n my previous piece for Diplomatic Courier, I examined how Russia is conducting ecological warfare in Ukraine. Over the past 18 months, the Russians have set Ukrainian wheatfields ablaze, contaminated waterways by destroying factories, and ruined ecosystems. Most recently, the Russians destroyed the Nova Kakhovka dam, an area that supplies water to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP). Ukrainian authorities are concerned that the Russians are deliberately trying to destroy the ZNPP, and that the Russians are seeking to cause a nuclear disaster in Ukraine.
When the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, one of the first attacks the Russians conducted was on the ZNPP. During the assault, the Russians repeatedly fired on the nuclear power plant. Following the attack in March, the Russians began to occupy the plant. They have since turned it into an army base to stage units in southern Ukraine.
“Since the plant has been captured by the Russians, it has been shelled by Russian tanks,” said Oleh Korikov, acting chairman of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine, in an exclusive interview with Diplomatic Courier. “[Ukraine] currently does not have control of the plant,” he added.
The plant is already damaged from previous Russian bombardments on the installation. To make matters worse, the plant has lost power on several occasions. According to a report published by NPR, the plant’s “power lines are essential [as they] are essential to the plant’s safety and cooling systems.” This is important as “the longer the plant goes without power, the higher the chance of a possible nuclear meltdown.” In other words, the situation in and around the plant is severe.
Recently, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director Rafael Mariano Grossi further emphasized this point. The situation “is completely out of control,” he told the Associated Press. IAEA authorities have also reported that there are “mines along the perimeter” of the ZNPP.
In addition, the United Nations stated that it is “gravely concerned” about the situation around the ZNPP. “The international community must exert political pressure on the Russian Federation,” the UN recently said in a statement.
Petro Kotin, the head of Ukraine’s state-run nuclear energy firm, agrees. In a recent statement, Kotin said the Russians used the plant as a “shield against Ukrainian forces.” In an interview with the BBC, Kotin stated that the Russians know that “nobody from Ukraine is going to do something” about the plant. Kotin believes Russia has done this intentionally as they know that the Ukrainians will not attack the plant as there are still Ukrainian citizens operating the facility.
Matters have since escalated in recent months. After holding an illegal and sham referendum not recognized by the international community, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that the Ukrainian province of Zaporizhzhia now belonged to Russia. Putin then ordered his forces to take complete control of the ZNPP. Those developments forced the IAEA to take further action.
“The need for a Nuclear Safety and Security Protection Zone (NSSPZ) around [Zaporizhzhia] Nuclear Power Plant is now more urgent than ever,” IAEA Director Grossi wrote on his Twitter account. “The situation at the … plant is not improving,” he later added.
Despite calls from Ukrainian officials and the IAEA to de-escalate the situation, Russia has chosen to go further. In a document provided exclusively to Diplomatic Courier by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam has caused the Kakhovka Reservoir to rapidly decrease. “Water from the Kakhovka Reservoir is necessary for the [ZNPP] to receive power for turbine capacitors and safety systems,” the document read. If water is unavailable, this will tamper with the plant’s ability to function properly.
“Currently, [Ukraine] has reports that some territory around the power plant has been mined,” Korikov told Diplomatic Courier. “This is an unacceptable risk. [Ukraine] has to fulfill requirements on nuclear safety. The mining of the cooling plant increases the risk of a nuclear accident at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. [With the recent destruction of the dam], this increases the risk. [Ukraine] needs the water resources to maintain the plant. For water moderated reactors, this is a serious scenario.”
Now, there is a concern that the Russians could destroy the plant. Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy informed ABC News that Russian forces had placed objects resembling explosives “on the roof of the power plant.” Zelenskyy added that the Russians were seeking to “simulate an attack” on the ZNPP. IAEA agreed in its own independent assessment, stating that it had observed “directional anti-personnel mines on the periphery” of the ZNPP.
“Having such explosives on the site is inconsistent with the IAEA safety standards and nuclear security guidance,” said IAEA Director Grossi. This “creates additional psychological pressure on plan staff … The [IAEA] team will continue its interactions with the plant.”
