{"id":45025,"date":"2022-03-04T17:48:38","date_gmt":"2022-03-04T16:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libmod.de\/?p=45025"},"modified":"2022-05-06T11:01:09","modified_gmt":"2022-05-06T09:01:09","slug":"keudel-radiation-knows-no-borders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libmod.de\/en\/keudel-radiation-knows-no-borders\/","title":{"rendered":"World, it\u2019s time to act in self-defence against Russian aggression. Radiation knows no borders"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Photo: Dmytro Smo\u00adly\u00adenko \/\u200b\u200b Imago Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=\u201d.vc_custom_1508251598805{margin-top: 30px !important;}\u201d][vc_column width=\u201c2\/3\u201d css=\u201d.vc_custom_1508252250311{padding-right: 20px !important;}\u201d][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Political scientist Oleksandra Keudel warns of European and global conse\u00adquences in the case of Russian attacks on Ukrainian nuclear power plants.
\n<\/h2>\n

For nine horrible days, Ukraine has been resisting the cynical, barbaric Russian invasion. The world has responded with unprece\u00addented sanctions. But it still remains deaf to Ukraine\u2019s appeal to protect its skies from enemy planes and missiles.<\/p>\n

Europeans are terrified<\/a> of Putin\u2019s nuclear button. This fear blinds them to the threat to nuclear safety, as Russia delib\u00ader\u00adately puts Ukraine\u2019s 15 nuclear power plants at risk of damage. Radiation, as we know from the Chornobyl tragedy, has no borders, it could quickly spread across Europe in the event of an explosion. Putin most probably took this risk into account when planning the invasion. Hence, Putin\u2019s war in Ukraine is a war against Europe and the whole world.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian author\u00adities have been repeatedly warning about the threat from Russian attacks on nuclear power plants. Russian troops seized control<\/a> of the Zapor\u00adizhzhia NPP after a night of reckless shelling<\/a>, causing a fire in the immediate vicinity of the reactors. In the morning, there were reports of an explosion. With Russia controlling this nuclear facility and continuing its move through Ukraine, the threats to the nuclear safety of Europe remain. Here is why:<\/p>\n

Preventing large-scale man-made disasters is not Putin\u2019s priority.<\/h3>\n

European leaders and experts seem to think that Putin needs Ukraine\u2019s electricity, so he will take care of the safety of nuclear power plants. Ed Lyman<\/a>, the senior global security scientist at the Union of Concerned Scien\u00adtists, thinks Russia will avoid targeting nuclear power plants, \u201cbecause they [Russia] don\u2019t want to conta\u00adm\u00adinate the country they\u2019re trying to occupy\u2014but, also, Ukraine requires electricity from those plants\u201d. But observing Russia destroying Ukrainian cities over the past week, I believe this is a false assumption.<\/p>\n

Putin doesn\u2019t want to occupy Ukraine; he wants to destroy Ukraine as a modern and democ\u00adratic country and to restore the former Soviet \u201cImperium<\/a>\u201d (Fiona Hill, Foreign Policy program Senior Fellow at Brookings). Consid\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions for nuclear safety are secondary when the goal is so grand. At the Russian-occupied Chornobyl power<\/a> plant, where radioactive fuel waste is stored, increased radiation levels illus\u00adtrate the aggressor\u2019s negli\u00adgence of nuclear safety precau\u00adtions<\/a>. Russia holds employees of Chornobyl NPP as hostages<\/a>, with no staff rotation, without regard that operating a nuclear power plant under such condi\u00adtions can jeopardize its safety. Reckless shelling of residential areas, chemical facil\u00adities, and nuclear waste storage sites<\/a> are just some additional illus\u00adtra\u00adtions of Putin having no intention of being careful. The way Russian troops fired at the Zapor\u00adizhzhia nuclear power plant<\/a> with heavy artillery in the early hours of 4 March empha\u00adsizes just how little Putin cares about nuclear safety.<\/p>\n

Nuclear disaster can be triggered in many ways, not only by a direct missile attack on a reactor.<\/h3>\n

