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Ukraine nuclear plant: How risky is stan

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The rhetoric surrounding Europe's biggest nuclear power plant close to the front line in Ukraine is becoming increasingly alarming, with international figures warning of the risk of a major accident.

UN Secretary General António Guterres believes potential damage to the Zaporizhzhia plant could be "suicide" and Turkey's president has said no-one wants another Chernobyl - the world's worst nuclear accident when Ukraine was under Soviet rule.

Russia seized the site on the left bank of the River Dnieper at the start of its war but this month the two sides have accused each other of repeatedly shelling it.

Each claims the other is planning a provocation. Ukraine says a Russian film crew has already staged a shelling to blame on Kyiv. Russian defence officials have produced a map showing how a radioactive cloud might spread from the plant from Ukraine to neighbouring countries, including Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.

What, then, is the risk to this nuclear plant which houses six reactors and is Europe facing a Fukushima-type meltdown?

"I wouldn't be too worried," says Mark Wenman, head of the Centre for Doctoral Training in Nuclear Energy Futures. "Zaporizhzhia was built in the 1980s, which is relatively modern. It has a solid containment building. It's 1.75m (5.75ft) thick, of heavily reinforced concrete on a seismic bed, and it takes a hell of a lot to breach that."

He rejects comparisons with either Chernobyl in 1986 or Fukushima in 2011. Chernobyl had serious design flaws, he explains, while at Fukushima the diesel generators were flooded, which would not happen in Ukraine as the generators are inside the containment building.

Much of the anxiety has been about the plant being hit by artillery shells or rockets. Ukraine has accused Russian forces of using it as a shield from which to fire on nearby cities. Russia denies that is the case. But after 9/11 nuclear plants were tested for potential attacks involving large airliners and found to be largely safe.

The UN's atomic energy authority, the IAEA, has warned of a "very real risk of nuclear disaster" and asked to be allowed access to the site as soon as possible. The UN secretary general has called on Russia to pull its troops out and demilitarise the area with a "safe perimeter". Russia has refused, arguing that would make the plant more vulnerable.

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The rhetoric surrounding Europe's biggest nuclear power plant close to the front line in Ukraine is becoming increasingly alarming, with international figures warning of the risk of a major accident.

UN Secretary General António Guterres believes potential damage to the Zaporizhzhia plant could be "suicide" and Turkey's president has said no-one wants another Chernobyl - the world's worst nuclear accident when Ukraine was under Soviet rule.

Russia seized the site on the left bank of the River Dnieper at the start of its war but this month the two sides have accused each other of repeatedly shelling it.

Each claims the other is planning a provocation. Ukraine says a Russian film crew has already staged a shelling to blame on Kyiv. Russian defence officials have produced a map showing how a radioactive cloud might spread from the plant from Ukraine to neighbouring countries, including Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.

What, then, is the risk to this nuclear plant which houses six reactors and is Europe facing a Fukushima-type meltdown?

"I wouldn't be too worried," says Mark Wenman, head of the Centre for Doctoral Training in Nuclear Energy Futures. "Zaporizhzhia was built in the 1980s, which is relatively modern. It has a solid containment building. It's 1.75m (5.75ft) thick, of heavily reinforced concrete on a seismic bed, and it takes a hell of a lot to breach that."

He rejects comparisons with either Chernobyl in 1986 or Fukushima in 2011. Chernobyl had serious design flaws, he explains, while at Fukushima the diesel generators were flooded, which would not happen in Ukraine as the generators are inside the containment building.

Much of the anxiety has been about the plant being hit by artillery shells or rockets. Ukraine has accused Russian forces of using it as a shield from which to fire on nearby cities. Russia denies that is the case. But after 9/11 nuclear plants were tested for potential attacks involving large airliners and found to be largely safe.

The UN's atomic energy authority, the IAEA, has warned of a "very real risk of nuclear disaster" and asked to be allowed access to the site as soon as possible. The UN secretary general has called on Russia to pull its troops out and demilitarise the area with a "safe perimeter". Russia has refused, arguing that would make the plant more vulnerable.

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