The recent attack on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine by Russian military forces triggered fears across the globe after it was claimed that one of the energy six reactors caught on fire on Saturday.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted an emotional video saying he feared an explosion would be “the end for everyone. The end for Europe. The evacuation of Europe”.
Reports came out earlier today that heavy fighting at the site of the nuclear reactor set off a fire in a training building at the site. It was confirmed after the chief of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said a Russian “projectile” hit a training centre, not any of the six reactors.
However, this close call sparked a global debate on the consequences of nuclear energy during warfare. Nuclear energy experts said in a statement on Friday, that the recent attack should prompt companies and policymakers to be more careful in plans to build reactors to fight climate change.
Nuclear energy has been looked at as the number one alternative to fossil fuels, since nuclear plants work without emitting carbon dioxide into the air, plans for nuclear energy have increased in the past few years as governments gear up to fight climate change and global warming but the risk of maintaining the security and safety standards of the plants during times of conflict has brought forward worries from multiple parties.
“You have to take more seriously the need to ensure protection in nuclear plants, not only for natural disasters but also for manmade ones,” said Edwin Lyman, the director of nuclear power safety at the Union for Concerned Scientists.
During an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Friday, the U.S ambassador to the UN told the meeting that it was incredibly reckless of Russia to attack the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and it threatened the lives of citizens in Ukraine, Russia and the whole of Europe.
Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN’s under-secretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, said strikes on nuclear power facilities act against international humanitarian law.
Published By – Vanshu Mehra
Edited By – Subbuthai Padma
