UN staff start training for a ‘mass casualty’ nuclear emergency

If power or water supplies to nuclear power plants are cut off – as happened during the Fukushima disaster following the 2011 Japan earthquake – there could be “serious nuclear safety issues”, Dolzikova​ said, but added that every plant would have safety procedures and protections in place. She told The i Paper: “In a worst case scenario – and I highlight that emphatically because I don’t want to be scaring people – if those nuclear safety procedures fail, you could potentially have the release of radioactive material into the atmosphere, either through the failure of energy or water supply.” This release can happen through the inability of the plants to offload energy or through penetration of the containment structure. However, Dolzikova​ said safety of nuclear plants had been maintained throughout the four years of war in Ukraine, and that Israel and the US had been careful not to target Bushehr.