Punishing Ukraine For Attacking the Russian Occupation of Ukraine

A firefighter helicopter pours water on fire on a collapsed part of the Kerch Strait bridge in Crimea last Saturday   AFP

 

"Basically, what we've got here is the weaponization of civil nuclear perhaps for the first time."

"And in an increasingly unstable world, it's important to understand this and what this implies for nuclear worldwide."

Paul Dorfman, nuclear expert, University of Sussex, England

 

"As the war in Ukraine persists, the NEA collects information from verifiable and reliable sources to support its members’ efforts to maintain an understanding of the state of nuclear safety and radiological protection in that country. Because our Ukrainian colleagues are faced with a highly uncertain, ever-changing and very challenging situation it is to be expected that obtaining detailed information on a regular basis may not be possible."

:In Ukraine 15 pressurised water reactors of Russian VVER design are operated by the State Enterprise National Nuclear Energy Generating Company “Energoatom” at four plants. These plants operate under nuclear safety regulations implemented by the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU)."

Nuclear Energy Agency

Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Ukraine. Image: Ralf1969

There can no longer be differentiation between nuclear plants whose output is meant strictly for power generation, and the stockpiling of nuclear-tipped missiles. Each poses a threat; the missiles perhaps in a more visibly direct way, meant to penetrate an enemy's sovereign soil during a war operation, a civil nuclear infrastructure during an 'invasion' used as a threat with similar consequences, through maliciously deliberate sabotage; staging the disruption of its integrity for the purpose of causing a nuclear explosion on an enemy's soil.

All external power was lost at the crippled nuclear plant in Ukraine for the second time in five days. The risk of a radiation disaster resulting from critical safety systems being closed off to electricity to operate its safety regimen has been increased as a result of continued fighting in the area. The United Nations' Atomic Energy watchdog reported that the final remaining outside connection to the Russia-occupied Zaporizhzha Nuclear Power Plant had been restored some eight hours on.

Despite which, the interruption highlighted "how precarious the situation is", at the largest nuclear plant in Europe, emphasized International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Grossi. Energoatom, Ukraine's nuclear power operator, explained that the Zaporizhzhia plant had undergone a "blackout" on Wednesday when a missile damaged an electrical substation causing the emergency shutdown of the last external power source to the plant.

Much earlier in the invasion and occupation of the plant, all six of its reactors had been shut down, but they require electricity to prevent overheatng to the point of meltdown. Such an event could cause radiation to leak from the plant. Diesel generators were supplying the plant, but Russian troops blocked a convoy bringing additional fuel for the backup equipment.

A way was later found by Ukrainian plant workers to repair the line and re-connect the plant to the Ukrainian power grid. Petro Kotin, chief of Energoatom, last month explained that typically the plant had sufficient diesel on hand to operate the generators -- "the station's last defence before a radiation accident", for a ten-day period.

In the wake of the horrendous missile and drone strikes carried out by Russia across Ukraine this week in retaliation for the explosions on the Crimean bridge linking the Russian mainland to the peninsula, Western governments have re-pledged to ship new weapons systems to Ukraine. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), revealed the arrest of five Russians and three citizens of Ukraine and Armenia as suspects in the attack on the Kerch Bridge, a span covering 12 miles.

The massive bridge serves as a symbol of Moscow's regional dominance, erected four years after Russia had declared annexation of the Crimean peninsula. It is a crucial route for military supplies trucked from Russia through to Ukraine in Moscow's 'special military invasion'. The explosive blast at the Crimean bridge saw Russian President Vladimir Putin responding through ordering missile strikes across Ukraine.

A bombardment which deliberately targeted power plants and civilian buildings across the cuntry. About a third of Ukraine's energy ifrastructure has been damaged, Eight regions of southeast Ukraine were victims of hundreds of Russian attacks in a 24-hour period. Punishing strikes on central and western Ukraine were concluded.

 

Rafael M. Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said firing on a nuclear power plant “violates the fundamental principle” that a nuclear site’s physical integrity must be maintained at all times.  Credit...Christian Bruna/EPA, via Shutterstock