Nuclear power station on brink of disaster as Ukraine ‘extremely wary’

Nuclear experts responsible for inspecting the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant have said they are “extremely war” of a Russian attack following claims by Ukraine that Vladimir Putin’s forces had placed “objects resembling explosives” atop two of the reactors.

Fears are abounding both within Ukraine and in eastern Europe more widely that a nuclear disaster comparable to that of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 could be initiated by Russia, which is currently occupying the Zaporizhzia plant.

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said on Wednesday (July 5) that his team had seen “no signs of mining” during their last inspection on Friday (June 30) but remained concerned nonetheless about a disaster.

TheIAEA has officials stationed at the Russian-held plant, which is still run by a Ukrainian staff that oversees crucial cooling systems and other safety features.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has been a focus of fear since Moscow’s forces took control of it early in the war. Ever since then, Moscow and Kyiv have traded blame for shelling the facility and accused each other of nuclear terrorism.

Regular power outages resulting from shelling made it impossible to operate the plant safely, and its six reactors have been shut down to minimise the threat of a disaster.

Over the last year, the UN’s atomic watchdog repeatedly expressed alarm over the possibility of a radiation catastrophe like the one at Chernobyl after a reactor exploded in 1986.

Citing the latest intelligence reports, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky alleged on Tuesday night (July 4) that Russian troops had placed “objects resembling explosives” on top of several of the plant’s power units to “simulate” an attack from outside.

“Their detonation should not damage power units but may create a picture of shelling from Ukraine,” according to a statement from the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces.

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Moscow is “unlikely” to create a nuclear disaster but could be attempting to harm the Zaporizhzhia plant to create the false impression that Ukrainian forces had shelled the reactors, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

While Volodymyr Zelensky has alleged that “objects resembling explosives” have appeared atop two of the reactors, Ukrainian military sources noted that even if the purported explosive devices detonate, the damage would not harm the reactor, since they are designed to “withstand considerable damage”, the ISW reported.

They maintained that, if they are indeed explosive devices atop two of the nuclear units, they will not be used to create a nuclear disaster, rather to cast into doubt the behaviour of Ukraine’s Armed Forces ahead of the NATO summit next week.

Here is an image inside the nuclear plant

Below is a picture from inside the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant complex.

The plant is comprised of six individual units, two of which Ukraine has alleged have been compromised by Russia.

‘No visible changes’ to Ukrainian nuclear plant recorded on satellite imagery

The Associated Press has reviewed high-resolution satellite imagery of the plant taken on Monday and Wednesday.

They wrote that the photos showed no visible changes to the roofs of the six concrete containment domes covering the reactors at the plant, or nearby buildings.

The hypothesis runs contrary to claims made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that “objects resembling explosives” had been placed atop two units of the plant.

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