As Fierce Shelling Causes Fire at Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant, Is There Radiation Threat? 10 Points

After news broke out of a fire in a training building near the largest nuclear power plant in Europe during intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces, world leaders condemned the action, with the UK calling for an emergency UN Security Council meeting.

A Ukraine Minister warned of an explosion ’10 times larger than Chernobyl’, while reports of Russian troops stopping firefighting operations also made the news. However, according to Ukrainian news services, the fire has now been put out. Let’s take a look at the entire situation in 10 points:

1. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, built between 1984 and 1995, is Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and the world’s ninth-largest. It has six reactors, each of which produces 950MW, for a total output of 5,700MW. It produces nearly a quarter of all electricity in Ukraine. The plant is located in Enerhodar, Ukraine, on the banks of the Dnieper River’s Kakhovka reservoir. It is approximately 200 kilometres from the contested Donbass region and 550 kilometres south-east of Kyiv.
2. Russian troops attacked the plant on Friday, setting part of the Ukrainian facility ablaze in an assault the country’s leader branded “nuclear terror” and said could endanger the continent. After hours of uncertainty throughout the night, local authorities reported the fire was extinguished at dawn. They had earlier reported that no immediate radiation rise was detected and “essential” equipment was unaffected. But it remained unclear what the invading forces planned next.
3. President Volodymr Zelensky spoke with world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who called for a halt to fighting at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Johnson accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “reckless actions” that he said “could now directly threaten the safety of all of Europe”. The British leader will seek an emergency UN Security Council meeting in the coming hours, according to a statement from his office.
4. Images on a live feed from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant site earlier showed blasts lighting up the night sky and sending up plumes of smoke. Zelensky angrily denounced the attack, in a video message saying: “No country other than Russia has ever fired on nuclear power units.” “This is the first time in our history. In the history of mankind. The terrorist state now resorted to nuclear terror,” he added, calling for global help. “If there is an explosion, it is the end of everything. The end of Europe. This is the evacuation of Europe. Only immediate European action can stop Russian troops.”
5. Ukrainian emergency services said Friday that Russian troops were preventing them from extinguishing a fire that broke out at a nuclear power plant after it was struck by shelling. “The invaders are not authorising Ukrainian public rescue units to begin extinguishing the fire,” the emergency services said on Facebook, stating that the blaze had affected a “training building” and that only one of the plant’s six reactors were operational.
6. Despite the fears, after several hours of uncertainty, Ukrainian authorities said the site had been secured. “The director of the plant said that the nuclear safety is now guaranteed,” Oleksandr Starukh, head of the military administration of the Zaporizhzhia region, said on Facebook. “According to those responsible for the plant, a training building and a laboratory were affected by the fire,” he added.
7. And the IAEA said it had been told by Ukraine’s regulator that “there has been no change reported in radiation levels” at the site. “Ukraine tells IAEA that fire at site of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has not affected ‘essential’ equipment, plant personnel taking mitigatory actions,” the watchdog added in a tweet. US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm also tweeted that “the plant’s reactors are protected by robust containment structures and reactors are being safely shut down”.
8. US President Joe Biden also urged Russia to stop its military activities at a Ukrainian nuclear power plant and to allow in emergency services. Biden joined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “in urging Russia to cease its military activities in the area and allow firefighters and emergency responders to access the site,” a White House readout of a call between the two leaders said.
9. Asian markets tumbled Friday and crude bounced as news ramped up fears about the Ukraine war. The news comes as Moscow presses ahead with its incursion into its neighbour that has sent global markets spiralling and commodities such as wheat, metals and particularly oil soaring. That has in turn fuelled concerns the global recovery from Covid will be derailed. Tokyo and Hong Kong led losses across Asia while Sydney, Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Manila and Wellington were also well down. The losses followed steep selling pressure in New York and Europe, and Wall Street futures were sharply down Friday. The dollar dipped against the safe-haven yen though it rose against most other currencies, including sitting at its highest level against the euro since mid-2020. Gold — a go-to asset in times of uncertainty — was also up.
10. At the same time both main crude contracts rose, having retreated Thursday partly on hopes for an Iran nuclear deal that would allow Tehran to restart exports to the world market. While world governments have not included Russian oil in their wide-ranging sanctions on Moscow owing to concerns about the impact on prices and consumers, trade has become increasingly tough as banks pull financing and shipping costs rise. On Friday, the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) said it will suspend business related to Russia and its neighbour Belarus, saying it was “in the best interests of the bank”.

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