An accident at ZNPP would have "much worse" consequences than at Chornobyl – plant employee

UKRAINSKA PRAVDA — WEDNESDAY, 17 AUGUST 2022, 13:29

The consequences of an accident at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), which is under Russian occupation, would be much worse than the one at Chornobyl in 1986.

Source: one of the employees of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in an interview with Reuters on condition of anonymity; Energoatom, on Telegram

Quote: "Employees understand that they need to evacuate their families, but they themselves are returning. They are working because there is a risk of a large-scale catastrophe, such as the one at Chornobyl in 1986. However, an accident at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) could be much worse.

Employees have returned to run the plant: the security of Ukraine, the entire European continent and the world is at stake."

Details: According to the anonymous employee, the plant's staff are annoyed by the very fact of the presence of heavily armed Russian military personnel at the nuclear power plant. In addition, the invaders are pointing weapons from armoured personnel carriers at workers when they enter the plant.

Quote: "They always carry weapons. It's very difficult when you go to the plant and see these people and you have to be there. This is extremely difficult, morally and psychologically.

Only once the city, nuclear power plants, thermal power plants, Zaporizhia, Kherson oblasts and others are fully liberated will people really be safe."

Background: 

•  On 5 August, Energoatom reported that the Russian invaders once again fired on the premises of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). 
• On the evening of 6 August, the Russian army fired rockets at the city of Enerhodar, directly hitting the site of the ZNPP next to the area used for storing spent nuclear fuel.
• On 11 August, Russian forces fired on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) and the adjacent territory four times.
• On 11 August, at a meeting of the UN Security Council, the United States stated that, for the safety of the nuclear power plant, it is necessary to withdraw Russian troops from ZNPP. Vasyl Nebenzia, Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, did not support the offer to create a demilitarised zone around the ZNPP.
• Russian occupying forces have placed several artillery systems on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. They are using these systems to fire on the power plant, while making it seem as though the shells come from Nikopol.

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