Galushchenko and his team are already running simulations of the potential distribution of radiation depending on winds and humidity in the air, to predict which countries would be affected in the event of a disaster. The list includes: Ukraine, Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia and Central European countries.
Ukraine is on the brink of a nuclear disaster, its Energy Minister German Galushchenko claims, warning that Russian attacks on nuclear power plants and critical infrastructure have led to numerous situations where the country was “just one step” away from a disaster on the scale of Chernobyl or Fukushima. He issued the warning after a global energy summit in London, where he compared the potential consequences to the 2011 Fukushima tragedy.
“Russia is systematically attacking transformer stations that supply the reactors with backup cooling. When these stations fail, the reactors go into emergency shutdown mode and cooling relies solely on diesel generators – which is extremely dangerous because these systems can fail. Then the only hope remains the diesel generator, which can fail,” Galuchenko said.
THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACES
Namely, Ukraine operates three major nuclear power plants that are still under its control, Rivne, Khmelnytskyi and the South Ukraine nuclear power plant, while the power plant in Zaporizhia is under Russian occupation, although it is located along the front line. All sites, including nuclear waste storage facilities, have been repeatedly hit by drones and artillery. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regularly warns of the growing risk, and its director Rafael Grossi said last week: “What was once unthinkable, military activities near nuclear facilities, is today an everyday reality.”
Galushchenko and his team are already running simulations of the possible distribution of radiation depending on winds and humidity in the air, to predict which countries would be affected in the event of a disaster. The list includes: Ukraine, Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia and the countries of Central Europe. “Such an accident could stop the nuclear renaissance in Europe. Forever. It would not only be a tragedy for Ukraine, but a blow to the entire continent,” Galushchenko emphasizes.
CHERNOBYL REPEAT
Europe already remembers nuclear disasters: Chernobyl in 1986, when the radioactive cloud reached the United Kingdom, and Windscale in 1957 in England, after which milk from northern England became radioactive and was banned for consumption. As of 2022, Russia has destroyed or seized 18 of Ukraine’s 58 gigawatts of electricity generating capacity, including thermal power plants, the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant and the largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia.
More than 63.000 power plants were destroyed or damaged, leaving millions without heat and electricity for the winter. More than 160 power workers were killed and more than 300 injured, most in attacks on sites where infrastructure repairs were being carried out. He himself narrowly escaped death when the facility was attacked half an hour after he left the site.
MAIN OBJECTIVE
The minister also warned that the UK could become the next target, due to its dependence on undersea gas pipelines and electricity connections to Europe. “Russia has always used energy as a weapon,” Galushchenko said, adding that an attack on an undersea pipeline like the Langeled from Norway, which alone brings 25% of Britain’s gas, could have immediate consequences. “This war will end and then there will be reconstruction – the biggest since World War II. We want the countries that have been with us from the beginning to be the first to take part in this. We will not forget this,” Galushchenko told The Telegraph.
