Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been met with stiff opposition from European countries with the sole exception of Belarus.
But when an attack by Russian forces triggered a fire at Europe’s largest nuclear power station, even those around the world who thought that the invasion would not affect them turned around and took notice.
The incident brought back memories of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and the 2011 Fukushima disaster. This comes at a time when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has already cautioned the West that a Third World War, if it breaks out, will be “nuclear”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in fact, placed Russia’s “nuclear deterrent forces” on high alert earlier this week.
READ: Explained: How dangerous was Russia’s nuclear plant strike?
Fallout of nuclear disaster
Talking about the effects of nuclear radiation on our bodies, Paediatrician Dr Sanjeev Bagai told India Today, “Excessive amount of radiation exposure reduces WBC [White Blood Cell] count, what we call leucopenia. It causes radiation sickness, skin burns, vomiting, nausea and it can be lethal for up to 35 per cent of the population even at low dose exposure.”
He added that the radiation can lead to spontaneous haemorrhage and even cause death within 10 days of prolonged exposure.
“It affects the brain, can cause acute hair loss, cataract issues, damage to blood vessels and destruction of reproductive organs,” Dr Sanjeev Bagai said.
77 years later, Hiroshima Nagasaki bombing shows historical horror and long-term trauma.
A look at 3 big disasters, as Nuclear War threat looms with Ukraine Russia crisis. @IndiaTodaypic.twitter.com/0lkSkE0IKn
— Pooja Shali (@PoojaShali) March 5, 2022
The most prominent example of the after-effects of nuclear radiation was seen in the days and weeks following the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. While the explosion itself killed thousands, many children in these Japanese cities are born with deformities even today.
Psychiatrist Dr Samir Parikh told India Today, “The feeling that the world is unsafe, the feeling that me, my family and my loved ones will be unsafe; the correlation between war and post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] has been long established.
“And this is not just for people who are there but for generations to come where this traumatic experience is passed on through stories,” said Dr Samir Parikh.
Zaporizhzhia power plant
On Friday, Russian and Ukrainian forces were engaged in an intense battle for the southern city of Enerhodar which houses the Zaporizhzhia power plant. Europe’s largest nuclear power station, Zaporizhzhia supplies 25 per cent of Ukraine’s electricity.
It was during this fighting that a Russian shell exploded inside the plant, triggering a fire. The blaze was later doused by firefighters but the incident had already sparked fears of a nuclear disaster that could dwarf the Chernobyl and Fukushima incidents.
Chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, later confirmed that a Russian “projectile” hit a training centre at the Zaporizhzhia power plant and not any of the six nuclear reactors.
Satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Sept 2, 2019 | AP
Both the United Nations and Ukrainian atomic regulators have said that the incident did not result in the release of radiation from the plant.
Zaporizhzhia has six large 950-megawatt reactors built between 1980 and 1986. These are Russian-designed VVER reactors, which use the same design as Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR), the most widely used nuclear reactor design in the world.
While the crisis was averted, for now, countries are scrambling to secure Ukraine’s 15 nuclear reactors located at four plants around the country to ensure that such a situation does not arise again.