Scientists have streamlined nuclear plants to withstand various events that could compromise the facilities' volatile properties as a result of the modest number of nuclear emergencies that have occurred throughout history. Even though the Japanese nuclear power plant at Fukushima Daiichi melted down more than ten years ago, the disaster's effects are still felt around the world.
Since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, the incident in Japan has been the largest nuclear accident to date. It happened after a tsunami and an earthquake of 9.0 magnitude hit Japan in March 2011. The disastrous nuclear plant's three reactors melted down and released contaminated water.
Russia invaded mainland Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, escalating the conflict between the two countries. Despite international sanctions imposed on Russia, fighting between the two countries continued later in the year. Air raids targeted Ukrainian infrastructure such as dams and, more recently, nuclear power plants, prompting energy experts to issue a warning.
Experts Worry About Ukraine Nuclear Plants
Nuclear energy experts worry that another Chernobyl-style accident could be imminent in Ukraine if the situation is not resolved. Diplomats demanded an end to hostilities between Russian and Ukrainian forces so that UN inspectors could visit the nuclear power plant in southeast Ukraine after hearing reports of shelling there.
The Washington Post reports that both Russia and Ukraine have given each other the blame for the explosions. António Guterres, the head of the UN, said that attacking a nuclear plant would be "suicidal." He also asked that inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, be allowed entry to Zaporizhzhya.
A Bloomberg report suggests that the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has been the target of shelling and rocket attacks for months, exposing vulnerabilities that energy suppliers have not yet ordinarily had to think about. Reactors are typically built to withstand storms, earthquakes, or plane crashes, but up until recently, war was not taken into account.
"No nuclear power plant in the world has been designed to operate under wartime conditions," according to Mycle Schneider, the lead author of the most recent World Nuclear Industry Status Report. This is particularly the case given that Ukraine reported numerous of missile strikes directed at Zaporizhzhia, where bombardments periodically cut water and energy supplies, pressuring a plant that would typically generate a fifth of Ukraine's electricity to shut down.
Nuclear Industry Report
According to the annual nuclear report, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has resulted in a number of firsts in radioactivity threats, including the commercial operation of nuclear power plants during a full-scale war.
Based on the report, the shelling of commercial reactors, the occupation of nuclear facilities by hostile forces, and the operation of reactors under physical threat could all pose serious risks. No nuclear power plant in the world has been designed to operate under those conditions.
