The title of this blog was inspired by George Eliason’s tweets regarding the dangerous games the U.S., UK, NATO et al are playing with the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP).
Whilst Ukraine was denying access to the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, Russia was calling for the International International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to investigate the Ukrainian shelling of the ZNPP. Russia was also requesting an emergency meeting of the UN’s Security Council to discuss the dangerous situation.
In his August 9th video, George Eliason provided an update on the situation. Essentially, what George and other analysts, along with people in the area felt was going on is that the Kiev regime is deliberately targeting the nuclear waste storage facility at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in order to provoke the explosion of a “dirty bomb.”
In his video, George identified the dirty bomb as the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant itself. He also said that they have taken out the power lines that go to the cooling system which, in and of itself is very dangerous.
This helpful background summary was posted August 11th on Telegram by Russian Mission Vienna:
📌 Facts to know on the eve of today’s meeting of the UN Security Council on Zaporozhskaya NPP
🔵 On 5-6 August the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) once again attacked ZNPP by shelling the critically important infrastructural objects of the plant as well as its satellite city Energodar. Twenty shells have been fired during the strikes
🔵 On 5 August, at 14:45, the Ukrainian shelling (three shells hit in the proximity of the training centre next to the territory of the open switchgear of the NPP) resulted in shutdown of the autotransformer and the high voltage line providing backup power to the Units №1 and №2 of ZNPP
🔵 On 5 August, at 16:45, the Ukrainian side committed an artillery shelling (four shells) of oil and fuel oil handling equipment and the site of hydrogen receivers. Damage of the pipeline caused jet fire that was localized due to timely and professional actions of ZNPP personnel and Russian military
🔵 On 6 August, at 19:42, the AFU units attacked ZNPP once again. Three artillery shells of 155 millimeters caliber (NATO standard) exploded next to the spent fuel storage and only 200 meters from the operating unit. One person was injured
🔵 On 7 August ZNPP was again shelled by the Ukrainian armed formations. The high-voltage power line “Kakhovskaya” was damaged. Equipment of an open switchgear (750 kW) was damaged as a result of a power surge. At Unit №4, that was operational at 10% capacity, the power supply of control and safety system went offline. This triggered the emergency protection of the Unit №4
🔵 The Ukrainian personnel of the plant has decided on cooldown of the Unit №4 of ZNPP, as well as downpower of the Units №5 and №6. Currently, the Units №5 and №6 are downpowered to 500 MW
🔵 On 11 August Ukrainian armed formations again tried to attack the ZNPP with missiles and UAVs. This attack was repulsed by the air defense forces
🔵 In addition to direct military threats to the security of ZNPP the Kiev regime is working on other scenarios to create intentional preconditions for a nuclear accident at ZNPP. Inter alia, Kiev is considering different options of cutting the plant off from the Ukrainian power grid and keeps increasing psychological pressure on ZNPP employees and their relatives (they regularly receive phone calls threatening them with criminal prosecutions and physical reprisals)
🔵 Attacks of the Kiev regime on ZNPP endanger the safety and security of Europe and the whole world. In case of an accident at this station the radiation contamination zone (more than 5300 square kilometers, length around 420 km) would cover the population of Kievskaya, Zaporozhskaya, Kharkovskaya, Poltavskaya, Khersonskaya, Odesskaya, Nikolaevskaya, Kirovogradskaya, Vinnitskaya oblasts, Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, border areas of Russia and Belarus, as well as Moldova, Bulgaria and Romania. The situation could get worse because of adverse weather conditions and spread of possible contamination zone to South-Ukrainian NPP and the nuclear fuel storage at Chernobyl NPP, as well as water arteries. The Black Sea and the Bosphorus Strait would become unsuitable for navigation for a long time. The shores of Abkhazia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania and Türkiye would be contaminated with high levels of radiation [ Bold mine]
❗️The UN, the IAEA, as well as all countries that have influence on the Kiev regime should do everything possible to ensure immediate cessation of Ukrainian attacks on ZNPP before they resulted in devastating consequences for the whole mankind
This is an update posted August 14th on Telegram:
The UN Secretariat blocked the visit of IAEA representatives to the Zaporozhye NPP.
