There are many different important issues when considering nuclear power. I have spent a lot of time on the threat nuclear weapons and the environmental, health, technical and economic issues of nuclear reactors. I have posted blogs that dealt with the possibilities that terrorists could target nuclear reactors and/or nuclear waste storage. I have even mentioned that if Russia succeeds in building reactors in third world countries, they could apply economic pressure to those countries by threatening to shut off the reactors if the other countries do not comply with Russian demands. Of course, nuclear reactors would be prime targets in wars because they would deny the enemy huge amounts of electrical power. But recently, there have reports of the possible role of nuclear reactors in the internal power struggles with in a single country. This is a subject that I have not covered.
There is a complicated struggle for control of Ukraine. The President and the recent government have been oriented toward cooperation with the Russians. The mass of the people are fed up with Russian interferences in the affairs of Ukraine and would like to turn toward Europe and the European Union for economic assistance. For weeks there has been a battle between police and government security forces and protesters in Ukraine. It has been becoming increasingly violent as both sides dig in for what must be seen as the possible opening battles of a full out civil war. A few days ago, the Ukrainian President accepted the resignation of the whole government in an attempt to appease the protesters after an attempt to buy them off with promises of participation in the government failed.
The Security Service of Ukraine has issued a statement with respect to the on-going conflict. They say that anonymous parties have threatened to sabotage critical infrastructure in Ukraine unless their demands are met. Along with threats to bomb hydroelectric power installations, there have also been threats against the nuclear power plants in Ukraine. There are currently four nuclear power plants in Ukraine with fifteen operating reactors. I have blogged about the vulnerabilities of nuclear reactors to attacks in the past. Reactors are highly complex machines which can be directly stopped or destroyed in many ways. They store spent nuclear fuel which would be an excellent target for a saboteur. All reactors require a huge amount of cooling water, the blocking of which is another way that reactors could be stopped.
Blowing up a reactor in Ukraine would cause widespread environmental devastation, public health impacts and economic disaster. While it is difficult to understand the logic of a protester who would do such a thing to their own country, it should never be doubted that there are such people in all societies. If Ukrainian reactors are attacked, it will be the first use of nuclear terrorism in a civil war. And, the damage would reach far beyond Ukraine into other countries in the area.
Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Station in Ukraine, the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe:
