Chernobyl, Fukushima Scenario Possible at Zaporozhye NPP Amid Ukraine's Shelling - Authorities

MELITOPOL (Sputnik) - A possible accident at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP) resulting from the shelling carried out by the Ukrainian military could be comparable in consequences to the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear disasters, the head of the regional military-civil administration Yevgeny Balitsky told Sputnik.

"In the event of radiation release, the consequences will be catastrophic not only for the Zaporozhye region. It will be a situation equivalent to what happened at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and in Fukushima," Balitsky said.

"Experts believe that if the backup diesel generators and mobile pumps fail, the core will overheat, as a result of which the reactor plant will collapse, radioactive substances will be released into the atmosphere, and then they will spread hundreds of kilometers away."

He warned that a possible accident at ZNPP, resulting from the constant shelling by Ukrainian troops, could become a catastrophe for Europe, and radiation could spread to the Crimean Canal and the Black Sea.

"The Chernobyl accident affected dozens of countries, and the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant is the largest in Europe, so everyone should be aware of this," Balitsky told Sputnik.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant had been shelled again by Ukrainian troops. Three shells fell in the area of a special building of the ZNPP, which stores new TVEL nuclear fuel and solid radioactive waste. One shell fell next to the ZNPP's sixth power unit, and five others landed opposite a pumping station, which provides cooling for one of the reactors.