Russia Could Make Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant 'Dirty Bomb': Analysts

A fire that broke out at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on Sunday has reignited fears among analysts that Russia could use the site as a "dirty bomb" amid the war in Ukraine.

On Monday, a day after the fire at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, the British think tank the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) recirculated analysis from September 2023. It highlights the risks to the ZNPP "relate not only to the threat of Russian sabotage, but also to the gradual deterioration of the facility under the current extreme operating conditions."

Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment by email.

The ZNPP has been under Russian control since early March 2022, just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, and its six reactors have been in shutdown mode since September 2022. Its one remaining power line is supplying the electricity needed to prevent a reactor meltdown.

When the ZNPP was seized by Russian forces in March 2022, there was widespread concern about a potential nuclear catastrophe at the plant as Ukrainian and Russian forces clashed in the region. Both Ukraine and Russia have accused each other's forces of attacking the plant.

The cause of Sunday's blaze remains unclear. Russia's state-owned energy group Rosatom said one of the plant's cooling towers, designed to cool nuclear reactors, caught fire. Neither Ukraine nor Russia reported signs of elevated radiation as a result of the fire, and the United Nations's nuclear watchdog has said there was "no impact reported" for nuclear safety.

RUSI said in its September 2023 analysis that the possibility of the ZNPP being used as "a giant dirty bomb cannot and should not be ruled out" while the facility remains under the control of occupying Russian forces.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines a "dirty bomb" as a mix of explosives, such as dynamite, and radioactive powder or pellets, which causes radioactive material to be dispersed into the surrounding area upon explosion.

"Moscow may decide to purposefully engineer a malfunctioning of key safety systems or strike parts of the facility to release radioactive material into the surrounding areas," RUSI said.

"The fact that the facility is on the front line of a military conflict and is already operating under exceptional stress – to its key operating systems (namely, water and electricity supply) as well as to its Ukrainian staff (who have faced harassment and are working in an active warzone) – also means that it would be relatively easy for Russia to write off an engineered incident as a no-fault accident or to place blame on the Ukrainian military or personnel," the think tank assessed.

RUSI added that ongoing military activity in the facility's vicinity "raises the possibility that key systems and equipment at the plant could be damaged in a strike."

The fire was extinguished by 11:30 p.m. Sunday local time, according to Rosatom. Ukraine and Russia accused each other of starting the fire.

The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank, said Tuesday that Russian authorities are "attempting to use this fire to discredit Ukraine in front of the international community and falsely portray Russia as the only safe operator of the ZNPP."

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