Radiation risks at Zaporizhzhia

Bellona.org has published a new report — The Radiation Risks of Seizing the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant — examining the dangers that have arisen since the plant was seized by Russia early in that country’s invasion of Ukraine. Occupied by Russian troops since March 4, 2022, the report looks at how this has “forced six nuclear reactors and pools of spent nuclear fuel onto the front lines of the biggest land war in Europe since World War II.”

Writes Bellona: “It’s something the world nuclear energy community never thought it would see — and thus never prepared for. As a result, the world has watched helplessly as heavy ordinance strikes nail-bitingly close to the plant on a regular basis.

“What would happen if any of the plant’s six Soviet-built VVER-1000 nuclear reactors were struck by artillery? Or a missile?  What about the spent nuclear fuel storage pools? What if those were struck? Where would the radioactive fallout from any of these events go?

“And perhaps, in light of recent events, the most salient danger — what would happen if the plant was unable to maintain outside power to run reactor cooling systems? Would that amount to Fukushima redux?

“These questions and more are the subject of our new report, which you can read here:

The Radiation Risks of Seizing the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant