The six reactors of the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant, under Russian occupation, were cut twice this week from the electricity network following bombings.
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The Atomic Energy Agency calls for a military exclusion zone while in Zaporijjia, about sixty kilometers as the crow flies from the plant, we are preparing for the worst. There are the fatalists: “I haven’t prepared anything, it doesn’t make sense. 99% of humanity has no way to protect themselves from this probable catastrophe”. Those who have planned the minimum in case: “We have iodine tablets at home, for the thyroid. But we didn’t do anything else.”
And there is Irina, in her sixties. Like many residents of Zaporizhia, she anticipated a hasty departure. “I prepared my emergency suitcase like everyone else at the moment. I put hygienic products, essential medicines, chargers and then administrative documents in it.”
The nuclear risk has always been taken into account and emergency plans date from the Soviet era. They have also served as a basis for the development of the latest emergency procedures. “Since the beginning of the war, this emergency plan has been updated daily according to the situation, explains Volodymyr Martchouk, head of internal affairs for the Zaporizhia region. The army modifies it regularly so that the escape routes do not interfere with military convoys.” “Our shelters were built when the USSR was preparing for nuclear war against the United States”he continues.
“All the inhabitants, within a radius of 50 kilometers around the plant, have received iodine tablets. In case of danger, and when the order is given, they will be ready to take them to protect themselves.”
Volodymyr Marchukat franceinfo
The anti-nuclear shelters in Zaporizhia can accommodate around 300,000 people. Before the start of the war, there were twice as many inhabitants in the city.
Ukraine: the inhabitants of Zaporijjia and the nuclear threat – Report by Thibault Lefèvre and Arthur Gerbault
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