Ukraine's four active nuclear power plants are the biggest nuclear risks, not Chernobyl. Energoatom, the utility that operates the plants, did not respond to a request for comment on safety issues during the conflict. However, the group's head, Petro Coty, told the United Nations in early February that he claimed that "Ukraine's powerplant was ready even if the plane crashed" because the reactor was designed for this risk, while another expert noted that "but not for a war zone".
"It is unlikely that Moscow could authorize a deliberate attack on these facilities, but the problem is not only that the reactor could be damaged in combat, but that the staff responsible for the safe operation of the nuclear power plant may be afraid to go to work, while the personnel responsible for handling the accident, such as firefighters, may be hampered by the ongoing conflict work," the expert said.
The plants also use electricity to cool the reactors, which could cause problems if cut off from Ukraine's power grid.
If they are disconnected from the grid, he said, plants need to be able to use emergency diesel generators to power the shutdown and keep the reactor fuel cooling — even though the generators themselves have a limited supply of fuel. Electricity is also needed to prevent the warming of spent nuclear fuel in wet storage pools.
If these cooling operations are interrupted, he said, there is a risk of meltdown and even fires in spent fuel pools with large amounts of radioactive material.
Worryingly, if during the conflict they are accidentally damaged, left unattended or disconnected from the grid needed to cool the reactors, a nuclear catastrophe could occur, and their fuel is much more radioactive than Chernobyl.
