Threatened since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February, the situation of the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant, southeast of Kyiv, is a cause of growing concern in Ukraine and internationally. On Friday, during a telephone conversation with Emmanuel Macron, Vladimir Putin agreed that the plant would shortly be inspected by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Several international figures have already spoken out in favor of this mission in Zaporijjia, notably NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
And the inspection is seen as an emergency: in the event of a disaster, a possible radioactive cloud could extend as far as Europe.
Only three days to get to Poland
This radioactive cloud, modeled by a Ukrainian institute of hydrometeorology, would move rapidly from the plant beyond the borders of Ukraine, across Europe. According to these forecasts, it would only take three days to reach Poland or the Baltic countries.
“The risk is the fall on the ground of radioactive materials. Depending on their radiotoxicity, they can pass into food”, explains Emmanuelle Galichet, head of teaching in nuclear science and technology at Cnam.
A possibility that is all the more worrying since this situation was already observed in Chernobyl several decades ago.
However, the situation is different from Chernobyl.
However, Emmanuelle Galichet reminds us that the two plants are not identical and that the quantities of modeled particles are much lower than in Chernobyl.
“In Zaporijjia, you have a dome that will protect the environment and the populations from this possibility of explosion and radioactive cloud, which was not in Chernobyl,” he explains.
“Any radioactive accident at the Zaporizhia power plant can hit the countries of the European Union: Turkey, Georgia and more distant regions. It all depends on the direction and strength of the wind,” he said. warned Volodymyr Zelensky, whose government has decided to organize exercises in the event of a nuclear disaster.
Source: BFM TV
