On March 3, the Russians took control of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, rekindling fears of a nuclear accident in this country still marked by the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Two weeks later , on March 19, the Ukrainian authorities tried to monitor the activity of the plant from a distance and feared that others would fall into the hands of the Russians.
From his television studio, the director of the Rivné power station, in the east of the country, regularly reports on the situation of the fifteen nuclear power stations located in Ukraine.
"Russian forces are exploding shells that did not explode during the fighting around the Zaporozhye power plant, just a few hundred meters from the main entrance. It is very dangerous," he told reporters. from France 24.
Now, he fears a potential attack on his establishment.
"Look what they are already doing. How do we know what they are capable of? I don't know. I only know that we will defend the plant no matter what the consequences and what may happen to us ."
Read also: Ukraine, nuclear power: "A Russian attack to destroy reactors makes no sense"
“If the inhabitants left, it would be terrible”
In the adjoining town of the Rivné power station, Varach, the inhabitants are worried.
"If the inhabitants left here, it would be terrible. The plant needs professionals to operate," said one of them.
"And it was not designed to withstand military maneuvers..."
Ukraine is the world's eighth nuclear power.
It has fifteen reactors in operation, spread over four sites, in Zaporozhye, Rivne, Khmelnytskyi and in southern Ukraine at Yuzhnooukraïnsk, in the Mykolaiv oblast, to which are added the four reactors at the shutdown of the old Chernobyl power plant.
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