In the event of Russian occupiers detonating the Zaporizhzhya NPP, there will be no threat to people's health. This is stated in the statement of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) published on July 5.
ANS claims to have carefully considered "worst-case scenarios" for the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, including the bombing and deliberate detonation of reactors and spent fuel storage containers. None of them, according to experts, will lead to consequences for public health related to radiation.
The organization noted that six reactors at the ZNPP were shut down more than 10 months ago, so they no longer produce enough heat to cause a rapid radiation release. In addition, the station is designed in such a way as to prevent threats to the population. Thick reinforced concrete walls protect the active zone of the reactor and are designed to isolate any radioactive materials from the environment.
ANS believes that a breach of the reactor's protective shell is unlikely. But even in this case, the potential release of radioactive materials will be limited by the zone immediately surrounding the reactors.
"In this connection, any comparison of the ZNPP with Chernobyl or Fukushima is both inaccurate and misleading," the nuclear society emphasized.
As a reminder, since August, the occupiers have regularly shelled the ZNPP and Energodar, in connection with which the station was completely disconnected from the power grid several times.
In September, a 14-person IAEA delegation headed by General Director Rafael Grossi visited the station, after which the agency's employees remained at the plant. They change periodically.
Ukraine insists on withdrawing the occupiers from the station. The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyі, stated that while Russian soldiers are at the ZNPP, "the world remains on the brink of a radiation disaster."
The head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov told the British publication The New Statesman in an interview on June 23 that the Russian occupiers have already prepared a plan to blow up the Zaporizhzhуa NPP, which is currently under their control.
On July 4, Zelenskyi said in an evening address that the occupying forces had placed objects similar to explosives on the roofs of several power units of the ZNPP.
In an interview published on July 5, Budanov said that the threat of Russian sabotage at the ZNPР is diminishing.
