![]() ![]() One former employee told NBC News that it was "very scary for them to work" under Russian control, amid reports that some of them were being held hostage. It is not known how many of the plant's 11,000 prewar staff continue to work at the site. Russia, which is occupying the plant, has traded accusations of responsibility with Ukraine, which appears to be mounting a renewed offensive in the south of the country. Moscow is "blackmailing the whole world with the possibility of a nuclear disaster," according to Hryhoriy Plachkov, former head of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine. The plant provides Ukraine with more than 20% of its power. That panic renewed this week after shelling damaged several buildings and a power cable, and put one reactor offline, according to Energoatom, Ukraine's national energy company. That offensive marked the first time in history that war had broken out in a country with such a large and advanced nuclear power infrastructure, according to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, which reports to the United Nations. Russian forces' seizure of the plant a week after the invasion began caused initial concerns when a fire erupted at the site after shelling. 24, the Kremlin war machine took a little over a week to capture the plant at Enerhodar, a city that is around a 2-hour drive southwest of the larger Zaporizhzhia. Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or LowerĪfter the invasion began Feb. Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score or Lower Oleksiy Kovynyev, a former senior engineer, said that in this scenario, most radiation would be contained, but that if ventilation channels were opened, radiation could be released.Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit While the reactors would be difficult to damage, according to former plant workers who spoke to the Guardian, the small cooling pond is vulnerable to an explosion, which could cause partial nuclear meltdown comparable to the 1979 Three Mile Island accident in the US. It also said that Russian troops were reducing their presence at the plant and that Ukrainian employees who stayed at the plant and signed contracts with Rosatom had been told to evacuate by Monday, preferably to Crimea. On Friday Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate (GUR) claimed Moscow had approved a plan to blow up the station and has mined four of the six power units, as well as a cooling pond. Zelenskiy and the Ukrainian military provided no evidence for their assertions. “But in any case, the world sees – and cannot fail to see – that the only source of danger to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is Russia. In his nightly video message, Zelenskiy said Russia was planning to “simulate an attack” on the plant. It said the Ukrainian army stood “ready to act under any circumstances”. “If detonated, they would not damage the reactors but would create an image of shelling from the Ukrainian side,” the statement on Telegram said. He offered no evidence in support of the allegation.Ī statement issued by the Ukrainian armed forces on Tuesday, quoted “operational data” as saying that “explosive devices” had been placed on the roof of the station’s third and fourth reactors and an attack was possible “in the near future”. ![]() “Under cover of darkness overnight on 5 July the Ukrainian military will try to attack the Zaporizhzhia station using long-range precision equipment and kamikaze attack drones,” Russian news agencies quoted Karchaa as telling Russian television. Renat Karchaa, an adviser to the head of Rosenergoatom, which operates Russia’s nuclear network, said Ukraine planned to drop ammunition laced with nuclear waste transported from another of the country’s five nuclear stations on the plant. Each side has since regularly accused the other of shelling around the plant and risking a major nuclear mishap. Russian troops seized the station, Europe’s largest nuclear facility, in February 2022. ![]() “There is a serious threat because Russia is technically ready to provoke a local explosion at the station, which could lead to a release,” Zelenskiy said at the time. ![]() Zelenskiy’s warnings echo comments he made last week at a joint news conference in Kyiv with the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez. ![]()
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