Most of the Russian weapons that hit the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia kill in an instant: the drones, the ballistic missiles, the glide bombs, the artillery shells
Most of the Russian weapons that hit the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia kill in an instant: the drones, the ballistic missiles, the glide bombs, the artillery shells. But Russian soldiers control another weapon they have never deployed, with the potential to be just as deadly: The nearby Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
The NPP, as it’s known, once produced more electricity than any other nuclear power plant in Europe. It fell to Russian forces in the first weeks of the full-scale invasion, and Russia has held its six reactors ever since. The plant has come under repeated attacks that both sides blame on the other.
These twin dangers – bombs and radiation – shadow families in Zaporizhzhia. An Associated Press team spent nearly a week in the city to learn about its building binge for its future: an underground school system.
Here’s what AP found:
About 50 kilometers (31 miles) away, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has been in in cold shutdown for two years after intense negotiations between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Russian government. The IAEA has rotated a handful of staff on site ever since.
There are risks even in cold shutdown, when the reactor is operating but not generating power.
