Putin's Houdini trick: nuclear disaster without using nuclear weapons?
Ukraine's power grid is at increased risk of catastrophic failure following Russia's missile and drone attack on Sunday, Greenpeace warns.
The Russian attacks Sunday presumably did not directly target Ukraine's three remaining operational nuclear power plants, in Rivne and Khmelnytskyi in the west, and the plant in southern Ukraine, but did target substations “crucial to the operation of Ukraine's nuclear power plants.” So states Greenpeace.
The attack from Moscow on the site of nuclear power plants in Ukraine could have catastrophic consequences. Indeed, a possible loss in power would leave the reactors without external power for an extended period of time. After all, power is needed to cool reactors and spent fuel, and if it is not available, the reactors could become unsafe. So emphasizes Greenpeace in a communication to British newspaper The Guardian.
The Ukrainian reactors do have diesel generators and batteries to provide essential electricity supply in such a power outage. But that is only enough for seven to ten days. So if that fuel cannot be replenished in a timely manner or electricity cannot be restored, the consequences could lead to a nuclear disaster.... And that disaster could be disastrous for all of Europe, Greenpeace stresses.
“It is clear that Russia is using the threat of a nuclear disaster as a key military lever to defeat Ukraine. But by carrying out the attacks, Russia risks a nuclear disaster in Europe similar to Fukushima in 2011, Chernobyl in 1986 or worse,” said Shaun Burnie, nuclear expert at Greenpeace Ukraine.
(FVDV for Tagtik/Source: The Guardian/Illustration picture: Picture by Nguyen Dung - AI generated - via Pixabay)