Is there a nuclear risk at the Ukrainian power plant in Zaporizhia? For the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia is putting Ukraine and the entire European continent “on the brink of a nuclear catastrophe.”
This Thursday, the plant, the largest in Europe, was “disconnected” from the Ukrainian power grid. At issue: the multiple fires caused by shelling near the site. Russians and Ukrainians accuse each other.
To permanently cool its nuclear reactors, the plant has a constant need for electrical supply. Therefore, a backup system had to take over. A first in its history.
“You have to understand that if the generators had not been activated, we would already be dealing with the consequences of a radioactive accident,” Volodymyr Zelensky lamented in a video.
An attempt to “hijack” nuclear power
Since the beginning of the war, the Zaporizhia power plant has become a strategic point of the conflict. “It’s in the middle of territory that is still controlled by the Ukrainians but has been occupied by the Russians,” explains Patrick Sauce, international politics columnist for BFMTV.
“It is both a nuclear and an energy problem: the Ukrainians need it and the Russians would like to divert the high-voltage cables,” he continues.
Given the fears, a mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) could be carried out in the coming days to assess the damage. “The question of whether the IAEA will really have the means to work effectively and in a comprehensive and transparent manner,” asks Bruno Chareyron, nuclear engineer and director of the CRIIRAD laboratory, on the microphone of BFMTV.
The United States has already warned Russia that any attempt to divert Ukrainian nuclear power would be considered unacceptable.
Source: BFM TV
