Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the world narrowly avoided a radiation disaster as electricity to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was cut for hours due to Russian shelling in the area, allegations that were denied by Moscow, as reported by news agency Reuters.
Zelenskiy said Russian shelling on Thursday, 25 August, sparked fires in the ash pits of a nearby coal power station that disconnected the reactor complex, Europe’s largest such facility, from the power grid. A Russian official said Ukraine was to blame.
Back–up diesel generators ensured power supply that is vital for cooling and safety systems at the plant, Zelenskiy said, praising the Ukrainian technicians who operate the plant under the supervision of the Russian military.
«If our station staff had not reacted after the blackout, then we would have already been forced to overcome the consequences of a radiation accident,» he said in an evening address.
«Russia has put Ukraine and all Europeans in a situation one step away from a radiation disaster.»
Energoatom said electricity for the plant’s own needs was currently being supplied through a power line from Ukraine’s electricity system, and that work was ongoing to restore grid connection to the plant’s two functioning reactors.
Vladimir Rogov, a Russia–appointed official in the occupied town of Enerhodar near the plant, blamed Ukraine’s armed forces for the incident, saying they caused a fire in a forest near the plant. He said local towns had lost power for several hours.
Paul Bracken, a national security expert, said the concern was that artillery shells or missiles could puncture the reactor walls and spread radiation around potentially a large area, much like the 1986 accident involving the Chornobyl reactor.
A failure at the Zaporizhzhia plant could «kill hundreds or thousands of people, and damage environmentally a far larger area reaching into Europe,» national security expert.
«Russian Roulette is a good metaphor because the Russians are spinning the chamber of the revolver, threatening to blow out the brains of the reactor all over Europe,» Bracken said.