Currently, the ZNPP is the largest nuclear station on the European continent. The plant has six VVER-1000 pressurized light-water nuclear reactors. For these types of water-energy reactors, water is pumped to the reactor core under high pressure. The core is “heated by nuclear fission and then pumped into tubes inside a heat exchanger.”
This is why the Kakhovka Reservoir is important to the plant, as water from the reservoir is sent to the plant. It is also why there is a concern that water levels have drastically decreased in the reservoir. In addition to this issue, Ukrainian officials have also stated that the Russians have mined the plant’s cooling pond. This will only cause greater instability at the plant.
There are now concerns that a nuclear event could occur at the plant. Given its size and power, a nuclear disaster would be catastrophic. According to Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, such a tragedy would be “10 times larger” than the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. According to another document provided exclusively to the Diplomatic Courier by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, it is estimated that the blast radius from a destroyed ZNPP would span 150 kilometers (93 miles). Nuclear fallout would span significantly further. Not only would this impact Ukraine, but it would also travel across Central and Eastern Europe. Even Russia would be impacted by the nuclear disaster.
Due to this potential event, nuclear experts have called on the ZNPP threat to be taken seriously. IAEA echoed these calls for concern, stating that it had found anti-personnel mines on the premise of the plant in its recent observation. IAEA has attempted to collect additional information on the ongoing events, but aside from what it has previously reported, the organization stated the Russians still have prevented them “additional access to the plant.” This makes the situation inside the plant, and Russian operations, unknown.
Overall, the situation in and around the ZNPP is dangerous and dire. If left unchecked, another major catastrophe could occur on the European continent. International organizations and bodies must continue to pressure Russia to allow IAEA experts complete access to the facility. In addition, the international community must continue to impose stiff sanctions to force the Russian Federation to end its unnecessary and unjust war. Otherwise, the war will escalate further. The destruction of the ZNPP would impact millions of lives in and outside of Ukraine, and it would be the latest addition of a long list of atrocities committed by the Russians.
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Russia May Cause a Nuclear Disaster in Ukraine (Again)
Image by Leo211 via Wikimedia Commons, under creative commons CC BY-SA 4.0.
July 31, 2023
The threat of nuclear catastrophe is one of the more frightening prospects tied to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Rather than deploying nuclear weapons, however, there are indications Russia could be seeking to cause a disaster at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, writes Mark Temnycky.
I
n my previous piece for Diplomatic Courier, I examined how Russia is conducting ecological warfare in Ukraine. Over the past 18 months, the Russians have set Ukrainian wheatfields ablaze, contaminated waterways by destroying factories, and ruined ecosystems. Most recently, the Russians destroyed the Nova Kakhovka dam, an area that supplies water to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP). Ukrainian authorities are concerned that the Russians are deliberately trying to destroy the ZNPP, and that the Russians are seeking to cause a nuclear disaster in Ukraine.
When the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, one of the first attacks the Russians conducted was on the ZNPP. During the assault, the Russians repeatedly fired on the nuclear power plant. Following the attack in March, the Russians began to occupy the plant. They have since turned it into an army base to stage units in southern Ukraine.
“Since the plant has been captured by the Russians, it has been shelled by Russian tanks,” said Oleh Korikov, acting chairman of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine, in an exclusive interview with Diplomatic Courier. “[Ukraine] currently does not have control of the plant,” he added.
The plant is already damaged from previous Russian bombardments on the installation. To make matters worse, the plant has lost power on several occasions. According to a report published by NPR, the plant’s “power lines are essential [as they] are essential to the plant’s safety and cooling systems.” This is important as “the longer the plant goes without power, the higher the chance of a possible nuclear meltdown.” In other words, the situation in and around the plant is severe.
Recently, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director Rafael Mariano Grossi further emphasized this point. The situation “is completely out of control,” he told the Associated Press. IAEA authorities have also reported that there are “mines along the perimeter” of the ZNPP.
In addition, the United Nations stated that it is “gravely concerned” about the situation around the ZNPP. “The international community must exert political pressure on the Russian Federation,” the UN recently said in a statement.
