Nuclear escalation in the Ukraine war?
Experts now see “imminent danger”
Created: 03/04/2022Updated: 03/04/2022 10:36 am
By: Richard Strobl, Bettina Menzel
Sergej Lavrov (l), Foreign Minister of Russia, speaks at a joint press conference with Greek Foreign Minister Dendias.
© Maxim Shemetov/dpa
The danger of a nuclear war is now also looming in the Ukraine conflict.
Russian troops fired on a nuclear power plant.
International experts are concerned.
International Atomic Energy Agency: Had permanent contact with Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
A building was hit during the night, it is not a part of the reactor, but a neighboring training building
Update from March 4, 10:18 a.m .:
The Russian army fired on the Ukrainian Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in the south-east of the country during the night.
A fire in a training center a few hundred meters from one of the reactors has now been extinguished, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Increased radioactivity was not measured, according to the official information.
The power plant is now occupied by Russian troops.
Heinz Smital, Greenpeace's nuclear expert, comments:
“Putin's invasion is putting the health of the people of Europe at risk.
Shooting at a nuclear power plant is irresponsible madness.
Chernobyl and Fukushima have shown what catastrophic consequences the meltdown of reactors can have: tens of thousands of people are exposed to radiation, large areas of the country uninhabitable for decades.
The Ukrainian operators are apparently acting responsibly.
As far as is known, they shut down all but one reactor block.
They use the remaining block 4 with reduced capacity in order to be able to run the cooling water systems of the entire power plant complex safely.
This incident underscores the high risks posed by nuclear energy - in times of peace and times of war.
Update from March 4, 10 a.m.:
Update from March 4, 9.40 a.m
.: According to Kiev, the Russian army occupied the site of the Ukrainian Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in the Ukraine war, where it had burned during the night after attacks by the Russian armed forces .
"The operating staff controls the power units and ensures their operation," the Ukrainian nuclear regulatory authority announced on Friday, March 4th.
A leak was not found at the power plant.
No changes in radioactive radiation exposure were registered, the authority said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy* has accused Russia of "nuclear terrorism".
No other country in the world has ever shelled nuclear facilities, Zelenskyy said in a video message.
Ukraine war: Putin fires at nuclear power plant - Greenpeace in great concern
Update from March 4, 9:27 a.m .:
The fire at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia in the Ukraine war with Russia scares the world - nuclear physicist Heinz Smital has now also expressed concern.
"As far as I know, only Block 4 is still running, the fire affects the training center," wrote the nuclear expert from the environmental protection organization Greenpeace on Twitter early in the morning.
The danger of a meltdown is not immediate.
"Chernobyl had a graphite core, brought radioactivity to great heights and spread as far as Europe, that's not the case here." The situation is still critical.
The Greenpeace nuclear expert sharply criticizes Vladimir Putin for shelling the nuclear power plant: "Putin's invasion is jeopardizing the health of people in Europe.
Shooting at a nuclear power plant is irresponsible madness.
Chernobyl and Fukushima have shown what catastrophic consequences the meltdown of reactors can have: tens of thousands of people are exposed to radiation, large areas of the country uninhabitable for decades.”
Update from March 4, 3:46 a.m .:
According to the authorities, the situation in Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is “secured”.
The head of the nuclear power plant said that firefighters had reached the plant in the meantime, wrote the head of the regional military administration, Oleksander Staruch, on Facebook on Friday night.
The fire is believed to have broken out in a training facility and laboratory.
The international atomic energy agency IAEA gave the all-clear regarding radioactive radiation.
No increased radioactivity was measured in the area.
The IAEA called for an end to all hostilities around the nuclear power plant on Friday night and warned on Twitter of "serious danger" if reactors were hit.
Zaporizhia nuclear power plant catches fire after Russian attack
Update from March 4, 2:42 a.m .:
The Ukraine war has significantly increased the risk of a nuclear accident with international implications, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently warned.
Now the danger seems tangible, because the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which was taken by Russian troops, is said to have caught fire on Thursday.
According to a nuclear power plant spokesman, Russian troops "bombed" the nuclear plant, and one block then caught fire.
The International Atomic Energy Agency warned of serious dangers if reactors were hit on Friday night, according to the IAEA on Twitter.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on the short message service that the Russian army was shooting at the facility “from all sides”.
"The fire has already broken out.
If it explodes, it will be ten times bigger than Chernobyl!”
The accident at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Chernobyl on April 26, 1986 was one of the worst disasters in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
A reactor block exploded, after which radioactive substances spread over large parts of Europe over several days.
Zaporizhia, which has now caught fire, is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe - and significantly more powerful than Chernobyl.
Ukraine's foreign minister demanded that Russia stop shooting immediately so that the fire brigade can get to the fire.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it was aware of the shelling of the Zaporizhia nuclear facility.
We are in contact with the Ukrainian authorities about the situation.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi spoke to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal about the "serious situation" at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and called for the violence to stop.
First report from March 3, 4:41 p.m .:
Kiev – The Ukraine conflict* continues to escalate.
Russia's attack is probably progressing much more slowly than Putin's war plan had envisaged.
The next escalation is imminent - also because Russia sees itself provoked by Western support for Ukraine.
But how great is the danger of a nuclear escalation?
There are two sources of danger: the nuclear weapons of Russia and the West itself.
And second, security concerns about Ukraine's nuclear power plants, which Russia appears to be taking.
Nuclear danger in the Ukraine war: Russia speaks of scaremongering and yet fuels fears
Vladimir Putin* had already put the Russian “deterrent forces” on alert on Sunday.
Atomic weapons can also be counted among these.
They were not explicitly named by Russia.
But how big is the danger of a nuclear war?
A military expert had already assessed the situation against Merkur.de*.
In the meantime, Russia itself has responded to the West's warnings of nuclear war and has spoken of scaremongering.
"Everyone knows that a third world war can only be nuclear,"
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.
However, this question only arises in the minds of Western politicians and not in those of the Russians.
"I assure you that we will not allow any provocations that will make us lose our balance," Lavrov said in a state-television interview with Russian and international media.
"But if (the West) starts to unleash a real war against us, those who hatch such plans should think about it, and I think they are thinking about it." and describes conditions for the use of nuclear weapons.” There will be no “escalation for the sake of de-escalation,” he said.
"But talk about a nuclear war is now underway." That's all down to the West.
He also accused western states of “hysteria”.
Nuclear danger in Ukraine war: International experts see "imminent danger"
The minister sharply criticized the United States in particular.
“The following comparisons come to mind for me: Both Napoleon and Hitler once wanted to enslave Europe.
Now the Americans have subjugated it,” Lavrov said.
At the same time, the governing body of the International Atomic Energy Agency condemned Russia's military seizure of Ukrainian nuclear facilities.
According to the resolution, the risk of a nuclear accident with international repercussions had increased significantly in the wake of the Russian invasion.
Russia's actions in Ukraine have
"raised serious and immediate threats to the security of these facilities and their civilian employees."
According to the IAEA, Russian units have taken control of the area around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant - the largest Ukrainian nuclear power plant - according to information from Moscow.
From the point of view of the IAEA, the plant itself is also under Russian control, although operation is continued by Ukrainian employees and under the supervision of the authorities in Kyiv.
In addition, Russian soldiers took over the Chernobyl power plant last week.
Two other facilities storing nuclear waste have been damaged in the course of the fighting.
However, no radioactive radiation was released in the process.
You can read the background to the Ukraine conflict* here.
All the latest news about the Ukraine war is available in our live ticker.
(rjs/dpa) *Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
