Impact_of_the_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine_on_nuclear_power_plants
Ukraine is home to four nuclear power plants, as well as the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, site of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.[1] As of January 2024[update], both the Chernobyl and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plants saw battles during the war that resulted from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The invasion has prompted significant discussion about the status of the power plants, including fears of potential disasters,[2] and has also prompted debates about nuclear energy programmes in other European countries.[3]
Ukraine is Europe's second-largest producer of nuclear energy; almost half the electricity produced in the country is nuclear energy. Nuclear power plants are vulnerable to direct attack, as are nuclear waste disposal sites.[4][5][6] Apart from direct attack, human-made disasters may be caused by operational mistakes, power shortages and connection issues. For instance, without electricity, water cooling of nuclear reactors ceases which may cause a meltdown, as happened in Fukushima. Human operators working under siege or under ongoing stress are more prone to errors.[5]
As of February 2022[update], the moving of heavy military vehicles has raised nuclear dust and resulted in a spike of gamma radiation levels in the Chernobyl region 28 times above normal.[7][8] With local winds mostly tending towards Russia,[5] the impact is spread over two countries currently at war with each other and therefore unlikely to be remediated in a coordinated manner at this time. Ukrainian authorities also claim the Russian army is responsible for arson in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. According to various sources, from 15 to 37 hectares (37 to 91 acres) of forest have been swept by fires.[9][10]
In early March, hostilities reached the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe and the fifth biggest globally.[11] This nuclear plant houses an amount of nuclear material equivalent to 20 Chernobyls.[12] On 4 March 2022, fighting led to a fire in an auxiliary building. On 30 May 2022, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported loss of connection with servers at the Zaporizhzhia plant, which was not restored until 12 June 2022.[13]
Rafael Grossi, the Director General of the IAEA, raised concerns about the extremely stressful conditions faced by station personnel. Under constant pressure from the Russian military, personnel were unable to rotate shifts with colleagues outside the facility, and were therefore unable to rest. Food and medicine shortages were also reported.[14] Grossi emphasized that exhausted and stressed personnel are more prone to mistakes.[6] On June 30, the IAEA again lost connectivity with the plant.[15]
While wide attention has been focused on nuclear power reactors, damage to spent nuclear fuel reservoirs and other forms of storage may be even more devastating.[16][17][18] For instance, more than 3000 spent fuel rod containers are stored at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant under the open sky.[19] At other nuclear power plants, spent rods are kept in cooling tanks. Should water in those tanks become warmer or leak, overheated rods may ignite leading to consequences comparable to the Kyshtym disaster.[6] According to the IAEA, two Russian missiles have already hit nuclear waste ponds in Ukraine.[20][21] Spent nuclear fuel is able to release 20 times the fatal dose of radiation in one hour.[22]