Putin plays with fire and knows it. That is going around the Zaporozhye NPP
Directly hit in the storage site of nuclear waste could lead to dangerous leaks, but the greatest danger arose on August 25, when the Russians switched off the power plant, probably to connect it to their Russian network, and blocked the "cooling energy" line from nearby. It was then that the UN immediately intervened because without energy for cooling the reactors, the full -scale nuclear crisis is inevitable. The line has been restored, but it can be easily broken again.
This situation is the greatest terrorist threat in history. “We are concerned. We do not want another Chernobyl, ”said Turkey President Recep Taiip Erdogan. Global fears have been expressed because the interruption of "laziness of cooling" of a nuclear reactor is threatened with catastrophe.
Panic after August 25 led to the UN actions that persuaded Russia to connect the line to a local source of electricity and to allow an outbound inspection of the energy complex by experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Two will remain at the station forever, but it does not comfort it too much. As one of them said, "we hang on the hair depending on the local [power supply], and if it fails, the cooling will stop, the rods are heated, and an absolute disaster is waiting for us.
" Putin plays with fire and knows it. He puts guilty on Ukraine for harming the NPP and to disguise the fact that he intends to steal the reactors and then connect them to the Russian power system in the name "security". Such a grand theft also deprives Ukraine of 20% of energy supply on the eve of winter and further. But the most important thing for him is that the plant is a weapon, along with the disconnection of gas supply to Germany this week to try to put Europe on his knees.
Russia has publicly warned that in the case of melting or explosion at the "damaged Ukraine", the plant will get to Germany, Poland and Slovakia. This is a threat of nuclear attack on Europe without a traditional bomb. It is a "dirty bomb" in his arsenal, but experts forget that there is a friend.
The first purpose after its invasion of February 24 was the capture of the banned area north of Kiev, where in April 1986 there was a notorious Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe, caused only by Russian management and engineering incompetence. The catastrophe began when one of its four reactors got out of control during low-power tests.
This led to the explosion and fire that destroyed the reactor building and tore the active area of the reactor, which ejects pollutants for several days throughout Europe and part of the USSR. The nucleus partially melted and created a fiery ball that ripped off the 1200-ton concrete and steel lid. In a few days, more than 400 times more radioactive substances were released into the atmosphere than it was thrown away by a bomb in Hiroshima.
About 4,000 people were killed, an unknown number was affected by a radiation disease, and 117,000 people were forever evacuated from two small cities. The territory of the size of Rod Island (1000 square miles) was recognized as an exclusion zone, which, according to scientists, is unsuitable for life for 20,000 years. It was captured by the Russians in February last year, and everything that remained there was looted by their troops. Chornobyl injured the world.
Many Ukrainians in Kiev still remember how they were told to gather children and take them for several days to the village without explaining reasons. Then everything was silent, because Moscow officials did not want to sow panic. Now Russia is lying again. Damage to the nuclear power plant was caused by Russian, not Ukrainian shelling when it took control of it.
The plant occupied since the beginning of March has been working safely thanks to several dozen Ukrainian technicians who have been working under the sight of machine guns. There were killings and disappearances, as well as damage to their laboratories and chemical objects. And the complex became a Russian military base, protected from attacks and capable of conducting artillery fire in Ukrainian. On August 25, the news of the disconnection was alarming and capitals around the world on August 25.
But shortly after that, Putin strengthened his energy terror, blocking the natural gas supply to Germany for an indefinite period and reducing its supply by other pipelines to the rest of the continent. The current difficult state of Europe is a geopolitical version of hostage capture by mass murderers is the situation that Putin intends to use as a trump card in future negotiations.
So, how bad can you be? There are 440 nuclear reactors in the world, providing 10% of world electricity, but there were only three nuclear accidents in history: three-mill-Island in 1979, Chernobyl in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011. The first, the least dangerous but most highlighted was a three-mill-Ilend catastrophe, which even led to an anti-nuclear film called "Chinese syndrome".
The actual accident occurred due to the refusal of the equipment and the error of the operator, which led to partial melting of one reactor. Residents of the surrounding areas were exposed to radiation equivalent to chest X -ray, but the fuss was huge. The three-mill-Ilend complex was decommissioned in 2019 after 45 years of operation. The last nuclear catastrophe occurred through an earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011.
The 15-meter tsunami flooded the region and three Fukushima-Dayitis reactors located on the shore. The flooding disabled the power and cooling system, and all three reactors melted in only three days. Damage from bad weather and accident destroyed the surrounding cities and led to evacuation, as high concentrations of radioactive and other dangerous substances were detected up to 28 km from the station.
In total, 2200 people were evacuated within 20 km or 18 miles around the plant, and only one person died of cancer caused by radiation. But, like Chernobyl, it is also a forbidden region, about San Francisco and unsuitable for 100 years. Of course, Japan was particularly upset by the situation in Ukraine, but China also condemned Russia's admiration in March in March - violating the connection with Moscow - and stated that he was "seriously concerned" Enterprise in March.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs called on Russian troops for "rest and restraint. " The United States and another 41 countries asked Moscow to return the object to Ukraine, but all their calls were ignored. Putin's terrorism against Europeans will not stop, as well as the determination of the Allies to destroy his army and economy. The translation of HB has an exclusive right to translate and publish the Diane Francis columns. The full version of the text is forbidden. First printed on dianefrancis.