Ukraine, is there really a nuclear risk?

The nuclear power plant of Zaporizhzhia, the largest in Europe, is occupied by Russian troops. During the night, the attack, which also saw a fire on the external perimeter of the plant, raised fears of a possible accident with the release of radioactive material. Our memory goes to Chernobyl and the government of Ukraine said that the devastation of an accident at this plant could lead to 6 to 10 times more damage than in 1986.

L’International Atomic Energy Agency he explained that no reactors at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant were involved or hit. There was no release of radiation into the surrounding environment. The director general of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, described the situation at the moment as regards nuclear plants in Ukraine as “fragile”.

Owned by Energoatom, which manages nuclear power generation in Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia is one of four active nuclear power plants in the country. Operating since 1984, it occupies an area of ​​104.7 hectares on the banks of the Kakhovka reservoir.

There are six reactors in a row, which produce 25% of the country’s needs. For the first time, an active plant is under the military control of another state: it is a strategic objective. Explains Walter Ambrosini Professor in the Departments of Mechanical, Nuclear and Production Engineering at the University of Pisa. “They are Russian-designed implants of the BWR type superheated water (in English BWR: Boiling Water Reactor), but similar to those currently installed in the West. They are a second generation, built between the 80s and 90s, there are similar ones all over the world ».