ZNPP accident poses minimal threat to public even in worst case – American Nuclear Society

Even the worst scenario at the occupied Zaporizhzhya NPP will not pose a radiological hazard to the population, according to the American Nuclear Society, Energoatom writes.

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The agency's experts said they had carefully considered "worst-case scenarios," including the bombing and deliberate detonation of reactors and spent nuclear fuel storage containers, but they do not envision a situation that could result in radiation-related consequences for public health and safety.

"ZNPP’s six reactors have been shut down for over ten months and are no longer making enough heat to cause a prompt radiological release. ZNPP is designed to withstand natural and man-made hazards. Thick, steel-reinforced concrete containment buildings protect the reactor cores and are designed to keep any radioactive materials isolated from the environment," the ANS said in a statement.

In the unlikely event that the containment structures were breached, any potential release of radiological material would be confined to the area immediately surrounding the reactors.

"In this regard, any comparison between ZNPP and Chornobyl or Fukushima is both inaccurate and misleading," the American experts are convinced.

The American Nuclear Society also stressed that IAEA inspectors should be given immediate unimpeded access to all areas of the Russian-occupied nuclear power plant.

After blowing up the Kakhovka HPP, Russia threatens Ukraine and the world with a new man-made disaster. According to the head of Ukraine's military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov, the Russian forces additionally mined the Zaporizhzhya NPP, including the cooler. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that the Russian invaders are capable of setting off the ZNPP remotely.