Ukraine: Fire that broke out at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant put out

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Ukraine: Fire break out at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant put out

Mar 4, 2022: According to a report by Al Jazeera, a fire that broke out at Europe’s largest nuclear plant amid fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces has been extinguished, officials said, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Moscow of resorting to “nuclear terror” in its continuing assault on Kyiv.

Ukraine’s emergency services said the fire broke out in a training building at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and was extinguished on Thursday at 6:20 a.m. local time [04:20 GMT].

“There are no victims,” ​​they said in a statement on Facebook.

Local officials said Thursday’s fire did not affect the plant’s “essential” equipment, which supplies about one-fifth of Ukraine’s total electricity, and did not cause an immediate rise in radiation levels. However, the incident raised global concern with the United States and the United Kingdom, which called for an end to fighting in the region.

Earlier, Russian troops had started shelling Europe’s largest nuclear power station in the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar, according to Ukrainian officials.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister says, “If it blows up, it will be 10 times larger than Chernobyl.”

The fire broke out following fierce fighting in the area about 550km southeast of Kyiv, the mayor of the nearby town of Enerdohar said in an online post.

“As a result of continuous enemy shelling of buildings and units of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is on fire,” Mayor Dmytro Orlov said on his Telegram channel. Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said the Russian army was “firing from all sides” on the plant.

“Fire has already broke out … Russians must IMMEDIATELY cease the fire, allow firefighters, establish a security zone!” he wrote on Twitter.

Zelenskyy angrily denounced the attack, in a video message saying: “No country other than Russia has ever fired on nuclear power units.”

“This is the first time in our history. In the history of mankind. The terrorist state now resorted to nuclear terror,” he added, calling for global help.

“If there is an explosion, it is the end of everything. The end of Europe. This is the evacuation of Europe. Only immediate European action can stop Russian troops.”

Despite the fears, after several hours of uncertainty, Ukrainian authorities said the site had been secured.

“The director of the plant said that the nuclear safety is now guaranteed,” Oleksandr Starukh, head of the military administration of the Zaporizhzhia region, said on Facebook.

“According to those responsible for the plant, a training building and a laboratory were affected by the fire,” he added. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it had been told by Ukraine’s regulator that “there has been no change reported in radiation levels” at the site.

Russia has already captured the defunct Chernobyl plant, about 100km north of Kyiv, which spewed radioactive waste over much of Europe when it melted down in 1986.

Experts believe the plant itself, if it was hit, would not generate the radioactivity or in all likelihood that Chernobyl did but if the spent fuel pond, which is where they put the used fuel, was hit – it could easily be a multiple of the effect of Chernobyl.

In the largest attack on a European state since World War II, thousands have been killed and injured in the conflict, while one million refugees have fled Ukraine and international sanctions have crippled Russia’s economy.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation” designed not to occupy the territory but to overthrow a democratically elected government, destroy its neighbor’s military capabilities and capture what regards as a dangerous nationalist.

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