van Brugen, I., Feingold, J., Harris, A., Mutua, A., Tobin, J., & Perry, D. (2023, July 25). ‘Hot Shutdown’ at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Sparks Radiation Fears. Newsweek. Retrieved July 26, 2023, from https://www.newsweek.com/hot-shutdown-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-ukraine-radiation-fears-1815091
After invading Ukraine in late February, Russia captured Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant (ZNPP) in March. They then ordered one of the plant’s six reactors into a hot shutdown state which violates safety protocols. This has caused concerns for a potential nuclear catastrophe. The other five reactors have been shut down into a cold shutdown state where the coolant is lowered to pump water at an atmospheric pressure. Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of shelling the facility. Kotin, the president of Energoatom, the company owning the reactor, says that violating the safety protocols for the reactor is a “criminal” decision and “violates Ukrainian and international law.” Although the requirements of the State Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority of Ukraine (DIARU) require that all the reactors of the plant be put into a cold shutdown, the Moscow-installed administration of the plant says that keeping one of the reactors in hot shutdown mode can produce steam, ensuring nuclear safety.
This article highlights how carefully nuclear plants have to be treated in order to ensure safety. In times of war, this can be dangerous because the original people who were running the plant are not running it anymore, so the new administration could potentially cause a safety hazard. Like people know from the Chernobyl accident, nuclear power plants can be very dangerous if not operated correctly and there will most likely be an accident in a plant’s life. Although nuclear power plant accidents are declining, they can still happen and are dangerous. I hope nothing detrimental happens at the ZNPP because not only will it affect people, it will also affect the environment by leaking radioactive chemicals. This can destroy ecosystems that may not recover.
I think this response is very well written. I agree, and I like how you tied it into the current tension between Ukraine and Russia. It is very interesting to see how political tension widely affected our environment. These two countries need to be extremely careful while dealing with these reactors. It would be a shame if Russia is so greedy and lazy while taking care of this reactor, that they let a situation similar to Fukushima or chernobyl occur. In the midst of this war, do you think the matter of this reactor should be at the top of their political agenda in negotiations?
Thank you for your reply! I believe that the matter of this nuclear reactor and others in a time of war should not be neglected, but I also think there are more pressing priorities during war, such as civilian safety and human life in general.