Map reveals what might occur to Europe if Ukraine nuclear plant blows up

A design map reveals the nations in Europe that might be impacted by a nuclear event at the Russian- inhabited Zaporizhzhia power plant.

Dr Paul Dorfman, a nuclear security professional who has actually encouraged the British and French federal governments, states Ukraine, parts of Russia, and central Europe are at risk of radioactive plume coming from the station.

‘So far, we have been lucky. There has been no significant radiological release from Zaporizhzhia. But luck is not a strategy,’ he told Metro.co.uk.

‘If something does go wrong, it will depend on where the plume goes and the nature of the incident.

‘But you can really begin to write off a lot of economies and lives.’

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine is the largest on the continent and among the 10 largest in the world.

Russian forces captured the site in the town of Enerhodar in the early days of the war, also holding its workers hostage.

For months, the plant has been in the heart of intense fighting, with both Russia and Ukraine throwing blame at each other.

Together with ‘inadequate’ staffing levels due to the war, this has ‘significantly increased the risk of a nuclear accident’ in a country already scarred by what happened at Chernobyl in 1986.

Across the board, the United Nations and scientists like Dr Dorfman have been ‘having kittens’ over the ‘hugely frightening situation’ at Zaporizhzhia.

But the last operating reactor was put into what is known as a ‘cold shutdown’ earlier this month after an external power line was restored – making it possible to shut it down safely.

‘The reactors have now largely been put into a cold shutdown with an element of fragile power supply from Ukraine to maintain cooling systems,’ the Paris-based expert said.

‘In a normal operation there is kind of piping that surrounds them to keep them cool.

‘If that does not happen you can have a meltdown, which is what happened at Japan’s Fukushima plant.

‘Reactors in operation need cooling. If the power goes down they don’t get the cooling. If heavens forbid they are hit, it’s a real nightmare scenario.

‘Now the risk is much much lower. That said, it is still a hugely dangerous situation. There has never been a nuclear power plant under military attack.

‘This is largely because there is no nuclear power plant in the world that can withstand substantial military attack.’

Dr Dorfman stressed the situation at Zaporizhzhia is not yet resolved, adding ‘knowing sod’s law, if something can go wrong, it probably will’.

He said the much less defended Olympic-sized storage pools for spent fuel from the nuclear reactors, or otherwise known as ‘ponds’, still present a huge risk.

‘If the power supply to these ponds dries up then the water evaporates and there is a significant nuclear incident where the high-level radioactive waste rods blow,’ the expert added.

In terms of the latest modelling, most of the radioactive plume will fall on Ukraine and Russia’s bordering territory.

Central Europe and the northern tip of the Middle East, including Turkey, are also at risk of exposure.

‘It all depends on the wind and the dispersion. Winds can change as well,’ Dr Dorfman said.

‘So, it depends on the kind of radiation, accident and where the wind blows. There is no question about it, something significant can happen.’

Ahead of such a ‘potentially catastrophic’ occasion, he required the ‘critical’ circulation of steady potassium iodide through Ukraine, Russia, main Europe and northern Middle East.

Used in uncommon situations, the tablets assist avoid the body– particularly the thyroid– from soaking up breathed in or swallowed radioactive iodine.

Oleksandr Starukh, the guv of the Zaporizhzhia area, informed Ukrainian TELEVISION in August citizens had actually been provided such emergency situation tablets.

Dr Dorfman prompted individuals in other nations to likewise stockpile on potassium iodide however to just take it ‘under strict supervision and in particular circumstances’.

He stated: ‘It blocks the majority of the uptake of the radiological pollutants and significantly decreases the risk of thyroid cancer specifically in children and infants, as we saw in Chernobyl.’

After a quick check out to Zaporizhzhia in the very first week of September, the International Atomic Energy Agency required the immediate facility of a Nuclear Safety and Security Protection Zone at the power plant.

This was likewise backed by world leaders and the worldwide nuclear neighborhood.

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