False information swirls around Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
Speaking to Rebel News, several nuclear energy experts, including former members of the United States Department of Energy familiar with the power plant’s layout and design, said that the threat of a meltdown was non-existent.
President Joe Biden responded to the attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, which is the country’s largest power plant. Following earlier reports that the plant had caught fire as a result of Russian shelling, details of the attack appear to be much less clear than when initially reported.
In a statement from the White House, Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday evening to receive an update on the fire at the facility, and joined Zelensky in “urging Russia to cease its military activities in the area and allow firefighters and emergency responders to access the site.”
On Thursday night, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba claimed that the “Russian army is firing on all sides,” at the nuclear power plant, which he called the “largest nuclear power plant in Europe.”
“If it blows up, it will be 10 times larger than Chornobyl [sic],” he wrote.
As Rebel News detailed, there was no actual threat to the nuclear power plant, which is not physically capable of “blowing up” as Kuleba claimed. Speaking to Rebel News, several nuclear energy experts, including former members of the United States Department of Energy familiar with the power plant’s layout and design, said that the threat of a meltdown was non-existent.
While experts are still trying to figure out who launched the initial volley of explosive attacks near the power plant, what is certain is that none of the reactors were damaged. Only a single building, described as a “training center” in the outer perimeter was affected.
The fire was successfully put out as Russian forces secured the power plant, which a United Nations official later said was undamaged.
“In the attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in the southeastern city of Enerhodar, the chief of the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, said a Russian ‘projectile’ hit a training center, not any of its six reactors,” the Associated Press reported.
According to the White House, Biden also spoke with Jill Hruby, the Under Secretary for Nuclear Security of the U.S. Department of Energy and Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) for an update on the situation at the plant. Although the White House did not disclose what Hruby said to the president, the White House assured the public that the president will continue to be briefed on the matter regularly.
The IAEA said on social media that Ukraine informed the organization that Russian forces took control of the site, they were also informed that the safety systems of the plants six nuclear reactors were not affected and that there has been no release of radioactive material whatsoever.
The IAEA’s report contradicts earlier claims from Ukrainian government accounts on social media alleging that radiation levels had spiked following the fighting.
Following the situation at the nuclear power plant, the U.S. Embassy in Kiev wrote on social media, “It is a war crime to attack a nuclear power plant. Putin's shelling of Europe's largest nuclear plant takes his reign of terror one step further. #TheHague #Zaporizhzhia #StandwithUkraine”.
According to CNN White House reporter Natasha Bertrand, the U.S. State Department sent an urgent message to all its embassies in Europe telling them not to share the post.
“‘If you have retweeted it – un-retweet it ASAP,’ said the message, reviewed by CNN,” wrote Bertrand.
The State Department sent an urgent message to all US embassies in Europe telling them not to retweet the below tweet from the US Embassy in Kyiv, per @kylieatwood...“If you have retweeted it – un-retweet it ASAP," said the message, reviewed by CNN. https://t.co/NYCnWwEJfJ
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) March 4, 2022
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