The Russian side asked for comments, but received no explanation. Although the agreements that the IAEA would visit the site by the end of August were reached at the UN Security Council on Thursday.
Moscow has repeatedly stated that the shelling of nuclear power plants by Ukrainian troops jeopardizes the nuclear safety of the whole world and the catastrophe will be larger than in Chernobyl. Attacks on the station have recently become massive. After the latter, the thermal power plant and the cooling systems of nuclear reactors were partially damaged."
The possible switching of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant to Crimea could become a big problem for Ukraine in the winter period - the country's energy system is still powered by about 30% from the power plant. Moreover, the disconnection of Ukraine from the ZNPP is guaranteed to lead to an increase in prices for goods produced in the country, as the cost of their production will increase. But even without this, the future heating season raises concerns - in Ukraine, the depreciation of heating networks is at the level of 70-80% (losses that are now occurring in Ukrainian electrical networks reach 20-30%), the infrastructure is outdated, and this is a global problem for the country.
Moreover, according to the Ministry of Energy, Ukraine has lost 30% of solar and 90% of wind generation. The situation is "saved" only by the fact that with the outbreak of hostilities there was a decline in industrial production, which markedly reduced electricity consumption. But in winter, electricity demand can rise by almost 30%. So Ukrainians should prepare for rolling blackouts - however, due to the wear and tear of the power grids and the "savings" of the Ukrainian authorities, the "light was cut down" even in peacetime. Well, if real power outages begin, then not only electric, but also gas boilers with electric ignition installed will not work. Prudent Ukrainians consider this option as well, stocking up on generators and fuel. But how many citizens of a warring country can afford it for financial reasons?
A total of nine countries could be contaminated if the Russia-controlled Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine is hit by multiple launch rocket systems, a former chief inspector of the USSR’s nuclear authority has told RT.
Russian troops established control of the Zaporozhye NPP, Europe’s largest facility of the kind, early on in the course of military operations in Ukraine [I’ve read early March but do not yet have a date]. Since then, Russia has repeatedly accused Kiev of launching artillery and drone strikes on the facility. Ukrainian officials claimed that the Russians were shelling themselves to discredit Kiev.
In an interview published on Tuesday, Vladimir Kuznetsov warned that if the plant is hit by volley fire with numerous missiles striking the storage facility that holds spent nuclear fuel, chances are that more than one container would be damaged. This scenario would entail radiation escaping “into the environment – hence the contamination of not only the industrial site but also the Dnepr river which is nearby,” the expert noted.
Kuznetsov also pointed out that such a strike would most likely be accompanied by a fire, and “God knows where the wind would send the combustion products.”
The former chief inspector surmised that should 20 to 30 containers be breached in such an attack, the “radiation would affect approximately nine countries: Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, the Baltic states and obviously Western Ukraine.”
Russian forces took over the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in early March, within the first two weeks of Moscow’s military campaign against its neighbor.
In recent weeks, the Russian military has accused Ukraine of deliberately targeting the facility multiple times and warned that a major nuclear disaster, akin to that at Chernobyl in 1986, or even worse, could happen if such attacks continue unchecked.
Kiev, meanwhile, denies these allegations and claims that it is Russian forces that are shelling the power plant to frame the Ukrainian military – a point of view shared by the US and EU. The UN has called the attacks “suicidal” and proposed sending an International Atomic Energy Agency delegation to the site to provide “technical support” and help avoid a further escalation.
On Tuesday, local government administration member Vladimir Rogov told Russian media that Ukrainian forces had fired multiple rockets directly at the coolant systems and nuclear waste storage site inside the facility.
Since the storage site is out in the open, any hit would result in the release of nuclear waste ranging from dozens to hundreds of kilograms and lead to contamination of the area, the official explained.
“In plain language, that would be like a dirty bomb,” said Rogov.
