SCARY footage has captured thick black smoke billowing from Europe’s largest nuclear power plant – reigniting fears of another Chernobyl-style disaster in Ukraine.
Smoke could be seen billowing from one of the Ukrainian power plant’s cooling towers – with both Kiev and Moscow blaming the other as the plant remains occupied by the Russians.
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New footage captured dark smoke billowing from a huge power plant
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The fire could have had fatal consequences
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Russia took control of the facility in March 2022
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President Zelensky said that Russia is using the power plant to blackmail Europe
It has previously been warned that the facility – stuck in the middle of a war zone – could trigger a nuclear disaster the equivalent of “six Chernobyls” amid Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion.
For now, the facility is under surveillance and the fire has been extinguished, but it remains one of the most dangerous war hotspots in Ukraine.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was captured by Russia in a firefight in March 2022 after sending in tanks.
The eyes of the world have been on the plant ever since – international nuclear experts regularly warn of the danger posed by the plant.
Russian Telegram channels showed new footage of the fire last night.
Ukraine has accused Russian occupiers of the power plant of setting car tires on fire near the cooling tower, which is located about a kilometer from the power units.
Writing on X, former Ukrainian Interior Ministry minister Anton Gerashchenko said while the Kremlin’s attackers blamed a Ukrainian drone, Kiev-based national nuclear power company Energoatom claimed the cause was arson or negligence.
The fire is now contained and radiation levels are back within normal limits, meaning Europe can breathe a sigh of relief.
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky previously warned that a nuclear disaster at the site could be as big as “six Chernobyls”.
Speaking in 2022 after the Russian occupation, he warned that the plant could damage “[stop] story, history of Ukraine, history of Europe”.
AFU soldiers place the Ukrainian flag in the village of Guevo in the Kursk region of Russia
The 1986 Chernobyl meltdown – in which one of the Russian power plant’s reactors exploded – left nearly 100,000 miles of land uninhabitable, displacing 200,000 people.
Those exposed to the radiation suffered from health problems – including cancer, tumors and depression – for years afterwards.
Local military commander Serhii Lysak said: “The fire at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been extinguished.
“The radiation level in the Nikopol district is normal. We have the situation under control.”
He added that the Russians continue to send strikes into the region.
President Zelensky said that Russia is using the power plant to blackmail the world.
He said: “Right now radiation levels are within the norm.
“However, as long as Russian terrorists keep control of the nuclear plant, the situation is not and cannot be normal.”
Since the first day of its occupation, Russia has used NE Zaporozhye only to blackmail Ukraine, the whole of Europe and the world.
The Ukrainian energy agency Energoatom announced that the fire broke out in the technical water supply plant, which caused the cooling tower to catch fire.
They said: “The probable cause is the negligence of the racist occupiers or the deliberate burning of the cooling tower.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) responded in a statement to X, writing: “IAEA experts witnessed heavy dark smoke coming from the northern area of the ZNPP following multiple explosions heard in the evening.
“ZNPP notified the team of an alleged drone attack today on one of the cooling towers located on the site.
“No impact on nuclear safety has been reported.”
The cooling tower is located about a kilometer from the unit.
Inspectors inside have already warned that the place is spiraling towards disaster.
It comes as Ukraine may try to capture the Kursk nuclear power plant during its surprise invasion of the region.
Ukrainian troops spent six days inside the Russian homeland changing flags, taking prisoners of war and seizing territory.
They penetrated 30 km deep, Russia’s defense ministry said, leaving Putin “frightened and agitated” by the ongoing attacks.
Russia is trying to build fortifications around the nuclear facility, which is 100 km from the border with Ukraine.
Satellite images show the trenches south of Kurchatov, a town near where the power plant is located.
What happened in Chernobyl?
The Chernobyl nuclear disaster claimed 31 lives and left thousands of people and animals exposed to potentially fatal radiation.
When the alarm went off at the nuclear plant on April 26, 1986, workers watched in horror as control panels signaled a massive meltdown in reactor number four.
Safety switches were turned off in the early hours to test the turbine, but the reactor overheated and produced an explosion – the equivalent of 500 nuclear bombs.
The roof of the reactor was blown off and a cloud of radioactive material flew into the atmosphere.
As air was drawn into the wrecked reactor, it ignited flammable carbon monoxide gas, causing a fire that burned for nine days.
The disaster released at least 100 times more radiation than the atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
Soviet authorities waited 24 hours before evacuating the nearby town of Pripyat – giving the 50,000 residents just three hours to leave their homes.
After the accident, traces of radioactive deposits were found in Belarus, where toxic rain damaged plants and caused animal mutations.
But the devastating impact was also felt in Scandinavia, Switzerland, Greece, Italy, France and the United Kingdom.
An 18-mile radius known as the “exclusion zone” was set up around the reactor after the disaster.
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The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is the largest of its kind in EuropeCredit: AFP
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It is among the 10 largest plants in the world
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Seizing the factory gives Putin leverage in the warCredit: Reuters
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education