The bombing of the Zaporozhye nuclear plant in Ukraine .. Is the world on the verge of a new nuclear disaster?

KIEV

- The world media is abuzz with fears of a new nuclear catastrophe in Ukraine, with repeated bombings on the territory of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, and the continuation of battles and skirmishes close to it.

What is Zaporizhia station?

And what is its importance?

The Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant is located on the bank of a huge artificial lake in the city of Enerhodar, Zaporozhye region in southeastern Ukraine, and is considered the largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine and the European continent.

The plant was established in 1981, and actually entered service in 1984, and it includes 6 nuclear reactors, all of which are operating, while the Chernobyl plant, which witnessed a disaster in 1986, had only 4 reactors.

And the station soon became a major source of electric power, producing about 6,000 megawatts annually, which is enough for the needs of the entire population of Ukraine, whose numbers are estimated at 42 million, and meets about 30% of the country's need for electricity in general, including the need of factories, companies and means Transportation and others.

The station administratively belongs to the Ukrainian energy company, Energoatom, but Russia has taken control of its territory since early last March, days after the start of its war on Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

To find out the characteristics of the Zaporozhye plant, the differences between it and the Chernobyl plant, and the opinion about the possibility of a recurrence of the disaster, and what its repercussions will be then, Al Jazeera Net spoke to an expert in the field of nuclear safety at the Ministry of Energy, Olga Kocharna, who worked for many years in the State Nuclear Inspection Authority as well. He also headed the nuclear research department at the Razumkov Center for Studies.

Nuclear safety expert Olga Kocharna ruled out a nuclear disaster in Zaporozhye, but stressed the need for precaution (Al Jazeera)

Is Zaporozhye similar to Chernobyl?

"The architecture of the Zaporozhye plant is fundamentally different from that of the Chernobyl plant, and there is no way to compare them, or to expect a scene similar to the last catastrophe," says Kucharna.

And she added, "The reactors of the Zaporozhye plant are located underground within models of reinforced concrete surrounded by a protective cover that allows for the recombination of hydrogen in an emergency; thus, it is similar - in terms of structure - to the reactors of the Fukushima plant in Japan, and all this was not present in Chernobyl, where the reactors were external. and not covered."

And she continues in the same context, "to face emergencies, such as the power outage that is used to move the cooling fins and others, the Zaporozhye station was provided, after the Fukushima plant accident in Japan in 2011, with internal and mobile diesel backup generators, and this reduces the possibilities of its exposure to danger, provided that the shutdown process does not continue. For cooling, a period ranging from 3 to 6 hours, or 27 hours, according to the reactors’ working capacity, and based on the calculations of our scientists, this period is often enough to repair faults, or secure diesel fuel.”

Are we on the verge of disaster in Zaporozhye?

The expert believes that a new nuclear catastrophe is unlikely in Zaporozhye, but at the same time she warns that things are out of control because of the "madness and mistakes of war."

She asserts that Russia is concerned with the safety of the station, because it wanted to transfer it to the ownership of the "Rosatom" company after granting citizenship to its employees, and use it to supply electricity to Crimea and the rest of the occupied areas, even though the station's capacity is much greater than all of its needs.

On the other hand, it affirms that Ukraine is not interested in bombing the station, even if it is out of its control, because the repercussions of the incident will affect its residents and lands before anywhere else.

In a related context, the expert Kocharna asserts that "Russia is a state of terrorism and nuclear terrorism, and what she describes as its experts at the station are only cooperating to determine the targets of the bombing operations away from important and dangerous sites; they announce the bombing, and quickly take refuge in shelters before it begins, according to station employees." she said.

And she added, "Russia's goal was to connect the station to the power grid coming from Crimea, to meet the needs of the special station for work, in preparation for turning it into its full custody, but the power stations in Crimea were bombed, so the plan was canceled, and Russia's dreams faded, but the station remained a subject of threat and provocation to Ukraine and the world." She said it too.

In the context of the threat, Kocharna points out that the Russian bombing led to the interruption of cooling electricity for the fifth and sixth reactors at the plant on August 25, before the backup diesel generators worked, and then the problem was resolved by resuming the connection of the plant to the Ukrainian electricity network.

Where might the radiation reach?

Despite the station's architectural characteristics and safety measures, the continuation of the bombing may get out of control, and then the disaster will be great, with wide-ranging repercussions.

Expert Kocharna says, "In July, we estimated that any damage to one reactor at the plant would lead to a radioactive leak estimated at 100,000 Becquerels per square meter, and an active radiation cloud would form with a range that would reach Romania and Bulgaria after 6 hours, and to Turkey after 23 hours. If the wind is northwest.

And she continues, "and if the winds blow to the east, the radiation will reach Russia, and the lands of regions in it, such as the Krasnodar region, will not be habitable for 300 years."

But she pointed out that most of the radiation will remain in the station by virtue of the nature of its fortified underground construction, even if any explosion in the reactors leads to the burning of the "cement cushions" on which it rests.

What is the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency?

With talk about the imminent arrival of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to the station, after a long debate about the mechanism of their arrival and the nature of the tasks assigned to them, experts talk about the roles of "urgent and permanent inspection and monitoring" that the agency must play.

Expert Olga Kocharna says, "On August 12, 42 countries called for the liberation of the station in particular, and Ukraine in general. The agency should be a barrier to Russia's ambitions, and to ensure that the station is not turned into a nuclear shield in the hands of Moscow, while monitoring the latter's violations, and holding them accountable." Full responsibility for what happens and may happen there."