'Nuclear terrorism': How Ukraine’s nuclear plants keep the lights on amid Russian strikes | DW News

Key Concepts

• Kinjal Missiles: Russian hypersonic air-launched ballistic missiles.
• Nuclear Terrorism: The deliberate targeting or threatening of nuclear infrastructure to cause fear or damage.
• Grid Balancing: The process of matching electricity supply with demand to prevent system instability.
• Reactor Cooling: A critical safety process requiring constant power to prevent core meltdowns.
• Control Room Simulation: A high-fidelity replica of a nuclear power plant's control room used for emergency training.

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The Threat to Ukraine’s Nuclear Infrastructure

According to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General, 35 Russian Kinjal missiles have passed within 20 kilometers of a single nuclear power station in western Ukraine. Given the speed of these missiles, this proximity represents a margin of error of only a few seconds, suggesting that the reactors were potential targets. Notably, more than half of these missiles traversed the airspace near the Chernobyl exclusion zone before approaching the active plant. The head of Ukraine’s nuclear power company has characterized these actions as "nuclear terrorism," arguing that the proximity is not coincidental.

Operational Challenges and Grid Instability

Beyond the threat of direct kinetic strikes, Russia has systematically targeted the high-voltage power lines connected to Ukraine’s nuclear facilities. This has forced plant engineers to adapt to a new, dangerous operational reality:

• Rapid Output Reduction: Engineers must now be capable of reducing a power station’s electrical output within minutes. This is a critical measure to prevent grid imbalance when the national energy system is unable to absorb the full capacity of the plant due to infrastructure damage.
• Emergency Power Reliance: When external power lines are severed by attacks, the plants must transition to internal backup generators. These generators are essential to maintain the cooling systems for the nuclear reactors; failure to do so could lead to a catastrophic meltdown.

Training and Preparedness

Because of the frequency of these attacks—occurring as often as once a week—emergency procedures have shifted from rare drills to routine operational requirements. At the Khmelnytskyi (Kitki) nuclear power plant, staff utilize a one-to-one replica of the actual control room to conduct high-stakes simulations. These drills ensure that personnel can manage reactor stability under extreme duress and during total loss of external power.

Strategic Context and Risks

The destruction or damage of the majority of Ukraine’s conventional power plants over the winter has made nuclear energy the primary source of electricity for the country. While it was previously assumed that the risk of cross-border radiation would deter Russia from targeting these facilities, the current pattern of attacks suggests a disregard for this safety threshold. The report emphasizes that even with the intent to avoid a direct hit, the high velocity of Kinjal missiles means that a minor technical error or miscalculation could result in a nuclear catastrophe affecting both Ukraine and Russia.

Conclusion

The situation at Ukraine’s nuclear power plants represents a precarious intersection of conventional warfare and nuclear risk. With the national grid heavily dependent on these facilities, the routine targeting of power lines and the proximity of hypersonic missiles have forced engineers into a state of constant emergency readiness. The primary takeaway is that the margin for error is razor-thin, and the continued targeting of this infrastructure poses an existential threat that transcends the immediate conflict.