation could be released hundreds of kilometers around the power plant,” said scientist Ozharovsky of Moscow Times.
News about the Ukraine war: Zaporizhia nuclear plant under fire
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, confirmed this. “Any radioactive incident at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant could also become a blow to the states of the European Union and to Turkey and to Georgia and to the states of more distant regions,” said the head of state in a Monday evening statement distributed video message. “Everything just depends on the direction and strength of the wind,” he said.
There were also repeated warnings from Russia Ukraine war to hear. Wassili Nebensja, Russian ambassador to the UN, had warned of a “nuclear catastrophe” comparable to the GAU in Chernobyl in northern Ukraine in 1986. This was the world’s worst radioactive accident to date.
More than 40 countries have now called on Russia to withdraw the soldiers from the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. They have been monitoring Ukrainian workers for weeks. They also called for the UN nuclear regulatory agency to conduct a review process. The international oversight body itself also called on Ukraine to halt military action. “I ask both sides of this armed conflict to work with the IAEA and allow a mission to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant as soon as possible,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. “Time is of the essence.” (do)