Nuclear power plants (NPPs) are complex and sophisticated facilities with several layers of safety measures, but no NPP in the world is built to withstand military conflict — and this is the exactly what has befallen the Zaporizhzhya NPP in Ukraine. It was taken over by Russian forces in May 2022 and has since often had to operate in conditions that threaten safety at the facility.
In June, a Lithuania-based NGO named the Bellona Foundation published a report, authored by its nuclear advisor Dmitry Gorchakov, analysing the risks associated with the hostilities around, near, or at the Zaporizhzhya NPP, based on the facility’s design, safety measures, and the local geography.
