What attack on Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, means

The Ukraine emergency services said that there had been no changes in the radiation levels of the plant and no essential equipment was harmed.

New Delhi: The Russian forces in the wee hours of Friday attacked Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, triggering alarm all across the Western region of an irreversible crisis.

Though the Ukraine emergency services said that there had been no changes in the radiation levels of the plant and no essential equipment were harmed, the mere attack on the facility will certainly have some implications.

Here is what the attack on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant means

Research by specialists for Greenpeace International concludes that the safety of Zaporizhzhia is severely compromised by the war.

A disaster worse than Fukushima Daiichi

In a worst-case scenario, where explosions destroy the reactor containment and cooling systems, the potential release of radioactivity from both the reactor core and the spent fuel pool into the atmosphere could create a disaster far worse even than the Fukushima Daiichi catastrophe of 2011.

After the 2011 incident, the areas of land within hundreds of kilometres from the reactor site potentially became inhospitable for decades.

Other scenarios

In fact, even if there is no direct damage to the plant, the reactors rely heavily on the electric grid for operating cooling systems.

In the absence of the availability of nuclear technicians and personnel and access to heavy equipment and logistics, the accident can lead to a nuclear power plant blast that can cause serious radiation sickness and contamination of forests and farmlands in addition to a long term impact on human health due to radiations and irreversible climate changes.

Meanwhile, the world is responding quickly to an attack that could result in a massive tragedy. UK PM Boris Johnson on Friday spoke to Ukrainian PM and said that he will seek an emergency session at UNSC to raise the issue.

US President Joe Biden is also monitoring the situation and maintaining a dialogue with Russia to let firefighters assess the nuclear plant site.