Ukraine - Breadth of Coverage
Posted: 23rd August 2022
The radioactive fallout from an attack on the Zapoizhzhia nuclear power plant could almost reach Germany within the space of just three days, according to a simulation of the blast. A graphic of the disaster’s hypothetical range shows just how deadly an explosion could be as a cloud of nuclear matter is seen swirling through Europe in a video compiled by Ukraine’s Hydrometeorolofical Institute. It comes after Ukrainian workers draped in hazmat suits carried out emergency first aid drills and hosed each other down in a nearby car park after the Kremlin warned of a “minor accident” at Europe’s largest nuclear complex. The Zapoizhzhia plant is currently under Russian control, but the Kremlin claims it was Ukraine who triggered the accident so they could blame it on the tyrant Vladimir Putin. In the video, a radioactive cloud spreads across 13 countries – from Russia in the east to Poland in the west – over a 72-hour period.
Mirror 19th Aug 2022
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has said UN officials will be granted permission to visit and inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex. The Kremlin made the announcement after a call between Mr Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron. It came as claims of fighting near the plant continued, with four civilians reportedly injured by Russian shelling. Separately, the US pledged on Friday to send more arms and ammunitions to assist in Ukraine’s war effort. In a read-out following the call between the French and Russian leaders, the Kremlin said, Mr Putin had agreed to provide UN investigators with “the necessary assistance” to access the Zaporizhzhia nuclear site. The plant has been under Russian occupation since early March but Ukrainian technicians still operate it under Russian direction. “Both leaders noted the importance” of sending the IAEA experts to the plant for an assessment of “the situation on the ground”, the Kremlin said. The director-general of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), welcomed Mr Putin’s statement and said he was willing to lead a visit to the plant himself.
BBC 20th Aug 2022
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has said Russia may plan to decouple the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant from the Ukrainian power grid, backing up warnings from Ukraine’s own nuclear power firm. Macron spoke to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, on Friday and said the call was necessary because of the urgent nuclear threat to Europe. Putin agreed to allow independent inspectors to go to the plant, Macron’s office said, and had “reconsidered” allowing the mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency to travel to the facility from Ukrainian territory. The Ukrainian nuclear firm Energoatom said on Friday that it feared that Russia plans to switch off the functioning power units at the Zaporizhzhia plant, which in normal times provides about one-fifth of Ukraine’s electricity.
Guardian 20th Aug 2022
French President Emmanuel Macron was on Friday night forced to justify his latest phone call with Vladimir Putin, claiming he was trying to avert a disaster at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The Zaporizhzhia plant has become the focus of international diplomatic efforts in a bid to ease the simmering tensions and avert a crisis. The pair agreed independent inspectors should be dispatched to monitor the safety situation at the plant.
Telegraph 19th Aug 2022
Dire warnings from Russia and Ukraine about a possible attack at a nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine sent some nearby residents fleeing Friday and others hunkering down amid heightened international fears of a radioactive disaster. The ominous threat to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, alarmed world powers and renewed calls by U.N. Secretary General António Guterres for an immediate cessation of hostilities and access for international nuclear experts. “Any potential damage to Zaporizhzhia is suicide,” Guterres said after a meeting in Ukraine with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Washington Post 19th Aug 2022
To Russia’s long list of crimes against humanity associated with its invasion of Ukraine, we must add nuclear terrorism. While many worried that Russia might use nuclear weapons if the war grew more desperate for them—and senior U.S. government officials do not rule that possibility out—Moscow has already done something that could have similarly catastrophic consequences. In early March, Russian forces seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station. Since then, they have taken a number of steps, each of which has raised the risk of a nuclear disaster. They have turned the facility into a military base. They have mined parts of the facility. They have interfered with the staff, placed them under duress, arrested them and played havoc with the plant’s chain of command. They have used the facility as a base from which to launch attacks on Ukraine. They have also attacked parts of the facility themselves and sought to blame the attacks on Ukraine’s military. Reclaiming the facility would be extremely dangerous. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, after a ceremony to mark the 77th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, said, “Any attack to a nuclear plant is a suicidal thing.”
Daily Beast 16th Aug 2022
What is at stake at Ukraine’s Zaporizhia nuclear plant. A disaster on the scale of Chernobyl is unlikely—but radioactive emissions are a possibility. Few countries understand the dangers of a nuclear accident as keenly as Ukraine. On April 26th 1986 reactor number four at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant went out of control during a test. This triggered a series of explosions and the melting of the reactor core. Now, as shelling intensifies around Europe’s largest nuclear plant, in Zaporizhia province in south-eastern Ukraine, the country is calculating the risks of another disaster. The Russian armed forces, which have occupied the plant, claim Ukraine is planning to bomb it and blame Moscow. On August 19th, Russia’s security chief, Nikolai Patrushev, said the responsibility for any future catastrophe would lie squarely with “Washington, London and their accomplices”. Is there anything in such alarming rhetoric?
Economist 19th Aug 2022
Shelling has recently intensified at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, raising international safety concerns. Ukrainian staff continue to operate the massive plant under strict control and stressful conditions. Both Russia and Ukraine are blaming one another for the continued attacks, and damage. Disinformation and fake news have played a major role in this conflict, and so the exact nature of the situation is unclear. It seems unlikely that either side would want to seriously damage Europe’s biggest nuclear plant, in the near-frontline city of Enerhodar, and cause a release of radiation. Ukrainian plant workers claim that Russia is deliberately targeting non-critical equipment. A deliberate attack against a nuclear facility would break international norms, and concerns over the potentially dangerous consequences are well justified. This plant is not like Chernobyl, the site of the world’s biggest nuclear disaster. Chernobyl was an older reactor type, with several questionable design choices. Like Zaporizhzhia, it was cooled by water, but it also contained large quantities of graphite to perform a function known as neutron moderation, which is necessary for the reactor to operate. When the Chernobyl reactor overheated, the water boiled away and became less effective at cooling. However, the graphite continued to moderate the neutrons, allowing the reactor power and thus temperature to build uncontrollably. The shutdown system at Chernobyl was also poorly designed and contributed to the accident. At Zaporizhzhia, as with the majority of reactors globally, if the reactor overheats, both cooling and moderation are reduced, and so the reactor power also reduces. Nuclear engineers see this as fundamental to safe reactor design. But a breach of a fuelled and operating reactor could still be disastrous if attacks damage nuclear materials or safety-critical equipment. This could release large quantities of hazardous nuclear material into the air, potentially contaminating vast areas of land and water supplies.
The Conversation 19th Aug 2022
Attacks on Ukrainian power plant raise fears of second Chernobyl, Russia and Ukraine are blaming each other as the battle over who controls the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station escalates.
New Statesman 19th Aug 2022
The rhetoric surrounding Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant – close to the front line in Ukraine – is becoming increasingly alarming, with international figures warning of the risk of a major accident. UN Secretary General António Guterres believes potential damage to the Zaporizhzhia plant could be “suicide” and Turkey’s president has said no-one wants another Chernobyl – the world’s worst nuclear accident, when Ukraine was under Soviet rule.
BBC 19th Aug 2022
Ukraine’s Energoatom state nuclear company said on Friday Russian forces planned to switch off the functioning power blocks at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and to disconnect them from the Ukrainian power grid.
Reuters 19th Aug 2022