Zelenskyi warned about Russia's intentions to blow up the ZNPP. Does it threaten a new Chornobyl?

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after a meeting with representatives of the Ukrainian intelligence service that the Russian occupiers had prepared everything for a terrorist attack. Ukraine has handed over all the evidence to its partners.

There has just been a report from our intelligence service and the Security Service of Ukraine. Intelligence has received information that Russia is considering a scenario of a terrorist act at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant. a terrorist act with the release of radiation They have prepared everything for this. Unfortunately, more than once I had to remind you that radiation knows no national boundaries and only the wind direction determines whom it will hit. We pass on all available information to our partners - everyone in the world. All confirmations. Europe, America, China, Brazil, India, the Arab world, Africa - all countries, absolutely everybody, need to know this. Everything. There must never be any terrorist attack on nuclear power plants, anywhere. This time it must not be like with Kakhovka: the world is warned, so the world can and must act, - said the President.

The occupants have mined and may blow up the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. What is the consequence of it?

Unfortunately, as of today, there is a certain threat. Once again I say definitely. Because the Zaporizhzhya NPP has been and still is under control of the occupation troops", Kirill Budanov, Head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence, said during a TV marathon.

He noted that because the Russians destroyed the dam of the Kakhovska hydroelectric power plant, they destroyed normal water access to the coolers at the Zaporizhzhya NPP.

By destroying the dam, they destroyed normal water access to the cooler at Zaporizhzhya NPP. But the scariest thing is that the ZNPP was additionally mined. And the worst thing is that the cooling pond was mined. If they disable it, there is a high probability that there will be significant problems," stressed the head of the SDC.

According to Volodymyr Borysenko, head of the Nuclear Energy Department at the Institute of Nuclear Power Plant Safety Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, there will be no "second Chernobyl" if ZNPP explodes.

They found that the radiation could first affect the south of Ukraine, particularly Kherson and Zaporozhye, before spreading throughout Crimea. Next, radiation crossing the Black Sea could move to the southwestern part of the planet, affecting at least five countries: Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania.

The State Agency for Exclusion Zone Management noted back in August 2022 that in case of a terrorist attack at the ZNPP, the exclusion zone of about 30,000 square kilometres would become uninhabitable and unproductive for the next 100,000 years.

Two million people would have to be resettled. Ukraine could experience a release of radioactive cesium in amounts dangerous to all life, which would contaminate soil and water.

Radioactive substances could spread to Europe or Belarus and Russia, depending on the weather.

The consequences will depend on the speed and direction of the wind," the head of the All-Ukrainian Environmental League, Tetyana Tymochko, warned.

According to her, in case of a terrorist attack on the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant (ZNPP), the possible consequences could be similar to the devastating consequences of accidents at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant and the US Three Mile Island nuclear power plant.

Possible consequences of a terrorist attack at a ZNPP include:

• An exclusion zone of approximately 30,000 square kilometres.

• Contamination of an area of about 2 million square kilometres.

• Uninhabitable area of the Zaporizhzhya region for hundreds of years.

• Potential radiation contamination of up to one million people.

• Loss of life of tens of thousands of people due to radiation contamination.

• Pollution of Dnieper, Black and Azov seas.

• Potential contamination of citizens of neighbouring countries.

What happens if the cooler at ZNPP fails

It will theoretically take years for the cooler to be emptied, Peter Kotin, Chairman of Energoatom, said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

According to him, the information about mined Zaporizhzhya NPP cooler appeared quite long ago.

We know that first they started mined the perimeter of the plant and the coastal part where it joins the Kakhovka reservoir. And that is where the basin line is located - it joins completely to the reservoir", - said Kotin.

He specified that it is not yet clear where the mines are located. However, no matter where the explosives are located, it is almost impossible to detonate them so that water starts flowing out of the basin.

There is a chandora, a vertical gate that blocks the flow of water from the pool into the reservoir. You can either open them or blow them up. Even if they are blown up, the pond is left with a dead water level of 12.8 metres. All the water will not come out of there. It can then drain out on its own from behind the ground. But it will go one centimetre a week. It will theoretically take years to empty the cooler," said the head of Energoatom.

For now, the water level in the ZNPP cooling pond is stable

Despite the Russian occupants' undermining of the Kakhovskaya HPP dam, the situation remains stable and under control.

As of 11:00 on 22 June, a slight decrease in the water level in the cooling pond is being recorded. So far, it is 16.61 m. This is sufficient to meet the needs of the plant.

The water level in the TPP channel, from where the ZNPP pond is fed if necessary, is at 11.15 m. It should be noted that lately, the water level in the channel has not dropped significantly and no longer depends on the Kakhovka water reservoir.

It should be recalled that ZNPP power units have not operated since September 2022, so there has been no active water evaporation from the cooling pond since then.