Posted on Aug 16, 2022
Over the river from a Russian-occupied nuclear plant, a Ukrainian town fears a spill
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https://www.npr.org/2022/08/16/ [login to see] /ukraine-russia-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-town-fears-meltdown
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station sits a few miles across the river from this friendly, no-frills city of steel-pipe factories in south-central Ukraine. Tamara Korolkova, a 70-year-old grandmother, can see the plant's panorama on the horizon from the apartment building where she's lived for decades.
She used to admire its symbolism of a powerful independent Ukraine.
Now she says she has nightmares about the plant blowing up.
"All of us are just scared all the time," she says. "I'm old, I have diabetes. If anything happens, I will only have time to lie on the floor and close my eyes."
Russia occupied the nuclear power plant in March. But in the past few weeks, Russian forces have used the area around the plant to stage rocket and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities — including Nikopol. Locals say these rockets are hitting private homes practically every day. They're also worried that Russia might misfire artillery and instead strike a reactor or nuclear storage facilities at the plant, causing a meltdown and radiation poisoning.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station sits a few miles across the river from this friendly, no-frills city of steel-pipe factories in south-central Ukraine. Tamara Korolkova, a 70-year-old grandmother, can see the plant's panorama on the horizon from the apartment building where she's lived for decades.
She used to admire its symbolism of a powerful independent Ukraine.
Now she says she has nightmares about the plant blowing up.
"All of us are just scared all the time," she says. "I'm old, I have diabetes. If anything happens, I will only have time to lie on the floor and close my eyes."
Russia occupied the nuclear power plant in March. But in the past few weeks, Russian forces have used the area around the plant to stage rocket and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities — including Nikopol. Locals say these rockets are hitting private homes practically every day. They're also worried that Russia might misfire artillery and instead strike a reactor or nuclear storage facilities at the plant, causing a meltdown and radiation poisoning.
Over the river from a Russian-occupied nuclear plant, a Ukrainian town fears a spill
Posted from npr.org
Russia
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Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."As Vasileva sweeps, 35-year-old Anna Yaroshek arrives to check out the damage to her apartment. She says she and her husband rented a place a few miles out of the city when Russia invaded Ukraine.
"It was supposed to make us feel safer," she says. "We don't. I know what the consequences of nuclear accidents are."
Her father, Anatoliy, helped clean up nuclear waste after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, when Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union. He suffered from various types of cancer for years until he died five years ago.
"This radiation has no mercy," she says. "No pill can really protect us."
..."As Vasileva sweeps, 35-year-old Anna Yaroshek arrives to check out the damage to her apartment. She says she and her husband rented a place a few miles out of the city when Russia invaded Ukraine.
"It was supposed to make us feel safer," she says. "We don't. I know what the consequences of nuclear accidents are."
Her father, Anatoliy, helped clean up nuclear waste after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, when Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union. He suffered from various types of cancer for years until he died five years ago.
"This radiation has no mercy," she says. "No pill can really protect us."
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