Unable to deal with the mounting heat and pressure, the reactor’s core exploded, destroying a huge amount of material in its wake. Engineers on the site didn’t seem too worried about the spikes in temperatures, however trying to conduct an experiment, they overlooked warnings, and even enhanced the problem to see what the results would be. It has been shut down and sealed with a containment dome after the disaster in April 1986.On the night of April 26 1986, the nuclear reactor in Chernobyl’s plant began to overheat. Last week, Russia seized control of the Chernobyl power plant. “Russia cannot have any interest in contaminating its own territory,” he said, adding the danger comes not just from the reactors but from the risk of enemy fire hitting storage facilities that hold spent fuel rods. “No nuclear plant has been designed to withstand a potential threat of a full-scale military attack.”Īlex Rosen of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War said the incident was probably the result of military units overestimating the precision of their weapons, given the prevailing winds would have carried any radioactive fallout straight towards Russia. “These plants are now in a situation that few people ever seriously contemplated when they were originally built,” said Edwin Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington. The crisis unfolded after Grossi earlier in the week expressed grave concern the fighting could cause accidental damage to Ukraine’s 15 nuclear reactors at four plants around the country.Ītomic safety experts said a war fought amid nuclear reactors represents an unprecedented and highly dangerous situation. Without producing evidence, Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed a Ukrainian “sabotage group” had set the fire at Zaporizhzhia. In the United States, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the episode “underscores the recklessness with which the Russians have been perpetrating this unprovoked invasion”.Īt an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, Ukraine’s UN ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said the fire broke out as a result of Russian shelling of the plant and accused Moscow of committing “an act of nuclear terrorism”. “Firing shells in the area of a nuclear power plant violates the fundamental principle that the physical integrity of nuclear facilities must be maintained and kept safe at all times.” “There is no normalcy about this situation when there are military forces in charge of the site,” said Grossi, adding the plant’s operations continue normally. Grossi reported that Russia informed his agency days ago that its forces were moving into the area of Zaporizhzhia, and were met with opposition by Ukrainian civilians. UN Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Ma‘Recklessness’ And it must stop now.” Her remarks at today’s Security Council emergency meeting on #Ukraine: /VuPiRH4QPr Under-Secretary-General calls military operations around nuclear sites “unacceptable”&”highly irresponsible”. “The Chernobyl disaster in 1986 stands as a lasting example of why it is vital to ensure all nuclear power plants have the highest standards of safety and security,” she said. Ukraine’s state nuclear plant operator Energoatom said three Ukrainian soldiers were killed and two wounded.ĭescribing the attack as “unacceptable” and “highly irresponsible,” Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN’s under-secretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, said strikes on nuclear power facilities run counter to international humanitarian law. Two people were injured in the fire, Grossi said. Only one reactor was operating, at 60 percent of capacity, Grossi said in the aftermath of the attack. The evacuation of Europe”.īut nuclear officials from Sweden to China said no radiation spikes had been reported, as did Grossi.Īuthorities said Russian troops had taken control of the overall site but plant staff continued to run it. In an emotional nighttime speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he feared an explosion would be “the end for everyone. The attack triggered global alarm and fears it could dwarf the world’s worst nuclear disaster – at Ukraine’s Chernobyl in 1986. Ukrainian firefighters put out the blaze and no radiation was released, United Nations and Ukrainian officials said.Īfter the attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in the southeastern city of Enerdohar on Friday, the chief of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said a Russian “projectile” hit a training centre, not any of the six reactors. Russian troops have seized the biggest atomic power plant in Europe after an attack that set it on fire and raised worldwide fears of nuclear catastrophe.
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