With Ukraine’s national day on Wednesday, the state of the nuclear power plant is worrying. At least one million people live near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
– It’s like sitting on a powder keg, this is how a resident of Enerhodar, located in southeastern Ukraine, describes Alexander Lifirenko life around the Kah’ovka reservoir dammed on the Dnieper river.
Lifirenko and thousands of others live in the immediate vicinity of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
The distance from the town of Enerhodar, located in the Zaporizhia region, to the nuclear power plant is a good five kilometers.
To the north of the banks of the Dnieper River, the Zaporizhia region is bordered by Dnipropetrovsk. Nikopol and Marhanets are located on the opposite bank of the nuclear power plant, about ten kilometers away.
Zaporizhia, the largest city in the Zaporizhia region, is located approximately 150 kilometers from the nuclear power plant. More than 700,000 people live in the city.
The front line runs along the Dnieper River. The south is held by Russian forces and the north by Ukrainians.
Recently, the battles for territories have intensified.
On Monday, Russia claimed that the Ukrainian armed forces used long-range US missiles to bombard Enerhodar, located on the southern bank of the river. Ukraine has again made accusations to Russia about the repeated bombing of Nikopol, located on the northern coast.
Worrying news is coming from the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant
Recently, several rocket attacks have been reported in the area of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
Rockets have been fired, among other things, at the storage field of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, where spent nuclear fuel is stored.
At the beginning of August, rockets hit about 400 meters away from the operating reactor.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly warned that fighting near nuclear reactors could lead to fatal consequences.
– About that [iskusta reaktoriin] a worldwide disaster would follow, says Enerhodar’s Russia-appointed director of administration Alexander Volga.
Secretary General of the UN Antonio Guterres and many heads of state have appealed to the parties to avoid military action near the plant to avoid a nuclear accident.
The locals are preparing for a nuclear disaster
So far, a nuclear disaster has been avoided, and no changes have been detected in the radiation levels in the area.
Several European Union countries have already delivered protective equipment to Ukraine in case of a possible nuclear disaster from March (you switch to another service) until Ukraine and Russia fought over a nuclear power plant.
According to the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine, the situation in the area of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is becoming critical.
Minister of Energy of Ukraine Herman Halushchenko said BBC’s (switching to another service) according to that the situation changed dramatically when Russia started bombing the nuclear power plant again on August 5.
Russia requested (you switch to another service)on Tuesday, the UN Security Council to meet to discuss the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. The Security Council is scheduled to discuss the situation at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant next night Finnish time.
Russia has also given the green light for IAEA inspectors to enter the nuclear power plant area.
Ukraine: Russia is planning an attack
According to US intelligence, Russia is planning new attacks on Ukrainian civilian targets and government institutions in the coming days.
President Volodymir Zelenskyi said on Saturday that Russia could develop a special strike in time for Independence Day on Wednesday.
– We should be aware that this week Russia might try to do something particularly nasty, something particularly cruel, Zelenskyi said on Saturday.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, the representatives of the Russian nuclear power company Rosatom have left the area.
On the other hand, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed on August 18 that Ukraine was planning to organize a “catastrophe” in the area of the nuclear power plant. Russia threatened that it could shut down two of the six reactors if the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant escalated.
According to Ukraine’s nuclear weapons control authority, shutting down all reactors at the power plant could at worst lead to a disaster similar to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant accident.