A disaster at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant would render Zaporizhzhia region uninhabitable - Ukraine's Ministry of Environment

This was announced by Lala Tarapkina, adviser to the Minister of Environment Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine.

She noted that in order to assess the possible consequences of the disaster at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, one can start from the characteristics recorded in 1986 at the Chernobyl NPP.

"An important factor for comparison is the amount of nuclear fuel. There were about 2,000 fuel assemblies at the 4th reactor. There are up to 18,000 fuel assemblies (9-10 times more) at the ZNPP in 6 reactors and in the spent fuel storage. In this case, the consequences will be 10 times more powerful than they were in 1986", Tarapkina wrote. 

The possible consequences of the disaster at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant for ecology and humanity would be as follows:

– The area of ​​the potential exclusion zone will be up to 30,000 km2 (like 10 Chernobyl exclusion zones);

- The Zaporizhzhia region will actually be lost for living and farming;

– The area of ​​potential contaminated territory will be up to 2,000,000 km2 (the area of ​​three Ukraines);

– The degree of contamination of other territories of Ukraine, Europe, Russia, and Belarus depends on the wind;

– The number of liquidators will be from 1 million people;

– Tens of thousands of dead, depending on the current number of people in the Zaporizhzhia region;

– The number of evacuees will be from 2 million people;

– The Dnipro will be polluted for an immeasurable number of years;

– Radioactive cesium-137 will be released in quantities dangerous to human health, soil, and water bodies. Ukraine will account for the bulk of the emissions.

"It is important to understand that the release of 

radioactive cesium during a possible accident in Zaporizhzhia will be a one-time event, and where it will go will depend on meteorological conditions. Europe, Belarus, and Russia could potentially be affected. The accident could be caused by, for example, a fire or an explosion, or damage by shells, bombs, as well as rockets. Now the Russians have placed military equipment in the engine room of the first power unit, where the turbo generator is located. A large amount of technical oil (dozens of tons) is stored there. This is a fire hazard room. This estimate is approximate, but the scale will be exactly the same", Lala Tarapkina said.