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Early last December Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK Vadym Prystaiko had issued a strong warning to the world that if Russia invades Ukraine, there’s a high chance of multiple nuclear disasters like the one that happened in Chernobyl in 1986. Chernobyl, the spot of the world's worst nuclear disaster, is located on the shortest route from Russia to Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, from the north.
He’d also pointed out that Ukraine operates four nuclear plants with as many as 15 reactors that generate nearly 50 per cent of its electricity. He suggested that a military action by Russian invasion could cause perhaps a worse disaster than what happened in Chernobyl—in terms of casualties, cost and far-reaching impact of radiation across Europe. https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/world/news/ukraine-ambassador-to-the-uk-says-russian-invasion-could-spark-nuclear-disasters-like-chernobyl/articleshow/88211492.cms
But at that time, no one paid much attention to Prystaiko’s dire warning which seems prescient now when thousands of Russian troops seem to be ready to attack his country. The world has never seen before what a war can do to nuclear reactors.
An unbridled, all-out attack could put particularly the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, just 120 miles from the frontier, at a high risk. This is Europe’s second largest nuclear plant, yet its protection is quite inadequate. A damage to the plant can severely damage air and water of entire Europe and the radioactive contaminants may stay active for years. https://www.forbes.com/sites/craighooper/2021/12/28/a-ukraine-invasion-will-go-nuclear-15-reactors-are-in-the-war-zone/?sh=58207cb627aa
On April 26, 1986, Chernobyl’s reactor no.4 accidentally exploded releasing 400 times more radiation than the Hiroshima atomic bomb. Thirty people died immediately and thousands died from cancer eventually. Radioactive materials continued to spread thousands of miles over southeast Europe, for years. To prevent further spread of radiation, US and other countries erected a $1.7bn steel arch over the destroyed reactor in 2016.
The Ukraine government has deployed soldiers to protect the arch as well as the isolated nuclear zone, apprehending further damage to the defunct plant.
READ MORE: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/22/world/europe/chernobyl-ukraine-invasion-russia.html