Zaporizhia nuclear power plant: UN and NATO warn of nuclear catastrophe
Created: 08/18/2022, 08:45
By: Tobias Utz
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.
+++ 8.30 a.m.:
In the conflict over the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is controlled by Russian troops, NATO is pushing for an independent inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The Russian occupation is "a serious threat to the security of this facility," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels on Wednesday (17 August).
This increases the risk of a nuclear accident or an "incident", according to Stoltenberg.
"There is an urgent need to facilitate an IAEA inspection and obtain the withdrawal of all Russian forces," the military alliance's secretary-general said.
Russian control over the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant endangers "the people of Ukraine, neighboring countries and the international community," he said.
Last week the head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi,
The situation around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant remains tense.
(Symbol photo) © imago stock & people / Becker & Bredel / Imago Images
Update from Thursday, August 18, 7 a.m.:
Before a meeting with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy again called for Russian troops to be withdrawn from the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
"This must be done without conditions and as soon as possible," said Zelenskyj in his video address on Wednesday evening.
Ukrainian diplomats, scientists and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are working to allow an expert commission to visit the nuclear power plant.
"Only absolute transparency and a controlled situation in and around the nuclear power plant guarantee a return to normal nuclear safety for the Ukrainian state, the international community and the IAEA," Zelenskyy said.
The situation in Europe's largest nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian troops, has been worrying the international community for weeks.
Bullets keep falling on the power plant site, with Russia and Ukraine blaming each other for the shelling.
The visit of an IAEA mission to Zaporizhia will be the subject of Selensky's meeting with Guterres this Thursday in Lviv.
The third participant at the summit is Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Russian occupation administration reported twice on Wednesday (August 17) about alleged Ukrainian shelling of the nuclear power plant.
According to the police, two employees of the plant were arrested for helping the Ukrainian troops to aim, the Ria Novosti agency reported.
There was no independent confirmation of this.
First report from Tuesday, August 16, 10:30
a.m.: Enerdohar – In southern 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 in the Ukraine conflict accuse each other of being responsible for the shelling of the nuclear power plant.
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Alongside the finger-pointing, both Ukraine and Russia are voicing 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.
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The situation around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant remains tense.
© Russian Defense Ministry Press Service/AP/dpa
News about the Ukraine war: in the case of a nuclear power plant disaster – wind as a decisive factor
Nuclear energy research experts have repeatedly warned that a nuclear incident would affect not only Ukraine, but also the neighboring countries of Russia, Moldova, Belarus, Romania and Bulgaria.
The fighting could damage critical infrastructure, including the reactors, Andrei Ozharovsky, a radioactive waste safety specialist at the Russian Social-Ecological Union, told The
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 an escape of radioactive material depend on "the weather conditions at the time of the event and which direction the wind is blowing from," meteorologist Wolfgang Raskob recently explained to the weekly newspaper
Zeit
.
"In Zaporizhia, it blows mainly in a southerly or easterly direction." Both Russia and Turkey could be affected.
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," scientist Ozharovsky explained to the
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 one video message distributed on Monday evening.
"Everything just depends on the direction and strength of the wind," he said.
Repeated warnings about the Ukraine war were also heard from Russia.
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 with dpa/AFP)
