A loss of power to the Zaporizhzhia reactors’ cooling systems could cause a nuclear meltdown, as fighting continues around the plant.
| The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the middle of the fighting in Ukraine was temporarily cut off from the electrical grid on Thursday because of fire damage, causing a blackout in the region and heightening fears of a catastrophe in a country haunted by the Chernobyl disaster.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the International Atomic Energy Agency and other world bodies to move faster to force Russian troops to leave the territory.“Every minute that Russian troops remain at the nuclear power station there is a risk of global radiation catastrophe,” he said in a video address.The entire Zaporizhzhia region lost power during the shutdown, according to Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russia-installed governor.
Ukraine cannot simply shut down its nuclear plants during the war because it is heavily reliant on them. Its 15 reactors at four stations provide about half of its electricity. Still, an armed conflict near a working atomic plant is troubling for many experts and people living nearby. The pools where spent fuel rods are kept while they cool are also vulnerable to shelling, which could release radioactive material.
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