The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is a 'dirty bomb' waiting to happen – a nuclear expert explains
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星期三, 七月 12, 2023
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After the explosion at the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine last month, many Ukrainians feared the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant could be next.
Key Points:
- After the explosion at the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine last month, many Ukrainians feared the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant could be next.
- So, how serious are the risks of an attack at the power plant?
Europe’s largest nuclear power plant
- Before the Russian invasion, Ukraine generated about half its electricity from 15 nuclear power reactors across four sites, with Zaporizhzhia generating almost half of this.
- The plant has cooling ponds for spent nuclear fuel, which require continuous power and water (like the reactors themselves).
- Read more:
Could the Ukraine dam attack pose risks to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant?
How quickly a meltdown could happen
- The sixth was maintained in hot shutdown at around 200 degrees Celsius, producing steam for the plant.
- in a pressurised water reactor, the meltdown of the core could occur within less than one minute after the loss of coolant.
- The radioactivity released from damaged spent fuel ponds could be even greater than from a meltdown at the reactor itself, he wrote.
- The radioactive release could possibly be at Chernobyl-scale or even larger amounts if multiple reactors and spent fuel ponds were involved.
A nuclear plant under continuous assault
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Read more:
Russian shelling caused a fire at a Ukrainian nuclear power plant – how close did we actually come to disaster? - The other three nuclear power plants in Ukraine have also experienced interruptions to their electricity supply.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is the first time war has engulfed operating nuclear plants and, in a real sense, weaponised them as potential radiological weapons, or “dirty bombs”. As IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has documented, Zaporizhzhia has been under comprehensive and unprecedented assault. This has included:
A wake-up call to the dangers of nuclear power
- Some nuclear experts have inappropriately downplayed the risk of deliberate or accidental breach of the containment structures at Zaporizhzhia.
- Russia has already launched large-scale attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, including its energy grid.
- The reality is that as long as nuclear power plants continue to operate, we are frighteningly vulnerable not only to severe accidents, but also to the weaponisation of these facilities.