In fact, Soviet Ukrainian nuclear power plants were constructed with this risk in mind. Yet, there are many things that can go wrong at a nuclear power plant in times of war as Mariana Budjeryn, a Ukrainian research associate with Harvard University\u2019s Project on Managing the Atom<\/a> tells the Guardian<\/a>. The primary danger is the malfunction of the cooling system that can cause a meltdown, leading to a release of radioactive fuel and possibly explo\u00adsions. Malfunction can happen when, for example, a missile explosion nearby causes a power outage, while simul\u00adta\u00adne\u00adously a fire destroys fuel reserves for backup gener\u00adators. This is a scenario of a simul\u00adta\u00adneous failure of the primary and backup systems, which seems \u201cunimag\u00adinable\u201d in peaceful times and \u201cbecomes entirely conceivable\u201d at times of war, as James Acton, co-director of the nuclear policy program at the Carnegie Endowment for Inter\u00adna\u00adtional Peace notes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Head of Energoatom, Ukraine\u2019s agency for managing nuclear facil\u00adities, Mr. Kotin, noted<\/a> that \u201cRussian columns of military equipment, artillery, and powerful missile launch systems are regularly moving in the immediate vicinity of Energoatom\u2019s nuclear facil\u00adities, and missiles explode near the nuclear power plants. This can lead to grave conse\u00adquences on a global scale\u201d. There are three more nuclear power plants in Ukraine, which are also in danger should Putin proceed further West into Ukrainian territory.<\/p>\n

Zapor\u00adizhzhia nuclear power plant is also at risk because continued battles over Zapor\u00adizhzhia city threaten the destruction of the highest dam of the Dnipro Hydropower Plant (DniproHES). \u201cThe Zapor\u00adizhzhia NPP (6 nuclear reactors), is located downstream from DniproHES at the side of Kahovske Reservoir. A possible result of damaging the DniproHES and, subse\u00adquently, the Zapor\u00adizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is the spread of radiation pollution at least all-around Europe\u201d, says Prof. Mark Zheleznyak of the Institute for Environ\u00admental Radioac\u00adtivity, Fukushima University. Due to the approach of Russian troops, local author\u00adities had to stop all traffic on the dam<\/a> in antic\u00adi\u00adpation of an attack on March 3.<\/p>\n

All these risks are not negli\u00adgible consid\u00adering the indis\u00adcrim\u00adinate shelling of Ukraine with short- and medium-range artillery (e.g., Grad missile systems can reach 400\u2013500 km) and airstrikes. There are also indica\u00adtions<\/a> that airstrikes might become even more chaotic as Russia runs out of guided bombs.<\/p>\n

Nuclear disaster is closer to Europe than it may seem to many. As the Chornobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 proved, there is nowhere to hide. At that time, air-borne radiation pollution spread right across Europe, reaching even the United Kingdom and Scandinavia.<\/p>\n

Europe and the world must act to prevent history from repeating itself by standing firmly against Russian aggression. This is also European self-defense from nuclear and other types of environ\u00admental disasters. The Ukrainian energy minister, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspec\u00adtorate, and Energoatom reiterated on March 3 their appeal<\/a> to IAEA to ensure the safety of nuclear facil\u00adities and stop \u201cRussian nuclear terrorism\u201d. Along with Ukrainian environ\u00admental organi\u00adza\u00adtions<\/a>, they urge NATO countries to close the sky over Ukraine for Russian planes and cruise missiles to prevent further atroc\u00adities against civilians and protect nuclear power plants from damage.<\/p>\n

If you are wondering how you can act against the Russian war, please see the infor\u00admation here<\/a> and attend rallies<\/a> in your area.<\/p>\n

\n

The author thanks Olena Kravchenko, Sofiya Shutiak, and Mark Zheleznyak for their valuable inputs. This text reflects my opinion.<\/p>\n

Oleksandra Keudel, Ph.D., is a political scientist and a consultant for inter\u00adna\u00adtional organi\u00adza\u00adtions on good gover\u00adnance. She has taught at Kyiv School of Economics and Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Ukraine).<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/i><\/p>\n

\"Textende\"[\/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_column_text]Did you like thike this article? If yes, you can support the independent editorial work and journalism of LibMod via a simple donation tool.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]