The situation at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant has been on the back burner recently. According to Hanna Smith, Research Director of the Hybrid Expertise Center, there are many uses for the facility in Russia, of which a concrete nuclear power plant accident is perhaps the smallest.
Due to Russia’s reckless actions and warfare, the situation in Ukraine in the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant area is very dangerous, says ‘s foreign correspondent Antti Kuronen.
Russia has occupied the Zaporizhzhia power plant since March and considers it its base. It has even moved its weapons and ammunition inside the nuclear power plant’s critical buildings, Kuronen points out.
– [Venäjä] using this large nuclear site as a shield so that it can carry out these strikes and protect its missiles from Ukrainian counterstrikes.
Russia is actively shelling, for example, the neighboring city of Zaporizhia, Nikopol, says Kuronen, who visited the city over the weekend.
Since weapons and ammunition have been placed in the Zaporizhzhia power plant area, it is impossible for Ukraine to attack Russia very forcefully in the area.
Although nuclear power plants are not prepared for a large-scale war, they are prepared for various threats such as terrorism, says the Deputy Director of the Radiation Protection Center Tomi Routamo.
It is hard for him to imagine that the accident in Ukraine would have worse consequences than the war itself.
Even if the release were to occur, it is unlikely that anyone would be in immediate danger, Routamo says. In typical situations, preparations would be made to avoid future consequences, such as increased cancer cases, within tens of years.
Routamo makes a point of comparing the situation at the Zaporizhia power plant directly to the Chernobyl accident.
– It must be remembered that the Chernobyl reactor was of a completely different type. After the explosion, there was practically no protective building there.
– However, these have strong containment buildings. And even if the containment building is damaged, it still retains a large part of the radioactive material.
Despite this, the war increases the uncertainty of guaranteeing the operation of the power plant’s safety systems in the long term. Difficulties may arise, for example, in getting diesel fuel to the power plant in a war situation.
The power plant’s backup systems, which come into play when the power grid connection is interrupted, need diesel to operate. Fuel is typically reserved several days in advance for the power plant, Routamo says.
The nuclear power plant is intimidating
Research Director of the Hybrid Expertise Center of Hanna Smith according to Russia, nuclear power plants have several uses. A nuclear power plant accident is perhaps the smallest of all of these, he says.
For Russia, occupying the Zaporizhzhia power plant has been a victory and therefore important. The power plant is located in a strategically important location. One purpose of use is to use the nuclear power plant as a shield, mentioned by Antti Kurosenk.
In addition, the fear factor is increased at the nuclear power plant, says Smith.
– It creates that fear factor when [ydinvoimala] goes offline, or some activity stops for a while. It causes a big reaction and the fear factor goes up, Smith explains.
Inspection group on the way to Zaporizhia
The expert group of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has started its journey to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant today. It is scheduled to arrive on site later this week.
The trip of the expert group has also involved a lot of diplomatic games, Antti Kuronen estimates.
– Certainly, Russia has wanted that this group does not have, for example, American experts.
Hanna Smith also says that the inspection visit will be a big diplomatic issue.
– Although we are cautiously positive, there are also voices that say that Russia is playing a diplomatic game and international observers will not be able to attend the final games, says Smith.