Nuclear power

Germany has said it would keep two nuclear plants on standby beyond the end of the year in a policy U-turn, as the shut-off of Russian gas supplies sends Europe scrambling for energy sources.    

After the Ukrainian President warned that the world was once again on the brink of a nuclear disaster because the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant was turned off again, the IAEA issued a statement.

As the costs of importing energy soars worldwide and climate crises wreak havoc, interest in nuclear power is on the rise with nations scrambling to find alternative sources.    

Investment in nuclear power declined after Japan's 2011 Fukushima disaster, the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986, as fears over its safety increased and governments ran scared.    

Here are the highlights of events related to the war in Ukraine over the past 24 hours:

Energoatom warned of a high risk of radiation leakage from the Zaporizhzhia NPP after Russian shelling

The Ukrainian state company "Energoatom" warned of an extremely high risk of radiation leakage from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant due to Russian artillery fire.

Fears about the potential for a radiation leak at Europe's largest nuclear power plant persisted Saturday as both sides traded blame for nearby shelling. Ukraine said Russian forces fired on areas just across the river from the plant and Russia claimed Ukrainian shells hit a building where nuclear fuel is stored.

Namely, this morning it was announced that all six reactors of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe were disconnected from the system, and the Ukrainian Euroatom, which manages the entire electrical energy supply system, announced that part of the electricity is being pumped into the system via alternative transmission lines.

That is why, as announced on Twitter, that nuclear plant fell out of Ukraine's electricity supply system. Just a few minutes after that announcement, Energoatom announced that the power supply was temporarily enabled by remote connection to other systems.
There's ongoing work to reconnect two working reactors to the grid, according to the latest information.

Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Ryabkov assessed as extremely risky the destructive policy of NATO, which ignores the "red lines" marked by Moscow.
In an interview with the Russian newspaper Izvestia, he said that this leads to further escalation that could lead to a military conflict between nuclear powers with serious consequences.

All the eyes of the world are focused on the largest nuclear power plant on the soil of Europe - Zaporizhzhia, which is controlled by Russian forces. If "something breaks", the consequences will be enormous.

"The protection system has been raised to a higher level, I cannot reveal the details. We expect today to be fully prepared because everything can be expected from the Zelensky regime," said the representative of the regional administration, Vladimir Rogov.