Thread by @MalvagioMarco

Nuclear physicist here: there's a lot to be worried about, but one thing you SHOULDN'T worry about, is Russia bombing Ukrainian nuclear power plants.
It's literally, physically impossible to make those explode.

As for causing a meltdown, it's technically possible, but it's INCREDIBLY difficult, and in the very worst case... they'd cause waaaaaaaay more deaths just shelling a city, to be blunt.

So if Russia targets ukrainian plants it's a) to deprive ukraine of electricity b) try to cause a big nuclear scare. As an actual threat, it's zero.
It's one more piece of russian propaganda not to fall for.

I see a lot of people worry about spillover and nuclear contamination.
Look, I'll make a detailed thread when I have time, but for now, the bottom line: they'd have to dismantle the power plant brick by brick (and die in the process, because THAT would be deadly - for them)

And even if they managed, with INCREDIBLE effort, to release the fuel in the environment... it would be badd-ish? Look, hard truth: all those tv series lied to you. Nuclear contamination, away from the immediate source, is just not that dangerous.

To be clear, it is dangerous, but I'm sadly willing to bet the (already exploded) refinery will cause more deaths and more environmental damage.
And neither is anywhere as bad as "russians bombing your city".

This is getting a lot of traction due to the current events, so, a few addendum.
First: I thought this would only reach my usual followers. I'm happy if I can reassure other people, but to be clear, I'M NOT A NUCLEAR PLANT EXPERT.
I have a PhD in nuclear physics, but that's it.

When I made the thread, it was speculation, so it's not about any specific power plant. I'm looking up information about Zaporizhzhia, especially the cooling system and fuel storage, to give an idea of the risks involved.

Some clarification: when I say "can't explode", I mean that it can't explode like a nuke (because no reactor can do that), and can't explode like Chernobyl (because it's a different technology, inherently safer - and the safety is in the physics itself, can't be switched off).

Can the fighting breach the reactor by accident? Would need more information, and depends on the weapons, but long story short: no. Remember the actual reactor is underground, and INCREDIBLY sturdy, made to resist natural disasters and shelling.

If they WANT to breach the reactor, the russians could do it with bunker-busters bombs or (I guess) bombs from the inside. Honestly, I don't get the point, if they want to cause radioactive contamination they can just bring their own plutonium. But it's technically possible.

Can they cause a reactor meltdown? It depends on the cooling and safety systems - it's hard with that kind of reactor, though. But I suspend judgement untill I can gather more information.

How much should you worry? Honestly, the main point stands - even the worst case isn't as bad as the rest of the war.
Even if the russians are hellbent on *causing* an incident, we're speaking of an incident like Fukushima.

Remember that only 1 person died of acute radiation poisoning in Fukushima, and the effect on thyroid cancers weren't strong enough to even be sure they were there. It's... not good of course, but russians are doing much worse withe the regular bombs, let's face it.

What happens if russians cut the power and\or coolant and stop firefighting effort? I'll look up more information about that specific plant (most importantly, if it has a passive coolant reservoir) but in the end, falls under "they willfully cause an incident"

Finally: of course fighting in a nuclear power pant is an INCREDIBLY BAD idea, if only because the only ones who will SURELY die if there's an incident are those which are in the immediate vicinity. I'm not saying this isn't serious.