What does targeting a nuclear plant in Ukraine mean... Arab countries are preparing for the worst scenarios

Weather of Arabia - The local authorities in Ukraine announced early Friday morning (February 4) that they put out a fire that threatened a potential catastrophe at the largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine in the wake of an attack by Russian forces, which targeted the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant in southeastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Zelensky noted that Russia's launching of attacks in the vicinity of Ukrainian nuclear plants is very dangerous, referring to the Chernobyl tragedy and its victims, and said, "There are 15 nuclear reactors in Ukraine. If one of them explodes, this is the end of everyone, this is the end of Europe. Everyone will have to Evacuation Europe. But what does it mean for a nuclear plant to be targeted? And what are the risks involved?

The dangers of targeting nuclear plants in Ukraine

Nuclear energy constitutes a pillar of Ukraine's strategy to wean the country from its dependence in the field of energy on Russia, as Ukraine includes 15 operating nuclear reactors. A Russian may cause a fire on Friday at the site of the Zaporizhia station, and although no leakage of radioactive materials was recorded, the accident triggered an alarm worldwide!

Is targeting nuclear plants can lead to a nuclear explosion?

Nuclear reactors do not explode like bombs, because they contain low-enriched uranium, not highly enriched as used in nuclear bombs, and the operation of the nuclear explosion sequence requires a complex mechanism that is not provided by targeting uranium with conventional missiles.

So what are the concerns about targeting nuclear plants?

Fears are the spread of nuclear radiation, specifically high-energy gamma rays, and this causes more extensive damage than nuclear weapons, because nuclear reactors contain a years-long accumulation of highly radioactive fission products.

Radiation is an invisible threat that cannot be detected without a special device. It can poison people exposed to high doses or cause diseases, including cancer, and may alter DNA and leave defects in future generations. Radioactive contamination persists for many years in the region, as in the 1986 radiation leak in Chernobyl, northern Ukraine, which was associated with an increased risk of leukemia later in life.

The important thing is that there is no need to target the reactor directly to create a problem. An interruption in the power supply to the plant can cause serious problems due to the interruption of the cooling process of nuclear reactors, the melting of radioactive materials, and thus the occurrence of radioactive leakage.

Arab countries are preparing for the worst scenarios

in Kuwait:

Kuwaiti deputies had made recommendations to the National Assembly during the special session held to discuss the developments of the Russian-Ukrainian war, in which they demanded the urgent adoption of proposals for laws related to the establishment of a public agency or authority for emergency, crisis and disaster management, to be supported by specialized national energies, with the assistance of the experiences of developed countries in this field.

The recommendations included the demand for the development and expansion of the food storage system and grain silos in Kuwait to raise storage capacity in additional strategic quantities, linking and coordinating security agencies with regard to monitoring nuclear radiation and leaks and the early warning system.

The representatives demanded the necessity of providing sufficient quantities of specific medicines such as “iodine” and other medicines necessary to deal with any possible radioactive contamination, in sufficient quantities for citizens and residents, with a mechanism for distributing them quickly, efficiently and with the necessary justice.

And in Saudi Arabia:

The Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority in Saudi Arabia announced, on Friday, the monitoring of radiation levels in the Kingdom, hours after controlling the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and setting fire to parts of it due to Russian bombing.

It stressed that it is working to monitor radiation levels in the Kingdom through the stations of the National Network for Continuous Environmental Radiation Monitoring and Early Warning, which are distributed in different locations in the Kingdom's regions, especially the border ones, which currently amount to 140 radioactive monitoring stations, and work will be done to increase the number of stations to reach 240. station.

King Fahd Hospital in Hofuf has been approved by the Ministry of Health to be a reference hospital for responding and dealing with nuclear and radiological accidents, as part of the project to rehabilitate reference hospitals to respond to nuclear and radiological emergencies.

The project adopted by the Ministry of Health is one of the new national projects to confront accidents related to radioactive sources, which are likely to occur as a result of the increase in the various uses of nuclear technologies in all industrial, medical and research fields.

The project includes a comprehensive emergency plan to deal with any nuclear or radiological accidents, God forbid, and mitigate their consequences for humans and the environment.