A nuclear expert has warned that one wrong move by Russian forces who are in control of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant “could lead to very significant radioactive release” across the continent.
There have been worrying reports that Russian troops who are in control of Zapphrizia nuclear plant, Ukraine are thought to be planning to drain “spent nuclear fuel ponds” which could cause a radioactive release which will spread across Europe and will hit the UK.
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Russian forces are wanting to drain the cooling ponds to search for nuclear weapons in at the nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
Dr Paul Dorfman who is an Associate Fellow, Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), Sussex Business School, University of Sussex, has worked with European governments on areas of nuclear policy has warned of a disaster.
Dr Dorfman told Express.co.uk, “Draining spent nuclear fuel ponds would be utter madness, as cascading problems could lead to very significant radioactive release – and depending on which way the wind is blowing, the radioactive pollution could either go to Europe or Russia.”
A Ukrainian diver was beaten to death by Russian soldiers at the nuclear power plant because he refused to enter the radioactive pool.
The Kyiv Independent reported the incident on Twitter, saying, “Russian forces torture diver at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to death.
“Enerhodar Mayor Dmytro Orlov reported on July 3 that Andrii Honcharuk died in hospital after he was brutally beaten by Russian forces for refusing to dive into [a] pool at the plant.”
Dr Dorfman said that Ukrainian staff at the nuclear plant are working “under duress” and then warned that “one significant wrong step” could spell disaster for Europe and Russia.
He said, “The fact is, one significant wrong step, one incident will change everything, irrevocably.
“Both for Ukraine and also for the global nuclear project.
“Even [the] Nuclear Energy Agency admits profoundly limited real-time information about what’s really happening on the ground. It’s a shooting war, after all.
“So, the Russian invasion of Ukraine unveils the reality of the weaponization of civil nuclear.
“It’s clear that Ukraine’s nuclear workers are under huge duress – and that could lead to very troubling consequences.
“Nuclear is a high-risk endeavour, after all.”
Dr Robert Peter Gale gave a serious warning in the British Journal of Haematology at the start of the war.
He warned, “The worst scenario could be equivalent to the impact of 15 Chernobyl-size- accidents.
“This would provoke acute radiation syndrome and long-term consequences of increased cancers, including leukaemias in massive numbers of soldiers and civilians on both sides of the conflict.”
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