Ukraine Nuclear Plant: Radiation Levels Elevate After Russian Attack [Full Details]

There have been some reports that cited an unnamed Ukrainian government official as saying there have been records of elevated radiation levels near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant amid Russian attacks.

Heavy fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops broke out and caused a fire near one of the plant's six reactors. Ukrainian authorities added that there were many casualties from the attacks that began on Thursday.

Radiation Leakage?

Despite previous reports, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, speaking at a press conference on Friday morning, said that the plant's safety systems were completely functional. He noted that even with the heavy fighting in the area, there has been no release of radioactive material.

Moscow has chosen to siege the plant in an attempt to take control of it because roughly half of Ukraine's electricity is generated from nuclear power and the Zaporizhzhya is the largest in Europe. Located in the southeast, the plant's six reactors provide up to a total of 6,000 megawatts of power to the nation, as per NPR.

Russia's seizure of the nuclear power plant has stirred fears and worries around the world of access to radiation data, said atomic experts. However, they stressed that there were no immediate radiological risks and that a UN watchdog said the reactors were left undamaged. On the other hand, Moscow attributed the attack on the nuclear plant to Ukrainian saboteurs.

A professor at the energy and electric engineering department of Dongguk University, Park John-woon, said he did not believe that there was an immediate threat posed by the Russians taking control of the plant. However, he noted that Moscow could choose to disrupt public access to radiation data to sow confusion about the real state of events.

According to Reuters, Park, who worked at state-run power operators between 1996 and 2009 and helped build nuclear reactors, said that Russia can make people wonder, freak out, or get scared. The director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, D.CEdwin Lyman said that while the fire was extinguished it raised a "very real concern" about the potential for disaster.

Russia's War on Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called Russia's attack on the plant an act of terror that placed the entirety of Europe at risk. He said that the people of his country had survived the night that could have put an "end to history." He also reiterated his call on the West to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

Defense Ministry television channel Zvezda said that the agency believes the purpose of the reports was to blame Russia for what happened. Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, which began more than a week ago, has come face to face with fierce resistance from the people of Ukraine.

Putin's acts and orders have also garnered international criticism, prompting several world leaders to impose sanctions on the country's economy to deter it from further aggression. Russian forces have stalled around the capital Kyiv but troops in other areas have advanced and gained ground, the Wall Street Journal reported.