The building caught fire by Russian shelling, 450 meters from the nuclear reactor… Radiation Leak Disaster Fear

A fire breaks out at the Zaporiza nuclear power plant located in Enerhodar city in the Zaporiza region in southeastern Ukraine on the 4th (local time) as a result of shelling by Russian forces. The Zaporiza nuclear power plant complex is a large-scale complex with 6 out of 15 nuclear reactors operating in Ukraine, and is considered the largest single nuclear power plant complex in Europe. 2022.3.4.[현장 CCTV 영상 캡처=연합뉴스]

The fear of radioactive leaks is growing as the building where the fire broke out in an attempt to seize the Zaporiza nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Europe’s largest and the world’s 10th largest, is only 450 meters away from the nuclear reactor location.

According to Yonhap News reports, the New York Times (NYT) reported on the 4th (local time) that the Russian military took control of the Zaporiza nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, in a single complex this morning following fighting.

In the process, some of the containment building, the reactor protection structure, was damaged in Reactor Unit 1, and a fire broke out in a five-story educational and training building outside the nuclear power plant complex, raising concerns in the international community that it might lead to a major nuclear accident.

The Zaporiza nuclear power plant complex has six 950 megawatt (MW) VVER-1000 pressurized light water reactors, which account for regarding a quarter of Ukraine’s total electricity production.

The New York Times reported that satellite imagery analysis revealed that the distance between the fire and the nuclear reactor was only 450 meters.

Fortunately, some damage, such as fire and reactor compartment damage, did not affect the reactor itself, and the level of radioactivity is known to be stable.

However, the New York Times pointed out that the risk has not been completely eliminated, saying that there may be damage that is difficult to ascertain or unreported at the present time in the reactor at the Japorija nuclear power plant.

▲ UN Security Council emergency meeting on nuclear attack in Ukraine[뉴욕 유엔본부 AP=연합뉴스]

Meanwhile, Western countries, including the United States, Britain, and France, demanded the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from the Zaporiza nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the United Nations, said during an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council held at the UN headquarters in New York on the same day in connection with the Russian attack on Ukraine’s nuclear power plant, “By God’s grace, the world managed to avoid a nuclear disaster last night.” said.

The UN ambassadors from Britain, France and Ireland actively sympathized with the US position through press conferences and conference remarks.