Petro Kotin, the head of Ukraine’s state-run nuclear energy firm, agrees. In a recent statement, Kotin said the Russians used the plant as a “shield against Ukrainian forces.” In an interview with the BBC, Kotin stated that the Russians know that “nobody from Ukraine is going to do something” about the plant. Kotin believes Russia has done this intentionally as they know that the Ukrainians will not attack the plant as there are still Ukrainian citizens operating the facility.
Matters have since escalated in recent months. After holding an illegal and sham referendum not recognized by the international community, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that the Ukrainian province of Zaporizhzhia now belonged to Russia. Putin then ordered his forces to take complete control of the ZNPP. Those developments forced the IAEA to take further action.
“The need for a Nuclear Safety and Security Protection Zone (NSSPZ) around [Zaporizhzhia] Nuclear Power Plant is now more urgent than ever,” IAEA Director Grossi wrote on his Twitter account. “The situation at the … plant is not improving,” he later added.
Despite calls from Ukrainian officials and the IAEA to de-escalate the situation, Russia has chosen to go further. In a document provided exclusively to Diplomatic Courier by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam has caused the Kakhovka Reservoir to rapidly decrease. “Water from the Kakhovka Reservoir is necessary for the [ZNPP] to receive power for turbine capacitors and safety systems,” the document read. If water is unavailable, this will tamper with the plant’s ability to function properly.
“Currently, [Ukraine] has reports that some territory around the power plant has been mined,” Korikov told Diplomatic Courier. “This is an unacceptable risk. [Ukraine] has to fulfill requirements on nuclear safety. The mining of the cooling plant increases the risk of a nuclear accident at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. [With the recent destruction of the dam], this increases the risk. [Ukraine] needs the water resources to maintain the plant. For water moderated reactors, this is a serious scenario.”
Now, there is a concern that the Russians could destroy the plant. Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy informed ABC News that Russian forces had placed objects resembling explosives “on the roof of the power plant.” Zelenskyy added that the Russians were seeking to “simulate an attack” on the ZNPP. IAEA agreed in its own independent assessment, stating that it had observed “directional anti-personnel mines on the periphery” of the ZNPP.
“Having such explosives on the site is inconsistent with the IAEA safety standards and nuclear security guidance,” said IAEA Director Grossi. This “creates additional psychological pressure on plan staff … The [IAEA] team will continue its interactions with the plant.”
Currently, the ZNPP is the largest nuclear station on the European continent. The plant has six VVER-1000 pressurized light-water nuclear reactors. For these types of water-energy reactors, water is pumped to the reactor core under high pressure. The core is “heated by nuclear fission and then pumped into tubes inside a heat exchanger.”
This is why the Kakhovka Reservoir is important to the plant, as water from the reservoir is sent to the plant. It is also why there is a concern that water levels have drastically decreased in the reservoir. In addition to this issue, Ukrainian officials have also stated that the Russians have mined the plant’s cooling pond. This will only cause greater instability at the plant.
There are now concerns that a nuclear event could occur at the plant. Given its size and power, a nuclear disaster would be catastrophic. According to Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, such a tragedy would be “10 times larger” than the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. According to another document provided exclusively to the Diplomatic Courier by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, it is estimated that the blast radius from a destroyed ZNPP would span 150 kilometers (93 miles). Nuclear fallout would span significantly further. Not only would this impact Ukraine, but it would also travel across Central and Eastern Europe. Even Russia would be impacted by the nuclear disaster.
Due to this potential event, nuclear experts have called on the ZNPP threat to be taken seriously. IAEA echoed these calls for concern, stating that it had found anti-personnel mines on the premise of the plant in its recent observation. IAEA has attempted to collect additional information on the ongoing events, but aside from what it has previously reported, the organization stated the Russians still have prevented them “additional access to the plant.” This makes the situation inside the plant, and Russian operations, unknown.
Overall, the situation in and around the ZNPP is dangerous and dire. If left unchecked, another major catastrophe could occur on the European continent. International organizations and bodies must continue to pressure Russia to allow IAEA experts complete access to the facility. In addition, the international community must continue to impose stiff sanctions to force the Russian Federation to end its unnecessary and unjust war. Otherwise, the war will escalate further. The destruction of the ZNPP would impact millions of lives in and outside of Ukraine, and it would be the latest addition of a long list of atrocities committed by the Russians.
