The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on 11 August
Ukranian Presidency/Handout/Getty Images
A fire at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is the latest in a string of worrying incidents since the Ukrainian facility was captured by Russia in March 2022. Former workers at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) have warned New Scientist that expertise and equipment for keeping the facility safe are in short supply, meaning the situation is risky and unpredictable.
“No one has yet evaluated the safety of nuclear power plants under war conditions,” one former worker says, speaking anonymously for fear of reprisal from Russian occupying forces.
The conflict in Ukraine, which has now lasted more than two years, is the first time in history that a war is being fought around nuclear power plants. All four of Ukraine’s operational plants have experienced at least one incident, while a recent Ukrainian incursion into Russian territory has seen reports that the latter is fortifying the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant against attack.
ZNPP, which is near the city of Enerhodar, Ukraine, has been the most heavily contested plant. It has six nuclear reactors, though all are currently in shutdown and not producing energy. The war has seen numerous attacks against the site, which Russia has blamed on Ukraine, while Ukraine puts them down to Russia.
The latest incident occurred on 11 August when safety inspectors heard explosions and saw thick black smoke emerging from one of the plant’s cooling towers. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy blamed the Russian occupiers, while Alexey Likhachev, CEO of Russia’s state nuclear energy company, Rosatom, said in a statement that the fire was caused by a Ukrainian “kamikaze drone” attack.
Neutral observers are none the wiser. On 12 August, the International Atomic Energy Agency said it had seen no abnormal radiation levels and no evidence that the source of the fire was a drone, while its on-site inspectors had “not been able to draw definitive conclusions” about the cause.
The former worker tells New Scientist that they get updates from people still at the plant and are concerned by experienced staff leaving in large numbers. “A lot of highly qualified colleagues have left,” they say. Such a situation is manageable while the reactors are idle, but that could change.
“Right now, [the] nuclear power plants are safe. But it can easily be made dangerous,” they say. “Due to lack of qualification, quality of equipment – there is degradation.”
They say they have seen evidence of safety problems, but can’t say if these are down to negligence or necessity: “I see a few flaws with the current [plant] operators, but maybe they know them, but just can’t improve on them.”
Another former worker at ZNPP, who left the job in late 2022, tells New Scientist that all their former colleagues have now left. One Ukrainian scientist with a background in research at nuclear sites says that staff at the plant fear talking publicly about the situation, given it is under Russian control.
ZNPP isn’t the only Ukrainian nuclear site still at risk. In the early stages of the war, Russia briefly occupied the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, which experienced a meltdown in 1986 and must be monitored to this day. The occupation led to fears that Chernobyl staff couldn’t do this safely. While Russia has since retreated, a scientist at the Chernobyl site tells New Scientist that equipment and supplies rushed in from international sources following the initial invasion are now running out, and that further support is needed.
