Raid-io Active: The Environmental Consequences of the Capture of Ukrainian Nuclear Reactors.

As our world still remains embroiled in the ongoing crisis of the Russo-Ukrainian War, environmental consequences seem inconsequentially minor. However, attempting to analyse the long-run has always been Chlorophyll Club’s Modus Operandi, our Dharma or our Tao, thus, we have decided to consecrate a series of articles to the conflict, and, this is probably the member of that group with the most immediate and visible consequences.

Background

On 4th March 2022, the nuclear power plants of Zaporizhzhia and Enerhodar were captured following a violent conflict by the Russian Federation’s troops. Around 50 percent of Ukraine’s energy comes from nuclear energy, of which Zaporizhzhia is the largest producer. Hence, to starve out Ukraine on the energy front and expedite a surrender, the capture of these plants is crucial to Russia’s invasion plan for the country.

The nuclear power plant of Zaporizhzhia.

The environmental impact of the Chernobyl disaster of 1986

On 26th April 1986, the Chernobyl power plant experienced a meltdown and consequently, a series of explosions. These explosions released large amounts of radionuclides, i.e. radioactive forms of elements with unstable nuclei. Radionuclides are nuclei that can decay and produce radiation. A primary environmental scope showed the mass contamination of all nearby urban areas and subsequently the natural regions like lakes, parks and forested areas. The most prevalent variant of the radiation was Gamma radiation, which travels at extremely high speeds and has an immensely high penetrative power, thus it seeps into and contaminates large landmasses and water bodies, the latter which transport the active radionuclides further away. The WHO estimated that the initial animal death toll numbered at 9000 and Greenpeace states that the eventual count led to 93000; keep in mind that these were only the deaths due to the radiation, not those of starvation due to food supply contamination, unfitness due to deformity from radiation and forced migration.

A red fox in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, the Chernobyl disaster killed an estimated 93000 animals as well. However recent census show that due to absence of people the populations of several endangered species has risen tremendously.

Where we stand today

In the conflict for the capture of Zaporizhzhia a large fire erupted as a result of shelling in one of the training buildings of the nuclear power plant. The site on the Dnieper River hosts six nuclear cores and large pools of water for cooling. Furthermore, nuclear cores in large power plants can remain superheated even weeks following a shutdown of the plant. To compound this issue, there are always nuclear rods submerged in contained water bodies for years on end as a disposal measure. Hence, a stray shell or any mishandling of either the cores or water bodies could send a swathe of radionuclides travelling through the air or the Dnieper River where the site is located. Finally, there are three more such plants in Ukraine that have a high probability of being targeted, hence, we the international community can only hope for no violent accidents in a wide scale war, to prevent a widespread environmental calamity like Chernobyl, where the ecosystem can still feel the aftermath.

By Revant Biswas