Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, here are the effects of the attack
Attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Enrico Ferrone's conversation with Luigi De Dominicis, head of Enea for Resist, a European project designed to increase the safety of infrastructures deriving from natural or man-made events.
"The Russian armed forces are hitting Zaporizhzhia, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter as the attack was unfolding.
The news immediately bounced. Then it became known that the large enemy artillery shells targeted the wall structure of the plant for the production of electricity consisting of six pressurized water reactors, on the banks of the Kachovka reservoir on the Dnieper River, just 70 kilometers from Dnipro, the sixth city of a nation now on fire.
After the assault, a fire developed, which was put out by the immediate intervention of the local fire brigade.
In a disaster announced, the first terror that enveloped the entire continent was the risk of a radioactive leak, well reminiscent of what happened in Chernobyl in 1986. At the moment, the situation excludes releases of gamma rays. This was announced by Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (Aiea): "We are lucky because there has been no release of radiation into the surrounding environment and the integrity of the reactors has been maintained" . The signaling stations scattered throughout Europe, including Ukraine, do not warn of risks and the air we are all breathing is in line with safety requirements.
But what does this serious act mean, beyond any military logic?
Undoubtedly, a nuclear power plant is a foregone conclusion in the event of a war offensive, because it interrupts the energy distribution and represents a bomb within the territory targeted by the attack.
But to observers it appears more a terrorist action carried out by suicidal soldiers than a real military incursion. In fact, if the Russian shots had hit the core of the reactor, there would have been an unprecedented explosion that would have caused tremendous damage to the inhabitants of Ukraine but would have certainly decimated the invasion troops as well. And then the atomic wind, full of deadly particles, sets no limits in crossing the boundaries drawn by politics or human stupidity. The problem is quite simple: playing around with fire burns everyone. The victims but also the attackers.
But beyond these considerations, let's try to deepen some closer aspects.
What happens to a nuclear power plant when it is offended by a hostile attack? We asked Luigi De Dominicis, head of Enea for RESIST, a European project designed to increase the safety of infrastructures deriving from natural or man-made events.
«The Zaporizhzhia power plant, like that of Chernobyl, is based on outdated technology, but international security protocols have never reported any risk situations. It is too early to know what damage the plant has sustained but the fact that there have been no increases in radioactivity in Europe or even in Ukraine suggests that there were no fatal blows ».
So let's ask the scientist if we can all breathe a sigh of relief.
«It cannot be said with certainty: undoubtedly when a critical and complex infrastructure such as a nuclear power plant is subject to an attack of this type, the possible damage to ancillary safety systems must also be rigorously assessed. The blows could have somehow damaged parts of the system and the entire apparatus could have come out weakened and in the event of further external stress or a probable malfunction, a crisis could break out without the appropriate project protections ".
According to a spokesperson for the plant, the facility did not suffer critical damage, although its power generation capacity was compromised and U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the plant's reactors "They are protected by sturdy containment structures and the reactors are safely shut down", De Dominicis' statements were indicative that with certain devices you cannot have any lightness.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/centrale-nucleare-di-zaporizhzhia-ecco-gli-effetti-dellattacco/ on Fri, 04 Mar 2022 18:23:33 +0000.