The risk of a nuclear incident has surged in the past 12 months driven by Russia's bombardment of a radioactive facility in Ukraine, an expert has claimed.
Despite repeated warnings from the UN's nuclear watchdog, Vladimir Putin's boys continue to shell the Zaporizhzhia plant - the largest compound of its kind in Europe.
The plant's power transmission cables have cut out several times, which has forced operatives to switch the power to emergency diesel generators - heightening the likelihood of a meltdown.
Should power to the plant be lost completely, there is a risk of a catastrophic nuclear disaster comparable only to Chernobyl.
Speaking exclusively with The Mirror, nuclear detection expert Dr Arnab Basu explained how the situation in Ukraine, paired with increasingly aggressive nuclear rhetoric from the likes of North Korea and Iran, has made the risk of an incident the highest since the Cuban missile crisis.
Dr Basu, CEO of Kromek Group PLC, which specialises in nuclear detection equipment, explained: "There's quite a lot of dialogue on Zaporizhzhia and experts have all commented on the risk.
"It can be treated as quite extreme. If you suddenly cut off power, and if all the back-up generators are blown out, there is a series of events which could ultimately lead to something quite serious."
He believes the conflict has also created ample opportunity for thieves to plunder radioactive material for nefarious purposes.
Dr Basu believes that to reverse the risks, Russia and Ukraine should immediately "stop fighting around a nuclear station", adding that an "international effort to stop that would be the best way".
He added that the UK, Europe, and Ukraine in particular, should roll out a public information campaign to educate people on how to respond to a nuclear incident.
He explained that it could be similar to the Cold War nuclear warnings beamed into millions of British homes during the 1980s amid heightened tensions between the West and Russia.
"Protect and Survive" was a civil defence campaign that ran between 1974 and 1980 - and advised the public how to protect themselves in the event of a nuclear attack.
It came in the forms of a pamphlet, newspaper ads, radio and public information film broadcasts.
While applauding the British Government's planned trial of a nuclear public information campaign, Mr Basu said more can still be done.
As how we consume information has changed, Downing Street should invest in a way of notifying people in the event of a nuclear emergency - modelling it on the campaigns used in South Korea and Japan.
"Our information systems have, of course, moved on from the 1980s. How you reach people is slightly different than how we used to communicate.
"Now we've got social media, we've got instance access to information.
"But mass education is a very tricky thing to do. Because you don't want to spook a whole population - this isn't what anybody wants.
"But on the other hand, you need an effective way of communicating and ensuring people does the right thing."
