Khmelnitsky, Southern Ukraine, Rivne and Zaporizhzhia. There are four active nuclear power plants in Ukraine to which is added Chernobyl, the best known in the world, but no longer in operation after the disaster of 1986. In total there are 15 functioning reactors which produce a total of 13.823 megawatts, covering 55% of the country's energy needs.
It is therefore not difficult to understand how high the concern of international observers is afterwards Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the fights of Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia. At stake is not only the future of Ukraine, but of the whole of Europe.
The attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
In the early hours of Friday the Russian army attacked a building near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, in southeast Ukraine, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, the ninth largest in the world, housing 6 of Ukraine's 15 nuclear reactors.
After hours of intense fighting and a large fire broke out in a part of the plant dedicated to training, the situation would have come under control, but Russian troops would have taken control of the plant.
The Ukrainian authorities have announced that the plant would not have suffered damage. A news also confirmed by the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency. “There are no radioactive leaks”, said director Rafael Mariano Grossi, however, saying he was “deeply concerned” about the battle. Grossi reported that “the building where the fire broke out is very close to the plant; the fire was extinguished”. The safety systems of the six reactors "have not been compromised". But the situation "remains tense".
The reason is not difficult to guess. In fact, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister announced that a possible explosion of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant would cause a ddisaster "ten times worse than Chernobyl"
Second, Claire Corkhill, a nuclear energy expert interviewed by the BBCHowever, the Russian attack on the plant would have another purpose: to deprive Ukraine of the electricity produced by the plant. In fact, Zaporizhzhia normally generates about a fifth of Ukraine's electricity and nearly half of the country's nuclear-derived electricity.
The other nuclear power plants in Ukraine
In addition to Zaporizhzhia, there are three other active nuclear power plants in Ukraine. The first is Southern Ukraine, located near the city of Yuzhnoukraïns'k, Mykolayiv oblast. It houses three functioning reactors and, given its location, could soon become the third nuclear power plant (after Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia) attacked by the Russian army within days.
The other two Ukrainian nuclear power plants are in Rivne and in Khmelnitsky, located in the north-western part of the country, the former very close to the border with Poland. In Rivne there are 4 nuclear reactors producing 2.657 MW, in Khmelnitsky there are two more for 1.900 MW.
If all four active power plants were conquered by the Russians, all of Ukraine's energy assets would be in the hands of Moscow, becoming a very powerful weapon in the negotiations.
Obviously, it is necessary to add to the active control units described above Chernobyl. The control unit no longer works famous tragedy of 1986, when the explosion of reactor number 4 released a cloud of radioactive material which caused the contamination of much of Europe. The plant (and its famous "sarcophagus" that covers reactor 4) has come under the control of the Russian army in recent days.
What are the risks?
In an interview with Corriere della Sera, the research manager of the Cnr explained that “there are several dangers. It is the first time that a territory hosting nuclear power plants has been in a war scenario. These plants were not designed to withstand a military attack, even a conventional one".
Another risk is related to operation of nuclear plants “which need electricity all the time and need to be water-cooled,” added Armaroli. Without these operations and careful monitoring, the situation could explode.
Then there is a third risk that directly has to do with "the man". “How can personnel who already work under stress under normal conditions operate in this situation? Let's remember that human error was also decisive in Chernobyl”, concludes Armaroli.
